Friday 28th August 2026 ko 18.30

West Lancashire League Division One

COPPULL UNITED 1 (Richardson 80)

FRECKLETON 3 (Kelsey 43 61 Ako 64og)

Att 353

Entry & Programme £5

You may find this surprising, but I think you see GroundhopUK at its very best when it operates at Step 7 or below. Let me explain; if you understand the organised groundhop as a compromise between the needs of clubs, leagues and groundhoppers, then the needs of the groundhopper- game, programme, and badge you’d think would be mostly easily be satisfied at Steps 5 & 6, or would they?

Most easily yes, but there is a catch, and that is it doesn’t ask certain clubs to contribute much to make that compromise work. Put simply, a Step 5 club can do close to how they normally stage a game and get a reasonable pay out, and that goes even more for clubs who have been recently relegated into Step 5. They won’t make anywhere near as much money as a club who really put the effort in but they can tick the boxes, but no more. The classic example of what I nicknamed Stepfiveitis was the sadly defunct VCD Athletic. We all got what we needed, but nothing extra.

The adage that smaller clubs work harder is also true, anyone remember Sherborne Harriers for example, so when GroundhopUK pairs up with a thoughtful, go-ahead league like the West Lancashire League, what you lack in facilities, you more than make up in good old-fashioned hospitality through excellent staging.

You saw it in spades in Coppull, in Chorley’s environs. We’d had a beast of a drive up, not helped by Robyn’s work being unable to give her a full-day off- the M6 and Bank Holiday Friday really don’t mix! We arrived at Blainscough Park, and the club was beautifully prepared, so we were parked up with programme packs, tickets and the like in our hands before I could think! Food for the hungry masses was being shifted from two outlets thus reducing queues, and our pasta was excellent!

Perhaps the way to explain it best is to comment that you wouldn’t have realised what a poor start to the season Coppull had made until you glanced at a league table! Sadly the league table did translate into what happened on the pitch with visitors Freckleton winning easily after a slow start.

The way I choose to remember how easy it all felt, but I can assure you it never is quite that simple. Congratulations to all at Coppull for a job well done.