Author Archives: laurencereade

Steelman

12 Sunday Apr 2015

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Saturday 4th April 2015 ko 13.45

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

PARKGATE 1 (Stapleford-Jones 46)

STAVELEY MINERS WELFARE 2 (Watters 63 Smith 88)

Att 301

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

I love it when a club makes the best of what they have, and let’s face it Parkgate’s Green Lane ground, in Rawmarsh, Rotherham does have its challenges. The view of the steelworks is spectacular, but the space isn’t huge. One side is out-of-bounds, and the club have managed to squeeze in the essentials of life everywhere else.

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See Emley Play

10 Friday Apr 2015

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Saturday 4th April 2015 ko 10.30

Northern Counties East League-Division One

AFC EMLEY 0 Jerome sent off (dangerous play) 57 Flynn missed penalty 90

HEMSWORTH MINERS WELFARE 3 (Connolly 45 Blair 51 Guest 60)

Att 463

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

My regular reader will now be aware that the first thing I do on any day of any hop I’m organising is to dash to the nearest window to check on the weather. Except on this occasion I checked for snow, yes that’s right snow! Two years ago Emley were due to be the first game on the Easter Hop, but 6 feet of drifting snow put paid to that idea, and we at GroundhopUK were grateful to Atherton Colleries for taking on the game. The postponement came in no small part to Emley’s altitude so it was fitting that as a coach party we paid a visit to the Emley Moor transmission tower. Its 330 metres tall, weighes 11,200 tonnes, is taller than the Eiffel Tower, and is Britain’s tallest free-standing structure. Continue reading →

Circumstances

09 Thursday Apr 2015

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Friday 3rd April 2015 ko 18.30

Northern Counties East Division One

GRIMSBY BOROUGH 3 (Fuller 21 70 Hall 81)

HALL ROAD RANGERS 1 (Walker 5)

Att 284

Entry £4

Programme £1

When Chris Berezai and I started working on this hop, Grimsby Borough were the first club on our wish-list. That’s mainly because the club have only recently moved into the Bradley Football Development Centre, but it was a decision that created a few headaches. The first was which side to watch, Cleethorpes Town use the facility too, and the idea of watching a Cleethorpes side playing in Grimsby appealed (Grimsby Town famously play in Cleethorpes!), but the fact that the ground is council-owned caused a bigger headache.

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The Hoppers

09 Thursday Apr 2015

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Friday 3rd April 2015 ko 14.30

Northern Counties East Premier Division

WINTERTON RANGERS 1 (Start 41)

YORKSHIRE AMATEUR 1 (J Hughes 15)

Att 303

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

As large as the attendance was at Barton, I was a little worried about how well it would hold up at Winterton next up. The geography of the league meant that we couldn’t schedule our normal 4 games in a day so “Drift” could come into play. That’s where the middle game sees a fall-off in attendance as hoppers decide to head “Off piste” and attend the wide variety of simultaneous games. I was, therefore rather relieved when I saw the “Car Park Full” sign outside West Street, it wasn’t a large car park, but the message it conveyed was a good one! Continue reading →

The Clutch

06 Monday Apr 2015

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Friday 3rd April 2015 ko 11.30

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

BARTON TOWN OLD BOYS 0

CLEETHORPES TOWN 3 (Robertson 36 90 Grant 87)

Att 517

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

I woke up with a start in Wakeford, and I really must learn to put some clothes on before opening the curtains to check the weather. It was hammering it down with rain, and my torpor was only slightly eased during breakfast with the news that it wasn’t raining in Barton-upon-Humber. That ground had seen significant rainfall during the week and the last thing we wanted was a postponement. I was worried enough about Barton’s prospects anyway.

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The Lump

06 Monday Apr 2015

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Thursday 2nd April 2015 ko 19.45

Northern Counties League Premier Division

NOSTELL MINERS WELFARE 2 (Boardman 30 90)

RETFORD UNITED 0 Thornton sent off 90 (Foul language)

Att 265

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Badge £3

So for the final time this season back on GroundhopUK duty, and to complete our triptych of Ceredigion, Lowland, and North Counties East hops in a mere 5 weeks! From Chris Berezai and I’s perspective this hop was possibly one that we were the most used to organising. Take a look at the 12 year history of the organisation, and the blueprint for the Step 5/6 league (or similar) is one we’ve used the most often.

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The Oxford Movement

06 Monday Apr 2015

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Monday 30th March 2015 ko 18.00

Hampshire Premier League, Senior Division

OTTERBOURNE 2 (Sands 5 18p)

HAMBLE CLUB 1 (Liam Crook 40)

Att 62

Entry FREE

No Programme

Tea £1

When the clocks go forward the more senior groundhoppers tend to divert their attentions during the week to fixtures played without floodlights, preferring to leave that finite commodity for when there’s no other option. Of course the trouble with these early kick-offs is that you have very little time for traffic problems when you’re driving down from Oxford, so I positively roared into the car park as the game kicked off! Continue reading →

Sapphire

05 Sunday Apr 2015

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Wednesday 1st April 2015 ko 18.00

Hampshire Premier League, Senior Division

OVERTON UNITED 2 (J Jupp 9 Lavisher 40)

COLDEN COMMON 2 (Dankins 20 O’Brien 42og)

Att 25

Entry FREE

Monthly newsletter FREE (from the bar)

Other than for football there are many reasons to visit Overton, the medieval church of St Mary which provides the backdrop for many of these photos has parts dating from the 11th century, the village was used in part as a base for the Bank of England during World War II, and is a centre for Morris Dancing.

I suspect though the vast majority will remember though the “Bombay Sapphire” distillery on the road in from Whitchurch! Is this more important than the fact that in Richard Adams’ novel “Watership Down” the rival rabbit warren of Efrafa was located just north of the railway above Northington Farm in Overton? Continue reading →

Sea Change

31 Tuesday Mar 2015

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Friday 27th March 2015 ko 19.30

Isle of Wight DFA Senior (Gold) Cup Quarter-Final

EAST COWES VICTORIA AFC 2 (Gregory 59 Craig 90) Thompson sent off 78 (2nd booking)

EAST COWES SPORTS 2 (Tyler 11 Robjoint 76)

AET East Cowes Sports won 6-5 on penalties

Att 82

Entry £3

Programme 50p

It’s probably now common knowledge that we tried to get a Wessex League groundhop up and running, but a few weeks ago I had to end the project. While there was support from many quarters a final meeting in Totton convinced me that there wasn’t enough enthusiasm where it mattered to make it work. A real shame, as many people put a lot of effort into the project, and I was very taken by the carload of officials from the 3 Wessex League clubs Newport (IW), Cowes Sports, and East Cowes Vics who took the time and expense to take the ferry over to hear what I had to say. When it was all over I felt rather bruised by the encounter, so was heartened when several clubs contacted me to commiserate and invite me to their grounds.

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The Cricket

29 Sunday Mar 2015

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Tuesday 24th March 2015 ko 19.30

Combined Counties League Division One

EVERSLEY & CALIFORNIA 0

CHESSINGTON & HOOK UNITED 3 (McLaughlin 11 54 Bowles 68og)

Att 23

Entry & Programme £5

After the exertions of the Lowland League Hop I wanted something reasonably local and after 1700 or so grounds the Hampshire side of the border with Berkshire is just about as good as it gets for a floodlit tick these days!

It’s fair to say Eversley is an extremely affluent area, with the Prep schools dotted around the executive houses and the forests, Will Carling lives in this area, reckoned to be the least deprived area in the UK. Of course as is usually the case none of that helps the local football team. Continue reading →