Category Archives: M

Whether

22 Thursday Mar 2018

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Friday 16th March 2018 ko 19.00

South of Scotland League

MID-ANNANDALE 6 (Gibson 9 D Smith 11 36 Neill 34 53 Thom 47)

LOCHMABEN 3 (Milligan 33 G Smith 38p Howat 89)

Att 235

Entry £5

Programme £2

Over 4 years the Scottish Hop has developed a method all of its own. That’s a coach running from Hillingdon via Birmingham up the M6 via the first game to our base, usually in East Kilbride. I normally run the coach from Hillingdon to Birmingham when Chris Berezai takes over and I take a fast car to the first ground to make up the programme packs using the time taken for the coach driver’s mandatory 45 minute break half way up. However this time round it didn’t quite work out as we’d planned. Continue reading →

Melksham Without

15 Thursday Feb 2018

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Monday 12th February 2018 ko 19.30

Western League Premier Division

MELKSHAM TOWN 4 (Higdon 14p 42 Sibbick 28 47)

LONGWELL GREEN SPORTS 1 (Pruett 90)

Att 349

Entry £6

Programme £1

It was an evening of mistakes. Missing our turn-off from the M4 saw us arrived uncomfortably close to kick off, and on a day when parts of the country had seen snow, ice and heavy rain I’d consoled myself that since Melksham’s new ground featured a 3G pitch the game was more likely to be on. You can imagine my mixed emotions when I saw the grass pitch… Continue reading →

Medina

26 Friday Jan 2018

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Sunday 21st January 2018 ko 19.00

African Nations Championship Group A

MAURITANIA 0

GUINEA 1 (Sankhon 15)

Att c2,000 at Grand Stade de Marrakech, Morocco

Entry 50 MAD (approx £3.83)

No programme, food, or drinks for sale

It was around 5 in the evening and Robyn and I had been in Marrakech for around 4 hours. We were ensconced in our Riad, in the midst of the souks in the narrow alleyways of Marrakech’s traditional Medina district. It was time to explore so we headed out to Jemaa El- Fnaa, the main square of the city. We emerged from the alleyway and immediately the hawkers descended on us.

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The Localist Derby

28 Thursday Dec 2017

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Saturday 23rd December 2017 ko 14.00

Somerset County League Division One East

MENDIP BROADWALK 0

BROAD PLAIN HOUSE 1 (Scadding 58)

Att c35

Entry FREE

Dear Knowle West, that surburb of South Bristol, within sight of Ashton Gate down Novers Hill. It is of course the home of my girlfriend Robyn, and Filwood Fields just stone’s throw from where she was brought up. Other than Bristol City either of these clubs could lay claim to be her local club. Both of Robyn’s parents worked at the Broad Plain House Social Club too. And therein lies the quirk of this particular game…. Continue reading →

To Budge?

20 Monday Nov 2017

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Saturday 28th October 2017 ko 12.30

Scottish Premiership

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN 1 (Lafferty 24)

RANGERS 3 (Miller 43 65 Windass 72)

Att 32,852 (14,102 away) at Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Entry £30

Programme £3.50

The home of Scottish Rugby Union certainly sees a lot more football than its English equivalent does. Be it Celtic using it for 2 European qualifying matches in 2014 when Celtic Park was in use for the Commonwealth game, or Edinburgh giants Hibs and Hearts have used it for friendlies, or when Easter Road, or Tynecastle has been either unsuitable, or out-of-use. This time round, it was Tynecastle’s turn to be unavailable, but for bizarre reasons! Continue reading →

Intrigue

05 Thursday Oct 2017

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Friday 15th September 2017 ko 19.30

Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy First Round

MILTON UNITED 2 (Morgan 23 Davies 75)

STANFORD-IN-THE-VALE 0

Att 91

Entry £5

Programme £1

It seems that part of the ritual of the North Berkshire League Hop is a precursor game. The tradition started in 2014 when I wanted to do something to help Abingdon Town, and despite the lack of floodlights in the league, just Uffington United this season we’ve managed to stage one every year since. Who could forget the Wally Bus? Continue reading →

Beer Drinkers

04 Friday Aug 2017

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Saturday 29th July 2017 ko 13.45

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

MOULTON HARROX 3 (Parry 6 Watkin 26 Woods 42)

SUTTON BRIDGE UNITED 0

Att 280

Entry £4

Programme £1

You got a sense of divergence as the crowd left Holbeach. Some headed for Deeping, some for Fakenham and others March Town. The destinations all had one thing in common, they all were grounds at Step 6 or above, or putting it another way the kind of grounds that if we’d have made the hop an exclusively UCL event, would not have seen hoppers on anything like the scale that happened here. Whilst I understand their reasons, there is a point of view that doesn’t deal with life at Step 7 or below; it would have been lovely to have seen them try the delights of Moulton Harrox and Spalding Town, there were were strong reasons for optimism. Continue reading →

The Fan Club

21 Sunday May 2017

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Monday 17th April 2017 ko 17.45

North West Counties League Premier Division

MAINE ROAD 2 (Morgan 18 51)

ABBEY HEY 2 (Hardy 62 Blake 79)

Att 259

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

We saw George Galloway campaigning in Gorton, near Brantingham Road, just in front of his coterie was the Labour candidate and his entourage. We soon parked up and coach driver Godfrey scuttled off to find hospitality, if there’s a radar for such things the he’s got it! I strolled in, exchanging a joke with physio Lucy Weir on her second game of the hop but was secretly hoping that seeing a crowd the candidates might come in a swell the crowd. There was of course a compelling reason why they wouldn’t…. Continue reading →

Gallacticos

21 Friday Apr 2017

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Tuesday 4th April 2017 ko 18.20

Spartan South Midlands League Division Two

MK GALLACTICOS 3 (Wreh 35 Smith 54 Joao 76)

MURSLEY UNITED 2 (Hollingsworth 46 Skelton 76) Jay sent off (dangerous play 80)

Att 35 at North Fuzton Sports Ground, Milton Keynes

Entry FREE

No Programme

When I tick off a pitch in Milton Keynes I always think of my friend James. Maybe you’ve seen the Rennie Trophy presented at the end of each North Berkshire Hop, that’s named after him. James died a few years ago, but before he left us he attempted to watch a game on every single pitch in his adopted town. Continue reading →

Old Money

02 Thursday Mar 2017

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Saturday 25th February 2017 ko 15.30

Bundesliga

FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN 8 (Arturo Vidal 17 Lewandowski 25p 42 54 Alaba 56 Coman 65 67 Robben 87)

HAMBURGER SV 0

Att 75,000

Entry €70 (c£60)

Programme €1.50

Pin Badge €3.95

I remember exactly when I decided I simply had to visit the Allianz Arena. I was part of a party staying in Regensburg and we decided to take in an early morning Kreisklasse game in Munich one Sunday. En route to Viktoria München’s second string we passed through Fröttmanning on the autobahn and the space-age vision transfixed me. The question was how, and when? Continue reading →