WHEN football superfan Daniel Pentland began his quest to visit all 92 league grounds, he was unaware exactly what adventures lay ahead.

Over the past 14-and-a-half-years, the York City supporter, who lives in Darlington, has endured last-minute postponements, transport mishaps, and seen a game struck from the record books after a club fielded an ineligible player.

More dramatically, he had to dodge gangs of looters in Walsall during the 2011 riots.

It was during an away trip to see Darlington take on Blackpool in 2000 – a match Quakers lost 2-1, for the record – that the idea first occurred.

Since then, he has clocked up hundreds of thousands of travel miles, seen countless goals and ticked off all but one of the current 92 Premier League and Football League grounds.

He will complete his 'sticker album' of grounds with a trip to Villa Park on Saturday (May 9), when he and his partner will enjoy a five-course meal, stadium tour and pitch-side shirt presentation before Aston Villa's game against West Ham.

Recalling that day out in Blackpool back in 2000, the 28-year-old explained: "I had enjoyed my trip – it had poured down with rain all afternoon, I'd stood in an old fashioned stand with a hole in the roof and Blackpool Tower was visible in the distance.

"We had even stood for 10 mins in the rain outside the car at full time as my uncle had misplaced the car keys! "Despite the good old reliable British weather and a less than impressive game of football, the dream was born: one day I would visit every ground."

Mr Pentland, who works at the railway pensions office in Darlington and follows the Minstermen home and away, has travelled to games by coach and by car, but mostly by train.

He added: "As a small child my grandma would take me to the train station to watch the trains.

"I was fascinated by trains and when football was introduced to me in the late 1990s, both train travel and football seemed to combine together so well and the passion for visiting every corner of England grew and grew."

Due to clubs either moving to new grounds or being relegated from the Football League, Mr Pentland has actually visited 106 grounds.

He plans to maintain his record of visiting all the grounds in the seasons to come, for example by watching West Ham when they move into the Olympic Stadium in 2016.

More pressingly, the fact Barnet have recently earned promotion back to the Football League will necessitate a trip to north London, with the club having moved to a new stadium since Mr Pentland's previous visit.

Mr Pentland added: "I would like to say a big thank you to my family and friends, both new and old, for their support and interest during the past 14-and-a-half years, it really does mean a lot to me and it's appreciated."