Category Archives: G

Gills not Gills

02 Thursday Mar 2023

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Tuesday 8th February 2023 ko 19:30

Western League Division One

GILLINGHAM TOWN 0

BISHOPS LYDEARD 1 (Willis 58)

Att 35

Entry £6

Programme £2

Perhaps the measure of what differentiates a genuine groundhopper from a general football fan is the Dorset town of Gillingham. My feeling is that a football fan will look at the name as immediately assume its pronounced with a soft “G” as in the EFL club of the same name, whereas the groundhopper sees the name “Gillingham” and wonders which county we’re in? Since this is Dorset, the “G” is hard, so the Gill is what fish have, not the girl’s name! Hope we’re clear on that one! Continue reading →

Gefle in Gävle

11 Tuesday Oct 2022

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Saturday 20th August 2022 ko 16:00

Ettan Norra

GEFLE IF 2 (Rauschen-Broben 61 Yakoub 87)

Lundin sent off (2nd booking) 90

SANDVIKENS IF 1 (Mohammed 20)

Kouyate sent off (2nd booking) 82

Mohammed sent off (violent conduct) 90

Att 4,142

Entry 150 sek (approx. £12)

The bus heading back into Gävle from Testbovallen stopped at Gavlevallen and we had reason to be relieved. The whole point of Robyn and I being there, was that Swedish Hop organiser Kim Hedwall had built this Saturday around visiting Gefle IF’s new home. But there was a question of lexicography to answer first. 

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Våra Barns Bramtid

06 Thursday Oct 2022

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Saturday 20th August 2022 ko 12:00

Sweden Gästrikland Youth League

STRÖMSBRO IF 3 (Bergland 53secs Törneld 35 Salminen 72)

GEFLE IF BLÅ 8 (5 15 25 41 51 65 68 75)

Att 25 at Testebovallens IP, Gävle

Free Entry

We’d long since planned our last full day in Sweden to be based around football. I’d thought about taking Robyn to any of the big 3 grounds in Stockholm, the Friends Arena, the Tele-2 and top of the list, the Olympic Stadium but there wasn’t a single game for us at any of them. We were happy to dip further down the Stockholm pyramid, but I knew Swedish Hop organiser Kim Hedwall was going to be in Gävle and let’s face it, you know he’d be able to sniff out an interesting game, or two as it turned out. Continue reading →

Ga-Pa

10 Friday Jun 2022

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Saturday 16th April 2022 ko 15:00

Landesliga Bayern Südwest

1FC GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN 2 (Durr 27p 58)

FV ILLERTISSEN II 4 (Santolo 1 Kazaryon 4 Hafnel 40p Glöckle 87)

Att 100 at Stadion on Gröben

Entry €8 (£6.80), for Robyn €6 (£5.10)

Programme included

When Robyn and I started planning our honeymoon the plan was to watch 3 games in the 10 days we were in Austria. I’d learned a lesson back in 2018 when we got engaged in Stockholm and somehow contrived to watch 7 games in 5 days, and then the Swedish Hop started! We even did a game the day we got engaged, at Lidingö mainly because I’d planned it so Robyn wouldn’t guess what I’d really got planned, and neither of us thought NOT to go…. I really didn’t want to go down the same route here, but then we did have a Saturday afternoon free…

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Wonderland

28 Thursday Apr 2022

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Saturday 19th March 2022 ko 11:15

East of Scotland League First Division- Conference B

GLENROTHES 3 (L Schiavone 5 Bell 35 Cargill 64)

KINNOULL 0

Att 410

Entry £6

Programme £2

With all due respect to Caledonian Braves I felt we were moving back to traditional Scottish Hop territory. The fact was that at Bothwellhaugh we’d added roughly 200 to a crowd of 219, from now on that 200 or so would be added to local support and that would test the compromise that is every single organised hop.

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The John Noakes Hop

11 Friday Mar 2022

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Friday 4th March 2022 ko 19.45

North West Counties League Division One North

GOLCAR UNITED 3 (Cox 14 Barrett 27 Naidole 52)

CAMPION 2 (Maltby 59 Boshell 85)

Att 467

Entry £5

Programme £2

If you are roughly my age then the most famous person to have been born in Halifax was unquestionably John Noakes. The Blue Peter presenter was, in a age of two channel tv and received pronunciation a revelation to this small boy from the shires; who could forget his climbing of Nelson’s Column without any kind of safety equipment? Continue reading →

Self Raising

02 Sunday Jan 2022

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Sunday 26th December 2021 ko 15:00

National League North

GLOUCESTER CITY 0

LEAMINGTON 0

Att 1,366 

Entry (Unreserved seat, “City Stand” bought in advance) £13

Programme £2.50

Teamsheet FREE

It wasn’t completely inevitable that I’d be watching Gloucester City. Post Christmas football seems to involve a dual lottery, firstly that of waterlogged pitches, and secondly Covid postponements. As is becoming a tradition these days Robyn and I spent the second half of Christmas Day with family in Bristol, and while I’m sure I could have found two games to do on Christmas Sunday, I probably needed the lie-in more. And Gloucester’s pitch did mean that the first half of that lottery would probably fall in my favour. Of course if you know the history of Meadow Park, you know the irony of that last comment! Continue reading →

The Ghost

21 Tuesday Dec 2021

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Sunday 12th December 2021 ko 10:30

Burton & District Sunday League Division Two

THE MOUNT 0

McIntosh sent off 80 (DOGSO)

TL DARBY 4 (Lynn 36p 80p Lord 51 Morris 87)

Att c20 at Gresley Old Hall, Church Gresley

Free Entry

With Robyn and I staying with GroundhopUK’s Chris Berezai in Long Eaton after the York City game, there was time to take in a Sunday League game before heading for home. There are advantages of having friends in the area, and since Newhall United secretary Dan Bishop picked this game for Chris, Robyn and I to watch I’ll wonder whether he picked this game because I’m a season ticket holder at Oxford United! Continue reading →

Disappointment?

29 Thursday Jul 2021

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Saturday 24th July 2021 ko 15:00

Pre-season Friendly

GILLINGHAM TOWN 3 (Paterson 4 Samuel 40 43)

CHARD TOWN 1 (Parris 15)

Att c46 at Harding’s Lane

Free Entry

On one level this was the most straightforward a reason for attending a game as you could imagine. Gillingham Town moved from their old ground at Harding’s Lane at the end of last season to a purpose built ground around 200 yards away at Woodwater Lane. In fact so close are the two grounds that you pass by the old to get to the new. That proved to be of some benefit…. Continue reading →

The Bonus

30 Friday Apr 2021

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Tuesday 27th April 2021 ko 18:30

North Berkshire League Division One

GROVE RANGERS 1 (Faircloth 42)

DRAYTON 3 (Harrison 2 Jacks 61 Wilde 82)

Jacks penalty saved 77

Att c30 at Grove Recreation Ground

Free Entry

Now I know what you’re thinking, didn’t we pay Grove a visit on the 2015 North Berkshire Hop? You’d be right, but we actually visited them at their original ground at Wasbrough Field. That lies around 200 yards north of their normal home at the Recreation Ground, and the game got moved there because the rugby club didn’t want football fans in their bar. I’d have thought our money was as good as theirs but I regarded the switch as something as a groundhopper’s bonus and planned to visit the Recreation Ground at later date, but circumstances got in the way. 

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