Fazeley

03 Thursday Sep 2026

Posted by in C

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 25th July 2026 ko 14:30

United Counties League Premier South

COTON GREEN 3 (Evans 24 Letford 35 80)

O’Connor sent off 66 (2nd booking)

DAVENTRY TOWN 1 (Jackson 57)

Att 333

Entry £8

Programme £2

There were a few issues with this season’s UCL Hop. The main one was administrative, we had the coach and accomodation ready to go, but FA allocations, and appeals to those allocations made getting the fixtures for the event late- very late to be truthful. On a personal level I knew it would add up to an all-revisit weekend, I completed the league last season. You can still find plenty to enjoy over and above the social side of things, some of the grounds we visited I hadn’t visited in years and have changed quite a bit, and Coton Green was a case in point.

Continue reading →

Hawker

03 Thursday Sep 2026

Posted by in K

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 11th July 2026 ko 14:00

Pre-season Friendly

KINGSTON 1 (45+2)

RICHMOND & KEW 1 (87)

Att 53 at Hawker YMCA Centre, Lower Ham Rd, Kingston upon Thames

Free Entry

One advantage of pre-season is you do occasionally get the chance to see a newly formed club play their first ever game. Kington will play in the Surrey South Eastern Division Two and were set up by resident Adam Smith to provide grassroots football for Kingston-on-Thames, in part a reaction to Kingstonian FC having moved out of the borough to groundshare at Ashford Town (Middx)

Continue reading →

A Fine Coal Miner

02 Wednesday Sep 2026

Posted by in R

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 4th July 2026 ko 14:00

Pre-Season Friendly

RHOSTYLLEN 4 (31 37 41 45)

CORWEN 0

Att 26

Free Entry

The calendar may have flipped over into July but there didn’t seem to be of much of interest. I knew I didn’t want to travel too far from our home in Oxford, and I couldn’t raise any enthusiasm for games switched to 3G cages. But then I spotted that Rhostyllen were at home. I checked the village is in the outskirts of Wrexham- well the staying local didn’t last long!

Continue reading →

The Palace

26 Wednesday Aug 2026

Posted by in S

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 27th June 2026 ko 14:00

Pre-season Friendly

SEVEN SISTERS ONLLYWN 1 (71)

PENLAN AFC 1 (66)

Att 27 at the Welfare Ground

Free Entry

Back in the day the Swedish Hop at the start of June used to bookend my season, and in England that would be the case now, but you are now seeing the occasional friendly pop up at the end of June, even though technically it is still forbidden by the FA. In Wales, you do see a few more driven by the FAW’s clubs early entry in to European competitions but in both cases check and check again that the game is still on.

Continue reading →

The Bridge

20 Thursday Aug 2026

Posted by in B

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 7th June 2026 ko 15:00

Division 6B Stockholm

BRO IK 3 (Tayeb 68 Zhao 80 84)

VÄLLINGBY AIK 0

Att 45 at Bro IP

Free Entry

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

They say always end on a good note, and leaving them wanting more. I tend to look at all the grounds we’re visiting well in advance, I do like to plan! I’d expected the opening ground on this year’s Swedish Hop to be wonderful, and Häradsvallen didn’t disappoint. I certainly didn’t expect Bro (pronounced “Brew”) to be another gem, clearly the photos I’d seen didn’t do the place justice!

Continue reading →

Winner Takes It All

14 Friday Aug 2026

Posted by in S

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 7th June 2026 ko 13:00

Division 4 Norra Stockholm

SPÅNGA IS FF 8 (Falsen 3 Bergtoft 33 Callebro 38 46 54 Aga 55 73 Hussein 75p)

DANDERYDS SK FF 0

Att 77 at Spånga IP

Entry & Programme Free

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

There was time when I found the final day of the Swedish Hop hard work. I know how much gets invested in 3 days and 2 nights so when I sense it all ending there was always a sense of melancholy. In recent years, I’ve dealt with it by simply extending my stay, and organiser Kim Hedwall seems to have kept us all busy in any case!

Continue reading →

Returns

12 Wednesday Aug 2026

Posted by in U

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 6th June 2026 ko 17:15

Division 3 Norra Svealand

IFK UPPSALA 1 (Vahedi 86)

ÖSTERÅKER UNITED 1 (Bechtel 65p)

Att 69 at Lötens IP

Entry & Programme 60 sek

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

If there’s one road we’ve seen the most of during the 19 years of the Swedish Hop it’s the E4. It runs north from Stockholm passing by Arlanda Airport then heading on to the far north, eventually reaching the border with Finland at Haparanda. But we were heading to the first major city north of the capital – Uppsala.

It’s a place of learning with Uppsala University dating back to 1477, and a place of antiquity- Old Uppsala was the main pagan centre of Sweden in Viking times. The Swedish Hop was based in Uppsala back in 2015 and we stayed very close to Lötens IP, and I’m sure we all wondered when we’d ever take in a game there? Just the 11 years then….

Continue reading →

Runes

03 Monday Aug 2026

Posted by in A

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 5th June 2026 ko 13:00

Division 2 Södra Svealand

ÄNGBY I.F. 1 (Kotiram 69p)

TÄBY F.K. 0

Att 137 at Ängby IP

Entry 80sek

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

Mornings on the Swedish Hop do tend to be relaxed. A buffet breakfast, why do meatballs seem so appropriate here but nowhere else? Some pickled herrings, why not? Then all aboard the minibus for some fairly random football matches, even by our standards!

Continue reading →

Happiness

02 Sunday Aug 2026

Posted by in T

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday 5th June 2026 ko 19:00

Division 3 Södra Svealand

TROSA VAGENHÄRADS SK 1 (Åkerblom 71)

HANVIKENS SK 0

Att 85 at Häradsvallen (grass)

Free Entry

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

It’s the same every year. I try and explain why Robyn and I spent a not inconsiderable amount of money to spend a weekend watching some fairly obscure football matches in Stockholm. I’m happy to admit it’s not for everyone, but since 2007, with a 3 year break for Covid these weekends have become my happy place. So much so, Robyn and I got engaged in Stockholm prior to the 2018 edition!

Sweden and I seem to complement each other, so over the years these events have slowly metamorphosed into trips with friends to see friends. I know that that doesn’t sell the hop to many others, but in all honesty, there’s a part of me that has stopped worrying. Read these next few articles, and perhaps you’ll see the value.

So I look forward to organiser Kim Hedwall’s email that always starts with “Welcome to the …th Swedish Groundhop”

Except in 2026 there were a couple of problems.

Continue reading →

Robin

29 Wednesday Jul 2026

Posted by in W

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 30th May 2026 ko 14:00

West Wales Tier 5 Playoffs Game 3

WAUNARLWYDD GALAXY 2 (Pritchard 71 89)

Fowler sent off 37 (serious foul play)

GLYNNEATH TOWN 0

Att 348

Entry, Programme & Raffle ticket £3

The season was in its last knockings, but non league in Wales does tend to produce some interesting play-offs. The issue has long been the same, there are more league winners than there are places in the leagues above. Who could forget the playoffs to get into the South Wales Alliance ?

Continue reading →