Essex groundhopper's "worst fears confirmed" as he fails to attend Scottish pre-season friendly due to main stand maintenance works at Queen of the South

An Essex-based groundhopper has refused to attend a pre-season friendly in Scotland because the main stand was covered in scaffolding due to summer maintenance works.

Braintree Town fan Daniel Turner was planning to attend a bounce game in Dumfries where SPFL League One side Queen of the South were facing Cymru Premier side Connah’s Quay Nomads, who were preparing for their Conference League First Qualifying Round two-legged affair against FC Ballkani of Kosovo.

The home club published a preview of the friendly on Friday to warn supporters that their main stand at Palmerston Park would be closed for the match due to ongoing construction work on the roof.

Turner took to his social media account on Friday to confirm his attendance, which the Welsh side claimed a 1-0 win thanks to Abdi Sharif’s first-half strike this afternoon.

“The plan is still to go to this, however there’s construction work going on with the main stand.

“Call me strange but as a groundhopper, I want to see the ground in it’s full state.

“If I turn up and it’s covered in scaffolding then I’ll be going to Annan Athletic instead.”

Turner managed to gain access to the stadium on Saturday, taking a photograph of the main stand – which, as expected, was covered in scaffolding.

“My worst fears confirmed,” Turner posted on X.  “Unfortunately, there’s too much scaffolding to enjoy the ground properly. I will be back soon. Annan Athletic it is today.”

Turner made the 18-mile detour to attend a goal-less draw between SPFL League Two side Annan Athletic and SPFL Championship outfit Queen’s Park, who beat Gretna 2008 5-0 in another pre-season warm-up on Friday evening, which Turner attended.

It was Turner’s 76^th visit to a Scottish football stadium and he faced criticism on his Twitter feed, with one response saying, “I would seriously question your life choices if a shed with scaffolding is a huge disappointment.”

Turner said visiting Galabank was not ‘his intended game’ but was a step closer to attending all 42 Scottish Professional Football League stadiums.

Explaining his reasons for not attending his first choice game, Turner explained on X that tourists would feel disappointed to see a London icon covered in scaffolding had they visited the Westminster landmark.

“To put it into perspective for people to understand my decision today at Queen of the South, imagine you wanted to see Big Ben for ages and you turn up and see it like this (covered in scaffolding for maintenance.)

“It just isn’t the same, you want to see it in its full glory. Hope this clears things up a little.”

Turner – who has visited 1,143 football stadiums – plans to attend another friendly in Scotland next Saturday – Forfar Athletic (SPFL League Two) warming-up to their new campaign, against Banks o’Dee, who hail from Aberdeen and play in the fifth-tier Highland League.

Here is a list of all Pre-Season Friendly matches taking place in Kent this summer.