Author Archives: laurencereade

Jim

15 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in T

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 26th April 2022 ko 18:30

Spartan South Midlands League Division Two

TOTTERNHOE 3 (Tizard 20 Woolaway 45 Perry 89)

RISBOROUGH RANGERS DEVELOPMENT 1 (Pekun 72)

Att 30

Free Entry

Once upon a time this was my favourite time of the season. Once the clocks go forward in Spring there’s the opportunity to take in a whole slew of midweek games at grounds without floodlights. Groundhoppers tend to refer to this as “Silly Season” which is a little pejorative if you’re involved at a club but is more a comment on what’s available mid week rather than any comment on the quality on offer. My issue with this time of year is more prosaic, however. Continue reading →

Ga-Pa

10 Friday Jun 2022

Posted by in G

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Saturday 16th April 2022 ko 15:00

Landesliga Bayern Südwest

1FC GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN 2 (Durr 27p 58)

FV ILLERTISSEN II 4 (Santolo 1 Kazaryon 4 Hafnel 40p Glöckle 87)

Att 100 at Stadion on Gröben

Entry €8 (£6.80), for Robyn €6 (£5.10)

Programme included

When Robyn and I started planning our honeymoon the plan was to watch 3 games in the 10 days we were in Austria. I’d learned a lesson back in 2018 when we got engaged in Stockholm and somehow contrived to watch 7 games in 5 days, and then the Swedish Hop started! We even did a game the day we got engaged, at Lidingö mainly because I’d planned it so Robyn wouldn’t guess what I’d really got planned, and neither of us thought NOT to go…. I really didn’t want to go down the same route here, but then we did have a Saturday afternoon free…

Continue reading →

The Pig & The Pitchfork

01 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by in I

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday 15th April 2022 ko 18:30

Austria Erste-Liga

WACKER INNSBRUCK 1 (Ronivaldo 67p)

GRAZER AK 1 (Perchtold 26)

Att 2,211 at Neu Tivoli Stadion Tirol

Entry €19 (£16.14)

I do like a holiday where once we’ve returned home, I can describe what Robyn and I have done in two ways. Our groundhopping friends get a description of the football matches we watched, and those poor souls who don’t like football get a description of all the touristy places we visited. The trick is to work hard at both! On that basis a Friday night televised game in Innsbruck was a godsend for us, as much as I’m sure it wasn’t for the away fans who would have had a 5 hour drive from Graz to get there. Continue reading →

The Day Of Seven Borders

26 Thursday May 2022

Posted by in B

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Wednesday 14th April 2022 ko 20:00

Liechtensteinster Cup Semi-Final

FC BALZERS 1 (Stolz 82)

FC VADUZ 3 (Djokic 9 Di Gusto 92 Ulrich 111)

Att c300 at Sportenlage Rheinpark

Entry 10CHF (€9.67/ £8.29)

Programme FREE

We’d spent a happy few days exploring Salzburg but the second part of Robyn and I’s honeymoon involved a 3 hour drive west to the Tirolean Alps and the little village of Höfen near to the pretty town of Reutte. I’d hired a car for a week, and ended up travelling 3 stops by train, and from Austria to Germany to collect it. That was a handy move, a fair percentage of Austrian autobahns require a vignette to use them so crossing back into Austria to collect Robyn meant easy access to a filling station just over the border to pay the €9.60 for a sticker for 10 days’ use. It also meant I’d be driving a car with a German numberplate, and since all Covid checks seemed to be made by German border guards, we weren’t stopped for the entirety of our stay! 

