Scarf photos at every ground

Published in

Over Land and Ocean

9 min readNov 30, 2020

One of our top traditions is buying a scarf at every football ground and making sure we take a photo holding each one. We’ve failed to do this twice (Sheffield Wednesday and Stevenage — we bought them, wore them, but didn’t take the right photo), and several times had to go to great lengths to find and buy a scarf. Here’s the official collection from every match:

1. Stamford Bridge (1995/2007)

No photos taken at any of the matches I went to in 1995, but upon my return in 2007 (and many times after), scarf photos were taken.

2. Highbury (1995)

No scarf photos from 1995, since I didn’t buy an Arsenal scarf, and the tradition was 12.5 years away from being born

3. The Emirates (2007/2009)

Didn’t take a photo the first time we went in 2007, but took them at return trips in 2009 and 2010.

4. Upton Park (2007/2009)

No photo taken at my first match in 2007, but returned again in 2009 and got this beauty.

5. Walkers Stadium (2007)

The scarf tradition started on a chilly night in November 2007 in Leicester.

6. Hillsborough (2007)

Well the tradition wasn’t fully cemented until our next ground, but at least we have this photo, even though the scarf isn’t being lifted in its full glory.

7. Anfield (2007)

Our first Champions League scarf photo.

8. Craven Cottage (2010)

We took this photo at the second of two games we went to at Fulham in a three-day period.

9. The Abbey Business Stadium (2010)

Our first small ground, and first scarf from a team below the second tier.

10. Kingsmeadow (2010)

Our first scarf photo at a non-league ground, as Wimbledon was in the fifth tier at the time. Also the first photo where the temperature was below 30 degrees.

11. Loftus Road (2012)

Graham is right below the scarf, in Christine’s belly

12. Wembley (2012)

Our first Cup final scarf photo

13. Griffin Park (2014/2017)

Graham’s first ground, and a return trip in the rain three years later

14. The Etihad (2014)

I really hate any photo where I hold the scarf of another Big Six club, but City was playing United on this day, so we were supporting them for two hours.

15. Selhurst Park (2014)

On our first of many trips to Selhurst Park, we got to the ground a couple minutes before the match started and weren’t able to find a scarf to buy, so we borrowed one for this photo, before eventually buying the same one online a week later.

16. The Lamex Stadium (2014)

Complete failure with forgetting to get the proper scarf photo at Stevenage, hopefully will never happen again!

17. Roots Hall (2015)

Awesome day at Roots Hall, one of our favorite spots.

18. The Madejski Stadium (2015)

One of the surprisingly difficult scarf experiences, as the club shop had no scarves except a designer one (which we bought), then we stumbled upon this ugly gem later on (I detest scarves with no logos).

19. Gander Green Lane (2015)

Our first scarf photo at a sixth tier match, purchased in one of the tiniest club shops ever.

20. Victoria Road (2015)

A tough night all around, as my dad had to turn around to go home halfway through our tube ride to Dagenham, then the club shop was sold out of all scarves. Luckily this dog scarf appeared in the shop, and I was forced to take my first scarf selfie photo as I was too embarrassed to ask any fans for help.

21. The Hawthorns (2015)

We had to pose as West Brom fans as we couldn’t get seats in the Chelsea away section, and got totally drenched in the first half during a massive rain storm.

22. The New Lawn (2016)

Wesley is right below the scarf, in Christine’s belly.

23. White Hart Lane (2016)

Only defense for holding this scarf is that Spurs were playing Arsenal, but still not fun to look at.

24. Vicarage Road (2016/2018)

Two trips here, one to see Watford lose to Leicester during the Foxes famous 2016 run, and then got to sit in the Chelsea away section 2.5 years later.

25. The New Den (2016/2017)

Made trips here in back-to-back years, and always prefer a Christine scarf photo to one with just me.

26. Fratton Park (2016)

One of our most enjoyable days of football ever.

27. Gallagher Stadium (2017)

We got moved from the Aldershot away section to regular seats when it got super crowded and tight, which made it a lot easier to snap this photo.

28. Carrow Road (2017)

Graham basically fell apart after this photo, spending an hour in the bathroom before passing out before the match even started.

29. Molineux (2017)

Wolves were halfway through their big promotion campaign when we made our first visit to this awesome ground.

30. Recreation Ground (2017)

Still wish we owned a better Aldershot scarf for photo purposes.

31. Kenilworth Road (2018)

Awesome pic at a truly awesome ground.

32. Goodison Park (2018)

My dad stepped up in a big way for his first scarf photo.

33. York Road (2018)

The only scarf we could find was one from an old FA Cup match, so we bought it and folded it in half for photo purposes.

34. The Meadow (2018)

On my own, at my first seventh tier match. Bought this gem from behind the club bar, as it was the only scarf for sale in the entire ground (and the scarf was waiting a year to be purchased since it was from the prior season).

35. Abbey Stadium (2018)

One of our favorite days and games we ever went to.

36. Victoria Park (2019)

Let’s just say this scarf came in handy on the coldest 40-degree day known to mankind.

37. Hayes Lane (2019)

Great scarf, great photo, great ground and great day.

38. Old Trafford (2019)

We painfully took the Man U scarf photo, then switched quickly to a proper club.

39. War Memorial Sports Ground (2019)

Hunting down this scarf was tough, but some nice person brought it to us following 25 mins of panic that we wouldn’t get one, or this photo. No club shop, but luckily the Carshalton staff came through.

40. Stonebridge Road (2019x2)

Made two trips here in the span of four months, so Christine got her proper photo taken in December after Graham initially filled in during the summer.