With a bit of time on my hands in December I decided to embark on a quest, albeit a quest that after thinking about wouldn't actually be that hard. But I had a zones 1-3 travel card sitting pretty on my Oyster so I may as well use it.
My plan was to visit every Premier League ground in London. I would Snap a silly 'selfie', make a swift exit, hope that no one would see what I was up to and move onto the next stadium.
There are only six London clubs plying their trade in England's top tier this season. We've got Crystal Palace in deepest South London, Chelsea and Fulham in leafy West London, West Ham representing the east and finally, Tottenham Hotspurs and Arsenal battling it out in the north. This was going to be easy.
As I live in South London Crystal Palace was the obvious place to start. So an hour after I hopped on a bus in Clapham and changed at Herne Hill Station, I found myself at the somewhat depressing Selhurst Park.
I had to move quickly. I turned up at around 2pm on a Tuesday and Palace were hosting West Ham that evening so there were already people milling about. Selhurst Park isn't the nicest of grounds so a quick snap of the team badge through a chainlink fence was the best I could muster. But to celebrate my first stadium selfie I bought a BLT at the Sainsbury's next door.
A couple of days later saw me make my way west towards Chelsea and Fulham, which, from Clapham Junction, was an extremely easy journey. 38 minutes and two buses later, I was at Stamford Bridge.
Don't let my muggy face fool you, I liked The Bridge. It was clean, quiet, boasts a hotel and has lots of photo opportunities.
I've heard Fulham FC is like Chelsea's little brother due to how close their grounds are. I was about to put this to the test. Taking to the underground for the first time in this challenge I jumped on at Fulham Broadway and got off two stops later at Putney Bridge. After a lovely walk through the Thames-side Bishop's Park, I was at The Cottage.
Surprisingly, security was tight and a quick, slightly blurred snap by a board near the club shop was the best I could get. I heard there was statue of Michael Jackson here but I couldn't find it. Fulham, you've let me down.
Three stadiums down, three to go. I could cover West Ham, Spurs and Arsenal all in one day. I checked a map and it all seemed straight forward. Once again I'd have to take the underground out east to Upton Park, as well as 'keep me nut down'. I'd seen Green Street, I knew what to expect.
I particularly like the castle towers outside the ground. But the tricky bit now was figuring out the easiest way to get from Upton Park to White Hart Lane. I was going to have to venture out into Zone 4. Madness. So from Barking I made my way to Tottenham Hale then realised I was still half an hour away from the ground. This wasn't convenient at all.
It was a tough journey from Upton Park to White Hart Lane and my face encapsulates the frustration wonderfully. It doesn't help that there were a lot of people hanging about, making the selfie difficult to get. This was my third attempt.
But it was getting dark and I only had one more ground to get to; The Emirates. Thankfully I could get a bus from outside The Lane directly to Holloway Road station, a stone's throw from the Arsenal stadium.
What a photogenic stadium The Emirates is. It really is a lovely ground. Arsenal should be proud of themselves. But my challenge, which I'd only thought up a few days earlier, was complete. But what had I learnt? Well, I'm apparently incapable of pulling more than three silly faces, football grounds are bleak places when it's not match day and selfies can be quite embarrassing, and fiddly, to take.
Oh, and if you're wondering, I support Blackburn Rovers.
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