21 Thursday Nov 2019
Posted in K
Tags
City of Stoke, Football, Keele University, Non League, Sneyd, Staffordshire County Senior League, Staffs
Monday 30th September 2019 ko 20.00
Staffordshire County Senior League Division One
KEELE UNIVERSITY 1 (Gaisford 10)
CITY OF STOKE 4 (Sargeant 65 White 68 Johnson 71 79)
Att 8
Free Entry
When you see Keele what do you picture in your mind? I suspect most see the Services on the M6, and some would see the university. For me it’s definitely the latter. Continue reading
11 Monday Feb 2019
Posted in K
Tags
England, Football, groundhopping, Harefield United, Kensington Borough, Middlesex FA ground, Rectory Park, Richard Pacquette
Monday 28th January 2019 ko 20.00
Middlesex Premier Cup- Quarter Final
KENSINGTON BOROUGH 0
HAREFIELD UNITED 6 (Clifton 9 Pacquette 30 49 Farhall 73 82 Shaw 90)
Att 47 at Pitch 1, Middlesex FA Ground, Rectory Park, Northolt
Entry & Programme £5*
I’d had no intention of returning to Northolt so soon. I’d paid the Middlesex FA Ground a visit soon after it opened last July, and while it does precisely what the local FA needs it to, I wasn’t exactly prioritising a trip to a caged 3G pitch facility whether or not you categorise ticking of the “other” pitch as a new ground. But then Talksport’s Tony Incenzo spotted this fixture, and what else was I going to do on a Monday? Continue reading
28 Friday Sep 2018
Posted in K
Tags
Cumbria, England, Fitz Park, Football, Keswick, Keswick FC, Kirkoswald, Lake District, Non League, Westmorland League
Saturday 18th August 2018 ko 14.30
Westmorland League- Division One
KESWICK 2 (Atkinson 32 Hindmarsh 40)
KIRKOSWALD 0
Att 50
Free Entry
I suspect that in the end this blog will be about places like this. I could document all those grounds from the Premier League to Step 6 and while there are some amazing places amongst those, I’d hit the publish button without ever feeling I’d shared something new. But trips to the Westmorland League are by definition off the beaten track, and after all, you can’t go wrong with a trip to the Lake District can you? Continue reading
08 Wednesday Aug 2018
Posted in K
Tags
Football, Hallands Nations, Klågerup, Non League, Scania, Skåne, Smygehuk, Sweden
Saturday 9th June 2018 ko 13.00
Division 6B Sydvästra Skåne
KLÅGERUPS G.I.F. 1 (Vågehed 48)
HALLANDS NATIONS FF 2 (Scholander 26 Brown 84p)
Att 34
Entry & Programme 40 sek
The Swedish Hop’s £230 cost included two nights bed and breakfast in Trelleborg, coach travel including to and from Kastrup Airport, tolls on the Øresund Bridge, and all entry fees and programmes for the games.
At breakfast at the Swedish hop’s base on Trelleborg’s waterfront there were a few hangovers in evidence, but ever the one to look on the bright side of things, it did mean more meatballs and crispy bacon for me! Even hop organiser Kim Hedwall allowed himself a knowing smile, he knew he’d got a another superb day lined up, but the Saturday had proved to be the most difficult of the three to put together. Continue reading
19 Thursday Jul 2018
Tags
Football, groundhopping, Idrottsplats, IP, Kim Hedwall, Kristinebergs, Non League, Stockholm, Stockholm Internazionale, Sweden, Tyresö FF, Westermalms FF
Saturday 2nd June 2018 ko 14.00
Division 3 Södra Svealand
FC STOCKHOLM INTERNAZIONALE 5 (Culeu 42p 49 Tourang 67 82 Aloui 90og)
TYRESÖ FF 0
Att 78
Entry 50sek (£4.31)
The idea behind this years trip to Sweden had long been to visit Stockholm before travelling south for the annual Swedish hop, based once again in Trelleborg. It meant spending two weekends in Scandanavia with the week between linking them. It gave me a couple of decisions to make. Continue reading
26 Tuesday Jun 2018
Tags
AFC Kilburn, Ambergate, Central Midlands League, cmfl, Football, groundhopping, GroundhopUK, Hop, Miners Welfare, Non League, SHERWOOD COLLIERY
Saturday 5th May 2018 ko 13.45
Central Midlands League South Division
