The 1st official hop.

Game 1
Tadcaster Albion V Wakefield FC
Pre season Friendly
Att: 60 + 1 dog (head + tail count).

Having previously visited stadiums such as Anfield, the Nou camp and Celtic park I decided to start my life as an official ground hopper at 2inspire park (home of Tadcaster Albion). A nice sunny evening on the outskirts of York also brought the attention of a large number of flying insects. The Satnav decided that the middle of Tadcaster would do and after 10 minutes of driving around in circles I began to fear I would miss the 7.30 kick off.  However having read a blog earlier on in the day I headed through the John smith brewery site and found the ground in the corner well hidden.  Parking was straight forward as the excitement of the visit of Wakefield seemed to be limited to well just me. £5 for entrance was very reasonable however no programme was available as has been mentioned by other bloggers the the staff around the place werent overly cheery.  I take a right where you come across the clubhouse which is almost like a big executive box which some fans dont leave for the duration. Behind the goal to my left were two small seated stands one of which looked to be a temporary one used for the recent game with York City. I wasn't sure food would be available so I visited a famous american fast food chain on my way to the ground however burgers were available in the clubhouse.  As you would expect from a ground nestled in the corner of the John Smiths brewery site the local tipple was available. 

Clubhouse/executive box?

The game got underway 15 minutes late with a first half that saw one Wakefield player carried off with a suspected broken foot and an open goal miss from a Tadcaster striker.  0-0 at half time not the start I had imagined to my ground hopping adventure.  The second half was more of the same only this time it was one of Tadcasters players to be carried off.  I was able to spend a few minutes chatting to the young Wakefield player who had been carried off.  It was during this conversation that I learned the entire wage budget for Wakefield was £750 a week ( anyone know a premier league player who would get out of bed for that?).  A late goal for Tadcaster gave the Ncel side a 1-0 win, not quite the outcome I imagined on the drive here but the hopping has begun.