WE COLLECT STADIUMS!!! THAT IS WHAT GROUNDHOPPING IS ALL ABOUT!

A group of groundhoppers from Ukraine, who call themselves Kopankomandry will be introduced today. There are five guys, coming from different parts of the country. Some of them supports Dynamo Kyiv, others Vorskla Poltava or Metalurh Zaporizhia and there is a supporter of Mykolaiv.

MM: What does Komankomandry mean?

- It's a Ukrainian word for groundhopping.

MM: Why do you groundhop? What is the reason you are not doing something else?

- Groundhopping perfectly combines travelling and football. There are many reasons people start groundhopping. Someone can find modern football fake and boring and looking for passion in the game, which is way easier to find on amateur level. Some of us just love stadiums more than the game itself. It's very common in Ukraine for football clubs to stop existing mostly for financial reasons but the supporters miss the game and start to watch football somewhere else. Some people got bored travelling to the same cities to support their club and looking for new challenge. I think it's fair to say everyone in our team have all those reasons combined in different proportions. Groundhopping is a great way to explore rural locations and lifes there as well as to see people who really love football not for the money but for its spirit.

MM: Do you alway travel together?

- It depends because we reside in different cities. Sometimes we gather, sometimes each travels on his own. However, we always share our match reports on our website, so each one of us may feel as we sort of made it together. We have two important annual events when we travel together. The first one is Kopankomandry anniversary. And the second one is Non-league day. An idea that originates from England. We are glad to spread it in Ukraine as it fits our football ideology. Last year was really great and around 15 non-groundhoppers have joined us to attend two amateur matches.

MM: How many stadiums and matches are on your account so far?

- Our team collected 250 stadiums so far in 20 countries. Our main focus now is on Ukrainian grounds as we have published a Ukrainian stadiums handbook. It motivates us to visit as many stadiums as possible to check and update data regarding particular grounds.

MM: Tell me about the book a bit, please!

- We've completed and published a handbook on Ukrainian stadiums last year. That book includes each stadium that held at least one professional match since Ukraine gained independence in 1992. There are over 300 grounds in this book supported with a picture, some stats like tenants, number of matches split into competitions and some other facts. There are some rural grounds we haven't got any photos of so we keep on travelling to discover those and keep updating our database for future editions.

MM: This is a great project. Would you recommend for other groundhoppers to travel to Ukraine? Is it easy to get around?

- I certainly recommend Ukraine for groundhoppers. Besides, big modern stadiums that won't surprise Europeans we have numerous stadiums with old-school spirit. Amateur football is pretty widespread in the country and together with some old grounds it can be a unique experience for any groundhopper. Rural grounds in tiny villages, where goats, ducks, goose are watching football with the local enthusiasts! Getting around in the main cities is pretty easy as train and bus tickets can be purchased online, which is very handy for foreigners. Getting around those rural locations could be challenging, but our groundhopping team is always pleased to support our guests with all the relevant information regarding match time and transportation. We do also celebrate Non-League Day in October so it's a great opportunity for anyone to join our trip to a random amateur match in the middle of nowhere! Last year a picture of us sharing a beer with a player who was about to take a corner became viral in the groundhoppers community. It perfectly transmits the spirit of our low league football.

MM: Sounds really interesting. Do you guys collect anything?

- Some of us collect football pins, some collect things not related to football. But first of all we collect stadiums! This is what groundhopping is all about.

MM: Are there many groundhoppers in Ukraina? Is it a popular hobby?

- Besides our group members there are several other guys who started to go groundhopping. We have started an open competition for 2021 of attending grounds that held at least one professional match since 1992. We have got 12 participants registered for it. More and more people read our match reports. And generally the word 'groundhopping' doesn't sound strange to people we meet. Instead, we hear 'Oh,I have heard about it' more often. So we have to admit that groundhopping starts spreading across Ukraine.

MM: Do you have your own stickers?

- Yes. We have some group stickers. We also produce stickers and pins for our annual Non-League Day.

MM: Please, if you can recommend the best 10 stadiums to visit in Ukraine.

- We have four modern stadiums that held Euro 2012 matches. There are more modern ones, but they are not that specials ,especially for those football travelers who have seen similar venues across Europe. So I would suggest Ukrainian grounds with spirit, some old school spirit:

1. Kyiv: Valerii Lobanovskyi. Cozy stadium with great acoustics in the very center of Kyiv.

2. Rukh: Ivano Frankivsk. Big old stadium with two tiers in a beautiful city.

3. Chernihiv: Haharin stadium. Two big stands (one side still has benches) that barely pass Premier League requirements.

4. Kryvyi Rih: Sukha Balka. I'd just say it's a number one picturesque stadium in Ukraine. Reminds me an antic amphitheater. Unique old stadium structure that is still used for amateur matches.

5. Sievierodonetsk: Khimik. Big old stadium that holds almost of all of the local regional league matches.

6. Kamianske. Similar to №4. It has a lot of architectural features to enjoy even without a match.

7. Poltava: Vorskla Butovskyi stadium. I find this venue one the most beautiful among our Premier League grounds. Worth a visit along with the lovely city of Poltava.

8. Vinnytsia: Tsentralnyi. Large stadium with wooden benches and huge stands. It was very much alike Rivne and Zhytomyr stadiums, but those two were renovated and lost their spirit of past times.

9. Irpin: Law academy. Large ground built with big ambitions to be used for youth national teams. But in the end it serves for some amateur matches. A tree that grows in the middle of a stand makes it even more special.

10. Zaporizhia: Motor Sich. Old venue with wooden stands around the pitch in an industrial but somehow charming city of Zaporizhia. Worth a visit along with other interesting venues in that city.

MM: Thank you for all of this great information. Just to close the interview: how would you invite foreign groundhoppers to Ukraine?

- Ukraine offers a lot of old school stadiums with lower league matches that still preserve the spirit of the game. It could be challenging but still rewarding to travel here. Wherever you go you may find something surprising and interesting from big old venues with running tracks to cozy rural stadiums surrounded by nature, from polluted industrial cities to beautiful historical buildings and stunning landscapes. Welcome to Ukraine!

Website: groundhopping.in.ua , groundhopping.in.ua@gmail.com And Instagram: groundhopping_ukraine