Category Archives: D

The 3rd Ground

25 Wednesday Nov 2020

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Friday 26th September 2008 ko 19.45

East Midlands Counties League

DUNKIRK 2 (Senko 51 Smith 78)

HEANOR TOWN 1 (Wells 81)

Att 113 at Ron Steel Sports Ground, Lenton Lane, Nottingham

Entry £4

Programme £1

When I wrote about Stockwood Wanderers a few weeks ago, I compared the 3 clubs cheek by jowl in southern Bristol as akin to the Lenton Lane treble of Bilborough Pelican, Dunkirk and Greenwood Meadows in Nottingham.  In terms of this blog there is a catch- if you’ve clicked the Dunkirk link you’d have spotted that that game was on Dunkirk’s second pitch. Since there’s time with 2 weeks worth of lockdown left, let’s put that right! Continue reading →

Fade To Black

19 Thursday Nov 2020

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Wednesday 4th November 2020 ko 19.45

Southern League Division One Central

DAVENTRY TOWN 3 (Hayward 18og Bowen 40p Orosz 68)

Jackson sent off 46 (2nd booking)

DIDCOT TOWN 0

Att 120

Entry £10

Programme- Online

With England’s second month-long lockdown due to start at midnight, Robyn and I knew we weren’t the only ones planning what was going to be at best our only live game in November and possibly longer. Continue reading →

Paper Chasing

14 Monday Sep 2020

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Saturday 6th September 2020 ko 14.30

Anglian Combination Division 4

DERSINGHAM ROVERS 5 (Wiseman 4 Welch 41 Willams 58 Kittle 53 Livoti 88)

ACLE UNITED RESERVES 0

Att 60

Free Entry

Programme £2

It was good to see the return of competitive football, but its arrival did cause a few dilemmas. For one, I suddenly had a far greater set of possibilities in terms of what I could go and watch, but greater responsibilities too. With crowd numbers restricted I pondered whether I wanted be the reason a fan missed out on entry. I quite fancied doing something on pyramid, but wanted to see how the Covid restrictions affected league football. In the end I did something I haven’t done for a while- I indulged in a spot of paper chasing. Continue reading →

Auf Wiedersehen Pet

15 Wednesday Jul 2020

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Sunday 13th February 2011 ko 13.30

2 Bundesliga

FORTUNA DÜSSELDORF 3 (Beister 45 Langeneke 52 64p)

FC INGOLSTADT 1 (Leitl 49p)

Att 20,700

Entry €24

Programme €1

Parking €3.50

In a sense this piece completes the triptych of my first independent groundhopping trip that started at Cambuur Leeuwarden and took in Spakenburg before hopping over the border to Düsseldorf to finish our weekend. As I said previously I knew nothing of how to groundhop abroad, so as  we headed east I wondered how we’d finish our weekend. We crossed from the Netherlands to Germany and immediately spotted a police car checking number plates ( a portent of a future trip to Banik Most?).  I marvelled at how close Düsseldorf is to the border and how I was completely unable to get the theme to “Auf Wiedersehen Pet” out of my head. Continue reading →

The Kink

02 Thursday Jul 2020

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Saturday 3rd January 2009 ko 15.00

Scottish League Division One

DUNDEE 1 (Paton 67)

DUMFERMLINE ATHLETIC 0

Att 5,033

Entry £17

Prog £2

Back in the day I used to have use of a holiday cottage in a Highlands village called Insch, near Aviemore. Looking back it was an rustic place, it had internet but no phone, central heating or gas. We used to have to decommission the place when we we left! But it did allow ample opportunity to visit no end of Highland League grounds! But Christmas 2009 did give me a problem. Continue reading →

The Saga

29 Monday Jun 2020

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Tuesday 23rd December 2008 ko 19.45

FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

DROYLSDEN 2 (Newton 31 55p)

CHESTERFIELD 1 (Lester 35)

Lester sent off 84 (violent conduct)

Att 2,824 

Entry £5

Programme £1

On one level I knew exactly why I was at the Butchers Arms Ground in Manchester’s eastern suburbs. Leaving aside the groundhopper’s insatiable urge to collect football grounds I was happy to escape a Milton Keynes office, and the kind of job where you inwardly measure every minute you’re on duty. So to Droylsden I drove, and all because any FA Cup tie is interesting and a potential upset involving a Conference North club against a League 2 outfit looked attractive. However, if you know what had happened in the month prior to the tie you’ll know just how much of an understatement that last sentence is! Continue reading →

Our Former Self

06 Thursday Feb 2020

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Tuesday 12th November 2019 ko 19.45

West Midlands (Regional) League- Premier Division

DARLASTON TOWN (1874) FC 0

WOLVERHAMPTON CASUALS 0

K Miller sent off 49 (2nd Booking)

Att 110

Entry £5

Programme £1

Back in the day I used to use the M6 as a kind of a footballing acid test. I’d ask the question,

“If you drive along the M6 around Birmingham heading north after Spaghetti Junction which club do you think of?”

I suspect many would say Aston Villa and Walsall whose grounds are both clearly visible from the motorway/ traffic jam, but I reckoned any groundhopper worth his salt would have said Darlaston Town. Continue reading →

Peja

21 Saturday Dec 2019

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Saturday 13th October 2019 ko 10.00

Albanian Women’s Superliga

FC DAJTI 0

FC KINOSTUDIO 5 (Xhabafti 37 Lulaj 48 73p 83 Xhebrahami 69)

Att 46 at Kompleksi Kombetare, Kamez, Tirana

Free Entry

So where would you hold your stag weekend? I know precisely why we ended up in Tirana, and you can blame my best man Sim. When Robyn and I got engaged in Stockholm Sim and I discussed it over a beer. Originally the wedding was going to be in the summer so we looked at one of the Baltic states, but as soon as Robyn and I discovered that we could get more wedding for the same money if we held it in January we needed somewhere with winter football. I suggested Bratislava for stunning football, great beer and interesting history. Sim’s response changed everything.

“That’s far too sensible” he said “You can do better than that!”  Continue reading →

To our own Devizes

02 Monday Dec 2019

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Saturday 5th October 2019 ko 16.45

Western League Division One

DEVIZES TOWN 0

ASHTON & BACKWELL UNITED 1 (Jones 49)

Att 203

Entry £5

Programme £1

We got the chance to relax a little on the trip from Bradford, we may have moved from one Wiltshire club to another but there was enough time to gather our thoughts. The coach took the little right-hand turn into Nursteed Road, and there was a huge queue. Continue reading →

Fritillaries

13 Wednesday Nov 2019

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Saturday 14th September 2019 ko 16.30

Witney & District League- Division Two

DUCKLINGTON 2 (Duthie 33 90)

WOOTTON SPORTS 3 (Spencer 51 78 88)

Att 178

Entry & Programme £4

Ducklington Sports Ground is the kind of place you can drive right past without knowing its there. I should know I spent 3 years as a sales rep in the Witney area and drive along the road from the A40 to Standlake and never once spotted the place. To make things worse I used to visit my friend Matt who once lived in Ducklington and still managed not to spot the place! Continue reading →