Category Archives: L

The Gap

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

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Friday 29th July 2016 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

LONG BUCKBY 4 (Salumu 40 Kostiuk 53 67 Hinton 72)

WHITTLESEY ATHLETIC 1 (Butterworth 78)

Att 201

Entry £6

Programme £1

The third United Counties/ Peterborough & District Leagues hop felt different from its predecessors. The first was very much a trial run, the second based on a theme, the county of Rutland, but this felt like the continuation of a well-established event. That said, the issues running a dual league hop at the start of the season produces issues, and those issues haven’t changed. Continue reading →

Laurence at Lawrence

05 Thursday May 2016

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Thursday 21st April 2016 ko 18.15

Bristol & Suburban League Division 3

LAWRENCE WESTON “A” 5 (Rawlings 45 70 Mullula 60 Morgan 72 84)

STOCKWOOD WANDERERS RESERVES 4 (Pinches 10 42 Alzanetti 30 Box 75)

Att 7

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

You can imagine it can’t you? I’m scouring the fixtures for a game in Bristol, and I spot a team called Lawrence Rovers are at home. Now I’m a sucker for a club whose name tells a story, even if they use a “W” where I use a “U” so off Robyn and I trotted to north-west Bristol.. Continue reading →

Playing In The Wet Patch

26 Tuesday Apr 2016

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Sunday 17th April 2016 ko 11.30

Carmarthenshire League Division 2

LLANDOVERY 4 (Archer 11 C Davies 42 R Davies 90 L Bailey 90)

PORTH TYWYN SUBURBS 0

Att 111

Programme £1

Badge £3

Sunday’s first game saw the hop head east once again and aim for the A40. The town of Llandovery is steeped in history, and the drive out from Carmarthen picturesque but as usual in the first hop of a league’s staging I wondered what we’d find. The first host clubs have no point of reference so as organiser you rely on them using their meetings and the host clubs’ guide to make the most of their opportunity. I knew we’d given them the best possible opportunity but you worry, and the day I don’t will be the day I give up. Robyn rested her head on my shoulder, I took in the view and thought positive thoughts. Continue reading →

Saint Teilo

24 Sunday Apr 2016

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Saturday 16th April 2016 ko 14.00

Carmarthenshire League Division Two

LLANDEILO 5 (Jones 5 90 Dainton 9 Thomas 26 Willams 59)

LLANGENNECH 0 J Williams sent off 29 (violent conduct)

Att 107

Entry £3

Programme £1

From Abergwili we headed further east along the A40 to the town of Llandeilo. We turned left into the town and spotted a well-apppointed ground, with an impressive stand. Sadly for us, that was Cae William, home to Llandeilo RUFC and Llandeilo CC, while the football club plays in the nearby village of Ffair-Fach at the back of Ysgol (School) Bro Dinefwr. The tragedy is that it could have all been so different. Continue reading →

Lions

24 Sunday Jan 2016

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Wednesday 20th January 2016 ko 19.30

Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division

LONDON LIONS 2 (Kyte 25 36)

STANDON & PUCKERIDGE 1 (L Endacott 39)

Abandoned after 39 minutes due to a frozen pitch

Att c50

Entry & Programme £5

It’s the lot of of the groundhopper that when the freezing weather comes you start to fret. You find that one patch of your back lawn and dig your foot in hard. The turf barely moves, but you kid yourself the game’ll still be on even though the thermometer says its minus 2, and its only 3pm…. Continue reading →

Travels with Iain

21 Thursday Jan 2016

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Saturday 16th January 2016 ko 13.45

Scottish Junior FA West Region Superleague First Division

LARGS THISTLE 0

MAYBOLE JUNIORS 1 (Riley 7)

Att c200

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

I’m fortunate that I have friends dotted all over the place, but the downside is the gargantuan driving stints to visit them all! Regular readers will recognise Iain’s name from us visiting a  steady succession of Scots football grounds such as Irvine Meadow and Falkirk. It’s fair to say that whilst the 6 hour drives between our two towns mean we don’t spend as much time as we’d like together, but we’re fortunate that it’s the kind of friendship that we can pick up where we left off.  Continue reading →

Parallel Lives

03 Thursday Dec 2015

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Tuesday 1st December 2015 ko 17.45

Midland League Premier Division

LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY 2 (Webb 45 82)

HEANOR TOWN 2 (Debrouwer 39 del Genio 90)

Att 114

Entry FREE (Normally £5)

Programme FREE (Normally £1)

Every so often I see footage of collegiate football in the USA, and compare it to what happens here in the UK. Now I’ll ignore the obvious change of code, although there was an NFL-rules training session on a far pitch, but the differences between college sport in the US are still massive. Continue reading →

A Sense Of Place

08 Sunday Nov 2015

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Wednesday 4th November 2015 ko 19.45

Kent Invicta League

LEWISHAM BOROUGH (COMMUNITY) FC 1 (Gbeyo 90)

SUTTON ATHLETIC 1 (Desagne 68) Heather sent off (foul and abusive language) 87

Att 27

Entry & Programme £4

For those who didn’t know already, the Kent Invicta League was created in 2011 as a Step 6 bridge from the Step 7 Kent County League to the Step 5 Kent League (now the Southern Counties East.)  As such one of the major issues it faced was getting enough stadia that fufilled the FA’s ground grading rules. The most expensive part of those gradings tends to be getting floodlights, so a side that already has access to them was always likely to get quickly elevated, and so it came to pass… Continue reading →

Our Former Selves

14 Monday Sep 2015

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Saturday 5th September 2015 ko 15.00

Southern Combination “Peter Bentley” League Challenge Cup 2nd Round

LANGNEY WANDERERS 1 (Buckett 9) Byrne sent off 88 (2nd booking)

EASTBOURNE UNITED ASSOCIATION 2 (Clarke 28 Baitup 80)

Att c100

Entry £5

Programme £1

Once upon a time there was a team in Eastboune called Shinewater Association. They played on a pitch behind the village hall, but found their progress hamped by a poor pitch, vandalism, and the near impossibility of getting permission to erect floodlights. In 2003 they opted to merge with Eastbourne United and the new club was rather inelegantly renamed Eastbourne United Association. Since then they’ve played their home games at United’s ground, The Oval. But that is only half the story.

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Whose Club Is It Anyway?

13 Sunday Sep 2015

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Monday 31st August 2015 ko 14.45

Welsh Alliance “Mawddach” League Cup First Round

LLANLLYFNI 4 (A.Owen 3 90 C.Parry 49 Daniels 57)

TREARDDUR BAY UNITED 1 (Moore 42)

Att 307

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Every single groundhop that’s ever been organised works only due to co-operation. There are different ways of putting these events together, I know one organiser that pays the away clubs to turn up, we don’t by the way, but if an away club doesn’t want to play, then putting it bluntly, there is precious little anyone can do about it.  Continue reading →