Category Archives: B

Shapes of things

28 Sunday Jun 2015

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Saturday 27th June 2015 ko 15.00

Friendly

BEESTON FC 3 (37, 39, 48)

SHERWOOD COLLIERY 8 (19,35,41,68,72,73,83,85)

Att 36 at Trent Vale Road

There’s been a few changes on the Notts side of the border with Derbyshire this close season. One of those has seen Beeston AFC merge with fellow Notts Senior League outfit Boots Athletic, to form Beeston FC. They’ll play most of this coming season, including their hop game at the nearby Hetley Pearson Ground, but the plan is to renovate here at Trent Vale Road, and call this place home. Continue reading →

Size Matters

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

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Tuesday 2nd June 2015 ko 19.00

Superettan

IF BROMMAPOJKARNA 2 (Hellberg 29 75)

IFK VÄRNAMO 1 (Cederqvist 44)

Att 624

Entry (seating) 150sek (c £11.76)

Programme/ Lottery 20 sek

In Stockholm there’s a fairly obvious footballing pecking order. Top are Djurgården and AIK, closely followed by Hammarby, and all are currently playing in top flight of Swedish football, the Allsvenskan. Bromma were relegated from there last season, and currently lie bottom of the second tier Superettan, or Super-One division if you’d prefer the English translation. But to judge Brommapojkarna, or to translate, the Bromma Boys Club, on their league position would be to completely miss the point of their existence, as they are the biggest club in Europe. Continue reading →

Gas Panic

21 Thursday May 2015

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Sunday 17th May 2015 ko 14.00

Conference Promotion Final

BRISTOL ROVERS 1 (Harrison 30)

GRIMSBY TOWN 1 (John-Lewis 2)

AET Bristol Rovers won 5-3 on penalties

Att 47,0229 at Wembley Stadium

Entry £10 (Member clubs’ allocation- “Neutral Zone”)

Programme £5

Now I know the Conference Premier is pretty much League 3 these days. I know it’s almost entirely full-time and I know there are many former Football League clubs in its ranks. The vital word here is “Former” though, and take it from me, a fan of a club that did lose its place in the League, it hurts a lot it when you get relegated. You get used to the comments like “How on earth did you end up there?” and every time you go to a game you cheer your club on straining every mental sinew to get back to whence you came. There’s nothing wrong with the Conference, but believe me the fans of at least half of the clubs in its top flight hate being there.

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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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Popular

30 Thursday Apr 2015

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Saturday 25th April 2015 ko 15.20

Notts Senior League- Senior Division

BURTON JOYCE 3 (Buckle 5 Ryan Easom 67 Smith 82) 

Clements missed penalty 4

Roscoe Easom sent off 85 (DOGSO)

ATTENBOROUGH 3 (Nice 9 Elliker 30 61)

Att 279

Entry £3

Programme £1

Was I the only one who thought the hop needed a boost when we parked up at the Poplars? Certainly one goal in two games wasn’t what four clubs, the league and one organiser would have wanted, but even if the game here hadn’t had served up a 6-goal thriller, the boost Burton Joyce gave the event was based on far more than just football. Continue reading →

In Defence Of The Nil-Nil Draw

28 Tuesday Apr 2015

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Saturday 25th April 2015 ko 10.10

Notts Senior League- Senior Division

BINGHAM TOWN 0

RUDDINGTON VILLAGE 0

Att 387

Entry £3

Programme £1

Breakfast-in-a box £3.95

I hadn’t paid much attention to Rob Hornby’s schedule for this hop, but when I received my ticket (It always pays to pay in advance for these events) my eyebrow raised a millimetre. Trying to take in 4 games in a day is normal, but achieving the feat with not one of the clubs having floodlights isn’t. It’s been done before, the South Wales Amateur League Hop in 2005 saw a start at Rhydyfelin and a finish at Cwmaman Institute for example, but it does require the clubs to be close together. Still 4 games is always good for value-for-money, and the early finish gets everyone home at a reasonable hour. Continue reading →

Shoot Out

16 Thursday Apr 2015

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Saturday 11th April 2015 ko 14.30

North Berkshire League Division One

KINTBURY RANGERS 4 (Allsop 8 11 30 Thorp 30)

BERINSFIELD 5 (Ingram 18p 65p Palmer 41 D Murphy 59 Rawlings 84)

Att 85

Entry FREE

No Programme

With my presence requested at the North Berkshire League Cup Final at Milton United later, my choice of afternoon games was rather limited. But serendipity can be wonderful thing, as I received word from Berinsfield assistant manager Nathan Frost that this game was going to be a shoot-out for the title. Yes I’d visited the ground as part of the Hellenic Hop in 2005 but this game had the potential to be a cracker. But great games on paper seldom turn to be classics do they? Continue reading →

Don’t Mention…

16 Thursday Apr 2015

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Friday 10th April 2015 ko 19.30

North Berkshire League- War Memorial Cup Final

EAST HENDRED 1 (Mason 35og)

BURGHCLERE 2 (Gannon 22 Smallridge 32)

Att 267 at Alfredian Park, Wantage (Wantage Town FC)

Entry & Programme £3

I’m tempted to start with this one with a similar line to the one I used when I attended the 2012 final here, in fact lets do just that, Continue reading →

This Sporting Life

14 Tuesday Apr 2015

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Wednesday 8th April 2015 ko 18.15

North Bucks & District League Premier Division

BRACKLEY SPORTS 0 Hirons missed penalty 27

SYRESHAM 3 (Markham 11 Watts 17 Allen 20)

Att 44

Entry FREE

Nothing for Sale

I do like visiting a town’s second club, you tend to either see a studied indifference to the bigger club or the frustration of a one-sided rivalry. In the case of Brackley Sports its the former, even though the floodlights of Brackley Town’s St James Park are clearly visible from Sports home at the Recreation Centre. Continue reading →

The Clutch

06 Monday Apr 2015

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Friday 3rd April 2015 ko 11.30

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

BARTON TOWN OLD BOYS 0

CLEETHORPES TOWN 3 (Robertson 36 90 Grant 87)

Att 517

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

I woke up with a start in Wakeford, and I really must learn to put some clothes on before opening the curtains to check the weather. It was hammering it down with rain, and my torpor was only slightly eased during breakfast with the news that it wasn’t raining in Barton-upon-Humber. That ground had seen significant rainfall during the week and the last thing we wanted was a postponement. I was worried enough about Barton’s prospects anyway.

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