Category Archives: R

Endurance

16 Saturday May 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 April 10th 2009 ko 14.30
South West Peninsula League Division One East

ROYAL MARINES 1 (Sullivan 54og)

Foster sent off 88 (2 x dissent)

EXETER CIVIL SERVICE 2 (Hawes 60 Mortimer 68)

Att 421 at Endurance Park, Heartbreak Lane, Lymphstone

Entry £3

Programme £1

On any organised hop there’s always a club or ground the organiser knows the groundhoppers are going to love. In Easter 2009 Phil Hiscox organised the South West Peninsula Hop around his stamping ground of Devon, and it really didn’t take a genius to work out that a trip to watch the Royal Marines play at Endurance Park, at the end of Heartbreak Lane would turn out to be rather popular.

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Day Tripper

27 Monday 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.

Thursday 13th July 2006 ko 19.30

UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round, First Leg

RHYL FC 0

FK SŪDOVA 0

Att 1,475

Entry £10

Programme £1.50

I write this with Rhyl FC looking like being an early victim of the Coronavirus crisis. The 141-year-old club currently playing in Wales’ second tier, the Cymru North stated that with all football suspended, and no funds forthcoming for the foreseeable future, they have had little option but to initiate the winding-up of the company. Now a rather unhelpful landlord has clearly not helped, and the resignation is clearly aimed at producing a phoenix club, but the sadness of the piece is obvious. Continue reading →

Sargeant Major

01 Sunday Sep 2019

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Saturday 27th July 2019 ko 17.00

United Counties League Premier Division

ROTHWELL CORINTHIANS 3 (Archer 5 Duffy 57 Henson 66)

LUTTERWORTH TOWN 0

Att 316

Entry £5

Programme £1

The move from Orton Rangers in Peterborough to Rothwell in Northamptonshire added up to far more than a 5 division jump in status, although that fact is one reason I love this hop. It meant that in the event’s fourth game we were taking in a United Counties game for the first game, and fittingly that was marked by a minutes applause for the late league chairman John Weekes. Other than being the reason for this hop and being the person I’d most associate with the UCL, he was a gentleman and like many others I miss him immensely. Continue reading →

The Wire

08 Monday Apr 2019

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Sunday 10th March 2019 ko 11.00

North West Counties League Division One South

RYLANDS 3 (Boothman 5 45 White 86)

CHEADLE HEATH NOMADS 5 (Green 10 27p Herbert 36 Harrison 68 Simpson 71)

Att 319

Entry £4

Programme £2

The final day of the hop was defined by the weather from start to finish. From the moment I glanced through the curtains at the Holiday Inn in Warrington to the moment I did the final drop-offs at Crewe station I wondered whether I’d be rained, sleeted or hailed on. At times it felt like all three simultaneously! It was one of those days where on arrival at the ground, the coach party takes it’s time to get off… why be in a rush to get cold and wet? Continue reading →

Red Roar

20 Sunday Jan 2019

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Friday 28th December 2018 ko 19.30

Northern League Division 2

REDCAR ATHLETIC 1 (Callender 90)

BILLINGHAM SYNTHONIA 1 (Kelly 37)

Att 319

Entry £5

Programme £1

“Hello, what’s your name?”

“Would you like a go?”

It was half-past midnight at a god-forsaken service station less than half-way back to Oxford. We were sat eating a barely digestible burger each and someone had forgotten to switch off the nearby Peppa Pig children’s ride, and every single minute it advertised itself. To three hoppers far from home it seemed to taunt rather than attract. I allowed a grim smile, you do need a common sense bypass to be a hopper! Continue reading →

Comparisons

17 Thursday Jan 2019

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Saturday 22nd December 2018 ko 15.00

Gloucestershire County League

ROCKLEAZE RANGERS 1 (A Boyer 41)

PATCHWAY TOWN 2 (Snook 55 Finn 84)

Att 34

Entry & Programme £2

If you’ve travelled southbound on the M32 over the last few months, you’ll have no doubt spotted a couple of sports grounds being built. On the left is Frenchay based Dings Crusaders RUFC’s new Shaftesbury Park (The Dings was a former slum area in Bristol near to Temple Meads) and I’ll be keeping close eye for an association rules games played there! The other side of the motorway, close to the intersection with the M4 is Hillside Gardens, and there’s more to the place than meets the eye! Continue reading →

The Dog That Had Its Day

17 Wednesday Oct 2018

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Monday 27th August 2018 ko 11.00

Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley League Premier Division

RHYDYFELIN 2 (Mahoney 4p 73)

Mahoney missed penalty 37

YNYSYBWL 4 (Dan Davies 39 Livock 45 82 L Price 57) 

C Jones sent off 3 (DOGSO)

Tooze sent off 37 (DOGSO)

Att 229

Entry £3

Programme £1

Monday dawned on the final day of the hop, and fortunately the rain had abated save for the odd shower. I knew I’d be approaching the day with mixed feelings, as this was to be GroundhopUK’s last day with the South Wales Alliance for the time being since we’ve run out of clubs that either want to host, can host, or we’ve not already visited.

For this hop the original plan was to start Monday at Cardiff-based St Albans, but they turned us down so the next idea was to go to STM Sports Old Boys, but the pitch they use as the University of Wales wasn’t available as the university was closed over the bank holiday. So we decided to go for a blast from our collective past. Continue reading →

Roger

04 Thursday Oct 2018

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Saturday 25th August 2018 ko 13.00

Gwent County League Division One

ROGERSTONE 1 (McIntosh 90)

NEWPORT CORINTHIANS 2 (Morgan 30p Lewis 80)

Att 201

Entry £4

Programme £1

You’d find it hard to imagine the village of Rogerstone as anything other than a sleepy suburb of Newport, a place of trees and a well-planted flower boxes at the Welfare Park. However the Park’s name hints at the area’s past.  Continue reading →

The Shop Window

04 Tuesday Sep 2018

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Friday 27th July 2018 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

RAUNDS TOWN 0

IRCHESTER UNITED 4 (Harewood 46 Lovell 57 Taylor 63 Bell 75)

Att 245

Entry £5

Programme £1

Of all the organised events GroundhopUK are involved in the United Counties/ Peterborough & District Leagues’ hop is the easiest to organise. A lot of that is down to John Weeks and Wendy Newey at HQ, it really does help when you know that if you ask a favour it’ll get done, but much as due to the high standards that the two leagues have set over the 3 previous years the hop has run. In fact the measure of how good those host clubs have been was the reaction of all concerned when the standard dropped slightly.

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Micawber

30 Thursday Nov 2017

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Wednesday 22nd November 2017 ko 19.45

Southern Counties East League Premier Division

ROCHESTER UNITED 1 (McGeeham 88)

DEAL TOWN 4 (Miller 39 Coyne 42 Smith 68 Paxman 78)

Att 52

Entry £7

Programme £1.50

Committee commitments had seen be unavailable since the Forgeside game and Wednesday is seldom a good day to find a game at a ground that I haven’t previously visited, and can get to after work. But in the spirit of Wilkins Micawber, something did turn up, and in Charles Dickens’ home town too! We’ll artfully ignore the fact that Rochester actually play in Strood… Continue reading →