Last day for visiting all league grounds inside the M25 and it's really a mop up of old grounds I intended to visit last weekend. A week ago I started with the current Arsenal ground and fittingly it's ended with the very first pitch they played on at Tiller Road on the Isle of Dogs. But that comes later. As I'm meeting Jack in Finsbury Park I cycle round Ashburton Grove again and take a photo of the one that got away last weekend. Ken Friar who was asked if he wanted a part time job as a 12 year old when someone saw him kicking a football about on Avenell Road outside the main stand. He rose to become chair of Arsenal. After Finsbury Park I cycle past the Olympic / London Stadium to what we know as Upton Park but is officially the Boleyn Ground. Or was. Now flats. So both West Ham grounds today. Then it's negotiating my way into and round the Isle of Dogs to Tiller Road. I thought it would just be a row of houses but fittingly it has a lovely public garden at it's entrance where I chill out and think about the number of people who have loved Arsenal since they first played together. Fittingly as Highbury is also housing with a garden. Although not public. The changing face of property. Funny that their first pitch was north of the river as they are seen as upstarts from the south in some quarters. Then it was down the Commercial Road and my usual route home from the City. Now got to think of my next quest during these harsh times.
Key to the map:
Ashburton Grove - current Arsenal ground - the squiggly bit underneath Holloway
London Stadium - current West Ham ground - the red line between the rivers to the east of Victoria Park
Boleyn Ground - nipply bit at the very eastern edge
Tiller Road - bit just before Millwall
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| Ken Friar |
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| West Ham's current ground (leased not owned) |
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| West Ham's old ground. |
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| Site of the first Arsenal games |
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| The gardens |
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| The route bar a bit at the bottom to my house. |
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