Monthly Archives: October 2016

The Tangled Web Woven

31 Monday Oct 2016

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Tuesday 18th October 2016 ko 19.45

League 1

COVENTRY CITY 2 (Stevenson 28 Sordell 43)

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Crowley 90)

Att 9,912 (2,137 away)

Entry £22

Programme £3

Stadium Parking £10.20

At Oxford United we’re used to the awkward relationship between the club and the stadium. The club is, in effect owned by Daryl Eales but the stadium is owned by former chairman Firoz Kassam. Occasionally the two disagree, and the end game is clearly when in 10 years time the lease runs out and all options become open to all parties. It’s a complicated business, but compared to what’s facing Coventry City- it’s positively straightforward! Continue reading →

Homeward Bound

30 Sunday Oct 2016

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Wednesday 12th October 2016 ko 19.30

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division

HADLEY 1 (Belmansour 40)

EDGWARE TOWN 2 (McCluskey 52 Blackburne 68)

Att 95

Entry £6

Programme £1

There’ve been some remarkable returns home in non-league this season. One would be Fisher Athletic but in many respects Hadley’s return home is even more remarkable.  Continue reading →

Malaprop

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

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Tuesday 11th October 2016 ko 19.30

Kent County League Division One West

OTFORD UNITED 1 (Duff 45)

HALSTEAD UNITED 1 (Spears 11)

Att 36

Entry FREE

No Programme

Even if the names hint at League 1 and the Eastern Counties League surely noone could mistake Otford for anything other than the Kentish town near Sevenoaks? The ground is rather intriguing, set as it is at the back of Otford Recreation Ground, but why does a club playing at the 8th level of non-league football in England have floodlights? Continue reading →

Street Football

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

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Sunday 9th October 2016 ko 14.15

Western League Premier Division

STREET 4 (Herrod 27 Murray 42 62 90p)

CHIPPING SODBURY TOWN 2 (Guest 23 Sims 71) Criddle sent off 45 (Serious foul play)

Att 291

Entry £6

Programme £1

We headed back towards Bristol for the hop’s final game in the Somerset village of Street, named it seems because a Roman road ran through where the settlement built up. The Society of Friends, the Quakers established a base here in the 17th century and one Quaker family, the Clarks set up the eponymous shoe making business here. The factory closed in 1993 (although Clark’s still has its HQ in Street) and the factory was converted into an outlet shopping centre. The Clark family leased the firm’s former sanitorium to become, in 1931, Britain’s first Youth Hostel. Continue reading →

Who Would Break A Butterfly On A Wheel?

24 Monday Oct 2016

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Sunday 9th October 2016 ko 11.00

Western League Division One

CHARD TOWN 2 (Boyland 72 Friend 88)

BISHOPS LYDEARD 3 (Clunnie 50 Ryder Brereton 76)

Att 240

Entry £5

Programme £1

For me, this was the day when Zembard Lane’s famous slope ceased to define Chard Town. Yes, I know from many it’s the first feature you think of, and judging by the FA’s attempts to remove them from Pyramid Football they haven’t had my epiphany. But I do wonder how many of the club’s tormentors have actually paid the place a visit? Continue reading →

From Cheese to Ham

23 Sunday Oct 2016

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Saturday 8th October 2016 ko 19.45

Western League Division One

CALNE TOWN 3 (Dolman 21p Jones 29 Webb 61)

CORSHAM TOWN 2 (Pring 12 90)

Att 257

Entry £5

Programme £1

If the day started at the cheese of Cheddar then it finished at the Ham of Calne. Every time you’ve eaten a genuine slice of Wiltshire Cured Ham, chances are it originated at the Harris meat processing plant in Calne or until its closure in 1983 at least. Until then the trade in Irish pigs meant that the plant was roughly half-way to Smithfields Market in London. Time and pork wait for no man it seems. Continue reading →

The White Horse (2nd from) Final

21 Friday Oct 2016

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Saturday 8th October 2016 ko 16.30

Western League Division One

WESTBURY UNITED 0

MALMESBURY VICTORIA 1 (Wilkins 52)

Att 233

Entry £5

Programme £1

I’m beginning to think the time and place and to organise groundhops is in hospitality on the previous year’s event! Westbury had been the visitors at Keynsham Town last year, and I remember seeing their committee at half-time during a quite wonderful time, and their enthusiasm was both infectious and magnetic. It was an easy decision to include them this time round. Continue reading →

Elizabeth Gaunt

20 Thursday Oct 2016

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Saturday 8th October 2016 ko 13.15

Western League Premier Division

WELLS CITY 2 (Pitman 52 Spill 84) Batchelor missed penalty 47 Brown sent off (2nd booking) 86

CADBURY HEATH 5 (Huxley 25p 48 56 Bailey 26 McElroy 82)

Att 219

Entry £6

Programme £1

We arrived at the Athletic Ground, in Rowden’s Road, and I pleased to see a geographically challenged hopper park up next to me. The previous day he’d very nearly paid Bishops Sutton in Hampshire a visit rather than Bishop Sutton in Somerset, so I did wonder whether he’d made a beeline for Wells-next-the-sea. At one point we could have found GroundhopUK hopping the Anglian Combination I suppose, but then we could have easily been easily in a number of leagues. The Western League have been excellent hosts for us, and Chris Berezai had I had a special reason to want to be at Wells City.  Continue reading →

The Field Of Cheese

19 Wednesday Oct 2016

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Saturday 8th October 2016 ko 10.15

Western League Division One

CHEDDAR 2 (Ham 5 Vaughan 17)

PORTISHEAD TOWN 1 (Mortimer 51)

Att 222

Entry £5

Programme £1

The morning started cool, with overnight rain; I quietly celebrated that this was the last English hop of 2016. Four games in a day is one thing when the weather’s good, it’s rather different when it’s cold and wet. I headed down a surprisingly quiet M5 and made for Bowden’s Park. Continue reading →

Plurality

17 Monday Oct 2016

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Friday 7th October 2016 ko 19.45

Western League Division One

BISHOP SUTTON 0

KEYNSHAM TOWN 1 (B Harris 90)

Att 247

Entry £6

Programme £1

For a league whose hop inevitably means I’ll be revisiting most of the grounds I’d found myself anticipating this weekend for quite some time. A lot of that was down to its friendly clubs, and the gentleman that is league General Secretary Mark Edmonds, and some that it is my Bristolian girlfriend Robyn’s “Home” hop. She made sure that at least 2 family members were at each and every game which was some going! That isn’t to say though that this hop was straightforward to organise…. Continue reading →