Category Archives: A

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 →

Rounding It All Off

11 Monday May 2015

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Saturday 9th May 2015 ko 19.00

North Berkshire Cup Final

BERINSFIELD 5 (Saunders 21 D Murphy 26 37 90 Holdsworth 60)

SAXTON ROVERS 0

Att c450 at Northcourt Road, Abingdon (Abingdon United FC)

Entry & Programme £3

If there’s one game at the end of each season I hate to miss its this one, and please don’t confuse it with the North Berkshire League Cup Final, this one is open to all first XI’s in the league, and you get a far better class of guest of honour, the trophy was presented by Angela Lawrence, Mayor of Abingdon. She was rewarded for her efforts with a champagne soaking! It’s the traditional closing of the NBFL season, a celebration, but this year there was more than usual to consider.

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The Start Of It All

27 Monday Apr 2015

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Friday 24th April 2015 ko 19.30

Notts Senior League, Division One

ASHLAND ROVERS 3 (Allen 7 Dunn 86 87)

NEWARK FLOWSERVE 3 (Charlton 45 Boddy 50 72)

Att 297

Entry £3

Programme £1

Apart from really not wanting to organise a fourth hop in 8 weeks, having Rob Hornby’s annual jaunt around the Notts Senior League is a godsend for me. Apart from simply becoming a spectator only on a hop, I and everyone else can attend the games knowing that Rob will always make sure his event is run properly. He’s been doing it a long time, across the Central Midlands League and this league, and some of his ideas are now the staple of any hop worthy of the name. If like me you regard, for example, programme packs as the mark of a properly organised event, then thank the genial Mansfield resident. We talk, we co-operate and the events get better and better. Continue reading →

Second Helpings

12 Thursday Mar 2015

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Saturday 7th March 2015 ko 16.00

Mid Wales League Division One

ABERAERON TOWN 1 (James 43)

PENRHYNCOCH 1 (Nyhus 7 James 17)

Att 240

Entry £4

Programme £1

Of course the roots of the Ceredigion Hop lie with the August Hop’s 3-year stint in the Mid-Wales League. After it was all over we had 2 sides that couldn’t play on August Bank Holiday so to visit U.W.A. and Aberaeron  a “Hop-up” was organised to visit them. We wanted a Friday evening fixture so we approached Lampeter, and then the late Dai Davies at the league offered us New Quay too! We enjoyed the two Ceredigion League games so much we returned for the next 3 years!

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Without Prejudice

14 Saturday Feb 2015

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Wednesday 11th February 2015 ko 19.30

Welsh League Division Two

ABERBARGOED BUDS 1 (McCarthy 50)

CWMBRAN CELTIC 1 (Thomas 7)

Att c60

Entry £5

Programme £1

I wish there were more teams with lights in the Welsh League, I could enjoy mid-week fixtures here a lot more often. It takes my mind back to happy days when the Welsh Groundhop dealt in the cards of the Welsh League and the South Wales Amateur league. We tried to pronounce the likes of Ynysddu, and Blaenrhondda, and quaffed pint after pint in the Otley Arms in Trefforest. As one half of GroundhopUK, we will return to the Valleys one day, and the imminent merger of the Amateur and Senior Leagues will help that process.

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