AFC KILBURN 1 (McCready 84)
SHERWOOD COLLIERY 3 (Wiesztort 26 Sawter 56 Beardsey 80)
Att 207
Entry £3
Programme £1.50
Maybe it’s because I’m a southerner but when you mention Kilburn, I tend to think of the suburb in north-west London near Maida Vale. In fact I think we took the Hellenic Hop there a couple of times back in the day! The Kilburn in Derbyshire is in the Amber (river) Valley, which made the “Jade” Garden choice of name for the local Chinese takeaway seem rather inappropriate! To confuse things further until roughly a century ago the village was known as Kilbourne! The area was the setting for ITV tv drama “Peak Practice.” Continue reading
28 Wednesday Mar 2018
Posted in K
Tags
East of Scotland League, Fife, groundhoppers, GroundhopUK, Juniors, Kelty Hearts, New Central Park, Rangers, Scotland, Seniors, Sevco, Tweedmouth Rangers
Saturday 17th March 2018 ko 13.30
East of Scotland League
KELTY HEARTS 11 (Ritchie 10 Dalziel 27 51 McCabe 42 Douglas 45 75 84 Husband 55 79 Cargill 60 Greig 81)
TWEEDMOUTH RANGERS 1 (McKenna 21)
Att 278
Entry £5
Programme £2
Climbing up to the former pit village of Kelty involved a lot more than a further drop in temperature and a steady increase in the snow flurries. Kelty Hearts switched from the East Region Juniors to the Senior ranks for this season, and their reasoning was abundantly clear. Continue reading
03 Wednesday Jan 2018
Tags
Bishop Sutton, Crown Field, Football, Jules French, Keynsham Town, Martin McConachie, Non League, Western League
Friday 29th December 2017 ko 19.45
Western League Division One
KEYNSHAM TOWN 5 (Brown 19 90 Box 64 M Curnock 75 Harvey 82)
BISHOP SUTTON 2 (Hind 45 Downes 90)
Att 184
Entry/Programme/ Mince Pie £6
They say the lord helps those who help themselves (so why do thieves go to prison?) so all credit should go to Jules French at Keynsham Town and Martin McConachie at Hengrove Athletic for coming up with a cute little marketing ruse. They spotted that Bristol City‘s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers the next day was being televised with a 5.30pm kickoff so moved their kick-offs to the Friday and Saturday at 1.30 pm respectively. Continue reading
12 Sunday Nov 2017
Posted in K
Tags
AFC Kempston Town, Bedford College, Bedfordshire County league, Bedfordshire Hop, Biddenham, Caldecote, Football, groundhopping, Kingsfield, New Ground
Saturday 14th October 2017 ko 14.00
Bedfordshire County League Premier Division
AFC KEMPSTON TOWN & BEDFORD COLLEGE 2 (Smith 23 Ronayne 36)
CALDECOTE 2 (Boyd 9 Aris 34)
Att 109
Entry FREE
Programme £2
From one ground I couldn’t find on a map it was time to head to another. It meant travelling from the south side of Bedford to the north, and hop organiser Craig Dabbs supplied directions. They were needed, as not only was this to be the first game at Kingsfield, a lot of the roads to Great Spur, Biddenham were new too. Whilst it was lovely to be present as the opening of the new ground, I also know how much stress this place put Craig under. Continue reading
20 Tuesday Jun 2017
Tags
Anderslovs, Football, groundhopping, Kim Hedwall, Klagstorp, Klagstorps IF, Skåne, Sweden, Swedish hop, Trelleborg
Sunday 4th June 2017 ko 12.00
Division 5 Södra Skåne
KLAGSTORPS I.F. 4 (Dakaj 24 50 A Sheshaee 30 Krasniqi 54) Mullatahiri sent off 48 (violent conduct)
ANDERSLÖVS Bo.I.K. 1 (Lindahl 33)
Att 115
Entry & Programme 40 sek
With carry-on baggage so limited on budget airlines these days I’ve long since learned to take and wear old clothes so that they can be dumped leaving space for souvenirs on the journey back. But this time I decided that my “North Face” waterproof jacket was due for retirement, so there it sat in the hotel wardrobe in Trelleborg, destined to stay there if the weather stayed sunny. My alarm went, I peered through the curtains….. typical…rain! The coat was brought into action one last time. Continue reading
