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In short
A ground counts when you have seen a real match inside it. Most hoppers want the full match, many accept one half. A stadium tour or a look over the fence never counts. Everything else, from friendlies to side pitches, is up to you.
What almost everyone agrees on
Counts
- A real match with a referee and two teams
- You saw it inside the ground
- The ground counts once, however many clubs play there
Never counts
- A stadium tour without a match
- A look over the fence, known as groundspotting
- The match on TV or a stream
Strict or relaxed: where hoppers disagree
There are two schools on these questions. The strict one comes from England, the relaxed one is more common on the Continent. Which one you follow is your call.
How long do you have to watch?
The full match, 90 minutes, 120 with extra time.
One half is enough. If traffic or a cancelled train makes you late, it still counts.
Abandoned match
Doesn’t count, because you didn’t see 90 minutes.
Counts if at least 45 minutes were played.
Friendlies
Competitive matches only. Exception: internationals.
Any scheduled match with a referee.
The 92 Club explicitly allows them.
Youth and women’s football
Men’s first team only.
Counts as long as it’s played on the full-size pitch. Small-sided youth games hardly count anywhere.
Side pitch
Only counts with spectator facilities, such as a stand or a rail.
A ground of its own if the match is played there.
The side-pitch trap: the match is moved from the stadium to the side pitch.
Rebuilt on the same site
Same site, same ground.
A completely new stadium is a new ground, a new stand isn’t.
A move to a new site is always a new ground.
New country
Only a match under that country’s football association. So Liechtenstein doesn’t count through Vaduz in the Swiss league.
Any match in the country, friendlies included.
Most count England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland separately.
The 92 Club rules
In England the 92 Club has been the best-known list since 1978: every ground in the Premier League and the three EFL divisions. Its rules are surprisingly relaxed. You must have been inside the ground, any match counts, friendlies included, and it has to be the club’s current ground. When a club moves, you have to go again.
How Ovals counts
In Ovals every ground you log counts. The passport counts each ground once, however often you have been. For the leagues in your passport only league matches count, not cup or friendly competitions.
There is no setting for your personal rules. You decide when you log a match: anything that doesn’t count for you, you leave out. Or you set the visit to private, and only you see it. If a side pitch or an old ground is missing, you add it yourself.
4.6 ★ on the App Store
Ovals, the groundhopping app for iPhone
Log your grounds, old seasons included, and see new countries and leagues in your passport.
Scan with your iPhoneSetting your own rules
- Set them at the start.
Recounting later is a chore.
- Write them down in one sentence.
For example: “Full competitive match, side pitches count, friendlies only abroad.”
- Note the special cases.
An abandoned or moved match gets a short note, so you still know later why it counts.
FAQ
Does a ground count if I played there myself?
Usually not as a hopper. If you were on the pitch as a player, referee or coach, you didn’t do the ground as a spectator.
Do I need proof?
No. Nobody checks, it’s an honour code. Many still keep the ticket or the programme.
Does a second visit to the same ground count?
As a match yes, as a ground no. The second visit is a revisit, the ground stays on your list once.
Sources: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhopping · 92club.co.uk/rules · kopane.de (Groundhopping-ABC) · globushopper.de · wikiwaldhof.org · nonleaguematters.co.uk (forum threads “rules of groundhopping”)