Category Archives: N

Border Hopping

08 Thursday Apr 2021

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Saturday March 2011 ko 15.00

IFA Premiership

NEWRY CITY 1 (McCann 73)

BALLYMENA UNITED 1 (Boyd 90)

Att 198

Entry £9

Programme £2

For a border that has been subject of so much upheaval the act of crossing from the Irish Republic to the United Kingdom on the A1/N1 is something of an anticlimax. The first thing you notice is that the yellow dashed line on the left hand edge of the road suddenly becomes solid and white, then there’s a sign informing you that from now on all distances and speeds will use miles, not kilometres as their basis. Other than that the only other clue is adverts for business who’ve set up to take advantage of whatever tax differentials exist between the two countries. You can see an example in the one of the photos.

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The Other Abbot

07 Monday Dec 2020

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Friday 27th October 2006 ko 19.30

Devon Premier Cup – 3rd Round

NEWTON ABBOT AFC 2 (Friend 4 Vicary 6)

Ford sent off (violent conduct) 68

TAMARSIDE 1 (Knight 76)

Att c100

Entry £2

Programme 50p

I’m sure you all know about Newton Abbot’s football club, perhaps you ticked off Newton Abbot Spurs on the 2018 South West Peninsula Hop? But there was another team in the Devon Town, playing games at the Devon FA Ground in Coach Road. I was fortunate enough to watch them play, but it was only due to a benevolent piece of influence, from Sweden of all places! Continue reading →

The Cold Wind

29 Sunday Nov 2020

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Saturday 22nd March 2008 ko 10.30

Central Midlands League – Premier Division

NEWARK FLOWSERVE 1 (Sharpe 20)

BOLSOVER TOWN 1 (Robb 50)

Humphries sent off 44 (violent conduct)

Att 260

Entry £2

Programme £1

Sometimes organised groundhops get remembered for certain characteristics. One Welsh Hop got remembered as the “Dog Shag” hop after two dogs misunderstood the excitement on the pitch at Carnetown, and the 2018 South West Peninsula Hop was the “Wet Hop” as organiser Phil Hiscox had to switch one game on to Exwick Villa’s 3G to get the game played. But without question the 2008 Easter Hop in the Central Midlands League was the cold hop! Continue reading →

Witness

14 Wednesday Oct 2020

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Saturday 10th October 2020 ko 14.30

Anglian Combination Division 4

NORTON ATHLETIC 2 (Burcham 9 MacDonald 24)

THORPE ST ANDREW RESERVES 0

Att 23

Free Entry

Programme by donation

On the face of it there wasn’t much going on in the south Norfolk village of Norton Subcourse. Just a crossroads, a bus stop with no bus service, and the round towered St Mary’s Church, with one service every two months. It’s rural, with a farm and a cement works but despite the fact that the entire population is only around 300 you’d be hard pushed to find a more vibrant club.

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Wheatsheaf

19 Sunday Apr 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 28th April 2007 ko 15.00

Northern League Division One

NEWCASTLE BLUE STAR 0

WEST AUCKLAND TOWN 3 (Bromley 15 Fairhurst 57p Middleton 87)

Att 42

Entry £4

Programme £1

“Northern Ventures, Northern Gains” 30p

It’s fair to say the Northern League has become good at keeping clubs within its ranks. Few clubs leave upwards, and the league was never an enthusiastic supporter of the footballing “Pyramid” to the extent that it turned down repeated invitations from 1979 and during the 1980’s to become a feeder league for the Alliance Premier League, now the National League. They could have been a Step 2 league, but when they finally entered the pyramid in 1991, it was at Step 5, but even the best part of 30 years later the Northern League is, for my money the strongest league at its level. Continue reading →

New Ground

14 Tuesday Apr 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Friday 15th June 2007 ko 19.30

Division 2 Östra Svealand

NYKÖPINGS B.I.S. 5 (Holmström 39 53 Stensson 64 M Funes 71 Lundgren 85)

AKROPOLIS I.F. 3 (Allyn 64 88 Birras 90)

Att 226

These days there are no lack of “Foreign Hops” aimed primarily at UK-based groundhoppers. Off the top of my head, there’s been ones in Germany, Switzerland, Romania and the Covid-19 pandemic saw one scheduled in Denmark cancelled. The attraction is clear, see football in a new country but have the logistics organised by someone with local expertise. Continue reading →

Wonderland

18 Wednesday Mar 2020

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Saturday 22nd February 2020 ko 14.30

Duchy League Division Two

NANPEAN ROVERS 6 ( Brown 22 R Willmott 35p 66 J Willmott 37 45 L Truscott 81)

BOSCASTLE RESERVES 1 (Joliffe 30)

Att 32

Free Entry

I’m used to the type of groundhopper who’s closed their minds to any football below Step 6. I can understand why they feel that way, the sixth tier of non-league is the lowest where all grounds need to be (amongst other requirements) to be enclosed and have cover. The self-imposed rule acts as an emotional security blanket against the perceived horror of watching a game on a “Field!” What tends to be forgotten is that you can easily see both below Step 6, and sometimes the lack of ground grading requirements is actually a benefit. With that in mind, dear reader, please consider the glory that is Victoria Bottoms. Continue reading →

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

10 Monday Feb 2020

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Tuesday 19th November 2019 ko 19.45

Leicestershire Senior League – Division Two

NORTHFIELD EMERALDS 7 (Carter-Fell 10 MacIntosh 33 Kewmoss 33 Claricotes 37 Turland 83 Boumedi 83 87)

ST ANDREWS RESERVES 0

Att 36

Free Entry

Here’s a groundhopping top tip. If you fancy an unusual midweek fixture then keep an eye on the Leicestershire Senior League. For a league whose top flight is at Step 7 there are a surprisingly large amount of grounds with floodlights. Moreover, this season the league has expanded so there’s more teams, more grounds and more floodlit games! Continue reading →

Civil 3G

23 Wednesday Oct 2019

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Monday 26th August 2019 ko 17.00

Gwent Premier League Premier Division

NEWPORT CIVIL SERVICE 2 (Edwards 9 86)

ABERCARN UNITED 0

Att 252

Entry £3

Programme £1

If you stick to the basics of it, this year’s Welsh Hop finished at the Play Football Centre in the Bettws district of Newport, but that wasn’t the half of it! Now as organisers we’ve long since used groundhoppers’ liking of matchday programmes as a device to drive ticket sales which in turn give us a steer of numbers, which allows our host clubs plan for crowds far in excess of what they see normally. The modus operandi sees the ticket holders pick up their programmes in a pack at the first game they attend, and with 3 days since the Oak game one of two of the “Big Numbers” hoppers who hadn’t bought tickets had seen the front cover of the Newport Civil Service programme. Continue reading →

Jasper

30 Monday Sep 2019

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Saturday 24th August 2019 ko 17.00

Gwent Premier League- Premier Division

NEWPORT CORINTHIANS 2 (Morgan 32 Brooks 78)

A.C. PONTYMISTER 3 (Clarke 11og Cooper 34 Baston 47)

Att 211

Entry £4

Programme £1

Whoever at the Gwent League that came up with the Welsh Hop’s itinerary clearly didn’t have me in mind! 3 revisits in 4 games on this event is unusual for me, and I’d seen Newport Corries 5 years ago mainly on the advice of Welsh Football publisher Dave Collins. A lot of the reason for going was the backdrop of the transporter bridge. It had been closed back then, so the coach pulled up at Coronation Park this time round with the bridge open, so what did I do? Continue reading →