Places of worship: which football grounds are closest to churches?

“I was recently visiting family in Northern Ireland and went to see Larne FC play at their home ground, Inver Park. The nearby St Cedma’s church stands directly beside, and the church tower is visible behind the stand. Google Maps shows the walking distance between church and stadium as 0.2 miles. Could this be the closest stadium-to-church relationship in football?” asks Ryan Peter Reed.

We had loads of answers to this question – thank you one and all – so let’s crack on.

The most popular answer, by far, came from the L4 postcode. “The church Of St Luke the Evangelist is enclosed on both sides by Everton’s Goodison Park, and according to Google Maps is only 200 ft (0.03 miles) away,” writes Chai from Atalanta. “Everton do not play games early on Sunday to avoid clashing with the church’s services.”

The north of England is a fertile ground for this particular question. “St Mary’s RC church in Burnley is 0.2 miles away from Turf Moor,” writes Marcos Garcia. “The nearest church to Preston’s Deepdale is St Gregory’s, about 200 yards to the north,” adds Michael Haughey.“St Mary’s church is 500 feet from Bramall Lane in Sheffield!” exclaims Nick Harland.

Michael Haughey returns with an example from deepest Surrey. “Dorking Wanderers have a prominent church near their Meadowbank ground. The parish church of St Martins is a Grade II*-listed building and the spire is 210 feet high.” As you can see here.

“Heaton Stannington of the Northern League Division One, who play at Grounsell Park, have a corner flag just 16 metres from St George’s URC church,” suggests David Bullock. “The club even calls that end of the ground the Church End.” Which makes sense, let’s be honest. And before we leave England, let’s not forget West Ham (1904-