The Ground Jewels

This week's guest is the Reverend Kate Bottley and she has nominated Ordsall Road, home to East Retford RUFC as her ground jewel. The nation's favourite vicar (sorry Richard Coles) joins the podcast to talk about her life in and around sport, the important role sports clubs have in communities to help bring people together and how for a brief moment she considered doing I'm A Celebrity to pay for a new clubhouse for her rugby team. We even managed a little Googlebox chat. A truly joyous episode. *** Hosted by sports author James Dixon ('The Fix' & 'World in Union') the Ground Jewels podcast is dedicated to celebrating the deep connections individuals have with their favorite sports grounds. *** Artwork by Luke Williamson - https://www.lukewilliamsonart.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's guest is the broadcaster Qasa Alom and he has nominated AC Milan's San Siro stadium as his ground jewel. You'll know Qasa from The Travel Show and as the lead presenter of Today at Wimbledon but it was over Christmas and New Year when he appeared on Celebrity Mastermind that I learned about his deep love for Milan's Rossoneri. It was an absolute delight to speak to Qasa about a ground he knows so well. *** Hosted by sports author James Dixon ('The Fix' & 'World in Union') the Ground Jewels podcast is dedicated to celebrating the deep connections individuals have with their favorite sports grounds. *** Artwork by Luke Williamson - https://www.lukewilliamsonart.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's guest is the journalist Daniel Storey. Daniel is the Chief Football Writer at the i and has nominated Grimsby Town's Blundell Park as his ground jewel. This season Daniel is attempting to visit every single Premier League and Football League ground and chronicling that effort in the i newspaper. We talk about his early football adventures in Africa and Europe, his love of grounds and end of the line towns where the football club is at the heart of the community. *** Hosted by sports author James Dixon ('The Fix' & 'World in Union') the Ground Jewels podcast is dedicated to celebrating the deep connections individuals have with their favorite sports grounds. *** Artwork by Luke Williamson - https://www.lukewilliamsonart.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our first ever returning guest! Comedian, actor, podcaster, former PE teacher Mike Bubbins graciously re-joins the podcast in Super Bowl week to nominate Lambeau Field, home of the NFL's Green Bay Packers as a ground jewel. A lifelong Packers super fan, Mike finally got to attend a game at Lambeau Field's frozen tundra this Thanksgiving. Let him tell you about his experience of Lambeau and Titletown, USA - home of the only co-operatively owned NFL franchise since 1919. *** Hosted by sports author James Dixon ('The Fix' & 'World in Union') the Ground Jewels podcast is dedicated to celebrating the deep connections individuals have with their favorite sports grounds. *** Artwork by Luke Williamson - https://www.lukewilliamsonart.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's guest is the sports broadcaster Orla Chennaoui and Orla has nominated Croke Park, Dublin, home to Gaelic Athletic Association as her ground jewel. Croke Park is the largest non-soccer stadium in Europe and has special cultural and political significance in Ireland as it was the site of a massacre in 1920 during the Anglo-Irish War. Orla is a Derry Girl, growing up in Northern Ireland during that tumultous political time. Croke Park speaks to her love of sport and also to her identity (and it didn't hurt that Derry won the GAA All-Ireland Football Championship for the first time at Croker when she was in her teens). Now an accomplished broadcaster, the national stadium still holds a special place in her heart and this is a tremendous episode of The Ground Jewels. *** Hosted by sports author James Dixon ('The Fix' & 'World in Union') the Ground Jewels podcast is dedicated to celebrating the deep connections individuals have with their favorite sports grounds. *** Artwork by Luke Williamson - https://www.lukewilliamsonart.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices