A GROUNDHOPPER'S GUIDE TO GOOD GRUB

TREVOR HEFT ON AN IMPORTANT AND TASTY PART OF THE MATCHDAY RITUAL...

IT'S often said with each fresh football season comes renewed opportunity and that special breed, the groundhopper, have ample reason to believe it this time around.

Why? Because a huge increase in the number of televised games across the Football League has pulled several kick-offs forward to 12.30, and pushed many others back to 17.30, instilling both shorter odds on repeated appearances of the much-vaunted 'double-header' and, for other folk, a much simpler dream...

You can be home by teatime! Indeed, food is a huge part of the groundhopping experience. Be it mash and liquor at Millwall, Scotch pies north of the border, or the famous Wigan kebab, local delicacies form the backbone of such trips, both in the grounds themselves and the towns to which you travel.

For me, it's almost the best part, and to make the most of each experience, it pays to be prepared.

So, throughout the week preceding your first trip of 2024-25, you google, 'best breakfast in Brighton' over 17 times, finally settling on the only place that's equidistant between the car park and the ground.

No sooner have you decided than the alarm clock sounds, and it's finally game day! But it's 4.30am, and you're not willing to risk further enraging the partner that you've consigned to a day home alone, so there'll be no stomping around the kitchen trying to catch the toaster before it burns the last two slices.

First stop, petrol station, for diesel, Wine Gums and a coffee from the Costa machine, more than enough to see you through the five-hour drive.