Category Archives: B

I am The Walrus

08 Wednesday Jul 2020

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Saturday 22nd August 2009 kop 14.30

Cymru Alliance

C.P. BETHESDA ATHLETIC 1 (Davies 84)

FLINT TOWN UNITED 3 (S Thelwell 14 PD Williams 45 Beck 86)

Att 54

Entry £3

Programme £1

In the days of the Welsh Alliance hop there was one club that GroundhopUK notably failed to visit and that was Bethesda. There was nothing sinister it it, the club suddenly folded just before the final hop in 2015, although the rejigging of the event to cover their absence did indirectly cause a real schmozzle at Llanllyfni when the league told us all we were watching a cup game, when that wasn’t quite the case. That is to be regretted but I had further regret, I knew just how lovely Maes Meurig is. Continue reading →

The Tobacco Factory

30 Saturday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 1st April 2006 ko 15.00

Wessex League Division One

B.A.T. SPORTS 3 (Lowther 2 (1 pen), Thorney)

BROCKENHURST 2 (Beck, Burton)

Att c50

Entry £4

Programme £1

I hate smoking, I hate the smell, and that it invariably triggers my asthma. But I do have history with British & American Tobacco. The firm owned International Stores and if my grandfather hadn’t moved to Oxford to manage their store in High Street, you wouldn’t be reading this. I’ll leave you to consider whether that’s a good thing…. Continue reading →

Water of Love

24 Sunday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 10th April 2010  ko 15.00

Northern Premier League Premier Division

BUXTON 2 (Reed 62 Morris 90)

ASHTON UNITED 0

Att 312

Entry £8

Programme £1.50

Quite deliberately I’ve made these archive offerings about either grounds you can’t visit anymore or represent some sort of personal milestone. This isn’t one, far from it. Buxton’s Silverlands is here because if you’ve visited here you’ll look at the photos and smile, and if you haven’t been you’ll add it to your bucket list. Put simply, this is a ground to do before you die. Continue reading →

Idiosyncratic

21 Thursday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Tuesday April 14th 2008 ko 19.30
Spartan South Midlands League Division One

BRACHE SPARTA 0

HARPENDEN TOWN 1 (Gregory 84)

Att 11

Entry & Programme £2

There are some times when you embark on the endless road that is groundhopping, that you find a club that somehow doesn’t quite fit in. That shouldn’t be seen as pejorative in any sense, but when you arrive at a ground and you know what level of the game you’re going to see you soon get a rough idea of what to expect. This short story is about one of those exceptions to the rule.

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The Gem Of The Valleys

25 Saturday Apr 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 25th August 2007  ko 18.45

South Wales Amateur League Division Two

BLAENRHONDDA 0 Thomas (gk) sent off 30 (violent conduct)

TON & GELLI BOYS & GIRLS CLUB 2 (R. Jones 63,81)

Att 268

Entry £4

Programme £1

Every so often someone asks me for some suggestions as to some wonderful football grounds in South Wales. I think most would start with Garw and the sadly now-demolished Treharris and I’d add the likes of Penrhiwfer and Ynyshir Albions too, and that is far from being an exhaustive list. I’d also point out that all but Treharris have been on Welsh Hops, and so was my visit to the another ground that really ought to be on any self-respecting groundhopper’s bucket list- Blaenrhondda Park.

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The Village

05 Thursday Mar 2020

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Saturday 25th January 2020 ko 14.00

Mid-Oxon Cup Quarter-Final

BRILL UNITED 2 (Price 5 Boiling 75)

ASHTON FOLLY 1 (McPherson 82)

Att 27 at Whitelands Farm Sports Ground, Bicester

Free Entry

I’d wanted to watch Brill for a while. The village has the distinction of both being in Buckinghamshire and having once been on the London Underground but still managing to be a mere 12 miles from Oxford. The football club has an excellent Twitter (@BrillUtd) account, and there’s an obvious vibrancy about them. Continue reading →

SAD

04 Wednesday Mar 2020

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Saturday 25th January 2020 ko 20.30

Primeiria Liga

BELENENSES S.A.D. 0

VITORIA DE SETUBAL 1 (Guedes 39)

Att 2,012  at Estádio Nacional, Lisbon

Entry – Complimentary

As a tourist in Lisbon, its virtually inevitable you’ll end up visiting Belém, in the west of the city. You’ll take the 15E tram from Cais do Sodré and visit the Belém Tower, the Jerónimos Monastery, and the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, all within 5 minutes from the tram stop for the monastery. But before you leave do cross the road at Largo dos Jerónimos and have some grilled sardines at the excellent Flor dos Jerónimos cafe, then discover a hidden piece of Lisbon’s history. Continue reading →

Don’t Fence Me In

24 Monday Feb 2020

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Tuesday 17th December 2019 ko 19.45

Middlesex Senior Cup 2nd Round

BARNET 1 (Chime 9)

STAINES TOWN 1 (Ibe 83)

No extra time, Staines won 4-3 on penalties.

Att 63 at Pitch ATP1, The Hive, London

Free Entry

Online Programme

Team Sheet 50p

“I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
Can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in.” Gene Autry

I’ll admit I was rather scraping the barrel with this one, but my defence is that I didn’t quite know what I was letting myself it for. What I did know is that The Hive has no end of side pitches, some grass, some 3G and at least one with a stand. Continue reading →

All About Wickhurst Lane

27 Monday Jan 2020

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Tuesday 8th November 2019 ko 19.45

Sussex Senior Cup 2nd Round

BROADBRIDGE HEATH 2 (Jones 27 Wanstall 61)

PEACEHAVEN & TELSCOMBE 3 (Wiltshire 38 Ford 50 Bant 90)

Att 64

Entry £6

Programme £1

After all that had gone before, it seemed strange to be returning to pyramid football. Not in any perjorative sense, although the inevitable battle with the M25 evening rush hour was as unwelcome. As hellish as the traffic was, it was familiar I’d passed Broadbridge Heath’s new ground on the way to Horsham a couple of months earlier. I found myself wishing my journeys were a little more straightforward, but then that is skill that Broadbridge Heath are rather good at! Continue reading →

Voice Of The Beehive

06 Friday Dec 2019

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Sunday 6th October 2019 ko 10.45

Western League Premier Division

BRIDPORT 0

BRIDGWATER TOWN 6 (O’Hare 12 33 34 Duffy 27 Tower 83 84)

Att 347

Entry £6

Programme £1

I sat enjoying my Full English at the Almondsbury Interchange Hotel with mixed feelings. On one hand there was the relief in enough seats having been sold to hire our coach – I really didn’t fancy driving a minibus with the day’s itinerary! On another this was the last day of the last Western Hop, and I and so many still miss the man to came up with the idea- the late Mark Edmonds. But the reality was we had a long journey down to what one hopper described as the Fort William of the Western League.

Continue reading →