Category Archives: C

Porrohman

29 Friday Apr 2022

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Saturday 19th March 2022 ko 14:00

East of Scotland League Premier Division

CROSSGATES PRIMROSE 1 (Ritchie 44)

PENICUIK ATHLETIC 2 (Danson 26 58)

Att 434

Entry £6

Programme £2

From Glenrothes it seemed like no more than a quick dash along the A92 to Crossgates. Again this was a village based around the coal industry, even down to the football ground, Humbug Park being named after the former colliery here. More recently the Big Country and Skids frontman Stuart Adamson grew up in Crossgates, and an estate of new houses has “Stuart Adamson Crescent” in it, named in his memory.

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Braves

22 Friday Apr 2022

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Friday 18th March 2022 ko 19.45

Scottish Lowland League

CALEDONIAN BRAVES 1 (Forrester 90)

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY 1 (Lawson 74)

Att 219

Entry £6

Programme £2

If October’s Scottish Hop was held in the midst of a fuel crisis, you could argue so was this, except this time round the issue was cost rather than availability. I filled up ready for the trip north a day or two before departure and winced!

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Family Ties

05 Wednesday Jan 2022

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Monday 27th December 2021 ko 14:00

Somerset County League-Premier Division

CLUTTON 0

MENDIP BROADWALK 9 (Hickery 8 37 Whittle 23 39 Caton 55p 80 Haggett 70 Biggins 82 Lutwama 85)

Att 85

Free Entry

After Chilcompton Sports there was absolutely no question as to where Robyn and I were heading. For one thing just about every other game in and around the Mendips had fallen foul of waterlogged pitches, and for another I had for the first time ever in my time groundhopping a family interest in who I’d be watching. Continue reading →

The Cure

04 Tuesday Jan 2022

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Monday 27th December 2021 ko 11:30

Somerset County League Premier Division

CHILCOMPTON SPORTS 3 (Curtis 4 57 Edwards 81)

WESTFIELD 1 (Baber 27)

Att c120

Free Entry

I’m fairly certain no medical book advises that the cure for a post-Christmas hangover is the Somerset County League, but oddly it worked for me! Robyn and I had spent Christmas with family in Bristol, and while it was time to head back to Oxford, there was an intriguing double to complete in the Mendips beforehand; but as ever there was a catch… Continue reading →

The Mousetrap

26 Friday Nov 2021

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Saturday 13th November 2021 ko 14:00

Berks & Bucks Intermediate “Charles Twelftrees” Trophy 1st Round

CHOLSEY UNITED 1 (Spruyt 40)

READING YMCA 1 (Adams 22)

No extra time, YMCA won 3-2 on penalties

Att c30

Free Entry

Its funny how things work out. I knew in the morning I was going to be at the GP’s having a jab and that conveniently ended up being a vaccine in either arm. So I had no intention of travelling far, and as if by serendipity I received a message from Rob Tyler inviting me to watch Cholsey. We go back longer than either of us would like to remember, veterans of club coach travel to Oxford United away games during the start of our slide down the leagues. It means we both completed a fair chunk of the 92 without really trying but these days he’s on committee at North Berkshire League outfit Cholsey United. Continue reading →

The Key Stone

23 Thursday Sep 2021

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Saturday 18th September 2021 ko 11.00

Witney & District League Division Two

CASSINGTON RANGERS 0

DUCKLINGTON 0

Att 133

Entry/Programme £4

It was probably no bad thing that the first post-lockdown hop was this one. It is all too easy to think that Covid is over, but the daily statistics tell a very different story. From a groundhopper’s perspective we are able to watch pretty much any domestic game without let or hindrance, but an organised groundhop involves breaking every (former) social distancing rule you can think of! In the end the United Counties League decided to postpone for a year, and Wales simply hadn’t opened up enough at August Bank Holiday to consider trying there. But the great advantage of Witney was that the grounds would be open  and we’d be unlikely to be seeing crowds of over 200. That would make organising it easier I thought…. Continue reading →

The Hybrid

16 Thursday Sep 2021

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Saturday 4th September 2021 ko 15:00

South West Peninsula League Premier East

CULLOMPTON RANGERS 3 (Chamberlain 26 secs Wilkinson 16 Humphreys 85)

PLYMOUTH MARJON 0

Att 56

Entry £6

Programme FREE (part online)

I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that as a groundhopper there are three kinds of football ground. There’s the grounds I’ve visited, then there’s grounds I’ve not, and the grounds that I’ve not visited but half the hopping population thinks I have. And for years top of that third list was Cullompton Rangers. Continue reading →

Viva Chew Magna!

14 Tuesday Sep 2021

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Saturday 28th August 2021 ko 15:00

Somerset County League Division 2

CHEW MAGNA 3 (Pickford 57 Dunleavey 69 Haskins 83)

CUTTERS FRIDAY 2 (Evans 23 Hargreaves 23)

Att c15 at Tunley Recreation Centre, Old Bath Road, BA2 0EB

Free Entry

On one level you could say I got this one wrong. I was seeing family in Bristol so wanted a game reasonably local, to the point that my nephew Che decided to come along. That may have been to prove to himself that not every game I see involves him getting soaked, as was definitely the case at Stockwood Wanderers last year! My options boiled down to two Somerset County league games either- Chew Magna or Clutton.  I got the family to vote on it and Chew Magna won out. So why would some say I’d got it wrong? Continue reading →

The Stone Of The Tub

29 Sunday Aug 2021

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Friday 13th August 2021 ko 20:00

Highland League

CLACHNACUDDIN 4 (Morrison 52 Logan 70 Taylor 80 90)

STRATHSPEY THISTLE 1 (Duncan 14)

Att c350

Entry £10 (plus £1 stand transfer)

On one level it would have been rude not to, our holiday accommodation was only a 10 minute walk from Grant Street Park. Yes, we’d based ourselves in the Inverness district of Merkinch, and through no planning at all we’d found ourselves in a place steeped in local football history. 

Our flat was more or less opposite the site of the Telford Street home of Caledonian FC, one of the two sides (the other being Inverness Thistle) that merged in 1994 to form today’s Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The merged club played their first two seasons at Telford Street before moving to the newly built Caledonian Stadium in 1996. The ground was demolished and now is a retail park. But a trip to Clach did involve a certain amount of sentiment, as I’d visited back in October 2007, ironically for another Friday night fixture. 

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The Forge

26 Monday Jul 2021

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Tuesday 20th July 2021 ko 19.45

Pre-season Friendly

CATHOLIC UNITED 1 (Trialist 39)

WHITE ENSIGN 6 (Woodward 1 13 45 Locke 6 Reynolds-Blanche 28 71)

Att c60 at Len Forge Centre, Southend-on-Sea

Free Entry

There are some grounds that ought to be on every groundhopper’s bucket list, there are some that you’d barely count as a tick, and there are one or two that for little or no reason contrive to intrigue you. For me, Southend’s Len Forge Centre definitely fell into the latter. Continue reading →