• About this humble little website

Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Monthly Archives: June 2014

Back On The Road Again

29 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in W

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Dorking Wanderers, Edward VIII, Elmbridge Leisure Centre, Elmbridge Xcel Leisure Centre, pillar boxes, post boxes, Walton Casuals, Walton on Thames

Saturday 28th June 2014 ko 12.00

Pre-Season Friendly

WALTON CASUALS 2 (Cove 28 Mustapha 74)

DORKING WANDERERS 2 (? 1 ? 40)

Att c20 at Elmbridge Xcel Leisure Centre, Walton-on-Thames

Entry FREE

No Programme

I haven’t got used to these June pre-season friendlies, even though this is the 3rd year I’ve seen them featured. To make it even more odd, at least one car-load of hoppers made their way to Scotland to take in a cup final marking the very end of last season. So two football seasons running simultaneously, work that one out!

Continue reading →

51.397740 -0.412980

Shapes

26 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in Q

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

150 years, anniversary, Eleanor Scott, foundation stage school, Headington Quarry, Headington Quarry School, Oxford, primary school, Quarry School

Headington Quarry School 1864-2014

I’ve written about my part of the world before, click here, and as you may know I attended my first school here, from 1976-1981. It was a happy place, even though the only time I ever managed to see out of the windows was when I returned in July 2003 to have a look round. It had just closed as a primary school, but happily it soon reopened as a foundation stage school for children aged 3 to 5, and so last weekend on its 150th anniversary, once again I had the chance to visit again and reminisce. Continue reading →

51.758379 -1.197201

Trollywood

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in T

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christoffer Ekelund, coach, Dancer In The Dark, Division 1 Södra, Edsborgs IP, FC Trollhättan, Kim Hedwall, Kristianstads, Sweden, Swedish Groundhop, Trollhättan

Sunday 15th June 2014 ko 17.00

Division One Södra

FC TROLLHÄTTAN 4 (Gustafsson 16 Mollapolci 53 83 Bennhage 83)

KRISTIANSTADS 1 (Ekelund 75)

Att 434

Entry & Programme 100 SEK

Badge 40 SEK

Burger & Drink 60 SEK

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

So journey’s end, and what a journey it had been, from the natural beauty of Tjörn, through the genteel urban feel of Gothenburg, to the smiles and laughter of travelling around on the IFK Gothenburg team coach. We had a good final stop to make, the Edsborgs IP home of FC Trollhättan producing a grin on faces of each of the coach party as we spied that stand! Did I even spot a hint of a smile on the normally taciturn features of Ebbe, our driver? Continue reading →

58.290064 12.312809

Bois-Zone

23 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in T

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bergendahl, BoIS, Daniel Bergendahl, Division 5 Nordvästra Götaland, FC Lidköping United, FC Trollhättan, Kim Hedwall, Sweden, Swedish Groundhop, Torsbovallen, Trollhättan, William Bohlin

Sunday 15th June 2014 ko 14.00

Division 5 Nordvästra Götaland

TROLLHÄTTAN BoIS 5 (Larsson 13 Bergendahl 40p Bohlin 53 77 Bergström 90)

FC LIDKÖPING UNITED 4 (Breznica 6 18 Matanovic 28p Restalica 55)

Att 92

Entry and Programme 40 SEK

Kaffe & Korv (coffee and hot dog) Comp’

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

Now if you think like me, and yes that is a dangerous thought, you’ll be wondering whether the Troll in Trollhättan is the mythical creature oft found under footbridges? And wonderfully yes it is, folklore says that in the islands in the Göta river, trolls used to try to scare off the fishermen. The hättan means bonnet, referring either to the beasts’ headwear, or to the shapes of the islands in the river.

