Category Archives: F

In Defence Of the Atcost

31 Friday Dec 2021

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Tuesday 21st December 2021 ko 19:45

Cymru Premier

FLINT TOWN UNITED 3 (Roberts 27 Cadwallader 75p 76)

Weaver sent off 87 (2nd Booking) 

CAENARFON TOWN 4 (Hayes 21 Hughes 22 Edwards 41 Donohue 45p)

Simpson sent off 62 (Serious Foul Play)

Att 453

Entry £8

Programme £1 (re-issue from postponed game- cover price £2)

Teamsheet FREE

There are always those grounds that somehow evade your attention, and perhaps top of my list was Flint Town United’s Cae-Y-Castell. A lot of that was due to the pandemic and before that it slipped through the net despite a mixture of the Welsh Alliance Hops and a concerted effort around 15 years ago to visit as much as I could along the North Wales coast. So with both Robyn and I having finished work for Christmas and Robyn never having visited North Wales before, we took advantage of the Cymru Football App’s accuracy, and a twice postponed fixture. Continue reading →

Passing By

08 Monday Nov 2021

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Saturday 16th October 2021 ko 14:00

Bristol Premier Combination Division 1

D.R.G. S.V. FRENCHAY 8 (Hyslop 4p 35 Sterling 31 Van-Meir 33 Hudson 65 Holden 67 Day 69 May 83og)

MENDIP BROADWALK RESERVES 0

Att c25

Free Entry

For me half the fun of travel is the sometimes unique set of circumstances that lead you somewhere. It was leaving day after Robyn and I’s week in Penzance and such are the realities of Covid cleaning protocols, we had to be out by 9am. Normally we’d have looked for something Cornish to watch but in addition we needed to be back in Oxford for roughly 7pm. What it all added up to was us visiting a club I’d wanted to visit for 6 years, but never thought I’d visit this way. Continue reading →

Wroslyn

25 Saturday Sep 2021

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Saturday 18th September 2021 ko 14:00

Witney & District League Division One

FREELAND 4 (Simlett 17 52 White 24 Burgess 83)

WITNEY ROYALS 1 (Harris 86)

Att 116

Entry by programme £4

Our coach turned out of Cassington Rangers’ car park, and almost immediately into a traffic jam. I nervously glanced at my watch, and ruefully thought about another decision I’d made. From the moment when the Witney & District League’s officials and I started talking about how we’d like to do this event one topic of conversation was how Saturday was going to look. We initially thought about a 4 game day- so many of the grounds in this area are less than 2 miles from each other so we could have loaded up the day with football. In the end I’m so glad we didn’t, as what happened here proved. Continue reading →

Fishing

18 Wednesday Aug 2021

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Saturday 7th August 2021 ko 15:00

Highland League

FRASERBURGH 6 (Young 24 P Campbell 28 Butcher 64 Beagrie 72 Meekings 75og Barbour 82)

BRORA RANGERS 2 (Gillespie 3 J Macrae 13)

A Macrae sent off 87 (2nd booking)

Att c300 at Bellslea Park

Entry £10

Teamsheet – Free (I asked a committee member)

It was Saturday morning and the M90 was misbehaving. The satnav was telling me my margin for error was shrinking alarmingly and I was tired. Some folks go on holiday to relax, while I use that map exclusive to groundhoppers, that somehow makes Fraserburgh on the way from Hamilton to Inverness! There were no end of games we could have watched that really were on the A9 north but I’d seen photos of Bellslea Park….. Continue reading →

Going Weird (again!)

30 Friday Jul 2021

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Tuesday 27th July 2021 ko 19.45

Pre-Season Friendly

FLEET SPURS DEVELOPMENT 1 (44)

FLEET TOWN YOUTH 2 (32 43)

Att c30 at Wavell Ground, Queens Avenue, Aldershot

Free Entry

If the last few months since lockdown have been about one thing its the idea to go weird early! I should explain; since lockdown ended in April very little football was played by clubs in the recognised pyramid, so I’ve used the time to try to dig out some gems that perhaps have been overlooked by some. As my wife Robyn and her family would testify, I am all about pushing myself and others out of our comfort zones! But normal English non-league pyramid football starts again this coming weekend, so there was just enough time to go weird one more time!

