«The Card» by Steve Hill

When does a hobby become an obsession? At the start of yet another football season, long-suffering Chester supporter Steve Hill makes his traditional tongue-in-cheek pledge to do The Card every game, home and away. However, this time it is different. This time he means it… One man, 50 matches, 15,000 miles. Spurning parental duties in search of glory, what follows is a disturbing journey into the heart of darkness, from Gateshead to Torquay and all points in between. An odyssey of forgotten towns, bad pubs, crumbling stadiums and shattered dreams, this is Broken Britain viewed through the prism of the match day experience: I have been to Macclesfield, but I have never been to me… Written on the road as a tragicomic travelogue, The Card is self-deprecating black humour at its best. Whether you love the game or not, it is an extraordinary story of football, friendship and fatherhood. And motorways. With literally dozens of fellow fans urging him on, can Hill achieve immortality and valiantly complete The Card: Every Match, Every Mile?