Category Archives: O

Malaprop

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

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Tuesday 11th October 2016 ko 19.30

Kent County League Division One West

OTFORD UNITED 1 (Duff 45)

HALSTEAD UNITED 1 (Spears 11)

Att 36

Entry FREE

No Programme

Even if the names hint at League 1 and the Eastern Counties League surely noone could mistake Otford for anything other than the Kentish town near Sevenoaks? The ground is rather intriguing, set as it is at the back of Otford Recreation Ground, but why does a club playing at the 8th level of non-league football in England have floodlights? Continue reading →

Invention

17 Tuesday May 2016

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Friday 5th May 2016 ko 17.00

5 Liga Bucuresti

A.S. OLIMPIC 4 (Busco 40 Cristea 56 Mimaloche 82 Calin 84)

BENFICA BUCURESTI 3 (Sharande 27 Stojan 55 Smarande 64)

Att 44 at Stadional Energoutilaj

Entry FREE

No Programme

I’d been in contact with Romanian student Andrei Otineanu for quite some time, and it was he that convinced me to complete a highly enjoyable visit to Bucharest in September 2015. During my time in his country he made it clear he wanted to organise a groundhop in his country, and we talked at length at what would be involved. I flew back home wondering what, if anything, would happen next. Continue reading →

My Wembley

10 Sunday Apr 2016

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Sunday 3rd April 2016 ko 14.30

Football League Trophy Final

BARNSLEY 3 (Dunkley 50og Fletcher 68 Hammill 74)

OXFORD UNITED 2 (O’Dowda 29 Hylton 76)

Att 59,230 @ Wembley Stadium

Entry £60

Programme £5

Tea £2

I’m fortunate in that I get to visit Wembley reasonably frequently. It fulfills both sides of my divergent footballing personality. On one hand I’m a traditionalist, for me Wembley is English football’s spiritual home, so when the stadium was rebuilt in situ it was the correct decision. I admit it may well have been entirely logical to build the national stadium in Birmingham, but….. Wembley, is… home isn’t it? Continue reading →

Personality

22 Thursday Oct 2015

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Saturday 17th October 2015 ko 13.45

Western League Division One

OLDLAND ABBOTONIANS 3 (Morgan 50 Stone 88 90p)

ASHTON & BACKWELL UNITED 4 (Biggins 11 31 44p Skidmore 73) Allen sent off FT (2nd booking)

Att 201

Entry £5

Programme £1

I took my place back on the coach just outside Bitton’s ground. Sat behind the driver I could see his sat-nav, so I leaned forward so see how far we’d have to travel to our next game. Just a mile the display said, and as I settled back I felt a slight pang of regret of just how much time and effort I’d spent watching the two clubs individually. On a more positive note what I did have was no worries on Oldland secretary Martin McConachie’s ability to host the game. Continue reading →

Making Bets On Local Derby Day

08 Thursday Oct 2015

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Tuesday 6th October 2015 ko 19.45

Football League Trophy Southern Section, 2nd Round

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Roofe 41 54)

swindon town 0 Turnbull sent off (violent conduct) 31

Att 9,013 (1,179 away)

Entry £15

Programme £3

It was 6.30 and there I was stood sheltering under the canopy over turnstile 1 waiting for Alan to open up. I watched the other Oxford fans waiting alongside me, and we all had the same expression on our faces. We were nervous, and despite there being 50 or so stood there it was quiet, I could even hear Joey Beauchamp’s footsteps as he walked over to the Quad Bar hospitality entrance. Being an Oxford United legend affords you that luxury. Continue reading →

Blueprint

16 Sunday Aug 2015

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Sunday 2nd August 2015 ko 14.00

Peterborough & District League Division One

OUNDLE TOWN 3 (Hipwell 3p C Murphy 45 Kaye 77)

BASTON 4 (C Murphy 31og Pick 49 Waters 58 90p)

