Category Archives: B

Outpost

11 Sunday May 2014

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Tuesday 11th May 2014 ko 18.45

North Berkshire League Division 3

BURGHCLERE 2 (Franklin 55 Kirkham 90)

KINTBURY RANGERS RESERVES 3 (Ramos 34 Allsop 40p 80p)

Att 28

Entry FREE

No Programme

I had a choice of two games that would give me somewhere new to visit, but when Radley switched their game to Sutton Courtenay (the team is becoming Sutton Courtenay for next season), I blasted down the A34 to the pretty Hampshire village through a downpour. I remember attending the North Berks AGM when Burghclere were elected. One side, no longer in the league, objected that the club were too far away to travel to, despite being within the league’s famous stipulation of being within 20 miles of Steventon Green. And let’s be honest, the trip is straightforward, a blast down the A34, turn left then follow the road for half a mile. And what’s at the end of your journey is well worth the effort of getting here.

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Eternal

30 Wednesday Apr 2014

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Saturday 26th April 2014 k0 19.00

Super liga

FK PARTIZAN 2 (Drinčić 27 Kojić 90)

FK CRVENA ZVEZDA 1 (Mrda 56) Ninković missed penalty 25 Mijailović missed penalty 34

Att 30,000

Entry 2,000 RSD (£14.21)

No Programme

No Souvenirs (although overpriced ones are available at the airport!)

 

When it comes to football in Belgrade, and Serbia in general Red Star and Partizan dominate. Partizan was the team of the army, named after the Communist Partizans who fought the Nazis in World War II. Red Star were formed in 1945 out of the war-time Serbian United Antifascist Youth League, and became closely associated with the Ministry of the Interior and more specifically the Secret Police. Every since the two clubs’ formation the rivalry has been intense and during the existence of Yugoslavia, rivalries with the two Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb, and Hajduk Split were also ferocious. In fact many attribute the riot on May 13, 1990 at Maksimir stadium in Zagreb during a match between Dinamo and Red Star, as being the spark that started the Croatian War of Independence that began a year and a half later.

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Past Glories

24 Thursday Apr 2014

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Monday 21st April 2014 ko 12.00

Northern League Division One

BISHOP AUCKLAND 8 (Megran 25 45 Hodgson 37 Hawkins 43 Lawson 48 Brunskill 57 64 Lane 70)

CROOK TOWN 1 (Davis 58)

Att 434

Entry £6

Programme £1.25

Badge £3.50

In many respects this season cannot finish quickly enough; yes you’ve read that correctly, but don’t worry, I’ll still watch the usual bucket-load of games while I can. I was and am tired, and when the Northern League announced the last of their reunion hops, it looked like a good excuse to have Easter away from the organised hops for the first time in a long time. That’s nothing against Harvey Harris, Mike Amos and the Northern League, they are lovely people to deal with, but time with family and friends looked a good option for me. Until I was sat in the pub on Saturday and GroundhopUK’s Chris Berezai phoned, should we go and support the event on its fourth and final day? On go on then….

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Plan C

14 Friday Mar 2014

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Sunday 9th March 2014 ko 10.15

Ceredigion League Division One

BARGOD RANGERS 3 (Skinner 2 35 D Evans 76)

MAESGLAS 3 (J James 15 38 Irvine 29)

Att 238

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Tea & A Welsh Cake £1

Hat £3

So picture the scene, I’m sat in my office at work and I’ve got Twitter on in the background. All of a sudden the following tweet pops up….

Llanybydder

….and our Sunday morning game goes out of the window just under 3 weeks before the event. I knew Chris Berezai was at a business meeting in the north, so I spent a frantic few minutes looking at the Ceredigion website (and I’m thankful its detailed and up to date). It became clear that unless we were either going to run the hop a game short, or rejig all the other fixtures there was only one game open to us, Bargod vs Maesglas. We’d already postponed our visit to Saron as they’d played every 1st XI in their league, many hoppers won’t watch games involving reserves, and the only 1st XI Bargod had to meet was Maesglas. Continue reading →

Everything You Need

09 Sunday Feb 2014

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Saturday 8th February 2014 ko 13.45

Scottish Junior FA West Region, Central League Cup 2nd Round

BENBURB 1 (McGurgan 30) Lovering sent off 88 (2nd booking)

THORNIEWOOD UNITED 6 (Duffy 6 Murphy 16 Malone 45 McGowan 62 O’Donnell 78 Brophy 85)

Att 64

Entry £5

Programme £1

When I was a sixth-former we were encouraged to debate the burning issues of the time. I remember a particularly heated debate on the death penalty, and a particularly powerful argument was putting yourself in the position of the condemned prisoner and the dread of waiting for the appointment with the executioner. I felt a flavour of that dread about those involved at Benburb.

