Author Archives: laurencereade

Little Pleasures

21 Tuesday Feb 2017

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Monday 20th February 2017 ko 19.45

Hellenic League- Premier Division

BINFIELD 0

BRACKNELL TOWN 1 (Bohane 13)

Att 289

Entry & Programme £6

About 1,500 grounds ago I was enjoying hopping the non-league grounds of London. Week after week I visited a different ground and became very taken with the same group of older men I encountered every time I visited the capital. They’d worked out that with a little planning you could watch a game of football every day of the week, and so the clubs that played on the unusual days did rather well out of these “floating” fans.

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Recreationists

19 Sunday Feb 2017

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Saturday 18th February 2017 ko 15.00

National League North

GAINSBOROUGH TRINITY 1 (Jarman 32p)

GLOUCESTER CITY 1 (Avery 67)

Att 477

Entry £12

Programme £2.50

If you want to visit a club with history, you, really do need to head over the River Trent, and over the border to Lincolnshire. Gainsborough Trinity’s Northolme ground is claimed to be the oldest football ground in use by one club, a claim I’d imagine based around Hallam’s Sandygate Ground being used by Crookes WMC and Fulwood when Hallam went into abeyance in the 1930’s. But with all due respect to the second oldest football club in the world, there’s far more to enjoy at Gainsborough Trinity. Continue reading →

Cathedral View

15 Wednesday Feb 2017

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Friday 10th February 2017 ko 19.45

Eastern Counties League Premier Division

ELY CITY 2 (Darling 69 Neal 86)

HAVERHILL ROVERS 1 (Palmer 83)

Att 89

Entry £6

Programme £1

The Eastern Counties League has used the Friday night fixture as a promotional tool for a few years, and whilst this tie saw quite a few groundhoppers present, I do wonder whether the unusual fixture actually saw an increase in attendance. Whilst I found it convenient, I’m sure some others would prefer the traditional Saturday afternoon kick-off.  Continue reading →

The Indian Sign

12 Sunday Feb 2017

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Sunday 4th February 2017 ko 12.00

League 1

swindon town (Dabo 18)

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Sercombe 70 Hall 73)

Att 10,658 (3,000 away)

Entry £25

Programme £3

Teamsheet 50p

“Can’t I stay and go for a meal?” Oxford fan at swindon station after the game.

“You’ve been singing “swindon’s a sh!thole I wanna go home,” all afternoon, go home!” The policeman’s response.

I suspect that if I were not an Oxford United fan I’d quite like the County Ground, and I’d stop typing the place as the CoUNTY Ground! It does have that mixture of old and new I like, but nothing, repeat nothing will ever make me like the madness that is the “Magic Roundabout!” Continue reading →

Independence

11 Saturday Feb 2017

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Saturday 4th February 2017 ko 15.00

Southern League Division One South & West

TIVERTON TOWN 2 (L. Landricombe 11 47)

BRIDGWATER TOWN 0

Att 206

Entry £9

Programme £2

All sorts of coincidences happened for me to be at Ladysmead. For a start the torrential rain held off for a couple of hours longer than expected, saving an already sodden pitch. Then the police decided that swindon vs Oxford United game really ought to played Sunday lunchtime (no argument from me!) then girlfriend Robyn really wanted to be dropped off at Bristol City’s home game. But the real reason I was there was Mathew Thresher. Continue reading →

Roots

07 Tuesday Feb 2017

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Tuesday 31st January 2017 ko 19.45

Southern Counties East League Division One

GLEBE 5 (Obasa 31 47 62 Jeffery 82 83)

LYDD TOWN 0

Att 57

Entry, Programme and Team Sheet £6

The great irony of the Kent Invicta League is that it’s success means it no longer exists. It was created in 2011 to provide a bridge at Step 6 between the Kent League at Step 5 and the Kent County League at Step 7. The Kent League re-badged itself as the Southern Counties East and for this season has swallowed up the Kent Invicta as it’s lower division. Nevertheless, the Kent Invicta League has left a valuable legacy, and Glebe are a good example of it. Continue reading →

Olympiad

01 Wednesday Feb 2017

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Sunday 22nd January 2017 ko 15.00

Greek Superleague

A.E.K. 2 (Pekhart 24 Mandalos 47)

ASTERAS TRIPOLIS 0

Att 5,025 at Spyros Louis Olympic Stadium, Athens

Entry €15

No Programme

It seems to be that if you’re anything resembling a sports fan and you’re in Athens you really ought to visit the Panathenaic Stadium. There’s been a stadium here since 330 BC, but this marble incarnation dates from 1896 when it was rebuilt to host the first modern-era Olympic games. It also served at the 2004 Olympics hosting the archery and the finish of the marathon. Traditionally, it is where the Olympic flame leaves Greece for the torch relay to the host city. It costs €5 to have a look round. Continue reading →

Consideration

29 Sunday Jan 2017

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Saturday 17th January 2016 ko 17.15

Greek Superleague

PANIONIOS GSS 2 (Risvanis 25 Katharious 54)

PANETOLIKOS 0

Att 860

Entry €15

No Programme

Sat at a cafe in Monasteraki I had a dilemna. Two years ago I’d visited Athens and watched Panionios and Olympiacos, and those were our only two options on this Saturday evening. I knew that Olympiacos would have the “Wow” factor of a modern ground, but I wanted my girlfriend Robyn to get something authentically Greek so I plumped for Panionios, but even afterwards I wasn’t sure whether I made the correct decision.  Continue reading →

Refugee

29 Sunday Jan 2017

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Saturday 21st January 2016 ko 11.00

Greek Superleague K20

PANIONIOS 2 (66,68)

PANETOLIKOS 2 (48 50)

Att c70 at Dimotiko Stadio, Glyfada, Athens

Entry FREE

No Programme

It had been almost exactly 2 years since my last visit to Athens, thank you Facebook for reminding me, and part of the interest in returning was seeing what had changed. Last time out I’d certainly picked my time, it was a week before the election that saw Alexis Tsipras become Prime Minister, and Greece’s problems were manifest. Continue reading →

The Centre of Things

26 Thursday Jan 2017

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Wednesday 18th January 2017 ko 19.45

West Midlands (Regional) League – Division One

TEAM DUDLEY 2 (Pinches 11 Knight 90)

ST MARTINS 2 (Passmore 52 Melusio 54)

Att 115

Entry & Programme £2

I live in Oxford, a city that in parts hasn’t changed much in the last two hundred years, even down to the 17th Century burial route that’s now an alleyway. That certainly is in contrast to much of the Black Country where the soot of heavy industry has gradually given way to the service economy. Nevertheless places such as Dudley, Coseley and Wolverhampton still evoke the past even if their raisons d’etre have long since gone. Continue reading →