Category Archives: F

The Why and Why Not

12 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in F

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Friday5th June 2015 ko 19.00

Division 6 Norra Uppland

FILMS SK 1 (Wallmo 37)

FC BÃLINGE CITY 2 (Freij 24 Jansson 76)

Att 78

NB The Swedish hop’s cost of £280 included all entry fees, programmes, two nights bed and breakfast, and coach travel between the games and Arlanda airport.

Entry 20sek

Kim Hedwall has been running the Swedish hop since 2007, and this first game on the 9th hop was our 50th game at our 48th ground. In those years we’ve been rained on, two of the party have been roped in as linesmen, and we’ve appeared on Swedish national TV and “Offside” magazine, the Swedish equivalent of “4-4-2.” We’ve never taken a party of more than 30, due in part to a misunderstanding about what the event is for.

Continue reading →

Third Parties

27 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in F

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Tuesday 26th May 2015 ko 18.30

Coventry Alliance Premier Division

FOLLY LANE OLD BOYS 2 (Jones 44 Fitzharris 50p) Pidgeon sent off 45 (violent conduct) Fitzharris sent off 90 (violent conduct)

WHITNASH TOWN 2 (Wilkinson 30 Scott 83) Watkin missed penalty 90

Att 353

Entry FREE

Programme 50p

Recently I saw a comment on Twitter about this game. It said something along the lines of “It’s not often you see a league’s season boiling down to a final game shoot-out for the title.” I allowed myself a wry smile, this was the third such shoot-out I was to witness this season after the tense afternoons at Harold Wood and Dowty Staverton! This one was to surpass both of them. Continue reading →

Eastern Promise

10 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in F

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 5th May 2015 ko 18.30

Somerset County League- Premier Davison

FRY CLUB 1 (Gregory 78)

NAILSEA UNITED 1 (Fisher 25)

Entry & Programme £2

I’m not sure how often a multi-national company’s takeover of another sends groundhoppers scurrying to the works ground, but this one was definitely an example! When Kraft took over Cadbury in 2010, it was on the understanding that the Cadbury factory (and its sportsground) would be kept open, so when a year later the plant shut down a House of Commons investigation resulted. Continue reading →

Stand By Me

17 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in F, W

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

Saturday 11th April 2015 k0 19.00

North Berkshire League Cup Final

FARINGDON TOWN “A” 0

WALLINGFORD TOWN RESERVES 2 (Bone 32 Marks 59)

Att 180 at “The Heights” Potash Lane, Milton Heights (Milton United FC)

Entry and Programme £3

I don’t think I’ve ever been so surprised as when an email from NBFL media officer Phil Annets plopped into my in-tray inviting me to present the trophies at this final. I mean, why.. yes I know I’ve been behind 4 successful groundhops in the NBFL, one in rather trying circumstances, but it is only 4 and the previous day I watched Bill Gosling present the trophies on the back of 50 years service!

But if it was the reward for those hops, then credit should go to the other half of GroundhopUK Chris Berezai, and all those committeemen, and the legions of volunteers who’ve made the idea come to life. I found myself thinking of the likes of Josh Nathanielz, Jackie Cullen, Jon Radcliffe, Taff Blackshaw, Ian Stonham and Lindsay Mudie as I parked up.

Continue reading →

The Blazer Rule

12 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by in F

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Saturday 7th March 2015 ko 13.15

Ceredigion League Division One

FELINFACH 1 (Taylor 63)

BARGOD RANGERS 1 (Terry 14)

Att 245

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Many years ago we at GroundhopUK organised a hop, and only one person on the committee of the league turned up to support the event. On one hand it didn’t really matter, the main thing the league does with a groundhop is schedule the fixtures, but it rankled with us to the extent that we didn’t organise another hop in that league. If you don’t have the league firmly behind you, in the long term you don’t have a hop.

Continue reading →

Self-Esteem

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in F

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 10th July 2014 ko 14.00

Pre-season Friendly

FARNBOROUGH 1 (Lucas Enrique 77)

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Roberts 71 Ashby 76)

Att 278

Entry £10

Programme £1.50

Sometimes you re-visit a ground and find the place almost completely different from your previous visit. My first visit to Cherrywood Road, I’m sorry but I can’t get used to Paddy Power Park, was during Graham Westley’s time as owner/manager here. Continue reading →

Whatever happened to Goronwy Jones?

