Category Archives: J

Roofer Madness

11 Thursday Feb 2021

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Saturday 19th January 2008 ko 15.00

Northern League Division One

JARROW ROOFING BOLDON COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION 4 (J Gibson 3 Tate 43 Hutchinson 70 Logan 74)

TOW LAW TOWN 0

Att 67

Entry £4

Programme £1

So if I were to tell you I watched Jarrow Roofing FC back in the day presumably you’d assume that  I was visiting Jarrow? And let’s face it, 99 times out of a 100 that logic would be correct, but Jarrow Roofing never did quite fit in.  The fact of the matter is that 13 years ago I was heading to Boldon Colliery near Sunderland, and yes and it may be only 3-and-a-half miles between the two places but the distance between the two wasn’t a matter of semantics.

Continue reading →

Karma Police

16 Friday Oct 2020

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Wednesday 15th October 2020 ko. 20.00 (ish)

Hellenic League Veterans Division One

JET VETERANS 3 (Lynch 4og Parry 5 Jackson 35)

RG VETERANS 2 (Lucas 24 Webster 48og)

Att 5 at Tilsley Park, Abingdon

Free Entry

Karma police
Arrest this man
He talks in maths
He buzzes like a fridge
He’s like a detuned radio

Radiohead, “Karma Police” 1997

I can hear the howls from the traditonalist hoppers as I type this.

A veteran’s game? You can’t count that!

Well here’s another adage; “My hobby, my blog and my rules”, so I can and I will. Besides, I’d wanted to visit Tilsley Park for a while. Continue reading →

The Unusual J

24 Sunday Apr 2016

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Saturday 16th April 2016 ko 17.00

Carmarthenshire League Division 2

JOHNSTOWN 1 (J Evans 49)

DREFACH 3 (J Jones 40og Baker 79 S Jones 82)

Att 137

Entry £3

Programme £1

We headed back to a rather chilly Carmarthen for our final game of the day, and again there was a quirk, the name of the club! Perhaps if there’s an etymologist reading this they can tell me why so few place names begin with a “J?” There’s Jarrow, but offhand I can’t think of any well-known others, and I know there was at least one hopper at this game that this was his first “J” club. But there was far more to like about Johnstown than just a letter. Continue reading →

The 538 to Märsta

29 Tuesday May 2012

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Friday 18th May 2012 ko 8.00pm

Division 4 Mellersta Stockholm

JÄRLA IF FK 3 (D Eriksson 38 Sidiqi 83 87)

ANDREA DORIA IF 0

@Nacka IP

Att 82(h/c)

Entry FREE

No Programme

I’ve been watching Swedish football for around 6 years, since Kim Hedwall started the annual Swedish hops. I’ve been back regularly outside of that event, so when Kim asked whether I wanted to join him on an 11 game, 11 day odyssey , I jumped at the chance. Unusually I flew to Stockholm’s main airport, Arlanda and caught the bus to Märsta from where my prebooked one-day travelcard was valid from. I then travelled to Stockholm Centralen before catching the T-Bana (underground) to Karlaplan to meet Kim. We then caught the ferry from Djurgården to Slussen and then a short bus ride to Nacka, in the southern suburbs. In fact, Hammarby’s soon to be demolished Söderstadion was clearly visable in the distance.

I should explain a few terms. Swedish football is played in the summer, as its far too cold in the winter. The top division is the Allsvenskan, then the Superettan (super-one). From then, its Divisions One Norra and Södra (North and South), before regional football kicks in for Divisons 2, and 3. Divisions 4,5,6 and 7 are local leagues, and Division 8 exists in a few localities, mainly for reserves. Other useful terms are Västra (west), östra (east) and Mellersta (central). Many smaller grounds are titled IP, or idrottsplatts, meaning a multi-sports facility.

Nacka IP is a case in point, with the oh-so-common running track and ice rink looming behind. Nacka of Division 2 Norra Svealand have recently vacated the facility and Järla have taken their chance. It’s got character, with the natural features allowing a wooden step-terrance on both sides. It gives quite a large capacity, and plenty of choice for viewing positions. There was a club-run cafe selling Kaffe (coffee), cakes and Korv med brud (hot dogs). Behind one goal a group of ice skaters trained in the track infill.

Programmes are not ingrained in the culture as they are in the UK. Its not unheard of to get a programme at this level, but when you do find one, it tends to be a teamsheet with a league table. With this being local football, the rule is for rolling substutions. It sounds appalling but in practice works extremely well, with the higher divisions seeing less use of the rule than the lower ones.

Our game, in some out-of Swedish-character hot sun saw the locals take on an ethnically Italian outfit. It proved to be a decent passing game on 3G, no FA hangups on surfaces here. The differences between the two sides proved to be the visiting keeper, who committed errors for the first and last goals, and subsitute Sadiq Sadiqi whose first goal was a glorious 25 yard blast.

So a decent start to our tour, but tomorrow the real fun was to start, with the picking up of a hire car and the start of a 3000km road trip…..

The 5 Mile Drive

19 Sunday Feb 2012

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Sunday 19th February 2012 ko 10.30am

Upper Thames Valley League Devenney Cup Quarter Final

AFC JERICHO 1 (Matthews 65)

KINGS ARMS WHEATLEY 3 (S Jacob 38 Mapplethorpe 54 L Cuff 78)

Att 20 (h/c)

@ Oxford University Press Ground, Jordan Hill

Entry FREE

Nothing for Sale

The groundhopping purists would probably reckon I should have ticked this one off for OUP, who are the Saturday side here, playing in the top division of the Oxfordshire Senior League. Well, I hadn’t managed to do it in over 10 years of serious hopping so  I decided to do the Sunday team instead.

Jericho is a suburb in the north of Oxford. Its started life as a poorly drained slum, became briefly a red light district, and now is one of the most sought after areas in the city. It retains, however a decidedly bohemian feel, with cafes and the historic Castlemill boatyard. The Jericho Tavern has seen performances by bands such as Radiohead and Supergrass before they became famous.

Jordan Hill is in Cutteslowe, on the northernmost tip of the city, about a mile north of Jericho. It is so obviously a works ground, and is beautifully maintained. For me it was a 5 mile drive to get there, and a nearby street to the ground is would you believe, Five Mile Drive!

I was pleasantly surprised at the facilties on offer. From the cricket benches, the wooden dugouts to the post and roped off pitch, it was a pleasure to take in a game that when the weak sun managed to peak through the clouds, the scene was bucolic.

The game pitched Premier Division Kings Arms against their Division One hosts. When jotting down the lineups, I found myself recognising many of the visitors’ team. Just the eleven of them, but it transpired that they are on a Saturday, Headington Amateurs first XI! It did give an interesting measuring stick as to the quality that was on show.

The first half consisted of more or less continous home pressure, with Jericho missing chance after chance. They were made to pay when a neat move allowed Shaun Jacob to fire home on 38 minutes. It was Wheatley’s first meaningful attack and the home bench couldn’t believe it. It set the tone for the second half with Wheatley coming more and more into the game, as Jericho tired, and ran out of ideas. A glorious through ball put Francis Mapplethorpe in on goal and he made no mistake for 0-2.

The goal of the game was undoubtedly Kamen Matthews’ 25 yard free kick which sailed into the top right corner but this was to be mere consolation as the ever dangerous Luke Cuff pounced on a defensive howler to finish the game as a spectacle.