A BLIND football fan who has visited more than 1,600 grounds around the country arrived in Cornwall this week to chalk off a few more venues on his list.

John Stancombe, aged 45, from Lowestoft in Suffolk, arrived at Wendron with his guide dog Arthur on Monday, before travelling to Helston yesterday for their match with Torpoint.

"I've always loved football and I followed Wimbledon into the old Division 1, but when the hooliganism started in the 1980s I'd had enough of it and started to follow the Isthmian League around London.

"I started to go to games outside the M25 and travelled further and further and that's why I'm here in Cornwall."

John said he had four grounds in Cornwall that he had not yet visited - Wendron, Helston, Illogan and Bude.

He stopped off to see a game near Taunton on his way down, before arriving by train in Exeter and catching a bus to Bude for their Sunday fixture.

He then returned to Exeter and caught another train to West Cornwall, where he stayed in a bed and breakfast next to Wendron's ground at Underlane. Club secretary Peter Thorne offered him great hospitality and likewise with Helston, through chairman Paul Hendy.

After Helston's match last night, he planned to catch the overnight train to Paddington, before returning to Lowestoft today.

Unfortunately Illogan were unable to accommodate John for their match on Saturday, so it will be the one remaining ground at senior level that he has not visited in the county.

While Arthur sat patiently behind John during Monday's game, I spent half an hour with him, describing what I could see on the pitch. Every time a goal was scored, he wanted to know the name and number of the player and would dutifully record it on his Dictaphone.

I attempted to explain the action to him and realised just how difficult it was, replacing words with "oohs" and "ahs" which only prompted him to ask me what on earth was going on.

I'll stick to writing...