It sounds a bit un-technical and positively archaic way of planning a route but believe me, it seemed the easiest way of doing it when I started planning the challenge!
Back in 1998 when I did this last time, there was a helpful chap at Green Flag who planned it out for me and faxed all 100+ pages across to me. This time, though, I have bought a cheap road map and stuck 92 pins into it!!
In my own style, the pins are actually colour coded so that we can see from a distance where we'll be each day. It's a pretty taxing schedule but I'm fairly confident that we can stick to it. Whichever way you do the 92 clubs, there will inevitably be some criss-crossing of the country; days where you visit a place then three or four days later, you find yourself in the same area. Barmy, but you can't really avoid it.
I expected the whole challenge to be around 3,000 miles in total, around 200 miles a day and it turned out to be 2,915 miles from start to finish. The plan was to be at the first ground around 9.30am and finish the last one at around 5.00pm before driving on to the nearest accommodation to the following morning's start.
Day One - Saturday 8th April - 6 clubs
Yeovil, AFC Bournemouth, Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, Crawley
Match attended 3.00pm - Portsmouth 3 Yeovil Town 1 - League Two
Overnight Stop: Maidstone
Day Two - Sunday 9th April - 6 (+1) clubs
Gillingham, PALMERS FC, Southend, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge
Match attended 10.30am - Palmers FC 3 Corringham Cosmos 2
Overnight Stop: Cambridge
Day Three - Monday 10th April - 7 clubs
Peterborough, Notts County, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Burton Albion, Leicester
Match attended 2.00pm - Nottingham Forest u23 0 Huddersfield u23 2 - Professional Development League
Match attended: 7.00pm - Leicester u23 0 Man United 23 0 - Premier League 2
Overnight Stop: Alfreton
Day Four - Tuesday 11th April - 7 clubs
Mansfield, Chesterfield, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster
Overnight Stop: Doncaster
Day Five - Wednesday 12th April - 7 clubs
Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Hull, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Newcastle, Sunderland
Overnight Stop: Carlisle
Day Six - Thursday 13th April - 8 clubs
Morecambe, Fleetwood, Blackpool, Preston, Blackburn, Rochdale, Manchester United, Wigan
Match attended: 7.45pm - Wigan 3 Barnsley 2 - Championship
Overnight Stop: Manchester
Day Seven - Friday 14th April - 7 clubs
Bury, Accrington, Burnley, Bradford City, Leeds United, Huddersfield, Oldham
Match attended 3.00pm - Huddersfield Town 3 Preston North End 2 - Championship
Match attended 7.45pm - Stockport County 1 AFC Telford 1 - National League North
Overnight Stop: Bolton
Day Eight - Saturday 15th April - 7 clubs
Bolton, Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton, Crewe, Port Vale, Stoke City
Match attended 3.00pm - Stoke City 3 Hull City 1 - Premier League
Overnight Stop: Crewe
Day Nine - Sunday 16th April - 3 clubs
Shrewsbury, West Bromwich Albion
Match attended 4.00pm - West Bromwich Albion 0 Liverpool 1 - Premier League
Overnight Stop: Wolverhampton
Day Ten - Monday 17th April - 4 clubs
Wolves, Aston Villa, Walsall, Birmingham City
Match attended 3.00pm - Birmingham City 0 Burton Albion 2 - Championship
Overnight Stop: Birmingham
Day Eleven - Tuesday 18th April - 7 (+1) clubs
Coventry, Northampton, Milton Keynes Dons, Luton, Stevenage, Watford, Barnet, WEMBLEY
Overnight Stop: Finchley
Day Twelve - Wednesday 19th April - 7 clubs
Arsenal, Leyton Orient, West Ham, Millwall, Charlton, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur
Match attended 7.00pm - Spurs Ladies 4 West Ham Ladies 0 - FA Womens Super League
Overnight Stop: Sunbury
Day Thirteen - Thursday 20th April - 9 clubs
AFC Wimbledon, Brentford, Fulham, Chelsea, QPR, Wycombe, Oxford, Reading, Swindon
HOME!!!
Day Fourteen - Friday 21st April - 6 (+1) clubs
Newport, Cardiff, Swansea, HEREFORD UNITED, Cheltenham, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers
HOME!!
Day Fifteen - Saturday 22nd April - 2 clubs
ELMORE, Plymouth, Exeter
Match attended 3.00pm - Exeter City 3 Morecambe 1 - League Two
HOME!!