We all know doing the 92 is mammoth journey that over the course of a life time some won’t achieve, so imagine trying to get round all the grounds in one go! That’s exactly what Martin Lane, his mother and father in-law Sue and Dave Loder and family friend Simon Ward are attempting to do. We caught up with Martin before they set off on their adventure to find out when, why and how…

Groundsman: How did the idea of doing the 92 come about?
Martin: In my Mother-In-Laws Pub (where the best ideas come from!) with my Father-In-Law. We were chatting about the football grounds that he hadn’t yet been to, which was about 12. I then come up with the idea of visiting all of the 92. My In-Laws pub often has fun raisers, especially for my Nephews school. He has Autism, and we thought it’d be good to do something a bit different. After looking on the internet, we noticed many people had done it in 92 hours, we’re aiming for 72!

A local garage @pebleybeach is giving us a car, emblazoned with our twitter feed and a local haulage firm (J&B Bulk) is paying the cost of the fuel.

The planned route…

Groundsman: What’s your itinerary?
Martin: We are setting off Friday 18th September at 6pm from the School and aim to be at Swindon Town (Our Team!) sometime Monday afternoon.

Groundsman: Will you be doing anything at any grounds on the route?
Martin: If the ground is open or someone is there, we will try and get in for a better photo, we will also rattle our collection tins too. Failing that, and especially the grounds we arrive at in the dead of night, it’ll just be a case of out, group photo and back in the car. The school has kindly given us their Mascot (Paterson) to be in every photo with us. We have friends all over the country that are going to meet us at various grounds to lend their support.

Groundsman: How much are you aiming to raise?
Martin: Hard question, we have already ‘banked’ £2500 and we’re hoping to double that as a minimum. Along with our challenge, we have enlisted the Wiltshire Darts Association (who play their home matches at my In-Laws pub), they are doing a 12 hour Dartathon and a local ‘Rock’ group are doing us a gig, with proceeds from both going towards our efforts. We have already done a street collection in the small town we live in.

Groundsman: Who are you raising the funds for?
Martin: Paternoster School is where my Autistic Nephew George attends, he’s 6 and since he’s been going there he’s come on leaps and bounds. We want to get as much money as we can to get them more items for their sensory room and music therapy rooms. These are the two thing’s he likes the most.

Left to right Dave Loder, Simon Ward, Martin Lane, Sue Loder

Groundsman: How can people support you on your journey?
Martin: We will update our whereabouts regularly on our twitter feed, so if they want to come along to our next destination to lend support they can.

If they wish to make a donation they can do this via Just Giving www.justgiving.com/Martin-Lane2 or Text: IMKQ97 £?? To 70070

Thanks to Martin for taking the time to speak to us on behalf of the group in the lead up to their great journey. You can follow them along their route on Twitter @LaneMjlane72 and by searching #doingthe92.