16 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in F

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Sunday 9th March 2014 ko 13.00

Ceredigion League Division Two

FFOSTRASOL WANDERERS 2 (A Bowen 57 C Griffiths 88)

DEWI STARS 2 (Andrew Jones 45 Owens 90)

Att 166

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

It seemed such a long time ago when Keith drove the coach past Troedyrhiw (Troy-dur-roo) Park on the way back from New Quay and the entire coach turned to their left and gawped at the beautiful ground in rural West Wales. It’s fair to say it helped push us into towards making the Ceredigion League a regular fixture.

The main stand (and you don’t get to say that very often in this league) is a classic piece of influence. Ffostrasol played at Builth Wells and liked their stand, so in 1978 built their own version. It’s a vision of lichen covered concrete, corrugated iron, and plank seating and there wasn’t a single one of the 166 present that didn’t immediately fall in love with it! Perhaps its the process of nature gradually claiming everything back to itself that appeals. Continue reading →

Five Stops From Home

17 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in F

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 10th November 2013

NB-I

FERENCVÁROS 0

SZOMBATHELYI HALADÁS 3 (Halmosi 9 64 Ugra 22)

Att 6,756

Entry 2,700 HUF (approximately £7.58)

Programme FREE

It was abundantly clear on our first full day, the Friday that Fradi are the biggest club in Hungary by some distance. We’d researched the ticketing situation before flying out and discovered that to buy a ticket you need to have a fancard first. That’s easy enough to do, either apply via the club’s website or fill out a form at the club offices at the Stadion Albert Florian, at Népliget station. Its free and you simply pick up the card when you arrive.

So Andy and I presented ourselves at Ferencváros’ offices before heading out to Honvéd and our cards would have been ready but for one small problem- my photo. I’d uploaded the only current picture I had of myself, taken at the “Big Pit,” and apparently wearing a miner’s helmet is not allowed. Continue reading →

Refiner

07 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in F

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Saturday 5th October 2013 ko 15.00

Scottish Championship

FALKIRK 2 (Loy 33p 84)

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1 (Russell 84)

Att 3,189

Entry £18

Programme £2

Badge £3

Macaroni Pie £1.80

This is another in the occasional series “Travels with Iain,” the last being the trip to Irvine Meadow last year http://wp.me/p1PehW-1lY. For Iain and I a ten month gap from seeing each other is pretty good for us! His son Ross loves his football too and I enjoyed seeing him return from football training with his Månkarbo shirt on, and I’m not sure his teammates will have seen a Swedish Division 5 shirt before! So Ross, here’s what the place is like! http://wp.me/p1PehW-1KD

We’d decided to watch Iain’s local team Queen of the South’s away game at Falkirk. It’s around a 90 minute drive up the M74 and M73 from Dumfries to the Falkirk Stadium, but let’s be honest here, a 3-sided stadium in an out-of-town location isn’t what I’d normally choose to visit as I get enough of that following Oxford United! So you have to work just that little bit harder to make it interesting. Fortunately Falkirk allows you to do that with just a little research. Continue reading →

Flight of Fancy

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by in F

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 4th August 2013

Faringdon Folly

Entry £2

If you drive along the A420 from Oxford to Swindon, you’ll spot a hill on your right just before Faringdon.  Its not the largest hill you’ll ever see, or the most prepossessing, but the turret that pokes out of the top of the Scots Pines gives a clue as to its interest.

The hill’s history massively pre-dates the turret, as it was fortified by supporters of Matilda sometime during the Anarchy (1135–1141) – her campaign to claim the throne from King Stephen – but was soon razed to the ground by once he’d won the war. Oliver Cromwell fortified it again in his unsuccessful campaign to defeat the Royalist garrison at Faringdon House, during the English Civil War.

It wasn’t until 1935 that the turret, or tower if you’d prefer was built, and that dear reader is where the fun really starts! Continue reading →