Category Archives: G

The Big Cheese

02 Thursday Oct 2025

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Saturday 26th July 2025 ko 14:45

United Counties League Division One

FCV GRACE DIEU 3 (Olajide-Oriowu 67 Halliday 75 Farouk 88)

Hallaci penalty saved 48

SHIREBROOK TOWN 0

Att 286

Entry £5

Programme £2

So there I was sat on the GroundhopUK coach with little idea where we were! I knew we were going to be watching Grace Dieu but it was only when we reached Thringstone that the penny droppped.

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Calling Elvis

28 Sunday Sep 2025

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Saturday 29th July 2025 ko 11:30

United Counties League Premier Division North

GRESLEY ROVERS 1 (Moore 57)

SHERWOOD COLLIERY 5 (Westcarr 13p 27p 41 60 Pearce 89)

Att 597 at the Moat Ground

Entry £8

Programme £2.50

Teamsheet 50p

I didn’t want to check Futbology, I knew it had been the best part of twenty years since I’d visited the Moat Ground. I’d actually visited after I’d given then Oxford United defender Scott Guyett a lift after he’d missed the team coach.

He also played for Gresley Rovers who are based in Church Gresley, near Swadlincote He pointed out that when Gresley won the Southern League in 1998 they were turned down for the Conference due to ground grading and were forbidden from using the Baseball Ground even through Derby County had moved out. The club that were promoted due to Gresley’s misfortune? Cheltenham Town.

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The History

23 Sunday Mar 2025

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Saturday 1st March 2025 ko 19:30

North West Counties League- Premier Division

GLOSSOP NORTH END 0

WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 2 (Banister 60 Bass 81)

Lazenbury penalty saved 17

Att 830

Entry £10

Programme £2

If the North West Counties Hop was going to New Mills then it was close to inevitable that we’d pair them with Glossop North End as the “High Peak Twins.” But with all due respect to New Mills they were never a Football League club…

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The Microwave Oven Song

05 Sunday Jan 2025

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Saturday 16th November 2024 ko 14:00

North Bucks & District League- Intermediate Division Challenge Trophy- Quarter Final

REAL MK 1 (Boboc 21)

BLETCHLEY SCOT RESERVES 1 (Dowdall 41)

No extra time Scot won 6-4 on penalties

Att 4 at Pitch 2 Marsh Drive, Great Linford, Milton Keynes

Sometimes the restrictions placed upon you produce something interesting. That morning the car was going in for a change of sensor, and in the evening we had tickets to see a tribute band in Banbury. So my options were restricted so I travelled to Wavendon, collected Chris Garner and simply aimed for the nearest game at a ground neither of us had been to before.

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The Ships

06 Wednesday Nov 2024

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Sunday 22nd September 2024 ko 14:15

West Wales Premier League

GIANTS GRAVE 4 (Wayman 39 D Williams 75 Sofiu 78 Palla 81)

CWM WANDERERS 1 (Shaw 49)

Att 204

Entry & Programme £5

The final stop of this year’s West Wales Hop saw our first visit of the weekend to a former Neath League side. Giants Grave is in the environs of Briton Ferry and the unusual name is usually seen as referencing the TW Ward’s Shipbreaking Yard, but the inconvenient truth is the name pre-dates shipbreaking or even heavy industry. I suspect the derivation probably comes from folk tales with the exact stories lost in the mists of time, and perhaps the mystery adds to the legend?

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The Former

31 Thursday Oct 2024

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Sunday 22nd September 2024 ko 11:00

West Wales Premier League

AFC GLAIS 1 (Lewis Pritchard 55)

PONTARDDULAIS TOWN 3 (Jones 39secs 2 Williams 90+4)

Att 191

Entry & Programme £5

The final day of the West Wales Hop saw us move slowly towards its terminus at Cardiff station. We left Carmarthen and headed for Pontardawe, and once again a Cymric portmanteau – this time of Bridge on the River Tawe. Other than the production of tin plate the town as being the birthplace of singer Mary Hopkin and former Pop Idol starlet Rosie Ribbons. You’ve not heard of Rosie Ribbons? Well try asking my wife Robyn; her former workmates back in Bristol still nickname her “Ribbons!” I don’t see the resemblance myself!

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The Gap

02 Wednesday Oct 2024

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Saturday 26th August 2024 ko 14:30

Cymru North

GUILSFIELD UNITED 3 (Haycock 17 59 Matthews 69)

RUTHIN TOWN 1 (Owen 69p)

Att 160

Entry £7

Programme £1

Back in the days when the Welsh Hop visited the Mid-Wales League we visited this part of the world a lot. The unscientific way of explaining the geography is to say flop over the border at Welshpool, then head towards the mountains. Over three years we visited a series of quite wonderful grounds, but why did Guilsfield somehow evade us?

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The Final Walk

09 Sunday Jun 2024

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Tuesday 30th April 2024 ko 19:45

West Midlands (Regional) League- Division One

GORNAL ATHLETIC 1 (Lawrence 32)

TIPTON TOWN 3 (Holder 35 Clifton 50 Piggott 85)

Att 725

Entry £5

Programme £3 (special commemorative issue)

For many years those in the know venerated Garden Walk. You made sure you visited as the West Midlands finest example of a classic non league ground. I’d made a beeline back in 2011, and was shocked to find out that the club were about to move off. I wanted to visit to say goodbye, and show my wife Robyn the place too, but after the Peninsula Hop I was without a car, the games kept coming and we couldn’t get there. In the end, the new car arrived, and we made for Dudley with just the one game left.

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A Different Corner

06 Thursday Jun 2024

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Saturday 24th April 2024 ko 14:00

Thames Valley Premier League- Division One

GORING UNITED 0

TADLEY CALLEVA RESERVES 6 (Cunningham 11 55 Theodore 22 38 Reid 32 61)

Att c25

Free Entry

On a personal level, finally my transport issues were over. I had an appointment on Saturday morning to complete the paperwork, and collect my new car, in fact there were only two issues with it. The first was that I absolutely had to be home by 5pm, and that the car wasn’t due to be ready until midday. But like the bluesman who thrives when restricted to 3 chords, sometimes the difficulties make you choose well. And I’d been hankering after Goring for a while…

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Wyre

14 Thursday Mar 2024

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Saturday 2nd March 2024 ko 14:00

North West Counties League Division One North

GARSTANG 3 (Bailey 25 51 Ball 32)

Lewis sent off 86 (DOGSO)

ASHTON TOWN 2 (Lomax 67 Ready 72p)

Att 388

Entry £5

Programme £2

We were fortunate. As part of the GroundhopUK advance party I had a reserved car parking space. It was a bit of a squeeze, but the point was to be in situ ahead of the coach to be able to deal with any on the day snags. The fact that there weren’t any spoke volumes for Garstang FC and their League.

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