A FOOTBALL fanatic from Ipswich will attempt to visit 22 Scottish football grounds in 48 hours in a bid to raise money for charity.

A FOOTBALL fanatic from Ipswich will attempt to visit 22 Scottish football grounds in 48 hours in a bid to raise money for charity.

Town fan Daniel Gooch, 23, will attempt to visit all the football grounds in the top two divisions of the Scottish league in just 48 hours.

He will travel 600 miles - mostly on train - and will take a photograph of himself at each stadium as proof of his visit.

The aim is to raise as much money as possible for the charity Spirit of Soccer. The charity educates children around the world about the dangers of mines and other explosives left behind in war while simultaneously providing them with FIFA-endorsed football coaching.

Mr Gooch, who lives in Rushbury Close, said: “I have heard about people doing this across England by car before and thought that I would like to do the same thing but I do not drive. I like using trains but realised that going across England might be a bit difficult so I thought I would look at the Scottish league. I have not been to many grounds in Scotland before so I thought it would be a new experience.

“I am very excited. I have always been interested in football grounds and have been to more than 100 across Europe.”

However, if Mr Gooch wants to complete the task, it will be a race against time. At Aberdeen, he will have just 50 minutes between arriving and the next train leaving - with the ground a 25 minute walk away.

But despite the difficulties that he will face, Mr Gooch said it will be worth it to raise money for such a good cause.

“I first read about the charity before I had the idea to do this,” he said. “I thought that it is a really worthwhile cause and the sort of thing that I have considered doing before. I know that football has the ability to do lots of good in the world and this charity does that.”

Mr Gooch will start his trip on June 18. If you would like to sponsor him, visit www.justgiving.com/danielgooch

FACTFILE

Mr Gooch's journey will start at Victoria Park, Dingwall, which is the home of Ross County Football Club. It is the most northerly league club in Scotland.

His journey will finish at 10pm on June 20 at Palmerston Park in Dumfries - the home of Queen of the South.

The ground with the smallest capacity is Ross County's Victoria Park with a capacity of 5,800.

The biggest stadium Mr Gooch will visit is Celtic Park in Glasgow which has a capacity of 60,832.

The distance between Mr Gooch's starting point and finishing point is 246.3 miles.

His shortest journey will be between Dundee's Dens Park and Dundee United's stadium - they're on opposite sides of Tannadice Street.