Waiting for the Penrith v Sunderland RCA match - so off to Annan to 'road test' my reporting skills

So, as the Penrith v Sunderland RCA match draws ever closer I have decided to ‘road test’ my ‘Road to Wembley from Scotland’ reporting skills by attending the Annan Athletic v Motherwell Betfred Scottish League Cup tie at Galabank Anna this coming Saturday.

Galabank: The home of Annan Athletic

I have decided that in addition to reporting on whatever seems to be noteworthy on the day I am also going to award a mark out of 100 for each match I visit. Hence after I have attended the FA Cup Final at Wembley in May 2017 I will be able to use this scoring system to nominate the best match on the ‘road’. There is not going to be anything scientific here – all marks awarded will be my personal opinions and will be completely subjective. I propose award marks out of 10 in 10 different categories. The categories chosen below are all of interest to me and I suspect will be of interest to many football fans visiting a ground for the first time.

Category 1 - Pre Match Communications: On the Road to Wembley from Scotland I will be contacting all the clubs that I will be watching in advance of the tie. The unique feature of this ‘Road to Wembley’ is that I will be looking out for a Scottish link to each match.

Category 2 – The pre match pint: Could I get one? How convenient is it to enjoy a small libation before the game? What did it taste like?

Category 3 – Match Programme: A must for every first time visitor to a new ground.

Category 4 – Ground: Comfort, maintenance, fitness for purpose – that sort of stuff

Category 5 – Atmosphere: What it feels like to be there

Category 6 – Quality of football: The standard of play

Category 7 – Entertainment: Not to be confused with category 6. I saw a dreadful game a few years ago between Musselburgh Athletic and Auchinleck Talbot. An extremely feisty encounter with one sent off and two carried off – very entertaining!

Category 8 – Match day catering: In most cases this will be the pie.

Category 9 – Value for money: Was it worth the price of admission?

Category 10 – The ‘je ne sais quoi’ factor: A catch all category. Possibly something that made the day memorable

I may of course revise the above categories on Monday if I find out that this format does not work. For now, I am off to Annan on Saturday. Galabank is only one of 8 Scottish league grounds that I have not yet visited and I am looking forward seeing the Black and Golds take on their Scottish Premier League visitors.