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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Category Archives: T

Dickie Davies’ Eyes

22 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by laurencereade in T

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Barry Town United, Bedwas RFC, Bluebirds, Bridgefield, Gwent County League, Trethomas

Tuesday 21st July 2015 ko 19.15

Pre-Season Friendly

TRETHOMAS BLUEBIRDS 1 (Spain 3)

BARRY TOWN UNITED 1 (Fahiya 89)

Att c200

Entry £3

Programme £1

When I was growing up in Oxford my footballing routine was to cycle to my grandmother’s house before heading off to the Manor Ground. Afterwards Dad and I would have a cup of tea in willow-pattern cups whilst watching the football results on her Rediffusion television.

Sometimes it was on the BBC’s “Grandstand,” and sometimes is was on ITV’s “World of Sport.” If it was the ITV option then there was the added bonus of the rugby results, both Union and League too. Now I soon wondered where all those football and rugby clubs were, and I’m indebted to Dad for simply handing over the road atlas and telling me to look them up for myself, although I haven’t quite forgiven him for the likes of Port Vale and St Mirren! But those Welsh rugby clubs held an almost exotic quality for a small boy from the shires, and as I travel from town to town its wonderful to link what I’m seeing back to that Rediffusion TV. Continue reading →

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Mistress

24 Sunday May 2015

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Chart Sutton, East Sutton, Maidstone and District League, Sutton Valence, Three Suttons, Warmlake Road, West Farleigh

Saturday 23rd May 2015 ko 14.15

Maidstone & District League Premier Division

THREE SUTTONS 2 (Barham 22 Todd 68)

WEST FARLEIGH 2 (Nibbs 33 Foster-Couch 44)

Att 39

Entry FREE

No Programme

When the games begin to run out at the end of the season, you also have to contend with the possibility that sides will simply decide not to bother playing the game. It doesn’t help when some leagues award those ties as 0-0 draws; you can actually be better off not playing which can’t be a good thing. My original idea was a Middlesex League game at Paddington Elite, but the visiting team couldn’t raise a side so I cast my net a little wider. With that propensity for call-offs having two games in the same league less than 3 miles apart looked a good plan for me, the idea being is there were no signs of life at the first, simply drive on to the second! Continue reading →

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Grand Day Out

29 Sunday Mar 2015

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Castle Douglas, Chris Berezai, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University, GroundhopUK, Lowland League, Meadow Park, Scotland, Threave Castle, Threave Rovers

Sunday 22nd March 2015 ko 15.00

Lowland League

THREAVE ROVERS 2 (Struthers 7 Donley 43) Miller sent of 87 (violent conduct)

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY 3 (Daniels-Yeoman 12 Aitken 61 Ward 81)

Att 462

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Here’s a first for you, has a groundhop every visited a club named after a tea rooms? The club is named after the café in Castle Douglas where it was formed in 1953. The tea rooms in turn were named after Threave Castle, and Threave is derived from the Welsh term “Tref,” meaning homestead. Perhaps that’s why we used two Welsh coaches for the weekend! Continue reading →

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Roll-on, Roll-off

12 Friday Dec 2014

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Chadfields, Dockers, isthmian league, Thames Estuary, Thamesmead Town, Tilbury

Tuesday 9th December 2014 ko 15.00

Isthmian League Division One North

TILBURY 2 (Carlile 4p Daniel 74)

THAMESMEAD TOWN 1 (MacGeechan 82)

Att 40

Entry & Programme £9

Tea £1

I suspect Tilbury is one of those towns which few have visited, but many of their possessions have. The port town replaced the London docks as the major destination for goods entering England via the Thames Estuary, and for exports heading out. Today the containers arrive and leave at a bewildering rate, and wherever I looked, in the background I could see the twinkling lights of the docks. Continue reading →

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Hill Farmer’s Blues

14 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by laurencereade in T

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Arsenal, FA Cup, Hill Farmers Blues, Ironworks Road, Mark Knopfler, Northern League, Thornaby, Tow Law, Tow Law Town

Saturday 15th September 2014 k0 15.00

Northern League Division Two

TOW LAW TOWN 1 (Lee 85)

THORNABY 1 (Clarke 27)

Att 40

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £3.50

Such is the reputation of Tow Law’s Ironworks Road Ground I had no difficulty in filling a car to pay it a visit. In fact, the only issue I had was my presence each Saturday in the Masons Arms pub quiz. So to the rest of team “Hoof Hearted,” you have my apologies, but have a look at what follows and I sure you’ll understand my tardiness! Continue reading →

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Bridge over the River Wye

04 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by laurencereade in T

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Mushet and Coalway, North Gloucestershire League, Tidenham, West Dean Charity League, West Dean Charity League Intermediate, West Dean League

Wednesday 30th July 2014 ko 18.30

West Dean Charity League Intermediate Section

TIDENHAM 3 (Shipp 11 Jacobs Jennings 90) Murphy missed penalty 8

MUSHET & COALWAY 3 (Howard 2 Hawson 33p Bick 39)

