Category Archives: B

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?

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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 →

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 →