Mansfield Town recently welcomed a group of Dutch football fanatics on a mission to visit all 92 English League grounds.
Netherlands-born trio Daniel Schoonenboom, Suleyman Ozturk and Stef de Bont are in the midst of a 30-day challenge for long-running Dutch football magazine, Voetbal International.
Two thirds of the way through their journey, the three arrived enthusiastically at One Call Stadium despite the brisk conditions, browsing around the pitch and tunnel areas.
On the same day they were also visiting Derby County’s iPro Stadium and Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium, but they were impressed by Mansfield’s facilities and were particularly fascinated with the recent history of the Stags.
Ozturk said: “It’s very nice, cosy and historic. It’s nice to walk on a field like this, and to know someone like Luis Suarez has been on here is great, the FA Cup is a very good tournament.”
On their month-long quest they’ve so far visited various Premier League clubs, whilst also interviewing Dutch pair Virgil Van Dijk and Danny Holla at Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively.
And although they’re predominantly taken aback by the size and nature of some clubs, Ozturk believes it’s the small, minute details which will he forever remember from his trip.
“All the clubs we visit we’ll have a soft spot for, it’s good to see the little details about the clubs. There’s a little house at the end of one of the goals [at Mansfield] and it’s little things like that which we’ll remember. It’s been very fun to learn the English game by visiting all the clubs.”
To keep up to date with their mission, visit their blog.
