Paul’s 2022-23 Groundhopping Run

Paul Gerald · Profile
Paul’s 2022-23 Groundhopping Run

“Groundhopper Paul” has wrapped up his 2022-23 groundhopping season, after 65 games.

Updated May 5 — all done for the season! Here’s my 2023-24 groundhopping plan.

Well, this season of groundhopping is done. I was checking out many of the European and Premier League tickets and hospitality options we sell. And touring the continent. And working. And hiking. And basically reverting from “Portland Paul” to my wandering footy personality.

So here’s a look at where I went. Stay tuned for next season, when I should be in England for the start of the English Football League in my quest to finish the 92.

Here Are All the 200+ Games I Have Seen

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Map showing the English football clubs for the 2022-23 season

English football clubs for the 2022-23 season. Here’s our interactive map of them.

My Quest to “Do the 92”

As of the season start, I had been to 75 of the current 92 English league grounds — the quest of many in the world of #groundhopping — as well as 90 overall in the UK and Europe. If you’re wondering what it’s all about, here’s my guide to the leagues and cups of English soccer.

At the end of the season — 65 games later — I had added 10 new UK grounds to leave me at 85 of this season’s 92.

Here’s the 2022-23 English and European football schedule:

July 2022

  • July 31: Sunderland 1-1 Coventry City — the Black Cats back in the Championship! Report

August 2022

  • August 5: Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal — Premier League opener, and a chance to meet some of our clients
  • August 6: Fulham 2-2 Liverpool — checking out the new Riverside Stand for a cracking game.
  • August 7: Manchester United 1-2 Brighton — experiencing a new Man United hospitality package with our clients
  • August 9: Harrogate Town 0-1 Stockport County in the League Cup — ground #76 of the 92
  • August 10: Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Sunderland, again in the League Cup
  • August 13: Manchester City 4-0 Bournemouth on a private guided tour
  • August 16: MK Dons 2-1 Port Vale (#77)
  • August 17-25: Hiking (and a little working) in Austria
  • August 27: Bayern Munich 1-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach using one of our Bayern Munich ticket options
map showing 2022-23 German Bundesliga teams

September for me is all about Germany; here is our map of German clubs.

September 2022

  • September 2: Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Hoffenheim using one of our Dortmund ticket options
  • September 3: Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Freiburg with a ticket from the club
  • September 4: Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-1 Mainz — I was thrilled to find out these last three home teams are within about an hour of each other.
  • September 6: PSG 2-1 Juventus in the Champions League, using some of our PSG tickets.
  • September 7: Bruges 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
  • September 10: Ajax 5-0 Heerenveen — scored a ticket on their resale site!
  • September 11: Feyenoord 3-0 Spartak Rotterdam in the city derby!
  • September 14: Juventus 1-2 in the Champions League
  • September 17: Torino 0-1 Sassuolo
  • September 18: AC Milan 1-2 Napoli
  • September 25: L’Aquila 1-1 Torrese in the Italian fifth tier.
map showing Italian football clubs

October sees me roaming Italy; check out our map of Italian clubs.

October 2022:

  • October 1: Inter Milan 1-2 Roma using our Inter Milan tickets
  • October 2: Atalanta 1-0 Fiorentina with tickets from the club.
  • October 8: AC Milan 2-0 Juventus using our AC Milan tickets,
  • October 15: Beckenham Town 0-7 Dagenham and Redbridge, FA Cup 4th Round Qualifying
  • October 18: Brighton 0-0 Nottingham Forest
  • October 19: Millwall 3-0 Watford with our Millwall tickets
  • October 23: Roma 0-1 Napoli, with Groundhopper Emily using our Roma tickets.
  • October 26: Napoli 3-0 Rangers in the Champions League.
map of French football clubs ligue 1

Check out our map of French clubs, some of which I’ll visit in November.

November 2022

  • November 5: Barcelona 2-0 Almería with some Barcelona hospitality.
  • November 6: Real Betis vs Sevilla using tickets from our broker.
  • November 9: Sevilla 1-2 Real Sociedad
  • November 11: Lyon 1-1 Nice with our tickets
  • November 13: Monaco 2-3 Marseilles with our tickets.
  • November 19: Newport County 2-0 Gillingham (#78)
  • November 26: Dagenham and Redbridge 1-1 Gillingham in the FA Cup Round Two
  • November 27: Ebbsfleet United 0-1 Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup.

December 2022

  • December 2: Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Newport County (#79)
  • December 7: Stockport County 3-1 Charlton in an FA Cup replay (#80)
  • December 10: Rotherham 1-3 Bristol City (#81 and last of the Championship clubs)
  • December 11: Manchester City Women 1-1 Manchester United Women
  • December 21: Celtic 2-1 Livingston with our Celtic hospitality
  • December 26: Crystal Palace 0-3 Fulham
  • December 27: Chelsea 2-0 Bournnemouth
  • December 29: Millwall 0-0 Bristol City
  • December 30: West Ham 0-2 Brentford
  • December 31: Fulham 2-1 Southampton

January 2023

  • January 1: Tottenham 0-2 Aston Villa
  • January 2: QPR 1-1 Sheffield United
  • January 3: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle
  • January 5: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City
  • January 7: Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Sunderland, FA Cup (#82)
  • January 10: Man United 3-0 Charlton (EFL Cup)
  • January 11: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolverhampton (EFL Cup — Forest advanced on penalties)
  • January 15: Benfica 2-2 Sporting Lisbon
  • January 24: Port Vale 1-2 Derby County (#83)
  • January 27: Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal (FA Cup)
  • January 28: Barrow 0-2 Northampton Town (#84)
  • January 31: Salford City 1-0 Walsall (#85)

And after a little break, a Spanish run to close out the season:

  • April 8: Real Madrid 2-3 Villarreal
  • April 9: Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Atlético Madrid
  • April 12: Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea (Champions League)
  • April 16: Atlético Madrid 2-1 Almería
  • April 23: Real Sociedad 2-1 Rayo Vallecano
  • April 27: Valencia 2-1 Real Valladolid
  • April 29: Levante 2-0 Alavés
  • April 30: Real Zaragoza 1-1 Las Palmas
Written By Paul Gerald
Paul Gerald, Owner and Founder of Groundhopper Soccer Guides · Profile
Paul started Groundhopper Soccer Guides as EnglishSoccerGuide.com in 2014. He has been to more than 250 games around the UK and Europe, and he currently lives in Madrid.

Post Comments

  • Avatar for Paul Gerald Barney says:

    Hey Paul, sure we exchanged a reply or two on twitter before. I was the pompey fan at mls cup in Portland. I’m a pompey season ticket holder so give me a shout if you make it to Portsmouth or a game where pompey are playing

    • Avatar for Paul Gerald Paul Gerald says:

      I will! Definitely want to make it back to Portsmouth and spend more time in town.

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