Category Archives: A

More Than Just Football

13 Monday Aug 2018

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Saturday 9th June 2018 ko 16.00

Division 5 Sydöstra Skåne

ANDERSLÖVS BoIK 3 (Jonsson 6og Wikström 71 86)

SKEGRIE 2 (Melander 12 Larsson 51)

Att 114

Entry & Programme 40 sek

The Swedish Hop’s £230 cost included two nights bed and breakfast in Trelleborg, coach travel including to and from Kastrup Airport, tolls on the Øresund Bridge, and all entry fees and programmes for the games.

If we thought that Klågerup had been amazing, then I sat on the coach heading towards our final destination of the day wondering how on earth Anderslöv could possibly live up to what had happened before? The coach pulled into a car park behind a local school and driver Jörgen laughed. I leaned forward and laughed too… Continue reading →

Kim’s Stockholm

30 Monday Jul 2018

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Wednesday 6th June 2018 ko 15.00

Division One Norra

AKROPOLIS I.F. 1 (Alemayehu 43)

SOLLENTUNA FK 1 (Ramsell 28)

Att c250

Entry & Programme 100 sek

Our last day in Stockholm was the day where Swedish Groundhop organiser Kim Hedwall showed his mettle. The Swedish hop was the first non-UK hop and has run every year since 2007. The reason it started was Kim and without him it couldn’t run- he and the event are indivisible. So when he asked the 4 of us to meet him earlier in the day at Fridhemsplan metro station our notoriously individualistic selves didn’t need to ask questions, we just planned our route!

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Convenience

09 Monday Jul 2018

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Saturday 19th May 2018 ko 13.30

Welsh League Division Two

AMMANFORD AFC 1 (Frater 19p) Glendon sent off (dangerous play) 62

PONTYPRIDD TOWN 3 (Hooper 48 Boddard 57 Hillman 68)

Att c150

Entry & Programme £4

It seems a common theme of this season has been me stretching the concept of “its on the way home” to its extremes! Here the plan of action was to collect Robyn from a few days holiday in Weymouth, and I was tasked to find us a game between there and Oxford. Well, South Wales and one of the most westerly clubs in the Welsh League is close enough isn’t it? Continue reading →

The Rivals

07 Saturday Jul 2018

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Saturday 12th May 2018 ko 18.00

North Berkshire Cup Final

BERINSFIELD 2 (Ingram 43p Palmer 71) Kenny sent off 77 (2nd booking)

SAXTON ROVERS 0

Att 341

At Abingdon United FC

Entry & Programme £4

Something a little different, but perhaps it’s also just the same as normal! As a very proud committeeman at the North Berkshire League it was inevitable I’d be at our Blue Riband event, the North Berkshire Cup Final. But with Benno the press officer away attending a wedding- his own- I was pressed into service to write a report, and Robyn became official photographer. Here are the results.  Continue reading →

Kilbourne

26 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Saturday 5th May 2018 ko 13.45

Central Midlands League South Division

AFC KILBURN 1 (McCready 84)

SHERWOOD COLLIERY 3 (Wiesztort 26 Sawter 56 Beardsey 80)

Att 207

Entry £3

Programme £1.50

Maybe it’s because I’m a southerner but when you mention Kilburn, I tend to think of the suburb in north-west London near Maida Vale. In fact I think we took the Hellenic Hop there a couple of times back in the day!  The Kilburn in Derbyshire is in the Amber (river) Valley, which made the “Jade” Garden choice of name for the local Chinese takeaway seem rather inappropriate!  To confuse things further until roughly a century ago the village was known as Kilbourne! The area was the setting for ITV tv drama “Peak Practice.” Continue reading →

Tiger Feet

26 Thursday Apr 2018

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Friday 30th March 2018 ko 19.00

South West Peninsula League Division One East

AXMINSTER TOWN 2 (Hurford 13 Dibling 21)

CREDITON TOWN 1 (Morish 32)

Att 306

Hop ticket £25 (programmes not included)

Entry £4

Programme £1.50

We left Exwick Villa, and Exeter’s suburbs and headed east. It was good that hop organiser Phil Hiscox had confirmed that the day’s final game was definitely on. The weather was dreadful, we passed Honiton and when we climbed into the southern foothills of the Blackdown Hills the torrential rain turned into sleet. Surely the game couldn’t still be on, could it? Continue reading →

Purpose

11 Thursday Jan 2018

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Tuesday 9th January 2018 ko 20.15

London FA Junior Cup 4th Round

ALTIS 1 (Aalit 62) McCausland sent off (DOGSO) 90

UNITED LONDON 1 (Texeira 10)

No extra time, United London won 4-2 on penalties

Att 86 @ London Marathon Community Track

Entry & Programme £3

“Altis” ; Greek def. “The Sanctuary of the Gods.”

The thanks for this should go to Talksport radio presenter Tony Incenzo. It was he that spotted that former warm-up track for the 2012 London Olympics had been converted for use as a mini stadium and his suggestion was how Altis came to move there. He then encouraged the club to play one of their games midweek under lights and to produce a one-off programme. And when you know roughly 60 of the attendees you know the ruse worked! Continue reading →

Newton

09 Tuesday Jan 2018

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Friday 5th January 2018 ko 19.45

Isthmian League Division One

AVELEY 0

AFC HORNCHURCH 2 (Fanimo 45 Fairweather-Johnson 85)

Att 398

Entry £10

Programme £2

Robyn and I zoomed round the M25, almost unbelievably clear on a Friday evening, the fact that we were both wearing our work clothes testament to how little time the satnav thought we had. It is of course the law of such things that we arrived half-an-hour early.

If any town could say to be in the shadow of the Dartford Crossing, it’s Aveley to the extent that that just about everywhere you stand you can see the red-lit tops  of the QE2 bridge’s towers. Continue reading →

The Reverse Takeover

26 Thursday Oct 2017

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Friday 6th October 2017 ko 19.45

Western League Division One

ASHTON & BACKWELL UNITED 2 (Skidmore 40 57) Thomas sent off 83 (2nd Booking)

BISHOP SUTTON 1 (Rendell 73)

Att 225

Entry £6

Programmes £1

It seemed that Street FC’s Tannery Ground was a million miles away. We’d finished the 2016 Western Hop there, and as the game finished I’d wished the league’s General Secretary Mark Edmonds all the best for the rest of the season. His untimely death due to cancer in December hit us all hard, and this hop took place with the feeling that there was something missing. That’s no reflection on anyone or anything; Mark’s absence was keenly felt, and that will continue to be the case. Rest in peace my friend.  Continue reading →

Dreams

13 Tuesday Jun 2017

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Saturday 27th May 2017 ko 17.30

FA Cup Final

ARSENAL 2 (Sanchez 5 Ramsey 79)

CHELSEA 1 (Costa 77) Moses sent off 69 (2nd booking)

Att 89,472 at Wembley Stadium

Entry £45

Programme £10

I’m old enough to remember the FA Cup when it took over all of the television on whatever Saturday it fell. You could watch “Cup Final Multi-Coloured Swap Shop” if you so desired, such was the importance attached to the final game of the season. Then after lunch I’d sit with Dad and watch the game, preceeded by the marching band, and the singing of “Abide with me,” and it goes without saying that from the moment I first set eyes on the spectacle I wanted to go to a final. There were a few problems with my idea though….

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