The river is still Trollhättan’s raison d’etre, for those interested in engineering, the city pioneered the use of hydroelectric power, there are two hydro-stations in the town, and the complicated set of locks on the Göta river made the river navigable past the town. But for a town famed for goblins, perhaps that’s not what this place should be remembered for, it really should be for the waterfalls here. The river drops 32 metres, and whilst normally the majority of the water now flows to the hydro-plants, on Fallens Dagar (“Days of the Waterfalls”), arranged on the third Friday of July every year, water is allowed to flow down the river’s original course, including the evocatively named Hell Falls.  Perhaps that’s when the trolls can be seen….. Continue reading →

Irk the Purist

21 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in V

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Alingsas IF FF, ice creams, Kim Hedwall, reserve game, Sweden, Swedish Groundhop, Vanersborgs IF

Sunday 15th June 2014 ko 11.00

Utveckling Elit Division 2 Västra Götaland

VÄNERSBORGS I.F. 2 (Hellqvist 35 Kriezu 79)

ALINGSÅS I.F. F.F. 2 (Wahlin 27 Rusid 82)

Att 33

Entry FREE

Programme/Teamsheets FREE

Coffee FREE

It had been a distinctly non-standard Saturday evening on the Swedish Hop. The tradition is for the veterans to take organiser Kim Hedwall out for a meal, but he’d rather trumped that idea, by organising a hot buffet at the hotel, a real bargain at £15 a head. In fact the only issue was that there wasn’t a dessert available, so half an hour after the event there was a short queue at the petrol station next door for ice creams, and we sat in the hotel’s veranda exchanging silly stories. You can take the hopper out of England…..

Continue reading →

58.365531 12.328645

Slayer

19 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in Q

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

BK Häcken, GAIS, Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, IFK Gothenburg, IP, Kim Hedwall, Nya Ullevi, Orgryte, Qviding, Sodra, Sweden, Swedish Groundhop, Ullevi, Vahalla

Saturday 14th June 2014 ko 16.00

Division 1 Södra

QVIDING F.I.F. 1 (Zhubi 90)

ÖRGYRTE I.S. 1 (Pangop 46)

Att 1,275

Entry & Programme 100 SEK

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

About 3 months before the Swedish hop, I received an email from organiser Kim Hedwall. It had the outline line-up for the hop but the line-up included a trip to the Gamla Ullevi to watch second-tier G.A.I.S. I responded by asking whether there was an alternative to it, this hop is there to show-case Sweden, and the grounds that you wouldn’t visit normally. After all, its not difficult to book a flight to Gothenburg and do the Gamla Ullevi under your own steam. When Kim came back to me with the news that Qviding were at home at the same time it was an easy decision to shift our attention to Valhala IP, but the influence of the Ullevi was never far away. Continue reading →

57.701470 11.990428

Wooden Heart

18 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in V

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

De Sousa, Division 3 Sydvastra Gotaland, Gothenburg, IFK Gothenburg, Laholms, Ruddalen IP, Vasta Frolunda, Västra Frölunda

Saturday 14th June 2014 ko 13.00

Division 3 Sydvästra Götaland

VÄSTRA FRÖLUNDA 2 (De Sousa 8 Hermansson 72)

LAHOLMS FK 2 (Sulejmani 83 Morad 85)

Att 95

Entry, & Teamsheet 60sek

Badge- Comp

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

The morning saw the hop party continue to turn heads in the IFK Gothenburg team coach as we went on a sightseeing guide of Gothenburg. Its times like these having a local driver, Ebbe, was invaluable as he negotiated the traffic restrictions and tram lines to the Masthuggskyrkan, or High Hill Church for a truly spectacular view of the city and Göta älv, or Göta river, with the huge container and cruise ships setting sail for distant locations.

From there, we headed into the centre and enjoyed a coffee and cake at Eva’s Paley, a famous Swedish cake shop started by Hungarian émigrés in 1945 and it was the perfect place to watch the Gothenburg tradition of running heritage trams on a Saturday. Continue reading →

Tjörn Again

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in S

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

coach, E Johannessen, Gothenburg, Kim Hedwall, Roavallen, Skarhamns IK, Stigen/Elleno, Sweden, Swedish Groundhop, Tjörn Bridge, Tjorn, Tjornbron

Friday 13th June 2014 ko 19.00

Division 4 Bohuslän/Dalsland

SKÄRHAMNS IK 2 (E Johannessen 17 79)

STIGEN/ELLENÖ 0

Att 76

Entry 100 SEK (£8.88)

Programme included

Pennant- Comp

Hot Dog and Coffee- Comp

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

So, picture the scene, the 3 of us had arrived at Gothenburg coach station from Oslo, and were waiting for Kim Hedwall and the hop coach to arrive. Clearly there were no lack of coaches coming and going but which one was the one with Kim? The answer became obvious and I laughed out loud as the IFK Gothenburg team coach pulled in to a lay-by. From then on wherever we went people stopped and stared and in some cases even took photos. I tried not to imagine their disappointment when I exited…..

