Category Archives: A

Gunpowder

07 Sunday Feb 2016

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Saturday 6th February 2015 ko 14.00

Southern Combination Division Two

ALFOLD 1 (Hallett 90)

AFC ROFFEY CLUB 0

Att 19

Entry FREE

Programme £1

It did seem a little strange driving down the A3 to take in a game in what used to be called the Sussex County League, passing through Guildford then making for Horsham. You’ll always be in Surrey, and genteel wooded Surrey at that. You really should stop on the way in Bramley, the Kingfish Chip Shop provides an excellent lunch, and once you’ve worked out how to navigate the nearby road junction, you’ll arrive at Alfold’s Recreation Ground. Continue reading →

Clockwork Brocoli

24 Thursday Dec 2015

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Saturday 19th December 2015 ko 17.00

Segunda B Grupo 4

ALGECIRAS CF 2 (Javi Medina 6 Javi Chico 90)

LA HOYA LORCA 1 (Roberto 83)

Att c3,500

Entry (Tribuna- main stand) €15 (£11)

No Programme

If ever there was the very epitomy of a port town it’s Algeciras. If you want to know where your Spanish import said goodbye to it’s mother country, chances are that it was the port the other side of the bay from Gibraltar. The town has always been associated with the sea, firstly from smuggling from North Africa, then via more conventional trading routes. In fact the real surprise for me was just how difficult the Estadio Neuvo Mirador was to reach from a base in Gibraltar. Continue reading →

Old For New, or New For Old?

22 Tuesday Dec 2015

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Tuesday 15th December 2015 ko 19.45

Wessex League Cup 2nd Round

ALTON TOWN 4 (Fox 3 Gray 7 Peck 73 Latimer 81)

FAREHAM TOWN 2 (Jackson 11 Laycock 85)

Att 96

Entry £6

Teamsheet FREE

I suspect when Coors started procedures to move Alton Town from their historic Bass Ground noone, least of all the club would have expected an outcome this good. Let’s face it, non-league football is littered with tales of homeless clubs groundsharing for a while, then slowly dying. What makes this all the more interesting is that the club have moved less than 400 yards, just across and along the main road, and in the process have gone home. Continue reading →

No Names, No Pack Drill

08 Tuesday Dec 2015

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Monday 7th December 2015 ko 19.00

Army FA Woolwich Cup Quarter-Final

ARMY AIR CORPS 8 (13secs 3 55 60 71 75 84 90)

ARMY INTELLIGENCE CORPS 1 (87p)

Att 22 at Tidworth Oval

Entry FREE

No Programme

I have a theory that when groundhoppers look for interesting stadia and games to visit, the Army FA is a blind spot for many. In a sense that is odd, the Army FA is treated as a county by the FA in exactly the same way as, say Wiltshire is, and the Military Stadium in Aldershot should be on everyone’s to-visit list.  However there are a few factors to consider before attending games.
Continue reading →

Unitary

29 Sunday Nov 2015

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Friday 27th November 2015 ko 19.30

Welsh League Division One

ABERBARGOED BUDS 4 (Haggett 21 Shaw 37 Meacham 48 K Thomas 82) K Thomas missed penalty 37

RISCA UNITED 3 (Williams 16 32 Thomas 68)

Att 113 at Centre for Sporting Excellence, Caerphilly Road, Ystrad Mynach

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £3

It’s all change in the footballing world of Caerphilly for this season, with the opening of the Centre for Sporting Excellence in nearby Ystrad Mynach. The facility was built in 2014 by the local county council on the site of the former hospital and close to Penallta RUFC’s Ystrad Fawr ground. It’s an unusual, but highly impressive facility with two international-grade artificial pitches each with a 500-seat stand. One is for rugby, and one for football. It’s hardly surprising with a facility this good, that two sides have moved in, and since those two sides, Aberbargoed and Risca were playing each other, it was the obvious time to visit. Continue reading →

Wonder

26 Monday Oct 2015

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Wednesday 21st October 2015 ko 19.45

Kent Invicta League

A.C. LONDON 3 (Ramos 1 23 82)

LEWISHAM BOROUGH 0

Att 85

Entry & Programme £4

When the leagues declare their line-ups for the season ahead just occasionally you see a club that just makes your eyebrows raise, and there can be little doubt that AC London certainly fit that category. Formed by the 16-year-old Prince Choudary in 2012 as a youth team the club has expanded into adult football for this season, entering the Step 6 Kent Invicta League. Choudary at 20 is now the youngest chairman/manager in senior English football, but for me the more remarkable side to the rapid rise of the club is where they’ve chosen to play. Continue reading →

Logistics

03 Thursday Sep 2015

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Saturday 28th August 2015 ko 10.45

Welsh Alliance Division Two

AMLWCH TOWN 1 (Grffiths 44) Byast sent off 90 (2nd booking)

NANTLLE VALE 2 (A Hughes 2 S Williams 40) E Jones sent off 81 (2nd booking)

Att 318

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

When you organise a groundhop, after you’ve agreed the event with the league your next move is to pick a base, where you’ll run the coaches from and site your accommodation. There are some hard and fast rules with hotels and the like, parking must be free, there has to be room for the coach, and the breakfasts need to be of the cooked variety! Universities tend to be good for us, having single ensuite rooms is perfect for us, and the University of Chester’s accommodation is first-class, but it has meant we’ve needed to plan a little more. Continue reading →

Lessons Learned

23 Sunday Aug 2015

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Monday 17th August 2015 ko 19.30

Combined Counties League Division One

ABBEY RANGERS 2 (Macklin 68 Hartlebury 81)

STAINES LAMMMAS 1 (Nunn 52)

Att 157

Entry & Programme £5

I’m beginning to think despite many aggravating factors we’re beginning to see a renaissance in southern-based non-league clubs. I’m well used to having to travel north to visit an iconic ground at Step 5 or below, then visiting grounds at a similar level locally and seeing little more than a barrier. Continue reading →

The Most Expensive Comp’ Ever!

21 Friday Aug 2015

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Monday 10th August 2015 ko 19.07

Allsvenskan

A.I.K. 1 (Bangura 54) Sundberg sent off 32 (DOGSO)

DJURGÅRDEN 0 Arvidsson sent off 74 (2nd booking)

Att 39,387

Entry- Complimentary

Programme 20sek

Picture the scene; I’m pottering around on a Sunday morning, and a message pops up on my mobile phone. “Would I like a free ticket to the Stockholm derby in 2 weeks’ time?” The answer of course was yes, but there was the not unsubstantial issue of how I was going to get there, and at what cost? Continue reading →

Setting it up

24 Sunday May 2015

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Tuesday 19th May 2015 kop 18.15

Coventry Alliance Premier Division

AMBLESIDE SPORTS 0

A.E.I. RUGBY 6 (Halim 2 60 Vince 63 65 76p Glover 85)

Att 47

Entry FREE

No Programme

Start with the obvious I suppose, this is Ambleside Way in Nuneaton, not the pretty town in the Lake District, and the club takes its name from the Ambleside Sports Ground, which in turn is named after the street. After all, the other Ambleside would be a little far for the Coventry Alliance’s footprint! Incidentally the ground is a few hundred yards from the Hinckley and North Warwickshire College ground, used for some Midland U21 League fixtures Continue reading →