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.

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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.

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Artwork by Luke Williamson - https://www.lukewilliamsonart.com/

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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.

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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/

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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/

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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.

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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/

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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/

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This week's guest is the author Christopher Hylland and Chris has nominated La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, home to Boca Juniors as his ground jewel.

Chris' debut book Tears at La Bombonera was a critically acclaimed travelogue on his footballing journeys through South America and now he's back with a follow up Dame Bola: A Journey Through the Language of Argentinian Football

So, who better to take us on a virtual tour of this iconic chocolate box stadium?

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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/

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This week's guest is the comedian, novelist and francophile Ian Moore and Ian has nominated Carrow Road, home to Norwich City as his ground jewel.

We rendezvous with Ian as he takes us on a sojourn through the important stadiums and sporting venues of his life. From growing up in Blackburn, moving to East Anglia, to his current dual existence as a bed & breakfast owner in the Loire valley/comedian on the UK comedy circuit.

An episode not to be missed.

***

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/

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This week's guest is the historian and author Phil McGowan and Phil has nominated Twickenham as his ground jewel.

This month is the 115th anniversary of the first international match played at Twickenham (England beat Wales 11-6) and the 'Home of Rugby' has undergone numerous changes since the cabbage patch was acquired by RFU. Not least just last year selling the naming rights to the historic stadium to the insurance giant Allianz.

Who better to talk about this ever evolving ground than the curator of World Rugby Museum, which is based at Twickenham itself.

***

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/

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As a year end treat we've wrapped up some of our favourite guests and stories from the past 12 months for your listening pleasure.

I hope you have as much fun listening back as I did re-editing it.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

James

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This week's guest is the broadcaster Jarrod Kimber and Jarrod has nominated The Melbourne Cricket Ground as his ground jewel.

A Melburnian to his core Jarrod was the perfect guest to discuss this iconic and important stadium. For a long time, the world'd largest cricket ground, the MCG has hosted two Cricket World Cup Finals and was the birth place of both Test cricket and ODI cricket.

Not content with being one of the world's most important cricket venues 'The G' as it's locally known is also the spiritual home of Aussie Rules football and was the first stadium in the Southern Hemisphere to host an Olympic Games. The MCG was known for its vast and partisan Great Southern Stand, and in particular the raucous Bay 13, where only the bravest opposition fieldsman would dare venture.

In recent times, the MCG has become world renowned for its Boxing Day Test match but Jarrod was able to tell us so much more as he kindly shared his experiences of watching Sheffield Shield cricket and VFL/AFL games at 'The G'.

I hope you enjoy this special 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