Att 321

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

For me the grounds I visit that give me the most satisfaction are the ones that surprise me. There is a tendency amongst the less experienced groundhoppers to treat everything below Step 6 as “Fields” with little other than the game to excite. The truth is that without research you genuinely don’t know what you’ll find. It could be no more than a pitch, or it could be a gem, the trick is to put your prejudices in your back pocket and find out. Continue reading →

Anticipation

09 Sunday Aug 2015

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Saturday 1st August 2015 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

OAKHAM UNITED 5 (Jenkins 40 Nelson 58 McDonald 65 Leckie 88 Lambie 90)

BUCKINGHAM TOWN 2 (Weymoth 2 Delderfield 77) Weymouth sent off (2nd booking) 82

Att 341

Entry £5

Programme £1

Sometimes when you put a hop together a club just leaps out of the page at you. It’s usually a club with personality, the type that doesn’t just wait for the circus to reach their town, they demand it arrives. I remember Berinsfield doing that on the very first North Berkshire Hop, and Oakham did more or less the same thing last year whilst winning in front of a huge crowd at Coates Athletic.

That was down in no small part to the force of nature that is manager Wayne Oldaker, and its personalities like him that have seen a small club in Rutland move from Catmose College (now used by Rutland DR) to Barleythorpe College, improve the place to United Counties League standards, and win last season’s Peterborough & District League. Whilst it was always Chris Berezai and I’s intention for the hop to visit Oakham United, Wayne in the nicest possible way made sure we had little or no say in the matter! Continue reading →

The Oxford Movement

06 Monday Apr 2015

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Monday 30th March 2015 ko 18.00

Hampshire Premier League, Senior Division

OTTERBOURNE 2 (Sands 5 18p)

HAMBLE CLUB 1 (Liam Crook 40)

Att 62

Entry FREE

No Programme

Tea £1

When the clocks go forward the more senior groundhoppers tend to divert their attentions during the week to fixtures played without floodlights, preferring to leave that finite commodity for when there’s no other option. Of course the trouble with these early kick-offs is that you have very little time for traffic problems when you’re driving down from Oxford, so I positively roared into the car park as the game kicked off! Continue reading →

Sapphire

05 Sunday Apr 2015

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Wednesday 1st April 2015 ko 18.00

Hampshire Premier League, Senior Division

OVERTON UNITED 2 (J Jupp 9 Lavisher 40)

COLDEN COMMON 2 (Dankins 20 O’Brien 42og)

Att 25

Entry FREE

Monthly newsletter FREE (from the bar)

Other than for football there are many reasons to visit Overton, the medieval church of St Mary which provides the backdrop for many of these photos has parts dating from the 11th century, the village was used in part as a base for the Bank of England during World War II, and is a centre for Morris Dancing.

I suspect though the vast majority will remember though the “Bombay Sapphire” distillery on the road in from Whitchurch! Is this more important than the fact that in Richard Adams’ novel “Watership Down” the rival rabbit warren of Efrafa was located just north of the railway above Northington Farm in Overton? Continue reading →

Local Intrigue

15 Sunday Feb 2015

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Saturday 14th February 2015 ko 13.30

Oxfordshire FA Intermediate Cup Semi-Final

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS RESERVES 3 (Bicknell 43 58 Clarke 87)

BERINSFIELD 5 (Palmer 22 Ingram 54 62 Saunders 97 D Murphy 108) Hammond sent off 72 (2nd booking)

Att 25 at Oxford Spires Academy, Glanville Road, Oxford

Entry FREE

No Programme

I should start by declaring a vested interest in this game. Berinsfield play in the North Berkshire League, I organise that league’s annual groundhop, and I have a lot of friends both at the league, and at Lay Avenue. If you are looking for an unbiased view for this game I fear you’ve stumbled on to the wrong blog! Apart from anything else Berinsfield seem rather proud of the fact the hop game they staged still holds the record for the highest attendance in North Berks’ hop history- 251. I would point out though that ever since I’ve been trying to beat it!

Continue reading →