Att 21

Entry FREE

No Programme

So more West Dean League action, except this time I found myself at a southern outpost for the North Gloucestershire League. The Tidenham War Memorial Hall, is found in Tutshill, around a mile from the bridge over the Wye into Chepstow and Wales. The name “Tut” refers to the watchtower that use to guard against Welsh incursions in medieval times, but its best know now for being the birthplace of “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling. Continue reading →

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Trollywood

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

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Christoffer Ekelund, coach, Dancer In The Dark, Division 1 Södra, Edsborgs IP, FC Trollhättan, Kim Hedwall, Kristianstads, Sweden, Swedish Groundhop, Trollhättan

Sunday 15th June 2014 ko 17.00

Division One Södra

FC TROLLHÄTTAN 4 (Gustafsson 16 Mollapolci 53 83 Bennhage 83)

KRISTIANSTADS 1 (Ekelund 75)

Att 434

Entry & Programme 100 SEK

Badge 40 SEK

Burger & Drink 60 SEK

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

So journey’s end, and what a journey it had been, from the natural beauty of Tjörn, through the genteel urban feel of Gothenburg, to the smiles and laughter of travelling around on the IFK Gothenburg team coach. We had a good final stop to make, the Edsborgs IP home of FC Trollhättan producing a grin on faces of each of the coach party as we spied that stand! Did I even spot a hint of a smile on the normally taciturn features of Ebbe, our driver? Continue reading →

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Bois-Zone

23 Monday Jun 2014

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Bergendahl, BoIS, Daniel Bergendahl, Division 5 Nordvästra Götaland, FC Lidköping United, FC Trollhättan, Kim Hedwall, Sweden, Swedish Groundhop, Torsbovallen, Trollhättan, William Bohlin

Sunday 15th June 2014 ko 14.00

Division 5 Nordvästra Götaland

TROLLHÄTTAN BoIS 5 (Larsson 13 Bergendahl 40p Bohlin 53 77 Bergström 90)

FC LIDKÖPING UNITED 4 (Breznica 6 18 Matanovic 28p Restalica 55)

Att 92

Entry and Programme 40 SEK

Kaffe & Korv (coffee and hot dog) Comp’

NB On the Swedish hop, the £270 cost covered entry to all games, programmes, coach travel and two nights Bed and Breakfast.

Now if you think like me, and yes that is a dangerous thought, you’ll be wondering whether the Troll in Trollhättan is the mythical creature oft found under footbridges? And wonderfully yes it is, folklore says that in the islands in the Göta river, trolls used to try to scare off the fishermen. The hättan means bonnet, referring either to the beasts’ headwear, or to the shapes of the islands in the river.

The river is still Trollhättan’s raison d’etre, for those interested in engineering, the city pioneered the use of hydroelectric power, there are two hydro-stations in the town, and the complicated set of locks on the Göta river made the river navigable past the town. But for a town famed for goblins, perhaps that’s not what this place should be remembered for, it really should be for the waterfalls here. The river drops 32 metres, and whilst normally the majority of the water now flows to the hydro-plants, on Fallens Dagar (“Days of the Waterfalls”), arranged on the third Friday of July every year, water is allowed to flow down the river’s original course, including the evocatively named Hell Falls.  Perhaps that’s when the trolls can be seen….. Continue reading →

How Green Was My Valley?

05 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by laurencereade in T

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Athletic, Athletic Ground, Commercial Terrace, narrow, South Wales, Southern League, Treharris, Wales, Welsh League, Western, Western League

Saturday 28th May 2011 ko 14.30

Welsh League Division Two

TREHARRIS ATHLETIC WESTERN 2 (Harris 54 Glasey 65)

DINAS POWYS 1 (Jones 74)

Att 115

Entry & Programme £3

I remember my first glimpse of the Welsh Valleys, as the A470 crept north past Merthyr Tydfil, heading north away from Cardiff. Other than the signs in both Welsh and English, the scenery whilst beautiful, Castell Coch is here after all, the scene only really changes when you head into the valleys. You’re heading into coal mining territory here, and the streets narrow, the hills get steeper and the lines of terraced cottages stretch as far as the eye can see. The book and film, “How Green Was My Valley,” was based on here.

Continue reading →

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Pourquoi?

02 Monday Jun 2014

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CFA, Didier Drogba, Dunkerque, France, Ligue, Nord pas de Calais, Tourcoing, Yohan Cabaye

Sunday 1st June 2014 ko 15.00

Ligue du Nord-Pas-de-Calais Division d’Honneur

U.S.F.C. TOURCOING 1 (Nsangou 68)

U.S.L. DUNKERQUE II 0

Att 357

Entry €2

No Programme

Pennant- Comp’ “Because you have travelled a long way”

Sometimes the easiest way to succeed in anything is to simply hitch yourself to a good idea. This was an obvious example, my regular reader will no double recognise Clapton-fan Andy, Lee whose site, Adventures in Football is a goldmine for the hopper, and Peter whose Itinerant Football Watcher site is, I think the gold standard for football blogging. My role in this was little more than take Lee to Folkestone, pick up Andy and park up so as to meet Peter for the trip under the Channel! Whilst the Channel Tunnel will never win awards for aesthetics it is a wonderful feat of engineering, and gets the impatient international hopper to France in 35 minutes!  Continue reading →

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