Some time ago a friend, noticing my propensity for heading to live sporting events suggested to me that I should try and attend 50 sporting events in a year, and I laughed it off and made somewhat of a joke of it. I then looked back at the end of that year (2019) and realised I may have well surpassed that, so in 2020 I decided I would undertake to keep track of all the events I attended.

This project started out with a humble spreadsheet , keeping a list of all those events I had been to as I went along my way, it was very early in this piece another friend who often attends a handful of these live sporting events suggested I start this blog, and cover off on all things linked to my attendances. So a big thanks to Lewis for the suggestion and here goes nothing as I try to keep everyone up to date with my adventures traversing the sporting landscape.

In setting myself the meager goal of 50 live matches to attend in 2020 I have early on realised there needs to be some rules around what counts as a live match, and while still relatively simplistic it was determined it could be any event of a national competition or higher with a few additions/exceptions. Examples of events which qualify AFL, NRL, Super Rugby, A-League, FFA Cup, Sheffield Shield, Womens National Cricket League, BBL, WBBL, NBL, WNBL just to name a few, while local leagues and state based competitions won’t count (not to say they won’t rate a mention on the blog if I do attend along my way!), the other key was double & triple headers or matches across multiple days (Test Match Cricket, Sheffield Shield, Rugby 7’s Tournaments) only count as one match or attendance. I will in due course create a list of these rules for posterity’s sake.

Rather than retrospectively try and play catch up on spiels around the matches I have attended to this date (January 30), I will simply provide a list of what has been attended so far below to get us started!

1. A-League – Melbourne Victory vs Newcastle Jets – AAMI Park, Melbourne (Sunday January 5th)
2. Womens NCL – Victoria vs Western Australia – Junction Oval, St Kilda (Thursday January 9th)
3. Big Bash – Sydney Sixers vs Hobart Hurricanes – SCG, Sydney (Thursday January 16th)
4. Big Bash – Sydney Sixers vs Melbourne Stars – SCG, Sydney (Monday January 20th)
5. W-League – Newcastle Jets vs Perth Glory – McDonald Jones Stadium (Thursday January 23rd)
6. Big Bash – Sydney Thunder vs Perth Scorchers – Sydney Showground, Sydney (Sunday January 26th)
7. Women’s T20I – Governor General’s XI vs India – Drummoyne Oval, Sydney (Tuesday January 28th)

So as it stands, 30 days in I am already 14% of the way to my target and it now stands that the end goal is to tick off as many matches and venues as I can. Speaking of ticking off, I will have some lists of grounds and teams as well as an ultimate sporting bucket list up on site soon along with a proposed list of matches I will aim to attend for me to tick off and cross reference along the way.

Overall I hope to give you insight on the best events to go to, the best venues to attend them at and some of the other things you can do along the way, plus additional little tidbits like the best places nearby or at the ground for a meal, best seats to sit and much much more.

If you would like to get involved and come along to some games or give me some suggestions on what I should attend, or other info I can provide in the blog feel free to reach out via any of the below

• Facebook – facebook.com/themadsportsfan
• Instagram – @themadsportsfan
• Email – themadsportsfan@gmail.com