Category Archives: B

Regent

11 Monday Jan 2016

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Tuesday 5th January 2016 ko 19.45

Isthmian League Division One North

BRIGHTLINGSEA REGENT 4 (Read 20 27 Kelly 43 Malton 56)

WALTHAM ABBEY 1 (Daveney 79)

Att 107

Entry £8

Programme £1

I do enjoy my visits to this part of the world. Whether its Felixstowe & Walton on the Suffolk side, or the likes of Clacton and Harwich & Parkeston on the Essex side, and the latter is an absolute must-visit by the way, there’s a vibrancy about the clubs even if sometimes their circumstances are less than ideal. Brightlingsea proved to be a case in point.  Continue reading →

Jimmy

01 Friday Jan 2016

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Saturday 28th December 2015 ko 19.45

Isthmian League Division One

BARKINGSIDE 0

HARINGEY BOROUGH 1 (Kamara 57)

Att 114 at Cricklefields Stadium, Seven Kings (Ilford FC)

Entry & Programme £9

Just under two years ago I paid a visit to Oakside Park and was both pleasantly surprised and saddened in equal measure. The ground is the kind of hotch potch that groundhoppers love, and Barkingside’s chairman Jimmy Flanagan was heroically keeping the club going almost single-handed, whilst welcoming just about everyone through the turnstile. The sadness was that they were unable to pay the rent increase on the ground, so were about to vacate the ground they’d built. I was sufficiently taken by both Jimmy and Barkingside to want to catch up with them. Continue reading →

New Town Blues

01 Sunday Nov 2015

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Wednesday October 28th 2015 ko 19.45 (but actually kicked off at 20.15)

Essex Senior League

BASILDON UNITED 4 (Hunter 5 9 Nyanja 54 Clark 69) Sartain sent off 60 (2nd booking)

TOWER HAMLETS 0

Official attendance 84

Entry £6

Programme SOLD OUT

Groundtastic editor Vince Taylor summed up Basildon neatly.

“Other New Towns such as Crawley and Stevenage have produced Football League teams, why not Basildon?”

He has a point, and you can add Milton Keynes to that list albeit by rather nefarious means, but why is a town of 100,000 residents only supporting a club at the 9th tier of English football? Continue reading →

Bedding In Nicely

12 Monday Oct 2015

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Saturday 10th October 2015

Bedfordshire County League Hop

10.30 Bedfordshire County League Premier Division

SHARNBROOK 4 (King 17 Mulvihill 48 52 Strange 69)

PAVENHAM 4 (Payne 6 11 Harding 47 Netherway 59)

Att 125

13.45 Bedfordshire County League Premier Division

RENHOLD UNITED 2 (Reed 3 Allison 6)

SANDY 0

Att 119

16.30 Bedfordshire County League Premier Division

FLITWICK TOWN 3 (Banfield 5 Doriatito 17 Lewis 82)

EASTCOTTS 0

Att 151

Free entry to all games

Programmes £2 each

Badges £3 each

When I see the Bedfordshire officials to some extent I see my own reflection. I’ve got so engrained in the world of the North Berkshire League it’s got to the point where I can look at a side in the Bedfordshire League and understand them, the two leagues are that similar in how they operate.  Continue reading →

Winning At Life

24 Thursday Sep 2015

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Wednesday 23rd September 2015 ko 19.30

Anglian Combination Division One

BECCLES TOWN 2 (Joe Clarke 60 62)

BUNGAY TOWN 1 (Whiteman 7)

Att c200

Entry & Programme £2

If you’re on Twitter and like football then I suspect you follow Shaun Cole and Bungay Town. Yes, even you at the back, the Manchester United fan that’s never actually been to Old Trafford, because Shaun sells his club like no other. They are the team that once offered everyone 5p to attend a game then the next year offered free mushrooms to patrons. Because just because your club exists 12 promotions from the Premier League doesn’t mean you can’t tell the world that you’re alive and kicking, and it does give you the freedom to do it with wit and charm. Continue reading →

The Key To It All

25 Tuesday Aug 2015

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Saturday 22nd August 2015 ko 14.30

Isle of Wight Jubilee Cup

BRADING TOWN 3 (Collins 7 Hichcox 28 Hatcher 45) Vale missed penalty 45)

NORTHWOOD ST JOHNS 0

Att 34

Entry £1

No Programme

The further I delve into every football ground everywhere, the endless choice every Saturday doesn’t get any less bewildering nearly 1,700 grounds in. Writing these articles helps, as it steers you towards places that cry out to have their story told, but in the end Brading Town became a classic piece of completionism. Continue reading →

Impressions

21 Friday Aug 2015

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Wednesday 12th August 2015 ko 18.45

Hampshire Premier League Senior Division

BUSH HILL RANGERS 4 (Smith 2 84 Jewell 20 Harding 74)

STOCKBRIDGE 1 (S Hamilton 65)

Att 47

Entry FREE

No Programme

Maybe my eye for grounds is getting either jaundiced or rose-tinted, I’m not sure which. Because when I posted a photo of the ground in Southampton on social media, the fans of Brutalist stadium architecture grabbed at it. And even now, a week or more later I’m still a little mystified. Continue reading →

Men At Work

16 Sunday Aug 2015

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Tuesday 4th August 2015 ko 18.45

Hampshire Premier League- Senior Division

BAFFINS MILTON ROVERS 3 (Gardner 42 76 Prew 89)

LIPHOOK UNITED 0

Att 27

Entry FREE

No Programme

Hopper mentality being what it is, the tendency is for the hobby to descend on any club that moves grounds as soon as possible. Its an odd one when you think about it, its far more important to dive for those grounds that are about to disappear isn’t it?

Continue reading →

Terms of Endearment

08 Saturday Aug 2015

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Saturday 1st August 2015 ko 13.45

United Counties League Division One

BLACKSTONES 1 (Evans 64p)

RUSHDEN & HIGHAM UNITED 1 (Cormack 30)

Att 327

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £3

So back to the UCL for our second game of the day, and over the border to Lincolnshire and the historic market town of Stamford. Blackstones take their name from their background as the works team of the Mirlees Blackstones engineering firm (more here) but I did wonder what the crowd would be like here. Continue reading →

UNESCO

26 Sunday Jul 2015

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Saturday 25th July 2015 ko 12.30

Pre-Season Friendly

BLAENAVON BLUES 1 (19)

TREHARRIS ATHLETIC WESTERN 1 (37)

Att 19

Entry FREE

No Programme

As far as I’m concerned Blaenavon in Torfaen is the home of the “Big Pit” the national coal mining museum of Wales, and if you haven’t paid the place a visit, have a read of this and do what I didn’t do, and combine it with a visit to Blaenavon Blues’ Memorial Ground. You can, after all, see the Big Pit from the pitch! Continue reading →