Monthly Archives: May 2017

Onwards & Upwards

10 Wednesday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Division One

ASHTON TOWN 0

STOCKPORT TOWN 2 (Hinchliffe 29p 57)

Att 315

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

If any future host club at a groundhop wants a piece of advice on how best to endear themselves to the organiser I suggest having someone waiting to guide in the coach when we arrive at the ground. It sets the tone for the visit, in confirming competence and in the case of Ashton Town I’m not sure we’d have found the parking spot without help. You couldn’t help but like Ashton Town, tucked away as they are between the houses in the middle of Ashton-in-Makerfield but we all knew they had their own problems over and above coping with a crowd up to 10 times normal. Continue reading →

Shakermaker

09 Tuesday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2016 ko 11.00

North-West Counties League Premier Division

ASHTON ATHLETIC 2 (Smith 10 Vaughan 63)

SQUIRES GATE 1 (Nobley 2)

Att 298

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

It seemed odd to be starting a new hop when traditionally we’d be recovering from a 3 day, 7 game blast. But let’s face it the Northern League’s whole of Easter event a couple of years ago changed everything. For a start it proved that running games on Easter Sunday was popular amongst fans and it reinforced some work that Chris Berezai and I at GroundhopUK had been doing behind the scenes.  Continue reading →

Rock On Selby

08 Monday May 2017

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Saturday 15th April 2017 ko 18.30

Northern Counties East League Division One

SELBY TOWN 1 (Mortimer 34)

PENISTONE CHURCH 1 (Whittington 68)

Att 386

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

It was good to see that all the supporters that had gone missing had made it back for this game, as the coach parked near Flaxley Road it felt close to being the end of an era. I remembered Chris meeting with the league before a hastily rearranged precursor game before a Central Midlands League hop as I did all the normal GroundhopUK duties. I remember our first game at Yorkshire Amateur where the club marvelled at just how many pints of real ale a coachload of hoppers could drink, and many rather took to the female PCSO who turned up wondering why there was a crowd at Bracken Edge? Continue reading →

The Compromise

06 Saturday May 2017

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Saturday 15th April 2017 ko 15.00

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

ARMTHORPE WELFARE 1 (Pearce 88)

HEMSWORTH MINERS WELFARE 6 (Connolly 4 Law 31 Collier 34 63 82 90)

Att 231

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

I’d started worrying the week before, and those worries were accentuated when counting the crowd at Rossington Main. We’d set this hop up on a “3 games in a day” basis, as we’d thought that 13 games in 4 and a bit days was enough football even for me! That format does come with a risk though and we’d just encountered the perfect storm as an organiser.

Continue reading →

A Fine Coal Miner For the NCB That Was

03 Wednesday May 2017

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Saturday 15th April 2017 ko 11.00

Northern Counties East League Division One

ROSSINGTON MAIN 0 

HALL ROAD RANGERS 1 (Spinks 37p)

Att 323

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

The procedure was well-worn. The alarm sounded and I immediately dashed to the hotel window to check it wasn’t raining. Whilst the weather wasn’t quite so much of an issue here as it was in, say the Carmarthenshire League it doesn’t half make your life easier when it’s dry. After the daily attempt to decimate Yorkshire’s pig population through bacon consumption we set our course for Doncaster which evoked memories of the Central Midlands League Hop. Continue reading →

Soothsayer

02 Tuesday May 2017

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Friday 14th April 2017 ko 17.30

Northern Counties East League Division One

KNARESBOROUGH TOWN 1 (Heath 38)

PONTEFRACT COLLIERIES 5 (Cotton 50 70 Jeffs 55 Greenough 67 Reece 69)

Att 405

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

We’d passed through Knaresborough on our way to Harrogate Railway, but the traffic was slow, even after getting over the level crossing at Starbeck station. The queues seemed to be tourists leaving the many and varied attractions at Knaresborough. There’s the remains of a castle where the first Maundy Money was distributed by King John in 1210, but perhaps the most intriguing is Mother Shipton’s cave. The story goes that it was the home of Edith Southeil who became famous for her fortune telling and prophesies in the 16th century, except done of her predictions seemed to come true. It was on reflection no bad thing that I didn’t stop for a steer on the evening game! Continue reading →