Category Archives: B

The Day Of Seven Borders

26 Thursday May 2022

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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! 

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The Pipe

28 Monday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 19:30 (delayed to 19:45)

North West Counties League- Premier Division

BARNOLDSWICK TOWN 0

AVRO 2 (Ellis 53p 62)

Att 517

Entry £6

Programme £2

From Nelson we headed north once again for our fourth game of the day. So far north in fact, we saw signs for Kendal and wondered “What? Is that the Kendal in Cumbria?” Yep, that far north…. Continue reading →

Back-Up

21 Monday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 11:00

North West Counties League Division One North

BACUP BOROUGH 6 (Sherriff 7 Mellor 25 45 Hall K Siddle 77 Fallon 90)

ST HELENS TOWN AFC 1 (Korie-Butler 15p)

Clarke sent off 34 (foul & abusive)

Att 460

Entry £5

Programme £2

If Friday’s game at Golcar felt like we were in Northern Counties East then Saturday morning felt we’d crossed over the border into what I’d call traditional North West Counties territory. Bacup lies on the Lancashire side of the tripartite boundary of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. As the advance party we had the all-important pre-booked programmes and advanced tickets to distribute- not everyone went to the Golcar game. Continue reading →

The Golden Triangle

28 Friday Jan 2022

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Tuesday 25th January 2022 ko 19:45

Eastern Counties League Division One South

BUCKHURST HILL 9 (N. Sollosi 1 10 34 Falola 32 79 90 Zuhdu 43 75 S Sollosi 87)

WORMLEY ROVERS 1 (Clark 24)

Allen sent off (DOGSO) 70

Att 151

Entry & Programme £6

The very mention of Essex does run the risk of painting pejorative thoughts in your head. You might think of girls in white stilettos dancing round their handbags, shows of conspicuous consumption, and the TV show that enforced the cliche, “The Only Way Is Essex.”  Of course all of that is just a cliché, and Buckhurst Hill certainly doesn’t fit the image. Continue reading →

More Than A Feeling

10 Monday Jan 2022

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Tuesday 28th December 2022 ko 15:00

National League North

BOSTON UNITED 1 (Elliott 72p)

BRACKLEY TOWN 3 (Ndlovu 20 90 Armson 31)

Armston penalty saved 69

Att 2,138 (46 away)

Entry £16 (seat-main stand)

Programme £3 (superb)

Teamsheet/raffle £1

Boston United and I go back a little way. As an Oxford United fan York Street seemed to be where our failing club seemed to send players that didn’t quite fit in. There was Simon Weatherstone who did well for the Pilgrims, his brother Ross who didn’t and aging striker Phil Gray who manager Steve Evans commented “He (Gray) had an ambition to play for Boston, I however had an ambition to send him back to Oxford”

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Family

25 Thursday Nov 2021

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Tuesday 9th November 2021 ko 19:45

Somerset Premier Cup 2nd Round

BATH CITY 3 (Fletcher 8 Cooke 37 Smith 74)

PORTISHEAD TOWN 0

Att 476

Entry £8

Programme 50p

From a groundhopping perspective this didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I’ve been to Twerton Park on a number of occasions, to the point that I’ve seen Bath City, Bristol Rovers and even Team Bath all play home games here. And as lovely is the place is, and you can double that for a game under lights, why on earth would Robyn and I engage in a mad dash after work from Oxford to see this game? The answer is family.  Continue reading →

Showcase

18 Thursday Nov 2021

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Friday 29th October 2021 ko 19:30

East Berkshire League-Premier Division

BRITWELL 2 (Malloy 48 Comber-Christian 90)

Malloy sent off  83 (2nd booking)

IVER HEATH 2 (Durrant 21 McAspurn 65)

Att 145 (85 paying) at the Gore, Burnham (Burnham FC)

Entry £3

Programme £1

I’d paid my three quid and was admiring The Gore’s new 3G pitch when a groundhopper approached me and laughed. “I live a mile from here, what’s your excuse?” he half asked/ half joked. He hit the nail on the head without really meaning to, why was I there? 

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The Old & The New

01 Monday Nov 2021

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Sunday 3rd October 2021 ko 12:15 

East of Scotland League- Premier Division

BROXBURN ATHLETIC 0

DUNDONALD BLUEBELL 1 (Ford 61)

Att 278

Entry £7

Programme £2

Teamsheet FREE

Pie – Steak

Every year I turn up at the Scottish Hop’s single Sunday game, and wish we’d added a second game. After that game I then spend hours on the M6 glad we didn’t! We arrived a Albyn Park about an hour before the coach did, and way too early, there was upwards of 100 young girls playing in a multitude of 5-a-side games on the pitch at the time and certainly you didn’t want a crowd taking photos. It did, though show the great strength of Broxburn’s home. Continue reading →

Culinary Delights

21 Thursday Oct 2021

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Saturday 2nd October 2021 ko 14:00

Lowland League

BONNYRIGG ROSE 2 (Turner 17 Young 59)

DALBEATTIE STAR 1 (Todd 46)

Att 517

Entry £9

Programme £2

Teamsheet FREE

Pie- Doner kebab & chilli sauce

The beauty of the Saturday on this edition of the Scottish Hop was that none of the 4 grounds were more than a couple of miles from the next. It seemed as soon as we’d left Dalkeith we’d arrived at Bonnyrigg and with all due respect to the other clubs we visited this weekend, this was the club I’d anticipated visiting the most. Continue reading →

The Delay

08 Friday Oct 2021

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Friday 1st October 2021 ko 19.45

Lowland League

BO’NESS UNITED 3 (Flynn 31 Jacobs 42 Locke 68)

CIVIL SERVICE STROLLERS 1 (Cole 43)

Att 507

Entry £7

Programme £1

Pie – Scotch or Macaroni

It is a historical point that the first hop to be cancelled due to the pandemic was the Scottish Hop and the first one back could so easily have been this one, delayed for 18 months!  While I loved what we did and will do in the Witney & District League this is altogether a different animal. But you would have thought that simply taking the same event, with the same host clubs (albeit with the Friday and Sunday games transposed) and restaging it after the break would be easy enough to do wouldn’t you? And you’d be wrong! Continue reading →