17 Thursday Mar 2016
Posted in S
Saturday 12th March 2016 ko 17.00
Lowland League
THE SPARTANS 1 (Murray 90)
UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING 0
Att 435
Entry £5
Programme £2
Let me tell you a secret, when Chris Berezai a I do a groundhop presentation to a prospective league the explanation normally ends with the rhetorical question, “And let’s face it, there isn’t a non league club that wouldn’t welcome the financial boost a groundhop game gives, is there?” Well, I do wonder whether we did find that one club here….. Continue reading
15 Tuesday Mar 2016
Posted in C
Tags
Christie Gillies, Civil Service Strollers, East of Scotland League, Leith Athletic, Preston Athletic, Scotland
Saturday 12th March 2016 ko 14.00
Lowland League
PRESTON ATHLETIC P
THREAVE ROVERS P
Match postponed- waterlogged pitch
Saturday 12th March 2016 ko 14.30
East of Scotland League
CIVIL SERVICE STROLLERS 2 (Bogey 31 65) Neils sent off 65 (DOGSO)
LEITH ATHLETIC 3 (Glynn 2 Lowson 15 Masson 45p)
Att 165
Entry £5
Programme To be posted
The first inkling I had that something was wrong was the stream of people glumly leaving Pennypit Park, as our two coaches pulled into the ground in Prestonpans. The reason became clear as I dashed over to the club’s offices, the departing Threave team let me know that one small patch of pitch was deemed too soft by the referee as the teams had warmed up. I normally see the word “No” as an invitation to negotiate, but I was soon to discover that was impossible. Continue reading
14 Monday Mar 2016
Posted in W
Saturday 12th March 2016 ko 11.00
Lowland League
WHITEHILL WELFARE 3 (Muir 17 Connolly 28 Devlin 76) Williams missed penalty 81
GALA FAIRYDEAN ROVERS 0 Gibson sent off 47 (violent conduct)
Att 324
Entry £5
Programme £2
If there was one club I’d wanted to visit on the Lowland Hop’s run it was Rosewell’s Whitehill Welfare. The roots of this hop, and the organised hop in Scotland lie with a tip I’d had at a Camelon Juniors game, and a subsequent phone call with Welfare’s Jamie McQueen. He put the idea to his committee who then got the league committee involved, and the rest is history! So if there was one club I really didn’t want to have a problem it was Whitehill…… Continue reading
14 Monday Mar 2016
Friday 11th March 2016 ko 19.00
Lowland League
GRETNA FC 2008 0 Rea sent off 89 (2nd Booking)
DALBEATTIE STAR 0
Att 366
Entry £5
Programme £1
If last year’s Lowland League hop broke new ground in that it was the first hop organised north of the border, it did create one issue for us at GroundhopUK and that was the format. Last year we went for 1 game on the Friday, 3 on the Saturday and 2 on the Sunday, but for a few reasons that couldn’t happen this time round.
10 Thursday Mar 2016
Posted in B
Tuesday 8th March 2016 ko 19.45
Western League Premier Division
BRISLINGTON 0
MELKSHAM TOWN 3 (Hughes 3og Higdon 45 Stradling 71)
Att 42
Entry £5
Programme £1
Even this far in to my groundhopping odyssey there are still grounds that leap out from my “Football Traveller” directories. It’s almost as if Ironmould Lane, was shouting out, “Why on earth haven’t you visited yet?” Continue reading
07 Monday Mar 2016
Posted in A
Tags
Arnold Town, Eagle Valley, East Midlands Counties, Gedling Road, groundhopping, Holwell Sports, Julian Joachim, Non League, Notts
Wednesday 2nd March 2016 ko 19.45
East Midlands Counties League
ARNOLD TOWN 4 (Slawson 7 Payne 73 Wood 87 Branston 90)
HOLWELL SPORTS 5 (Joachim 12 58 Stevenson 38p Wells 65 77)
Att 24
Entry £5
Programme £1 (double issue with the previous Saturday’s game)
Teamsheet FREE
Back in 2005 I paid a visit to Arnold Town for a Northern Counties East game at their former home, Gedling Road. I found a vibrant club, right in the centre of their community and seemed to be thriving despite some fairly obvious ground constraints. The club moved to a new ground, Eagle Valley in 2009, after a season in exile but its location was, and to some extent still is the surprising factor in the club’s recent history. Continue reading
03 Thursday Mar 2016
Posted in H
Tags
Aberdeenshire, Amateur, Amateurs, Ayrshire, final, Glasgow, Hampden, Hampden Park, Inter, League, Lesser Hampden, Scottish
Sunday 28th February 2016 ko 14.00
Scottish Amateur FA Inter League Trophy Final
ABERDEENSHIRE 2 (McDougal 56 Franchi 82)
AYRSHIRE 3 (Connell 62p 64p O’Conner 79)
Att 126 at Lesser Hampden, Glasgow
Entry FREE
Programme FREE
When you look at it, Lesser Hampden is a real oddity. It’s situated at one end of Scotland’s National Stadium, Hampden Park, and as such is seen by many but visited by very few. But to understand it you need to know who owns Hampden and why.
Continue reading
29 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in A
Tags
Auchinleck Talbot, Beachwood Park, Juniors, Kirkintilloch, Rob Roy, Scotland, Scottish Juniors, West Region
Saturday 27th February 2016 ko 13.00
Scottish Junior FA, West Region Superleague Premier Division
AUCHINLECK TALBOT 2 (Hyslop 17 53)
KIRKINTILLOCH ROB ROY 0
Att c350
Entry £6
Programme £1.50
The day after this I paid a visit to the Scottish Football Museum, in the Main Stand at Hampden Park. It’s a fascinating place, well worth the £8 entry, but its coverage of the Juniors is disappointing. All there is a corner with a video on loop and the display explains the SJFA as being “Junior” in standard to the “Seniors” rather than in terms of age. I wondered if whoever put that display together had ever seen the likes of Auchinleck, or Kirkintilloch play? Continue reading
26 Friday Feb 2016
Posted in S
Wednesday 24th February 2016 ko 19.45
Dorset Premier League
SHAFTESBURY TOWN 3 (Matheszki 6 17 Bevis 25)
MERLEY COBHAM SPORTS 0
Att 95
Entry £3
Shaftesbury is one of those towns that surprises you. You are so clearly in Wessex Country, the place has the all the feel of a Hardy agricultural town, and you are only just over the border from Wiltshire! In fact so agricultural is the feel, that the famous Hovis advert with the boy pushing his baker’s bike up the hill was filmed here, by Ridley Scott, on Gold Hill. The town’s Millenium project involved the planting of 60,000 snowdrop bulbs to provide a spectacular Snowdrop walk each year! Continue reading
25 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted in E
Tuesday 23rd February 2016 ko 19.30
Gwent County League Division 2
FC TREDEGAR 1 (Monk 35)
CLYDACH WASPS 1 (Williams 45)
Att 35 at Eugene Cross Park, Ebbw Vale
Entry FREE
No Programme
In Ebbw Vale there are 2 kings, one is steel, fired by the South Wales coal industry, and the other is Rugby Union. Oddly, both are represented in the town’s stadium, Eugene Cross Park, but this ground’s connection with Association Rules is a little more tenuous. Continue reading
Football: Wherever it may be 