Monthly Archives: August 2023

Marriage Guidance

31 Thursday Aug 2023

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Wednesday 9th August 2023 ko 19:45

EFL Cup 1st Round

BRISTOL CITY 5 (Cornick 15 Knight 35 47 Naismith 62)

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Bodin 30)

Att 9,616 (1,201 away)

Entry (Atyeo Stand) £10

Programme -officially none, but the fans are producing an unofficial programme “Cider Reds” for £4 available from underneath the Atyeo statue. It’s rather good!

Robyn and I have been together 7 and a half years, and married for 3 and a half, so the only real surprise is that it took this long for our two sides to meet. I’ve been an Oxford United season ticket holder since the mid-80’s and Robyn was a season ticket holder at Bristol City when we met. And let’s face it, her name is Robyn!

There are a couple of caveats, the women’s teams have met twice in that time, in 2016 and again last season. The male teams did also meet in a behind closed doors friendly a few weeks ago- I imagine both clubs played that game with more than half an eye on this game!

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New (ish!)

30 Wednesday Aug 2023

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Tuesday 8th August 2023 ko 19:45

Eastern Counties League Division One North

HAVERHILL ROVERS 2 (Greenslade-Cross 18 42)

WHITTON UNITED 1 (Thrower 30)

Att 111

Entry £7

No programme

Ever had one of those grounds that irks you? Not in the sense that the place itself annoys you, rather that your failure to get the place visited irks you. I’d visited Rovers old ground Hamlet Croft back in 2007, they moved to the New Croft in 2010, and somehow I contrived to fail to visit the new ground.

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Mission

29 Tuesday Aug 2023

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Saturday 5th August 2023 ko 15:00

Eastern Counties League Division One North

NEEDHAM MARKET U23 1 (Barker 41p)

GREAT YARMOUTH TOWN 5 (Akpo 7 Couzens 34 Duffield 59 Halliday 63 90)

Att 45

Entry £5

No programme

It always pays to have a Plan B. Chris Garner and I were on one of our Saturday trips east and were aiming for an FA Cup game at Little Oakley. There were only two issues with our choice. The first was the weather, it hadn’t stopped raining all day, and the other was Little Oakley’s location.

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The Cage

24 Thursday Aug 2023

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Sunday 30th July 2023 ko 15:00

United Counties League Division One

NEWARK TOWN 4 (Cotterill 16 Lloyd 23 King 70 Harrison 85og)

HOLWELL SPORTS 3 (York 32 Biggs 75 Faulkner 90)

Att 609

Entry £6

Programme £1

Like Southwell City earlier, we’d visited Newark Town on a Central Midlands Hop. This time it was on the 2008 Easter Hop where Newark beat Kinsley Boys 1-0. The occasion was unusual for two reasons, that both sides wore their change kits and since Kinsley wore blue kit I’m fairly certain that some groundhoppers have the score transposed! The other curiosity was that this was , I think, the only time a groundsharer has ever featured on a hop!

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The City That Isn’t

22 Tuesday Aug 2023

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Sunday 30th July 2023 ko 12:00

United Counties League Division One

SOUTHWELL CITY 3 (Law 5 Peace-McDonald 42 Bowles 81)

LEICESTER ST ANDREWS 0

Att 477

Entry £5

Programme £1

As is so often the case, the whole timbre of the event changed for the Sunday games. We left suburban Nottingham and headed north to Southwell and got caught in the middle of a bicycle race, and don’t let football club’s name mislead you, Southwell’s minster refers to the Newark diocese rather than the town itself. On a groundhopping basis though, our visit was a little unusual.

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Leveller

18 Friday Aug 2023

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Saturday 29th July 2023 ko 20:00

United Counties League Premier Division North

EASTWOOD COMMUNITY 0

MELTON TOWN 2 (Mills 9 Palmer 71)

Att 468

Entry £7

Programme £2

For me at least the principle attraction to another visit to Coronation Park, was for the metaphorical “Before and after shots.” For those unaware the original Eastwood Town played in the Northern Premier League at Coronation Park but folded due to bankruptcy in 2014.

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Everyone

17 Thursday Aug 2023

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Saturday 29th July 2023 ko 17:00

United Counties League Premier Division North

HUCKNALL TOWN 1 (Kelly 76)

WISBECH TOWN 1 (Conyard 22p)

Att 688

Entry £8

Programme £1

When in January this year Hucknall moved roughly 500 yards from the now demolished Watnall Road to Aerial Way, Chris Berezai and I raised an inward smile. We knew we wanted the new ground on the UCL Hop, and advertised as such, and then watched a whole cohort of groundhoppers make a beeline for the place!

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Mapperley

16 Wednesday Aug 2023

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Saturday 29th July 2023 ko 14:00

United Counties League Division One

GEDLING MINERS WELFARE 0

BLACKSTONES 1 (Duffy-Weekes 90)

Att 364

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

I must admit I wasn’t particularly looking forward to revisiting Mapperley Plains. It was nothing to do with the club or the ground, it was because I’d visited early in 2011 in the throes of a failed marriage. I was watching games solely to not be sat in an empty house. I visited, I saw the game, and I did little more than exist back then.

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Hyson

14 Monday Aug 2023

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Saturday 29th July 2023 ko 11:00

United Counties League Division One

RADFORD 0

Moore sent off 83 (2nd booking)

HARROWBY UNITED 0

Att 385

Entry £6

Programme £2

A Saturday, based in Nottingham, on an organised hop will, for me, always evoke memories of the Central Midlands Hops of the early 2000’s. I wasn’t involved back then, those events were organised by Chris Berezai and Rob Hornby and to this day I still see Nottingham and its hinterland as Rob Hornby country. Rob retired from the organising lark after the 2016 Notts Senior League Hop, and it’s a shame that ill health stopped him attending this event. Get well soon Rob!

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Dynamic

10 Thursday Aug 2023

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Friday 28th July 2023 ko 19:45

United Counties League Division One

SAFFRON DYNAMO 1 (Scott 68)

BIRSTALL UNITED 5 (Burton 4 16 Crossley 13 30 45)

Att 400

Entry £6

Programme £1

Such is the dynamic of the United Counties League Hop, and the expanded GroundhopUK meant that Robyn and I could do a normal Friday day at work and Chris had Craig and Paul to make up the programme packs and set up the stall outside the first gate. Next time round it’ll be Robyn and I with Chris. Many hands and all that!

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