Category Archives: S

The Anticompletionist

25 Thursday Jan 2018

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Tuesday 16th January 2017 ko 19.45

Essex Senior League

SAWBRIDGEWORTH TOWN 5 (Mays 35 Cleaver 46 67 Wickenden 62 Monk 80)

HULLBRIDGE SPORTS 0

Att 38

Entry £7

Programme £1

When I started clocking up the grounds the aim was never completion in any league or region. Years later I still like the idea that I can pick up the Football Traveller and still have plenty of options across the levels of the game particularly midweek. But for better or for worse, and for what little it’s worth, this game saw me complete the Essex Senior League. It is after all an achievement notable only to me, and there is a tinge of regret as I do have a lot of time for the league. So for now my journey through the ESL has reached its terminus, but it did end rather oddly. Continue reading →

The Wrong Floodlights

10 Sunday Dec 2017

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Saturday 2nd December 2017 ko 14.00

Combined Counties League Division One

SHEERWATER 5 (Rideout 30secs 6 Wilson 3 Machay 35 76)

AC LONDON 1 (Silva 69) Dallal sent off (DOGSO) 35

Att c40

Entry £4

Programme £1

Sheerwater is of course the home of mod band The Jam. Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler were all residents of this 1950’s suburb of Woking before hitting the big time with their first single “In the City.” It is a typical commuter town’s suburb with the community’s facilities all at the southern edge but within all of that the local football club has a real problem.

Without doubt the pressure is increasing on those Step 6 clubs whose grounds fail ground grading. The reasons for failing are varied, sometimes it’s because the ground isn’t enclosed and a common one is lack of floodlights, but Sheerwater’s reason is unusual, they do have floodlights, it’s just that they are the wrong ones! Continue reading →

The Youngest Of The Old

04 Monday Dec 2017

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Saturday 25th November 2017 ko 15.00

League 1

SOUTHEND UNITED 1 (Cox 19)

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Thomas 22)

Att 6,797 (566 away)

Entry – Complimentary

Programme £3

It would be a mistake to lump Roots Hall into the category of venerable UK football grounds. I’ve covered visits to the likes of Fulham and Brentford here, but Roots Hall has only been home to Southend United since 1955, although the original Southend United did play games on a pitch on this site on formation in 1906. But until 1988 when Scunthorpe United moved from the Old Showground to the hideous Glanford Park, Roots Hall was the youngest ground in the Football League. Continue reading →

Into The Light

16 Thursday Nov 2017

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Wednesday 18th October 2017 ko 19.45

Wiltshire Senior Cup- First Round

SHREWTON UNITED 0

CHIPPENHAM TOWN 7 (Ricketts 15 77 81 Richards 24 Smile 51 87 Bowman 54)

Att c115

Entry £5

When groundhoppers get deeper into the hobby they tend to realise that the number of floodlit grounds is far more finite than those without, so tend to go for unlit grounds on Saturdays and save the floodlit grounds for midweeks when the lights are in use. That throws up the unusual sub-set of grounds who have floodlights, but seldom use them. An extreme example of this is North Berkshire League club Uffington United who currently are the only club in their league to have lights, and have only used them twice, both times for games I’ve helped organise! Shrewton’s case is less extreme, as their lights are there as a legacy. Continue reading →

The Belle of Snodland Town

11 Saturday Nov 2017

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Wednesday 11th October 2017 ko 19.45

Southern Counties East Division One

SNODLAND TOWN 0

LYDD TOWN 1 (Lockyer 65)

Att 86

Entry £6

Programme £1

The Kentish town of Snodland grew based around, like so much in the area around paper making, in principle due to the lime deposits in the area. Today the town is still well-to-do in an unobtrusive way, but it’s the story of the village nearby that needs to be told.  Continue reading →

Order, In All Things

07 Tuesday Nov 2017

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Sunday 8th October 2017 ko 11.00

Western League Premier Division

SHEPTON MALLET 4 (Billing 20 47 89 Pollard 47)

BRISLINGTON 1 (Hunt 85)

Att 285

Entry £6

Programme £1

About 2 weeks before the Western Hop I’d been at a game and a hopper came up to me and told me how excited he was about the hop, but then commented.

“But why couldn’t you have put the Bishops Lydeard game on before the Shepton Mallet game?”

My response was to ask why would that be of any help? His response was telling,

“Because then I’d go home after the Lydeard game” he said. Never has the compromise that is the organised groundhop been put in clearer focus. Continue reading →

No Distance Left To Run

22 Sunday Oct 2017

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Friday 29th September 2017 ko 19.45

Eastern Counties League Premier Division

STANWAY ROVERS 1 (Blackwell 78)

WIVENHOE TOWN 0

Att 201

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

Friday night football is something that’s clearly worked for the Eastern Counties League with regular fixtures throughout the season. It makes sense especially for clubs like Stanway with Colchester United on their doorstep as it allows the Football League club’s fans to come and watch too.  From a hopper’s perspective it does allow the chance to tick off another ground on a day of generally sparse fixtures; in fact the only issue is battling Friday night traffic to get there! Continue reading →

The Island Line

02 Monday Oct 2017

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Saturday 2nd September 2017 ko 13.30

Isle of Wight League – Division One

SHANKLIN 2 (Nash 7 14) Sam Hart missed penalty 31

COWES SPORTS RESERVES 2 (Holdsworth 55 83) 

Att c35

Entry FREE

If you’re the kind of person who looks for the cheapest and easiest way to do things, you’d never use the hovercraft to get to the Isle of Wight. The parking in Southsea is just too expensive, and its so much more straightforward to take the car across from Southampton to Cowes. But life isn’t about treading the path most trodden, and it was Robyn’s birthday after all!

Continue reading →

The Carpenter

28 Thursday Sep 2017

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Monday 28th August 2017 ko 13.45

South Wales Alliance Division 2

ST JOSEPH’S 0

CARDIFF AIRPORT 5 (Richards 7 Caton 35 73 90 Fallas 64)

Att 258

Entry £3

Programme £1

It didn’t take long for the coaches to get from Penarth to Cardiff, despite the usual bank holiday traffic. In fact the only issue was working out exactly where the ground was, tucked away as it is behind the suburban housing. The fact that this was for a hop game helped, after 9 games I could recognise many of the hoppers’ cars! Continue reading →

Meridian

06 Wednesday Sep 2017

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Tuesday 22nd August 2017 ko 19.45

Cambridgeshire County League Division Senior A

SOMERSHAM TOWN 2 (Wiggins- Brown 37 Sterna 50)

OVER SPORTS 3 (Peacock 12 49 Sessions 75)

Att c100

Entry FREE

This last couple of weeks the running theme has been clubs with an Eastern Counties League past. There was the abandoned game at Long Sutton and of course Wisbech Town were until relatively recently in the ECL. But Somersham at first glance seemed be unusual in that they were playing a floodlit game in the second tier of a county league. Continue reading →