Benburb are on borrowed time at their home Tinto Park. The 82 year old stadium has been sold for housing, the “Site Office,” sign is up on the fence outside, and the club neither know who now owns their home, or when the axe will fall.

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Life At The Bottom

24 Tuesday Dec 2013

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Saturday 21st December 2013 ko 18.00

Campeonato Nacional de Liga de 1a División

REAL BETIS BALOMPIÉ 0

U.D. ALMERÍA 1 (Azzez 4)

Att 26,550

Entry €60

Programme FREE

Badge €2

Teamsheet FREE

One advantage of our previous game finishing two-and-half hours before this one, was that Andy and I had plenty of time to soak up all that the Estadio Benito Villamarín and its environs had to offer.

The first task was to buy a ticket which proved to be interesting! We were directed to a booth in the bowels of the North Fondo (Stand). There were only 3 hatches open, one for complementaries, but bizarrely two adjacent hatches for home and away fans! We managed to make our choice understood, and bought top priced tickets for the middle tier of the main stand which proved to be an excellent investment. Our €60 were snatched away, the tickets thrust our way and the hatch slammed shut. Did I say something wrong? Continue reading →

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit

24 Tuesday Dec 2013

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Saturday 21st December 2013 ko 13.30

1a División Andaluza Cadete

REAL BETIS CADETE A 7 (Santos 5 Toni 26 44 69 Ángel 83 Edu 86p José 85p)

SAN ROQUE DE LEPE 0

Att c200

Entry FREE

Teamsheet “FREE”

With a day in Seville and a Sunday spent doing little more than travelling to and from Huelva there was little point retaining the hire car. I returned it to the rental company at Santa-Justa rail station and the young girl who took the keys asked how I’d found the Fiat 500 to drive,

“Absolutely fine,” I replied, “But the steering wheel is on the wrong side!”

She panicked for a moment, glancing over to the car before realising what I meant! We exchanged a joke or two about driving in each other’s countries before Andy and I strolled over to the station to plan the details of our next two days over a coffee that the station café managed to forget to charge us for, then refused point-blank to accept my payment when I tried to be honest! Continue reading →

English First Sight

08 Sunday Dec 2013

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Saturday 7th December 2013 ko 13.30

John Fathers Oxfordshire Junior Shield 3rd Round

BRIZE NORTON 3 (Lachwicz 5 Bronk 29 Rowe 36) Rowe sent off 45 (violent conduct)

ASHTON VILLA 5 (Furtuna 70 Jukic 70 Benjamin 83 85 90) Green sent off 45 (violent conduct)

Att 11 (and 6 ponies)

Entry FREE

Raffle £1

No Programme

For the most part, airports disappoint me. Most of my encounters with them involve waiting and queuing in a place that could be almost anywhere. I remember landing at what was then called Jan Smuts airport in Cape Town, a vision of metal, glass and air conditioning, then stepping outside and experiencing the heat, flies and squalor of the squatter camp outside the perimeter fence. It is a strange way to welcome a visitor.

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Looking After Number One

20 Wednesday Nov 2013

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Saturday 16th November 2013 ko 17.30

Conference Premier

BARNET 2 (Villa 38 Weston 45)

CAMBRIDGE UNITED 2 (Appiah 29 32)

Att 2,853 (Ground Record)

Entry £21

Programme £3

Tea £1.50

Pie £3

I like Barnet, I always did, right the way back in the early 90’s when, as a student I used to catch the Northern Line to its terminus at High Barnet, then counter-intuitively walk down to Underhill.

The place reminded me of my club Oxford United’s spiritual home, The Manor, with the sloping pitch, and the hotpotch of stands and bits of terrace. It was magical, but unsuitable for the rigours of League football so a move was inevitable, however painful. I paid my my farewells last season, but the move has not been without controversy, Continue reading →

Memo From Turner

18 Monday Nov 2013

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Saturday 16th November 2013 ko 13.30

Hertfordshire Senior Centenary Trophy 2nd Round

BELSTONE 3 (D Turner 64 90 N Turner 87)

BUSHEY SPORTS CLUB 2 (Shorto 14 Roche 33) Archer sent off (serious foul play) 36)

Att 60

Entry FREE

Programme £1

Just occasionally televised football does improve attendances! With Barnet FC at their new ground, The Hive for this season, and the game kicking off late at 5.30pm for television, any club local to North London was likely to see an influx of groundhoppers. We were indebted to well-respected hopper Stephen Jackson who liaised with the club so they were prepared for the larger-than-normal attendance. I hope the club had a decent pay-out for their efforts.

The main issue was actually working out where Belstone actually is! Continue reading →