Going to a Match
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About the Book
The 2004/2005 season was one I eagerly awaited, which in essence, made it no different to any other season. There had been plenty of friendly matches to go to, but I wanted the real business to start.
In the year that I was born (1953), LS Lowry completed his painting Going to the Match. I can gaze at the familiar matchstick figures for ages. They leave behind their background of smoking chimneys and terraced houses for a brief sojourn at an oasis of pleasure - a football ground. I too am inexorably drawn away from my places of work and domicile to spend time out of a football matches. The painting is now owned by the Professional Footballer's Association and is loaned to the Lowry Gallery, who have also displayed fans' video diaries of their own journeys to matches. I cannot paint or make videos so I decided that I would write about my season.
My original plan was to go to as many different grounds as possible, and to see as many matches as possible. This had to be changed very early in the season. First I changed to a late shift, which meant a huge reduction in the number of evening matches I could go to, and then began to have problems with my leg, which would make it difficult to travel to matches and to sit in confined spaces. I came to see this as a blessing. It caused me to seek out matches at a variety of levels, and to visit non-league grounds that I had never been to before, but which were within easy reach of my home. It also led me to reflect on a life spent watching football.
About the Author
Andrew Skiller is in his fifth decade of going to football matches. His roots are in the non league ground but life, and a desire to watch football in many different places, has taken him to many games at a higher level. He has travelled the world and future projects include an account of those travels. He also has plans to write another 'off beat book about football'. When he is not at football matches, or on his way to them, he is usually found living and working in the Southampton area.