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So last Saturday I was watching this Prem game at a pub, right? Friend asks me which stadium is closest to where we’re standing. Pulled out my phone thinking “easy peasy” – but nope. Google Maps just shows boring dots, zero club info. Total facepalm moment.
The Why & First Stabs
Went home determined to fix this crap. Figured someone must’ve made a simple Prem club map app. Downloaded like four “football maps” things – all either wanted money upfront or showed ancient stadium locations. One even listed West Ham at Upton Park! Like dude, get with the program.
My lightbulb moment: just make the dang thing myself using free tools.
Gathering The Pieces
First step? Get accurate coordinates of all 20 Prem stadiums.
- Opened Google Maps on my laptop
- Typed in “Emirates Stadium” etc. one-by-one
- Right-clicked the exact pitch spot > “What’s Here?”
- Copied those lat/long numbers into Notes
Took ages because I kept mixing up Brentford and Brighton. Nearly threw my sandwich.
Then needed something to hold the data. Made a Google Sheet:
- Column 1: Club names (spelled ‘Arsenal’ wrong twice)
- Column 2: Stadium names
- Column 3/4: Paste those latitude/longitude numbers
Screenshot the sheet as backup because tech loves to screw me.
Building The Damn Map
Opened Google My Maps – that free thing nobody uses.
- Clicked “Create New Map”
- Imported my Google Sheet (took three tries… CSV drama)
- Nearly cried when dots actually appeared
Spent another hour tweaking:
- Changed pin colors per club (red for Liverpool, blue for Chelsea… obvious stuff)
- Added club badges as icons – uploaded PNGs till my eyes crossed
- Wrote notes like “Tottenham: Avoid the pie stall near Gate 5”
Phone Access Disaster (And Fix)
Thought I’d won. Opened Google Maps app on my phone… and where’s my beautiful Prem map? Gone. Zilch. Internal screaming.
Googled like mad. Turns out you gotta click “View Map in Google Maps” ON THE DESKTOP version first?! Did that. Still nothing. Drank cheap beer. Tried again:
- On desktop My Map, hit Share > Enable link sharing
- Sent the gibberish link to my own phone via email
- Clicked it on mobile – FINALLY loaded properly!
- Immediately saved it offline just in case
Tested it at the cafe next day. Showed my mate the map with Villa Park pinned. He tapped it – boom, address popped up. Felt like a tech god. Until he asked “Why does Man United’s pin look like a toilet?” Forgot I made theirs a crappy brown icon. Details matter, folks.
Final Takeaways
Works anywhere now – tube, pub, work toilet stall. Free. Offline. No ads. But man, creating it was half victory, half therapy session. Probably why nobody sells this simple thing – the hassle ain’t worth 79p. Still… feels good having Prem grounds in my pocket. Even with United’s poop pin.