fjdgough

By The Compass

• ↑ Most northerly ground: Rugby Park home to Kilmarnock, Kilmarnock Ladies, Kilmarnock Reserves
• → Most easterly ground: Sportzentrum Kalsdorf home to SC Kalsdorf
• ↓ Most southerly ground: Sportzentrum Kalsdorf home to SC Kalsdorf
• ← Most westerly ground: Dalymount Park home to Bohemians, Bohemians Women, Dublin City, Republic of Ireland, Shamrock Rovers

About fjdgough

First Game

Derby County 5 West Bromwich Albion 3 (03/10/1993) - First game after Arthur Cox's retirement as manager due to a back injury. Called it boring. Clearly not paying much attention.

First game as a season ticket holder - Derby County 1 Barnsley 0 (30/08/1997) - First completed league game at Pride Park. Stefano Eranio with the only goal from a retaken penalty, Francesco Baiano took the original kick deemed to have to retake as Lars Leese (Barnsley goalkeeper) had stepped off his line.

Best Game

Being a Derby County fan, it's difficult to say which match certainly ranks top. I think in terms of entertainment of keeping fans on their toes, it has to be the Play-off Semi Final versus Southampton in the 2006-2007 campaign (15/05/2007) albeit losing 3-2 on the night, taking it to a penalty shootout and the driving rain that was pouring in that closing of play the sense of pride and knowledge that we were going to Wembley that night made you forget that it was shocking weather and you just wanted to party until you got your ticket for the Play-off Final which we also won however with hindsight wish we hadn't. In terms of away performances, there certainly very few times in my lifetime where a hat-trick had been scored and to witness one in what was one of Nigel Clough's last matches in charge at Millwall in the 2013-2014 campaign (14/09/2013) coming from Craig Bryson and goals also coming from Jake Buxton and a first ever league goal for Mason Bennett was also incredibly special to make it a 5-1 win, the biggest away win I've witnessed at the time of writing.

Worst Game

Where do I start? Being a Derby County supporter, I've seen a mix of the good, bad and the ugly games home and away. The whole of the 2007-2008 campaign was certainly one to forget and many bad games came in that season, heavy defeats at home to Aston Villa, Arsenal and certainly one of the worst that season was West Ham United (10/11/2007) when The Hammers were forced to make many changes prior to kick off due to an "injury" crisis however still comprehensively won 5-0 at Pride Park Stadium.

I don't know why but I have a soft spot for Vicarage Road, I went in the 2009-2010 campaign to witness a 1-0 win thanks to Chris Porter however I felt that Vicarage Road was quite homely in it's own way. I may have only lived my football supporting life after the Taylor Report but I do like the traditional grounds and Watford's Vicarage Road still had that sense of tradition there.

I don't really like to criticize places and grounds too much however one where I didn't feel too comfortable was in the blue half of Birmingham. After being searched by police due to the "local" derby character of the game and both teams at the wrong end of the table in an unforgettable 2007-2008 season, the character of the game was bitter, it finished 1-1 and my fellow Derby County supporters certainly made themselves look embarrassing by being abusive to the second city police and stewarding in the ground. The view was also quite obstructive however not as bad as the view I got at Bramall Lane which certainly to be honest comes second in my list, if I had to make one.

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