Category Archives: T

Jim

15 Wednesday Jun 2022

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Tuesday 26th April 2022 ko 18:30

Spartan South Midlands League Division Two

TOTTERNHOE 3 (Tizard 20 Woolaway 45 Perry 89)

RISBOROUGH RANGERS DEVELOPMENT 1 (Pekun 72)

Att 30

Free Entry

Once upon a time this was my favourite time of the season. Once the clocks go forward in Spring there’s the opportunity to take in a whole slew of midweek games at grounds without floodlights. Groundhoppers tend to refer to this as “Silly Season” which is a little pejorative if you’re involved at a club but is more a comment on what’s available mid week rather than any comment on the quality on offer. My issue with this time of year is more prosaic, however. Continue reading →

Pandy

18 Wednesday May 2022

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Saturday 2nd April 2022 ko 14:00

Bridgend & District League Open Cup 2nd Round

TONDU ROBINS 0

LLANHARRY 6 (Peete 3 Doughty 9 T Hamilton 12 Richards 50 Watts 67 Williams 79)

Att 27 at Pandy Park, Aberkenfig

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It seems to me that if you want to find an interesting football match, all you really need to do is head to South Wales- there’s no end of them. The previous Saturday on the way back from Denaby Main we’d had a look at my options and this one rather jumped out, not least due to Tondu Robins’ long stint in the Welsh League. In the end it all added up to a lot more than that.

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Viva Chew Magna!

14 Tuesday Sep 2021

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Saturday 28th August 2021 ko 15:00

Somerset County League Division 2

CHEW MAGNA 3 (Pickford 57 Dunleavey 69 Haskins 83)

CUTTERS FRIDAY 2 (Evans 23 Hargreaves 23)

Att c15 at Tunley Recreation Centre, Old Bath Road, BA2 0EB

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On one level you could say I got this one wrong. I was seeing family in Bristol so wanted a game reasonably local, to the point that my nephew Che decided to come along. That may have been to prove to himself that not every game I see involves him getting soaked, as was definitely the case at Stockwood Wanderers last year! My options boiled down to two Somerset County league games either- Chew Magna or Clutton.  I got the family to vote on it and Chew Magna won out. So why would some say I’d got it wrong? Continue reading →

The Sales Pitch

28 Monday Jun 2021

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Saturday 26th June 2021 ko 14:00

Pre-Season Friendly

TWEEDMOUTH RANGERS 10 (11, 17, 22, 32, 35, 46, Friere 49 60 80, 82)

BERWICK COLTS 0

Att c80 at Old Shielfield, Berwick-upon-Tweed

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Pies £2

The fun of these next two games is the way they do make a mockery of attempts to pigeonhole them. This Saturday out was built around taking in a Berwick Charities Cup game at the Stanks, a competition that I’d argue fits in the 2020/21 season, but its 18.30 kickoff allowed for this pre-season friendly beforehand. That presumably would be precursor to the 2021/22 season, so if you took that train of thought far enough you’d think we started next season before we finished the last! Continue reading →

The Unlikely Station

24 Monday May 2021

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Sunday 23rd May 2021 ko 10:30

Upper Thames Valley Sunday League

TACKLEY UNITED 1 (Wynn 38)

CHILTON BLUE & WHITES 5 (Stevens 12 Burton 45 Kerry 56 Ayres 77 Mangan 90)

Stevens missed penalty 41

Att 48

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Back in the day I was working as a financial adviser and one evening I had an appointment in Tackley. It wasn’t a push to get me there, I lived in Banbury and the village is roughly equidistant on the A423 between there and Oxford. I pulled up outside the Village Hall and as I went to my customer saw Tackley FC about to kick off a Witney & District League League game. I didn’t get much out of that appointment but I did make a mental note to visit the ground properly. Continue reading →

Returns

15 Thursday Apr 2021

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Saturday 10th April 2021 ko 15.00

North Bucks & District League – Premier

TOWCESTER TOWN 5 ( Parker 9p Dixon 70 72 Kirby 82 85)

CITY COLTS 2 (16 37)

Att c25 at Islington Road, Towcester

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I’m not sure why, but Lockdown Mark 3 seemed to have more of an impact on me than the other two. There was the salve of the UK’s successful vaccination programme which at least gave us some light at the end of the tunnel and it was gratifying to see news of so many of the hopping fraternity receiving their first jabs. Nevertheless I was saddened to hear of the death of Hull-based hopper Phil Grayson from Covid-19 during this period of lockdown- it showed that while we are heading in the right direction, we are still a long way from having this accursed virus beaten. Continue reading →

A Tale of Trelewis

03 Wednesday Jun 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 25th August 2006 ko 18.20

South Wales Amateur League Division Two

TRELEWIS WELFARE 3 (D Morris 65 90 Munkley 90)

GRAIG 3 (D Jones 29p Moon 31 Marshalsea 77)

Att 209

Entry £3

Programme £1

For so many people the clubs of the South Wales Amateur League, now the South Wales Alliance were opened up by organised events by the Welsh Groundhop, now GroundhopUK. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have visited without Chris Berezai’s help, Valleys football is hugely enjoyable, but sometimes you just need that little nudge in the right direction! Continue reading →

The Jam Factory

29 Wednesday 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.

Tuesday 17th April 2007 ko 19.45

Eastern Counties League Division One

TIPTREE UNITED 5 (Hill 11 31 Robinson 43 Bryan 45 Defoe 55)

Emery sent off 45 (violent conduct)

CORNARD UNITED 0

Att 52

Entry £5

Programme £1

This is a curious tale in so many ways, but I really couldn’t have predicted just how bizarre it was going to be when I drove to the Essex town 13 years ago. The village is to the south-west of Colchester and is unquestionably most famous for jam, the Wilkin & Sons factory is here, and the labels on the jars still have Tiptree on them. In fact there’s even a Tiptree Jam Museum. I’ll claim it was closed when I visited!

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Superlatives

14 Saturday Mar 2020

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Wednesday 5th February 2020 ko 19.45

FA Cup 4th Round Replay

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3 (Stephens 12og Lucas 78 Son 87p)

SOUTHAMPTON 2 (Long 34 Ings 72)

Att 56,046 (5,690 away)

Entry £25

Programme £3

I don’t think I could be the kind of hopper that couldn’t get interested in stadiums like this. The title of this blog is rather self-fulfilling I’ve found! Then there’s the question that only a groundhopper could ask, “Is it a new ground?” Well it has been built from scratch… Continue reading →

Korça

31 Tuesday Dec 2019

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Sunday 20th October 2019 ko 12.00

U19 Kategorie Superiore Grp A

PARTIZANI TIRANA 1 (Marinjaj 70)

Qyra sent off 85 (violent conduct)

SHKËNDIJA 2 (Islamaj 52 Kokomani 89)

Hasani sent off 85 (violent conduct)

Att 93 at KS Klubite Olimpiku Stadiumi, Yrshek, Tirana

Sunday morning in Tirana started as I’d hoped. I woke in my bed in the Hotel Vila e Arte just off Skanderbeg Square and not sellotaped to a lamp post naked somewhere! That is the distinct advantage of being on a stag weekend in your late 40’s, I think all of the party ended Saturday by phoning significant others, and during breakfast one or two distant looks showed that while we were enjoying a weekend we’ll remember for the rest of our lives, we missed our wives, girlfriends and children. Continue reading →