Category Archives: N

Coda

30 Sunday Jun 2024

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Saturday 11th May 2024 ko 18:30

North Berkshire Cup Final

WOODCOTE 2 (Scoffham 59 Wallace 83)

Gray sent off 120 (dangerous play)

BERINSFIELD 2 (Palmer 2 Holdsworth 21)

Chainey sent off 102 (violent conduct) 102

A.E.T. Berinsfield won 4-2 on penalties

Att 284 at Northcourt Road, Abingdon (Abingdon United FC)

Entry & Programme £5

Well, it had to end at some point. The previous week I’d announced my intention to stand down from the North Berkshire League’s committee after the North Berks Cup Final, the league’s finale for the season. There were many reasons, mainly me not having the time to devote to doing the job as I would like, and I feel the league needs. There was a straw that broke the camel’s back but that isn’t for here.

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The Hospitality

16 Tuesday Jan 2024

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Friday 12th January 2024 ko 19:30

Northern League Division One

NORTHALLERTON TOWN 0

REDCAR ATHLETIC 1 (Boyes 37)

Att 403

Entry £7

Programmme £2.50

Hospitality package (entry, programme, 2 course meal) £25

It’s odd how some things work out. Robyn and I had tried to watch Northallerton Town around 4 years ago. We’d travelled up from Oxford, and as we reached the Calvert’s Stadium, the floodlights were switched off; the game had just been postponed due to a frozen pitch. We found a meal locally, then headed back home down the A1(M). As Robyn put it, it was a mighty long way to go for a Chinese!

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Mission

29 Tuesday Aug 2023

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Saturday 5th August 2023 ko 15:00

Eastern Counties League Division One North

NEEDHAM MARKET U23 1 (Barker 41p)

GREAT YARMOUTH TOWN 5 (Akpo 7 Couzens 34 Duffield 59 Halliday 63 90)

Att 45

Entry £5

No programme

It always pays to have a Plan B. Chris Garner and I were on one of our Saturday trips east and were aiming for an FA Cup game at Little Oakley. There were only two issues with our choice. The first was the weather, it hadn’t stopped raining all day, and the other was Little Oakley’s location.

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The Cage

24 Thursday Aug 2023

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Sunday 30th July 2023 ko 15:00

United Counties League Division One

NEWARK TOWN 4 (Cotterill 16 Lloyd 23 King 70 Harrison 85og)

HOLWELL SPORTS 3 (York 32 Biggs 75 Faulkner 90)

Att 609

Entry £6

Programme £1

Like Southwell City earlier, we’d visited Newark Town on a Central Midlands Hop. This time it was on the 2008 Easter Hop where Newark beat Kinsley Boys 1-0. The occasion was unusual for two reasons, that both sides wore their change kits and since Kinsley wore blue kit I’m fairly certain that some groundhoppers have the score transposed! The other curiosity was that this was , I think, the only time a groundsharer has ever featured on a hop!

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Grasshoppers!

26 Wednesday Oct 2022

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Sunday 28th August 2022 ko

11:15 South Wales Alliance Premier Division

MERTHYR SAINTS 1 (Maia 37p)

ABER VALLEY 5 (Razimielski 6 45 65 James 22 Neville 83)

Att 302

Entry & Programme £5

14:00 South Wales Alliance Division One

ABERDARE TOWN 6 (Johnson 12p Jones 14 64 Olson 18 Thomas 22 Welsh 70)

AFC PENRHIWCEIBER 0

Turner missed penalty 90

Att 305

Entry £3

Programme £1

17:00 South Wales Alliance Division Two

NELSON CAVALIERS 0

CWMBACH ROYAL STARS 3 (Jones 19 J Price 43 L Price 66)

Att 254

Entry & Programme £4

In some ways Sunday was when the South Wales Alliance Hop really hit its stride. For one thing we had 3 superb grounds to visit this time, with all respect to Cardiff Cosmopolitan their 3G cage was unlikely to excite many! The other factor was having league chairman Phil Sweet on the coach, he’s a man of Merthyr so hearing his memories and knowledge of his home town put where were were and what we were watching right in perspective. Of course the hop and later myself had visited the Saints before, the hop seeing it as the very first club visited on the very first Welsh hop in August 2002. But there was a move to consider… Continue reading →

Tunnbrödsrulle

03 Monday Oct 2022

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Thursday 18th August 2022 ko 20:00

Division 6B Stockholm 

NOCKEBYHOVS IF 2 (Björklid 13 Ahmed 76)

APOLLON SOLNA 1 (Engström 69)

Att 41 at Åkeshovs BP

Free Entry

From the moment the ferry from Helsinki docked at Värtaterminalen I wondered how Sweden had changed since Robyn and I had visited last, a pandemic and 3 years ago. We took a bus into Nybroplan and immediately saw one change, you can use your credit card on the ticket gates in the same way you can in London. Continue reading →

Beyond Categorisation

13 Friday May 2022

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Wednesday 30th March 2022 ko 20:00

Barnet Sunday League Richard Martin Memorial Cup Group B

NORTH LONDON ATHLETIC 1 ( Inyama 30)

BROTHERHOOD COSSIE 1 ( Ierotheou 75p)

Att 34 at A.I.M. North London

Entry Free

As a groundhopper there’s two things that really make me prick up my ears. The first is any new-to-me floodlit game midweek I can get to, and the second is anything that feels like a one-off. As you can imagine a floodlit Sunday League game played on a Wednesday at a one-off floodlit ground had me making a beeline to Enfield! Continue reading →

Half

25 Friday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 16.00

North West Counties League Division One North

NELSON 3 (Lloyd 13 47 Foster 28)

CHADDERTON 1  (Dean 87)

Att 351

Entry £5

Programme £2

I’m sure that for many on the North West Counties League hop, the trip to Nelson FC was the most anticipated of the 7 clubs we visited. Part was the club’s illustrious history and part was the evocative backdrop of the terraced cottages with the factory chimney jutting out from behind.

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Smallbrook

14 Tuesday Dec 2021

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Saturday 4th December 2021 ko 14:00

Wessex League Division One

NEWPORT (IW) FC 2 (Kelly 23 31)

ANDOVER NEW STREET 1 (Hooper 45)

Att 98 at Smallbrook Stadium

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

I have a nasty feeling I’m groundhopping ways of reaching the Isle of Wight! There’s been, so far, the Fastjet from Portsmouth for Cowes Sports, the ferry from Portsmouth for East Cowes Vics, the ferry from Southampton for Ventnor, and the hovercraft from Southsea for Brading and Shanklin, and there’s plenty more ways to come. No, I will not be trying to swim it! Continue reading →

Respectfully Catered

27 Wednesday Oct 2021

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Saturday 2nd October 2021 ko 19.45

East of Scotland League- Premier Division

NEWTONGRANGE STAR 2 (Robertson 27 37)

TRANENT JUNIORS 2 (Wring 31 Stevenson 62p)

Att 401

Entry £7

Programme £2

Pie- Steak & Gravy

We doubled back from Easterhouse to reach Newtongrange’s New Victoria Park, we ended up parking along the Newbattle Road we’d driven up 3 hours earlier. The climb up to the ground does enhance the sense of anticipation even if I made a beeline for the turnstiles with their unusual gatehouse , and by-passed the clubhouse. Many others didn’t, Robyn included! Continue reading →