Category Archives: P

The Alhambra

10 Friday 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. And there certainly is a story behind today’s entry!

Saturday 2nd September 2006 ko 15.00

Northern League Division Two

PENRITH 10 (Douglas 7 9 29p 39 54 82 Rooke 25 Reed 49 64 68)

CROOK TOWN 1 (Bailes 73) 

Att 78

Entry £4

So let’s set the scene. It was 14 years ago and I was on the first full day of a holiday with my now ex-wife between Appleby and Tebay, near the Lake District. It was a typical day of a holiday of the time, in that I’d been told I wasn’t finding a game, and it was hammering down with rain. All things considered it wasn’t the most promising looking day.. Continue reading →

Coincidence

02 Sunday Feb 2020

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Saturday 9th November 2019 ko 15.00

Western League Premier Division

PLYMOUTH PARKWAY 5 (Calver 17 52 Krac 33 80 Williams 89)

Carter penalty saved 37

CHIPPING SODBURY TOWN 2 (Brown 47 72)

Att 157

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

The coach had just left Wellington after the final Western Hop and someone commented, ” I suppose that’s the league completed for you Laurence?” I replied in the affirmative and it was only a few days later that I realised I’d missed out Plymouth Parkway. I could see why, Parkway featured on a Devon County Hop but I wasn’t there…. Continue reading →

Glory Box

28 Thursday Nov 2019

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Saturday 5th October 2019 ko 10.45

Western League Division One

PORTISHEAD TOWN 3 (Osmond 53p 64p Eastwood 72)

LONGWELL GREEN SPORTS 5 (Carter 31p 54 Mafini 60 Crubb 68 Britton 84)

Att 262

Entry £6

Programme £1

Sat at breakfast at the Almondsbury Interchange Hotel it was time for a little reflection. It was lovely to be back in the Western league, and once again try and maintain what the late Mark Edmonds started, and what Jules French has carried on. There’s always been a real sense of responsibility in making this event work. But all good things do have to come to an end, this hop saw us visit all the remaining clubs that hadn’t previously hosted, and that hadn’t featured on another (Dorset, Devon or South West Peninsula) hop. I’ve often said that the first hop of the series is the most difficult to organise, but the last does come with its own challenges. Continue reading →

The Flyer

17 Thursday Oct 2019

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Monday 26th August 2019 ko 14.00

Gwent Premier League- Premier Division

PENTWYNMAWR ATHLETIC 3 (Slater 7 James 31 37)

LUCAS CWMBRAN 2 (Arnold 14p Silcox 41p)

Att 237

Entry £3

Programme £1

The second game of the day took us to Newbridge and its environs. The area is probably best known as both the birthplace and training base of the Welsh Rocky, boxer Joe Calzaghe. Once again the coach pulled up in the main thoroughfare through the village in similar vein to Wattsville but this time a fair percentage of the hoppers made a beeline to the Three Horseshoes pub opposite the ground. I didn’t follow them because I had a flyer in my hand…. Continue reading →

Woad

22 Thursday Aug 2019

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Saturday 27th July 2019 ko 11.00

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

FC PARSON DROVE 3 (Davey 18 39 Hamilton 34)

Cawthorn missed penalty 31

Young sent off 90 (violent conduct)

OAKHAM UNITED 0

Att 261

Entry £4

Programme £1

The PDFL’s footprint is one of contrasts, from the urbane to the rural. You’re where the Midlands meets East Anglia and we’ve visited clubs with histories in the Eastern Counties League. The hop coach left Peterborough and headed east as the roads grew straighter and the topography flattened out.

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Borderville (again)

18 Sunday Aug 2019

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Friday 26th July 2019 ko 19.00

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

STAMFORD LIONS 1 (Duffy- Weekes 15) 

PETERBOROUGH POLONIA 1 (Bielskis 65p)

Vladnicka sent off 84 (2nd booking)

Att 204 at Borderville Sports Centre

Entry £5

Programme £1

To some extent GroundhopUK’s season opening event in the Peterborough & District and the United Counties Leagues has long been the most straightforward of our hops to run. Part of the reason for that has been the joint league approach, the sheer volume of clubs to visit is huge and so the in-house experience built up matches it. A good example was this game, both sides had seen a hop game before. The other reason was John Weekes of the UCL, and his loss hit us all hard. Continue reading →

Carry On Up the Ceiber

13 Monday May 2019

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Saturday 6th April 2019 ko 14.30

Welsh League Division 3

PENRHIWCEIBER RANGERS 3 (Carter 6 Davies 31 Morgan 39)

TREDEGAR TOWN 2 (Hillman 8 Cullinane 46)

Herring sent off 90 (dangerous play)

Att c50

Entry £3

Programme 50p

The drive up to the Mountain Ash area from just beyond Pontypridd is one of my favourites in the South Wales Valleys. Part of the reason why it is the sense of history about the area, and my own memories of so many games and clubs visited in the area. It’s got to a point where if I see a mining village I wonder why I haven’t seen a game there yet! Then there’s the switch-back narrow roads and the seeming endless rows of terraced cottages, this is a part of the world where you do have to concentrate when driving! Continue reading →

The Cuddy

07 Tuesday May 2019

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Sunday 31st March 2019 ko 12.30

East of Scotland League Conference A

PEEBLES ROVERS 1 (Lindsay 72)

NEWGRANGE STAR 3 (Jamieson 13 Scott 40 Porteous 78)

Att 288

Entry £5

Programme £1

With the Scottish Hop coach full I found myself driving from our base in East Kilbride to the event’s final destination in Peebles. It wasn’t a quick drive once I’d left the M74, but the rolling hills of the Borders and the roads’ sweeping bends made for a enthralling journey. It was time to reflect on how this game should have taken place on last year’s hop, the cold and snow saw the game, also scheduled for Sunday lunchtime postponed. I pulled into the rugby club car park, and pondered on how many fewer people would have attended the game last year given the lousy conditions? Continue reading →

Pride, Passion

20 Wednesday Feb 2019

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Tuesday 5th February 2019 ko 19.45

Southern Counties East- Premier Division

PUNJAB UNITED 5 (Suman 7 34 45 Adesite 52 Hamici 57)

RUSTHALL 1 (Sunday 85)

Att 72

Entry £7

Programme £1

The car found the one remaining parking spot in the Elite Venue in Gravesend and Robyn looked doubtful. It was cold, windy, and frankly she didn’t fancy watching a game, any game. So as I headed to the referees’ changing room for the team line-ups she investigated whether she could spend the evening in the clubhouse. I do wonder what she’d have made of this story, if she’d have managed to avoid going in? Continue reading →

Montjuic

31 Thursday Jan 2019

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Saturday 12th January 2019 ko 20.00

Quarta Catalina Grup 15

CE APA POBLE SEC B 2 (Petrykov 12 Pereira 46)

CE BARCELONA BARCINO 2 (May 41 79)

Att c60 at Camp de Futbol Municipal La Satalia, Barcelona

Free Entry

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia which is an autonomous region of Spain. That’s a remarkably easy sentence to write but it doesn’t do justice to the position Barcelona finds itself in. The independence movement is still very prominent, and the 10 minute walk from Urquinaona metro station to our hotel near the Gothic Cathedral summed up the position neatly. You pass by the offices of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior with a riot van and two heavily armed policemen outside at all times. The offices are surrounded by stucco apartment blocks and on many of the balconies banners are being flown with the Catalonia flag and pro-independence banners. For some having bi-lingual signs everywhere isn’t enough. It isn’t difficult to draw parallels… Continue reading →