A group of 6 football-mad lads – accompanied by their Dads – have succeeded in their quest to visit all 20 Premier League grounds in just 24 hours in aid of Mountbatten Hospice.
Sonny Foster (7), Reuben Flood (10), Jack Egerton-Read (13), Oliver Flood (14), Ollie Linington (14) and Frankie Foster (14) took on the charity challenge accompanied by their fathers, Arsenal fan Darren Flood, Liverpool supporter Alan Foster and Chelsea aficionado Craig Egerton-Read.
The lads and Dads have now raised close to £2,000 for Mountbatten – well over £1,000 more than their original £500 target.
The intrepid group began their epic journey at 10:00 on Saturday morning at St James’ Park, home of Newcastle United – a 7-hour drive from the South coast.
They then went on the following route:
Newcastle Utd > Leeds Utd > Manchester City > Manchester Utd > Liverpool > Everton > Wolves > Aston Villa > Nottingham Forest > Leicester City > Spurs > West Ham > Arsenal > Brentford > Fulham > Chelsea > Crystal Palace > Brighton > Southampton > Bournemouth.
They reached the Emirate’s stadium – home of Arsenal – at exactly midnight. They then suffered an hour’s delay at Craven Cottage – home of Fulham FC – when the clocks went forward.
Their final stop on Sunday morning was at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth – home of the Cherries – which they reached at 07:15.
The football stadium tour was completed in a time of 20 hours 15 minutes (taking into account the clocks going forward), comfortably breaking their 24 hour target by 3 hour 45 minutes.
After their journey, 1 of the fathers – Craig Egerton-Read – said:
“I don’t think anyone has completed the challenge faster, so we’re pretty proud of the time.”
Anyone wishing to contribute to the group’s GoFundMe page may do so here.
UPDATE: The group have now raised £2,278 for Mountbatten Hospice as of lunchtime Tuesday.
Well done to all concerned.