Category Archives: S

Coda

03 Wednesday Aug 2022

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Saturday 28th May 2022 ko 14:00

Essex Olympian League Premier Division

SUNGATE 0

CANNING TOWN 3 (Newson 82 90 Thogo 89)

Att 58 at Ilford Wanderers RUFC, Forest Road 

Free Entry

After something like 126 games it finally felt like the football season was coming to an end. It wasn’t that there wasn’t a lack of games, it was just that I wasn’t looking in the normal places any more. And the Essex Olympian League is one of those places that does seem to be a go-to league at the end of the season. Continue reading →

The Bull Washers

23 Monday May 2022

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Saturday 9th April 2022 ko 16:00

1 Landesliga Salzburg

A.S.V. SALZBURG 4 (Takulja 45 Tabernig 72 76 Egleseder 81)

S.C. LEOGANG 2 (Gimpl 82 Lucic 89)

Att 103 at ASV Sportenlage, Itzling

Entry €6 ( c£5.06)

Teamsheet FREE

I’m aware that Robyn and I are not your normal married couple, and the first day of our honeymoon proved the point. The fact that it was delayed two years, three months is explainable, the pandemic changed more important things for more people after all, but how many couples make the first day of their honeymoon consist of a kebab for lunch, a non-league football match, and in the evening a trip to a bierkeller? We may not be a normal couple but who wants to be middle-of-the-road anyway?

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Marley

29 Tuesday Mar 2022

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Sunday 6th March 2022 ko 11:30

North West Counties Counties League- Division One North

STEETON 2 (Jeffrey 33 Townend 88)

Briggs sent off 90 (2nd booking)

ASHTON TOWN 1 (D Hill 15)

Van-Aston sent off 81 (violent conduct)

Att 479

Entry £5

Programme £2

If Saturday on the North West Counties Hop had been about 4 old-style grounds, then Sunday was about visiting two of the newest in the league. We headed to Keighley and oddly two clubs playing locally- Steeton and Silsden do have something else in common than West Yorkshire. Continue reading →

A Tale of Ian & Nicky

24 Thursday Feb 2022

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Tuesday 22nd February 2022 ko 19.45

Hellenic League Division One

STUDLEY 3 (Brain 11 46 Donnelly 18)

FC STRATFORD 0

Att 87

Entry £6

Programme £1

There were a couple of reasons why I was a little hesitant about attending this one. Firstly I’d visited Studley Sports & Social Club a number of times, and wasn’t aware they’d moved, albeit the shortest distance possible. Then there was the fact GroundhopUK are organising this year’s Easter Hop with Studley scheduled to host on Bank Holiday 11am. Robyn and I won’t be on the event, we’re finally going to have our honeymoon, just the two years after our wedding- and while we have had to wait, if Covid had arrived a few weeks earlier, we’d have had real problems! But Studley and I go back to 2002, and its all to do with a footballing friendship. Continue reading →

Broadreeds

14 Monday Feb 2022

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Tuesday 8th February 2022 ko 19.45

Southern Combination Division One

SELSEY 2 (Alman 42 Higgins-Pearce 73)

ARUNDEL 1 (Hawkins 90)

Att 156

Entry £5

Programme Free, online/downloadable

It really wasn’t the plan to make this season all about what I still think of as the Sussex County League. The reality is that 2,300 grounds plus into this groundhopping odyssey I am rapidly running out of opportunities within a 2 hour radius of work. Then there’s a tactical element too; with my GroundhopUK hat on I’m less likely to visit grounds in leagues I’m likely to be couriering a coachload of hoppers to! And for what little its worth we did have a brief chat with the Southern Combination a couple of years ago but at committee level there seemed to be little interest in a organised groundhop. 

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Utopia

24 Monday Jan 2022

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Tuesday 18th January 2022 ko 19:45

EFL League 2

STEVENAGE 2 (Taylor 29 Norris 73)

CRAWLEY TOWN 1 (Nichols 45)

Att 1,942 (210 away)

Entry (seat- West Stand- in advance) £22

Programme online only, downloadable

Teamsheet- FREE

Roughly 75 years ago the “New Towns Act” saw Stevenage built, with chief architect Lewis Siskin originally envisaging it as a “gay and bright” place. His utopian idea was see the neighbourly “spirit of the slums” combined with easy access to the countryside, sports and leisure facilities in a self-contained community. Back in the early 1990’s I studied places like this at University and even then there was a slightly snobby attitude to the New Towns. Thirty years later I watch the little “Starship” robots run on the dedicated cycle routes in Milton Keynes delivering people’s groceries and wonder whether Siskin was in fact just ahead of his time. Continue reading →

Undercliff

08 Wednesday Dec 2021

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Tuesday 30th November 2021 ko 19:45

Southern Combination “Peter Bentley” Cup 2nd Round

SALTDEAN UNITED 3 (Pamment 2 Allen 6 Shelley 43)

ALFOLD 0

Att 62

Entry £5

Programme £1

It seems that I’m destined to complete the Southern Combination with a combination of the RUR Cup and the Peter Bentley Cup through those competitions’ midweek fixtures and yes, my ability to reach the grounds in 2 hours after work in Oxford. Continue reading →

That’s Entertainment

15 Monday Nov 2021

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Tuesday 26th October 2021 ko 19.30

Combined Counties League Cup 1st Round

SHEERWATER 0

SANDHURST TOWN 0

No extra time, Sandhurst won 4-3 on penalties

Att 85

Entry £7

Programme £1.50

If Woodbridge Town was about a club in danger of losing their ground, then this was what hopefully and in time what the Eastern Counties League outfit can aspire to. I’ve always had a soft spot for Sheerwater, the district of Woking where all three members of the Jam are from, and in fact they met at Sheerwater Secondary School, a mere 100 yards to the right of Sheerwater’s new ground. But I digress…. Continue reading →

The Groundshare

10 Wednesday Nov 2021

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Friday 22nd October 2021 ko 19.45

FA Vase 1st Round

SOUTHALL 3 (O’Connor 9 46 Anibaba 80og)

ERITH & BELVEDERE 0

Att 136 at Ashford Town (Middx)

Entry £8

Programme £2.50

Over the years I’ve developed a mistrust of hard-and-fast rules. In groundhopping terms you don’t bother watching groundsharers preferring to tick off the ground for the primary tenant or owner. But what happens when you’ve already ticked off the ground (Ashford Town 1 Hitchin Town 4 24/1/2006)? Or do you just take the view that its a game of football, it’s dead easy to get to, and why not? Continue reading →

Pigs Do Fly

30 Thursday Sep 2021

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Sunday 19th September 2021 ko 11:00

Witney & District League Division Four

SHERBORNE HARRIERS 3 (Cullen 19 82 Goodwin 26)

HATHEROP RESERVES 2 (Head 42p Hathaway 75)

Saunders penalty saved 12

Att 136

Entry by programme £4

There were so many leaps of faith to make this happen. The first and most important was from the Witney & District League who agreed for us to schedule the two Sunday games I asked for and agreed that Sherborne Harriers would be one of the host clubs. But dear reader, I can hear you ask the obvious question- why Sherborne Harriers? Continue reading →