Sunday 27th July 2025 ko 15:00

Northern Counties East League Division One

LOUTH TOWN 3 (Lidgard 32 Pennell 59 Jacklin 76)

APPLEBY FRODINGHAM 2 (J Chapman 61 Fraiwald 75p)

Att 381

Entry £5

Programme £2

Teamsheet 50p

A lot changed between Skegness and Louth, and I’m all too aware that Louth Town play in Saltfordby, around 7 miles from Louth! The crucial change was the league we were watching, with us close to complete for the United Counties League (of those clubs who want to host) we’ll be switching the opening weekend event next year to the Northern Counties East.

The idea is to allow everyone to catch up with the clubs new to the league since our hops finished there in 2017 and allow the United Counties League to replenish clubs with ones we haven’t already visited. With the UCL’s footprint seemingly altering each season that shouldn’t take too long! And since that doesn’t seem to be happening with the NCEL that will also come with the unintended consequence of us hopefully being able to announce the host clubs earlier- hopefully the AGM’s won’t turn up any nasty surprises!

It was lovely to see the UCL officials here, and chewing the fat with their NCEL counterparts. You don’t think that’s remarkable? I can think of at least one Step 5 league we’ve worked with where you hardly ever see an official turn up to support their event and in the case of the 2010 Central Midlands League Hop Chris and I opted to stop working with them after the only official to show up in 4 games was Rob Hornby! Do you know where we made that decision? At the final game of the event, Louth Town!

Louth Town were formed in 2007 following Louth United’s folding. We saw them at Park Avenue the ground used by United too, with its Speedway-style stand with a lounge set behind glass. Sadly the place was always destined for housing with Town forced to leave in 2016 with the club already having taken their reserves’ place in the Lincolnshire League.

They took on the Marshlands facility in Saltfleetby, which whilst not in Louth did at least allow them the chance to put down roots with certainty of tenure. They’ve built a homely ground here and without question were the best hosts of the weekend’s hop. With the best hosts you seem to always have something you want to buy be it food, souvenirs, drink and so on. I’ve often commented that you can’t teach charm- that Louth had in spades, but good hosting can be taught and I remain amazed and slightly disturbed at how we can issue the same set of briefing notes to upteen different host clubs and get such wildly differing results!

Speaking of the Central Midlands League I remember visiting Scunthorpe-based Appleby Frodingham on that league’s 2006 hop. Much later I remember my wife Robyn being amazed that I’ve seen a game on 3 grounds in Scunthorpe, the other being Bottesford Town. There was a familar face in the visitors’ squad too.

I’m not sure how mny players who’ve been man-of-the-match at a Wembley final have played at Saltfleetby but Adam Chapman did so in the 2010 Play-off final for Oxford United. We saw him on last year’s hop playing for Retford in front of the trains, but here we saw only a cameo and while his team looked at their best with him prompting from midfield- truth was Louth had already done enough to win the tie.

It had been a far better hop than I’d expected. We’d found a superb base at Coventry University and the event got the buy-in from the leagues, clubs and supporters; all that adds up to a successful event, as we’ve seen so many times. We’ll look to maintaining that relationship back with the Northern Counties East but will return to the United Counties in due course.