Category Archives: P

Pass, Move, but Grin?

29 Thursday Apr 2021

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Saturday 24th April 2021 ko 15:00

Central Midlands League Division One South

PASS MOVE GRIN ACADEMY 1 (Adeifeh 84p)

MELBOURNE DYNAMO 0

Jones penalty saved 73

Savage sent off (Foul & Abusive) 84

Goodband sent off (Foul & Abusive) 84

Att c25 at Bulwell Hall Park, Nottingham 

With Robyn and I meeting GroundhopUK’s Chris Berezai for a lunch and a chin-wag it was close to inevitable that we’d end up at a Central Midlands League game, it does pay to be attending the game with the fixture secretary. The issue the league has for next few weeks is which of their clubs’ grounds counts as a public space? Most of the leagues I’ve watched since Lockdown#3 that simply hasn’t an issue. There was absolutely no question though of Bulwell Hall Park in Nottingham being anything other than public land. Continue reading →

The Reliable

23 Tuesday Feb 2021

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Friday 24th August 2007 ko 18.45

South Wales Amateur League Division One

AFC PORTH 3 (Evans 45 72 Snooks 64)

CAERAU 0 

Att 266

Entry £2

Programme £1

On any organised groundhop you want reliability. You want the weather to be fine, the clubs to make the best of their opportunity and at the most basic level you want the teams to turn up at the right place at the right time. But once you’ve got the basics down, you look for cooperation. In the widest sense you look that hoppers, clubs and league understand each others’ compromises but you learn to accept that almost never completely happens. So you look to those hoppers, and clubs who “Get” what you trying to achieve, and unquestionably one club that did in spades was AFC Porth.

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The Percy Point

11 Monday Jan 2021

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Saturday 24th January 2009 ko 11.00

Northern Alliance First Division

PERCY MAIN AMATEURS 2 (Betts 46 McEnaney 72)

GOSFORTH BOHEMIANS GARNETT 2 (Atkin 22 73)

Att 61

Entry £1

Programme 50p

If a small football club’s management is reading this and wants a one-off financial boost they could do worse than read this- with the one caveat being don’t try this if your club will be on an organised hop in the near future. Because even after 11 years after the event the adage still holds true- kick off at a weird time and do programme and you will attract groundhoppers. Continue reading →

Returning Heroes

18 Friday Dec 2020

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Saturday 12th December 2020 ko 15.00

Southern Combination Premier Division

PEACEHAVEN & TELSCOMBE 2 (Benson 50 Webber 78)

STEYNING TOWN COMMUNITY 1 (Cousins 10)

Att 153

Entry £7

Programme online only

Lockdown #2 ended up lasting a couple of weeks longer than either Robyn or I planned, and the irony of both of us contracting Coronavirus during a lockdown isn’t lost on me. We were fortunate, very fortunate to contract only a mild strain of the disease and although we were pretty wiped out for a few days we quickly recovered, with fatigue being the last symptom to fade away. But that fact did influence where we went. I wanted to break up the driving a little, I wasn’t comfortable with the marathon stints I’ve taken on in the past. That brought an idea from the past into my head…. Continue reading →

Vanilla

20 Monday Jul 2020

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Saturday 30th July 2011 ko 15.00

Scottish League Cup 1st Round

PARTICK THISTLE 1 (Cainey 28)

Paton sent off 47 (DOGSO)

Balatoni sent off 78 (DOGSO)

BERWICK RANGERS 3 (Gray 34 Noble 73 P Currie 78p)

Att 1,255

Entry £10

Programme £1.50

I’m sure there’s little truth in the story about a traveller taking a taxi from Glasgow airport and the cabbie asking whether his passenger was Celtic or Rangers. The response of “Well I like Partick actually” elicited the response “Ah you like your football vanilla then?” While the tale does Partick Thistle a massive disservice there is the kernel of an alternative truth in it. Continue reading →

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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