Comrades

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Tuesday 8th November 2016 ko 19.45

Wessex League Division One

RINGWOOD TOWN 2 (Vint 42 Samways 83og)

SHAFTESBURY 5 (Colohan 4 10 Finnegan 36 63 Ford 70)

Att 40

Entry & Programme £5

You’re only just in Hampshire here, just the River Avon separates the historic market town from Dorset, and being on the edge of the New Forest the feel of the town couldn’t be any more English if it tried. I’m not sure the fact that the external scenes for “The Brittas Empire” were filmed at Ringwood Leisure Centre quite fits the narrative though! Continue reading

Wander For Distraction, Travel For Fulfilment

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Saturday 5th November 2016 ko 14.00

Hampshire Intermediate Cup First Round

VENTNOR 3 (Urry 10 33 40)

BURGHCLERE 1 (Smith 90p)

Att 21

Entry FREE

If ever there was a game I felt I ought to be at this was it. Burghclere are a club I have a lot of time for, not least as they were wonderful hosts on this year’s North Berkshire League Hop and as a proud committeeman I felt I should be there to support one of our own. You see, other than being the only NBFL club in Hampshire, and so the only club in our league in the competition there was another quirk of the draw. Continue reading

The K Took My Stand Away

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Friday 4th November 2016 ko 19.45

Southern Counties East League-Division One

K SPORTS 4 (Smith 4 40 Russell 7 Norman 73)

ELMSTEAD FC 1 (Babalola 45)

Entry £5

Programme £2.50

More or less 2 years ago I paid a visit to Kent County League outfit APM Contrast, mainly to gaze upon their wonderfiul pitched roofed stand, a relic from the club’s former guise, Aylesford Paper Mills’ stint in the Kent League, now the Premier Division of the Southern Counties East League. What I and many others who made the journey found was club struggling with the loss of the club’s main source of support, the paper mill and the ground grading realities of regaining their lost status. Continue reading

Harvey

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Wednesday 2nd November 2016 ko 19.30

Notts Senior League Premier Division

BILBOROUGH TOWN 2 (Webster 6 Narif 40)

REAL UNITED 1 (Blair 22)

Att 71

Entry £2

Programme SOLD OUT

Coffee £1

With Rob Hornby now retired from the rigmarole of organising groundhops in general, and specifically the Notts Senior’s event, it’s up to the hopper to keep the set of NSL grounds up to date. Arguably Bilborough Town’s new home, at the Harvey Hadden athletics stadium is the most interesting of this season’s new crop. Continue reading

Station Jim

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Tuesday 25th October 2016 ko 19.45

Southern League Premier Division

SLOUGH TOWN 2 (Moone 24 Hollis 89)

DORCHESTER TOWN 1 (Walker 11)

Att 589

Entry £10

Programme £2

When Slough Town left Wexham Park after a rent dispute in 2003 few would have bet on two things coming to pass. The first would be 13 years later the Rebels would return to Slough less than a mile from the old ground, and the second that Wexham Park would still be standing, and still recognisable as a football ground. Under the circumstances it seemed entirely sensible to pay the old ground a visit before the new… Continue reading

Bampfylde

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Saturday 22nd October 2016 15.00

North Devon League Premier Division

NORTH MOLTON SPORTS CLUB 3 (Phillips 25 35 55p) Body sent off (offensive / abusive / insulting language and / or gestures) 88

BRADWORTHY UNITED 9 (M Carter 13 51 60p 87 G Carter 42 83 90 Clarke 24 73)

Att 14 

Entry FREE

No Programme

As Forrest Gump once commented,  “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” In groundhopping terms that is certainly the case belpw Step 6. Yes, you’ll see your fair share of fields, but you’ll also see the occasional surprising little gem. And half a dozen hoppers at Rocksfield certainly enjoyed their afternoon here. Continue reading

Mazzard

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Saturday 22nd October 2016 ko 12.00

North Devon League Premier Division

LANDKEY TOWN AFC 1 (Phillips 40)

BIDEFORD COMMUNITY 5 (Comerford 2 Morris 26 61 St John 29p Kewley 78)

Att 20

Entry FREE

NO Progamme

On the basis that any double is a good double it made sense to sit in a car for 3 hours to head to a small village near Barnstaple to watch that side play a Southern League side’s reserves. The reason for the early kick off was that the visitors wanted to travel afterwards to watch local boxer Tommy Langford fight in Cardiff that evening. The bout was cancelled, but the early kick-off was kept, and that was enough for half the attendance to have absolutely no connection to either side! Continue reading

The Tangled Web Woven

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Tuesday 18th October 2016 ko 19.45

League 1

COVENTRY CITY 2 (Stevenson 28 Sordell 43)

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Crowley 90)

Att 9,912 (2,137 away)

Entry £22

Programme £3

Stadium Parking £10.20

At Oxford United we’re used to the awkward relationship between the club and the stadium. The club is, in effect owned by Daryl Eales but the stadium is owned by former chairman Firoz Kassam. Occasionally the two disagree, and the end game is clearly when in 10 years time the lease runs out and all options become open to all parties. It’s a complicated business, but compared to what’s facing Coventry City- it’s positively straightforward! Continue reading

Homeward Bound

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Wednesday 12th October 2016 ko 19.30

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division

HADLEY 1 (Belmansour 40)

EDGWARE TOWN 2 (McCluskey 52 Blackburne 68)

Att 95

Entry £6

Programme £1

There’ve been some remarkable returns home in non-league this season. One would be Fisher Athletic but in many respects Hadley’s return home is even more remarkable.  Continue reading

Malaprop

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Tuesday 11th October 2016 ko 19.30

Kent County League Division One West

OTFORD UNITED 1 (Duff 45)

HALSTEAD UNITED 1 (Spears 11)

Att 36

Entry FREE

No Programme

Even if the names hint at League 1 and the Eastern Counties League surely noone could mistake Otford for anything other than the Kentish town near Sevenoaks? The ground is rather intriguing, set as it is at the back of Otford Recreation Ground, but why does a club playing at the 8th level of non-league football in England have floodlights? Continue reading