Continue reading →

The Alternate

06 Thursday May 2021

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Monday 3rd May 2021 ko 18:00

Thames Valley Premier League: Premier Division

FINCHAMPSTEAD 4 (J Payne 15p Vallance 22 Hunt 73 Day 77)

MARLOW UNITED 1 (Goode 65)

Att c42 at Arborfield Recreation Ground

Free Entry

I still have some affinity for this part of the world even though its been well over twenty years since I lived in Henley-on-Thames. Back then the modus operandi was driving through Wargrave and Twyford to Winnersh, then via Sindlesham to Arborfield. I suppose I associated Sindlesham with the Nirvana Health Spa that the ex-wife seemed to love going to but objected every time the monthly membership payment left her account! Continue reading →

Portmanteau

27 Sunday Dec 2020

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Monday 14th December 2020 ko 19.45

Eastern Counties League Division One South

FRENFORD 2 (Forbes 4 Fairhead 88)

Heatley penalty saved 52

ATHLETIC NEWHAM 2 (Idemudia 9 Kone 90p)

Kone sent off 90 (2nd booking)

Att 87

Entry £4

Programme £1

Monday night football will always attract the groundhoppers, and a club new to Step 6 will do so still further. Here though there was the added thought of exactly which league I was watching. In 2018 the Eastern Senior was created as a Step 6 league to feed the Essex Senior as a joint venture between that league and the Eastern Counties. It seemed to me that the league became rapidly swallowed up by the Eastern Counties League, and has become their Division One South. Now I’m not that worried by the nomenclature, but does anyone have a definitive answer? Continue reading →

What Was Left

06 Wednesday 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 18th November 2006 ko 15.00

FA Vase 2nd Round 

FLIXTON 4 (Mitten 44 Grandison 53 Wilkinson 75 Tobin 83)

PICKERING TOWN 0

Att 84

Entry £3

Programme £1.50

The sole reason I, and around 50 groundhoppers ended up here was the Salford City/FC United game at the Willows that kicked off at midday. There was roughly an hour to get the tram back to the car, and make a quick blast across western Manchester which did limit the opportunities to complete a Mancunian double. It boiled down to a choice between Trafford and Flixton, we chose the latter mainly to watch another Vase game. It proved to be both a good move, and an interesting one too! Continue reading →

Castle On The Hill

25 Tuesday Feb 2020

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Friday 27th December 2019 ko 19.45

Eastern Counties League Division One North

FRAMLINGHAM TOWN 8 (Berry 24 66 89 D Smith 30 57 75 Ling 47 Willett 51)

FELIXSTOWE & WALTON RESERVES 2 (Ingram 23 Norman 68)

Att 75

Entry £5

Programme £1

It is difficult to avoid reference to Ed Sheeran in Framlingham, and in any case, why try? The singer/songwriter is Framlingham’s most famous son, and while there doesn’t seem to be quite the same connection with the club that Olly Murs has with Coggeshall Town, the singer has tweeted his allegiance to the club after being spotted at, of all places, Stamford Bridge! Perhaps that’s why Framlingham Town market a replica shirt with Sheeran’s name on the back. Continue reading →

Southbound Again

23 Wednesday Jan 2019

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Tuesday 1st January 2019 ko 15.00

Isthmian League Premier Division

FOLKESTONE INVICTA 1 (ter Horst 9)

MARGATE 0

Att 629

Entry £11

Programme £1.50

Remember my assertion that every hopper has their own point of pain? Or putting it another way the ground that despite their best attempts remains stubbornly unticked? For years mine was the most northerly senior club in the UK, Wick Academy that took 3 cars, 2 hotels and 3 visits to see a game there. But another club, almost as far south as you can get from Wick took nearly as much pain to visit there. Here’s the story of Folkestone Invicta and I.  Continue reading →