Continue reading →

57.987450 11.543421

Fjord Focus

16 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in S

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Arasen stadium, Fofana, Gardemoen Airport, Hoiland, Kim Hedwall, Knudzon, Lillestrom, Martin Odegaard, Norway, Stromsgodset, Tippeligaen

Thursday 12th June 2014 ko 19.00

Tippeligaen

LILLESTRØM 3 (Fofana 6 Knudzon 35 Høiland 71)

STRØMSGODSET 0

Att 5,315

Entry 270 NOK (£26.52)

No Programme

Teamsheet- Comp’

If it wasn’t for the Swedish Groundhop, I simply wouldn’t have been at this game. For the last 2 years organiser Kim Hedwall has taken the event away from Stockholm, and this year decided to move for his most radical move yet, moving the whole event to Gothenburg. That brought, at least to my eyes, Norway into my equation, with a coach service available from Oslo. Of course that was for the Friday, I just needed a game for the Thursday. I spotted that top-flight Lillestrøm were at home, and then to my extremely pleasant surprise I had company in the form of Sim, who’d been on the Scottish tour that included Neilston and Stuttgart’s very own Andreas whose help I’ll never forget on the German border after a trip to Banik Most. Continue reading →

59.962223 11.063221

Skewen

11 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in N

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Aberystwyth, BP, Football, Lee Trundle, Llandarcy Park, National Oil Refineries, Neath, Skewen, The Gnoll, Town, Wales, Welsh League, welsh premier league

Friday 23rd November 2007 ko 19.30

Welsh Premier League

NEATH ATHLETIC 2 (Price 78 Bevan 90)

ABERYSTWYTH TOWN 2 (S Roberts 18 Sherbon 32p)

Att 218 at Llandarcy Park

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Today’s “Greatest Hit,” is a little unusual. Not only does the ground not exist (for football) but neither does the team either! The roots of the club lie in BP, British Petroleum and their predecessor National Oil Refineries. The club was founded in 1922 as National Oil Refineries F.C as the works team for the new refinery, and played at Llandarcy Park, now to the south-west of the M4 as it passes by Junction 43. Continue reading →

51.643091 -3.855991
← Older posts

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 6,512 other subscribers

Look for stuff here folks!

Blogroll

  • Damage In The Box Chris Powell’s travels across the UK and Europe. The artist must frequently seen in the pub 0
  • FA Cup Factfile Phil Annets on all things to do with the World’s greatest cup competition 10
  • Football Club History Database Want to know where a club finished in what league and in what year? Richard Rundle’s site is a veritable goldmine! 0
  • Football Hopper “Fast” Eddie McGeown’s erudite perambulations around the nation’s football grounds 0
  • Gibbo's 92 As Atherton Colleries’ programme editor puts it, ” The best trips are random, unplanned and spontaneous.” 0
  • Groundhopping.se Per-Gunnar Nilsson’s trips around his native Sweden, and into Europe 0
  • Grounds for concern The late Mishi Morath’s picture blog. Obviously no longer updated but still a wonderful archive. 0
  • Kate Shrewsday. A thousand thousand stories Not about football, but beautiful writing, Kate can make words dance. 0
  • Modus Hopper Random Graham Yapp’s travels 0
  • Swedish Football History & Statistics Mats Nyström’s curates this site, which does exactly what you’d expect 0
  • The 100 Grounds Club Shaun Smith’s groundhopping football blog. The original internet ground logging website. 0
  • The Football Traveller The bible for every groundhopper. Non-League fixtures magazine delivered weekly. Published and edited by Chris Bedford 0
  • The Intinerant Football Watcher Peter finds the grounds other hoppers cannot reach. Top bloke too! 0
  • The66POW Rob Waite’s travels 0

Your very own calendar!

June 2014
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  
« May   Jul »

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Football: Wherever it may be
    • Join 494 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Football: Wherever it may be
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar