Author Archives: laurencereade

Wootton By Woodstock

22 Monday May 2017

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Wednesday 19th April 2017 ko 18.30

Witney & District League – Division 3

WOOTTON SPORTS 0

BLETCHINGTON 7 (White 34 Buschay 35 Evans 40 Deabill 55 73 84 Godfrey 56)

Att c25

Entry FREE

No Programme

After the exertions of the Easter Hop, even I felt like slowing down. I’d talked to the other half of GroundhopUK, Chris Berezai and he did absolutely nothing for three days! But when you’re helped organise and event consisting of 13 football matches in 4 and a half days how do you recharge your batteries? By going to a football match of course! Continue reading →

The Fan Club

21 Sunday May 2017

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Monday 17th April 2017 ko 17.45

North West Counties League Premier Division

MAINE ROAD 2 (Morgan 18 51)

ABBEY HEY 2 (Hardy 62 Blake 79)

Att 259

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

We saw George Galloway campaigning in Gorton, near Brantingham Road, just in front of his coterie was the Labour candidate and his entourage. We soon parked up and coach driver Godfrey scuttled off to find hospitality, if there’s a radar for such things the he’s got it! I strolled in, exchanging a joke with physio Lucy Weir on her second game of the hop but was secretly hoping that seeing a crowd the candidates might come in a swell the crowd. There was of course a compelling reason why they wouldn’t…. Continue reading →

The Hopsters!

17 Wednesday May 2017

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Monday 14th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Premier Division

WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 3 (Bayunu 70 Henderson 90 Mendes Gomes 90)

CONGLETON TOWN 1 (Gardner 84)

Att 295

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

The coach picked its way through the affluent leafy suburbia of Chorlton-cum-Hardy as we worked out exactly where to park, the club had earmarked a car park near to a pub, but that was full, and even when empty had a height barrier precluding coach entry. Eventually a club official found us, we disembarked, and Godfrey the driver found alternative parking arrangements. I saw him later in the cafe, so Plan B was clearly a good one! Continue reading →

The Imperative

16 Tuesday May 2017

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Monday 14th April 2017 ko 11.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

ATHERTON COLLERIES 5 (Kenny 4og Cover 20 66 73p Bailey 49)

AFC DARWEN 1 (Hepple 80)

Att 478

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

It’s a well-told story, how Atherton Collieries in 2013 helped us at GroundhopUK out by taking on an Easter Hop game on 48 hours’ notice after our planned game at AFC Emley got snowed off.

They moved heaven and earth to accommodate us, secretary Emil Anderson even dragged himself from his sick bed to be there. It took a knock-back or two to get a NWCL hop, but Joe Gibbons, Emil and all the Colls were there pushing to make it happen, so when the idea finally was agreed it was obvious that we’d want them on our first hop. That though would create an issue …. Continue reading →

My Chemical Romance

15 Monday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 18.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

RUNCORN TOWN 4 (Cairns 16p 77 Reed 49 77)

BARNTON 1 (J McShane 73)

Att 335

Entry £6

Programme £2

People were beginning to flag as the coach searched for a parking spot at Weston Point. If this had been the normal August Bank Holiday hop we’d have been parking up at our last game. I glanced over the Mersey estuary towards Halkyn United who had once been the opener for such a jaunt and remembered the view of the chemical works and inwardly reminisced.  Continue reading →

Onwards & Upwards

10 Wednesday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Division One

ASHTON TOWN 0

STOCKPORT TOWN 2 (Hinchliffe 29p 57)

Att 315

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

If any future host club at a groundhop wants a piece of advice on how best to endear themselves to the organiser I suggest having someone waiting to guide in the coach when we arrive at the ground. It sets the tone for the visit, in confirming competence and in the case of Ashton Town I’m not sure we’d have found the parking spot without help. You couldn’t help but like Ashton Town, tucked away as they are between the houses in the middle of Ashton-in-Makerfield but we all knew they had their own problems over and above coping with a crowd up to 10 times normal. Continue reading →

Shakermaker

09 Tuesday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2016 ko 11.00

North-West Counties League Premier Division

ASHTON ATHLETIC 2 (Smith 10 Vaughan 63)

SQUIRES GATE 1 (Nobley 2)

Att 298

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

It seemed odd to be starting a new hop when traditionally we’d be recovering from a 3 day, 7 game blast. But let’s face it the Northern League’s whole of Easter event a couple of years ago changed everything. For a start it proved that running games on Easter Sunday was popular amongst fans and it reinforced some work that Chris Berezai and I at GroundhopUK had been doing behind the scenes.  Continue reading →

Rock On Selby

08 Monday May 2017

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Saturday 15th April 2017 ko 18.30

Northern Counties East League Division One

SELBY TOWN 1 (Mortimer 34)

PENISTONE CHURCH 1 (Whittington 68)

Att 386

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

It was good to see that all the supporters that had gone missing had made it back for this game, as the coach parked near Flaxley Road it felt close to being the end of an era. I remembered Chris meeting with the league before a hastily rearranged precursor game before a Central Midlands League hop as I did all the normal GroundhopUK duties. I remember our first game at Yorkshire Amateur where the club marvelled at just how many pints of real ale a coachload of hoppers could drink, and many rather took to the female PCSO who turned up wondering why there was a crowd at Bracken Edge? Continue reading →

The Compromise

06 Saturday May 2017

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Saturday 15th April 2017 ko 15.00

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

ARMTHORPE WELFARE 1 (Pearce 88)

HEMSWORTH MINERS WELFARE 6 (Connolly 4 Law 31 Collier 34 63 82 90)

Att 231

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

I’d started worrying the week before, and those worries were accentuated when counting the crowd at Rossington Main. We’d set this hop up on a “3 games in a day” basis, as we’d thought that 13 games in 4 and a bit days was enough football even for me! That format does come with a risk though and we’d just encountered the perfect storm as an organiser.

Continue reading →

A Fine Coal Miner For the NCB That Was

03 Wednesday May 2017

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Saturday 15th April 2017 ko 11.00

Northern Counties East League Division One

ROSSINGTON MAIN 0 

HALL ROAD RANGERS 1 (Spinks 37p)

Att 323

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

The procedure was well-worn. The alarm sounded and I immediately dashed to the hotel window to check it wasn’t raining. Whilst the weather wasn’t quite so much of an issue here as it was in, say the Carmarthenshire League it doesn’t half make your life easier when it’s dry. After the daily attempt to decimate Yorkshire’s pig population through bacon consumption we set our course for Doncaster which evoked memories of the Central Midlands League Hop. Continue reading →