Continue reading →

The Bull Washers

23 Monday May 2022

Posted by in S

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 9th April 2022 ko 16:00

1 Landesliga Salzburg

A.S.V. SALZBURG 4 (Takulja 45 Tabernig 72 76 Egleseder 81)

S.C. LEOGANG 2 (Gimpl 82 Lucic 89)

Att 103 at ASV Sportenlage, Itzling

Entry €6 ( c£5.06)

Teamsheet FREE

I’m aware that Robyn and I are not your normal married couple, and the first day of our honeymoon proved the point. The fact that it was delayed two years, three months is explainable, the pandemic changed more important things for more people after all, but how many couples make the first day of their honeymoon consist of a kebab for lunch, a non-league football match, and in the evening a trip to a bierkeller? We may not be a normal couple but who wants to be middle-of-the-road anyway?

Continue reading →

The Bell

19 Thursday May 2022

Posted by in P

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Tuesday April 5th 2022 ko 19:45

Spartan South Midlands League-Premier Division

LEIGHTON TOWN 1 (Morgan 53)

LEVERSTOCK GREEN 1 (Seale 83)

Att 304

Entry £7

Programme- Online only/ Non-downloadable

In the end I was surprised I hadn’t taken my wife Robyn here a lot earlier! Leighton Buzzard isn’t the most difficult place to get to from Oxford, and Bell Close is a ground full of character too. I did though manage to forget to get there early, the car park does fill up quickly and I did have to park rather “Creatively!” Continue reading →

Pandy

18 Wednesday May 2022

Posted by in T

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 2nd April 2022 ko 14:00

Bridgend & District League Open Cup 2nd Round

TONDU ROBINS 0

LLANHARRY 6 (Peete 3 Doughty 9 T Hamilton 12 Richards 50 Watts 67 Williams 79)

Att 27 at Pandy Park, Aberkenfig

Free Entry

It seems to me that if you want to find an interesting football match, all you really need to do is head to South Wales- there’s no end of them. The previous Saturday on the way back from Denaby Main we’d had a look at my options and this one rather jumped out, not least due to Tondu Robins’ long stint in the Welsh League. In the end it all added up to a lot more than that.

Continue reading →

Beyond Categorisation

13 Friday May 2022

Posted by in N

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Wednesday 30th March 2022 ko 20:00

Barnet Sunday League Richard Martin Memorial Cup Group B

NORTH LONDON ATHLETIC 1 ( Inyama 30)

BROTHERHOOD COSSIE 1 ( Ierotheou 75p)

Att 34 at A.I.M. North London

Entry Free

As a groundhopper there’s two things that really make me prick up my ears. The first is any new-to-me floodlit game midweek I can get to, and the second is anything that feels like a one-off. As you can imagine a floodlit Sunday League game played on a Wednesday at a one-off floodlit ground had me making a beeline to Enfield! Continue reading →

Tickhill

12 Thursday May 2022

Posted by in D

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Saturday 26th March 2022 ko 15:00

Sheffield & Hallamshire League Division One

DENABY MAIN 4 (Landsborough 33og Green 68 74p 79)

SHEFFIELD MEDICS 0

Simmons penalty saved 44

Att 57

Entry FREE

Programme £1

It is a fact of life that regret is part of the makeup of the groundhopper. You spend your existence thinking of the grounds you missed out on, one of mine for example was Enfield’s Southbury Avenue, despite my University tutor being a season ticket holder there. I missed out and I’m sure everyone reading this has a short list of similar missed grounds. Another of mine was Tickhill Square, which was lost when Denaby United folded at the end of the 2001-2002 season due to the Miners Welfare evicting them from their land. But every so often there is a little redemption….. Continue reading →

Fields Of Fire

06 Friday May 2022

Posted by in O

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 20th March 2022 ko 12:15

East of Scotland League- Division One Conference B

OAKLEY UNITED 2 (Love 20 40)

EASTHOUSES LILY MINERS WELFARE 1 (Goodlad 37og)

Inglis penalty saved 44

Att 365

Entry £6

Programme £2

The final game of the Scottish Hop is an odd one. Part of me would like a second game on the Sunday but coach drivers’ hours make that impossible and I do tend to change my mind about it when I type “Oxford” into the satnav as I leave the final game; I certainly did here! Continue reading →