All Aboard

20 Sunday Sep 2015

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Friday 18th September 2015 ko 19.45

North Berkshire League Division One

WALLINGFORD TOWN 0

ABINGDON TOWN 1 (Pitson 59)

Att 125

Entry & Programme £4

There are so many tales I could tell of the North Berkshire League. The most important one for me personally is that they invited me on to their/our management committee a few weeks ago. It’s a massive honour, and validation for what Media Officer Phil Annets, GroundhopUK’s Chris Berezai and I have done together for the last 4 years’ worth of hops. What it did do too was imply more pressure on this year’s event, and true to form we ended up having to work far harder for our success than in previous years. Continue reading →

For Old Times’ Sake

17 Thursday Sep 2015

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Saturday 12th September 2015 ko 14.30

Welsh Cup 2nd Qualifying Round

PENRHIWCEIBER CONSTITUTIONAL ATHLETIC 2 (J Evans 18 S Thomas 64) Bennett missed penalty 34

LLANDRINDOD WELLS 4 (A Jones 44 Layton 38 B Jones 54)

Att 23

Entry FREE

Programme £1

You climb to get to Penrhiwceiber, up past Pontypridd then up again through Abercynon. Not for nothing is a nearby village called Mountain Ash! It’s just about superfluous to say that the South Wales Valleys villages were built on coal, with just about every settlement having its pit. Except here the pit was called Penrikyber, a piece of Anglicization which at least give the outsider an idea of how to pronounce the place! Continue reading →

The Newbies

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

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Wednesday 9th September 2015 ko 18.00

Cheltenham League Division 5

WINDYRIDGE ROVERS 5 (May 15 33 48 Brady 18p 60)

REGENCY TOWN 3 (Jones 17 Pullen 66 Lee 79)

Att 39

Entry FREE

No Programme

As a child I remember when I discovered the real joy of the FA Cup. It was and still is at that point where the last amateur clubs meet the professional ranks, and the latter’s fans indulge in the same question,” What League do they play in?”

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Roger, Steve & Gary

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

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Tuesday 8th September 2015 ko 18.15

Cheltenham League Division One

R.S.G. 0

KINGS AFC 1 (Newgil 75)

Att 26

Entry FREE

No Programme

I’ll miss the early evening kick-offs without lights, although I’m fairly certain that the players won’t! It can’t be easy finishing work, then heading over to the ground, getting changed and warmed up, and be ready to kick-off at 6.15. But I’m grateful the players are, and once again the Cheltenham League gave me plenty to ponder. Continue reading →

Our Former Selves

14 Monday Sep 2015

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Saturday 5th September 2015 ko 15.00

Southern Combination “Peter Bentley” League Challenge Cup 2nd Round

LANGNEY WANDERERS 1 (Buckett 9) Byrne sent off 88 (2nd booking)

EASTBOURNE UNITED ASSOCIATION 2 (Clarke 28 Baitup 80)

Att c100

Entry £5

Programme £1

Once upon a time there was a team in Eastboune called Shinewater Association. They played on a pitch behind the village hall, but found their progress hamped by a poor pitch, vandalism, and the near impossibility of getting permission to erect floodlights. In 2003 they opted to merge with Eastbourne United and the new club was rather inelegantly renamed Eastbourne United Association. Since then they’ve played their home games at United’s ground, The Oval. But that is only half the story.

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What it’s about

13 Sunday Sep 2015

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Wednesday 2nd September 2015 ko 18.30

Cirencester & District League Division Two

SHERBORNE HARRIERS 0

THE BEECHES 5 (McKenna 1 14 Walters 68 75 Stratford 77)

Att 11

Entry FREE

No Programme

If you take the A40 west from Burford in around 5 miles you’ll see a set of ornamental gates on the right. They’re the entrance to Sherborne House’s Lodge and Estate, built by John “Crump” Dutton in the 17th century to indulge his liking for hunting, banqueting and gambling. These days the house is privately owned, the rest by the National Trust but there’s no restriction on what’s just beyond the gates. Continue reading →

The Pressure Cooker

13 Sunday Sep 2015

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Monday 31st August 2015 ko 18.15

Welsh Alliance Divsion Two

PENMAENMAWR PHOENIX 3 (S Williams 21 Z Davies 44 Paddock 90)

GREENFIELD 4 (Pritchard 38 Beck 56 Henley 58 80)

Att 431 (Welsh Hop record)

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Recently I attended a funeral of a mutual friend of my ex-wife and I. Since we split up 5 years ago we’ve only spoken a handful of times and never met. We both knew the other would be present, so the nervous tension built up in the days before. Fortunately we found time for a brief chat before the service, and whilst we’ll never be friends I stood at the back of the chapel and felt the tension slowly dissipate, rather like the valve on a pressure cooker. It wasn’t the first time I’d felt like that in the last few weeks. Continue reading →

Whose Club Is It Anyway?

13 Sunday Sep 2015

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Monday 31st August 2015 ko 14.45

Welsh Alliance “Mawddach” League Cup First Round

LLANLLYFNI 4 (A.Owen 3 90 C.Parry 49 Daniels 57)

TREARDDUR BAY UNITED 1 (Moore 42)

Att 307

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Every single groundhop that’s ever been organised works only due to co-operation. There are different ways of putting these events together, I know one organiser that pays the away clubs to turn up, we don’t by the way, but if an away club doesn’t want to play, then putting it bluntly, there is precious little anyone can do about it.  Continue reading →

Pent or Five

10 Thursday Sep 2015

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Monday 31st August 2015 ko 11.30

Welsh Alliance Division 2

PENTRAETH 10 (McGonnigle 1 18 54 55 R Roberts 14 Monument 18 37 C Jones 59 89 D Owen 72)

GAERWEN 2 (McGuiness 21 Leuthwaite 27)

Att 376

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

As the coach pulled in back at Chester University the previous evening I remember glancing up at the evening sky. It was dark, with nothing to see, but I’d remembered the previous year’s hop at the pouring rain at Kinmel Bay and how disappointed I’d felt that we’d finished the longest hop of the year on a damp squib. That was a feeling enhanced at 2.30am when I woken by the rain lashing down against the window pane. I slept fitfully after that and when it was still raining at breakfast it took driver Jase to laugh, “Don’t worry mate, it’s not raining in Bangor!” to make me smile. Continue reading →

Mountaineering

07 Monday Sep 2015

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Sunday 30th August 2015 ko 18.00

Welsh Alliance Division 2

MYNYDD LLANDEGAI 3 (M Smith 6 M Hughes 70p Whitmore 74)

MELIDEN 2 (Buckley 15 Szabo 78)

Att 305

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

We left Llanrug and climbed into the mountains of Snowdonia and then we climbed some more. The roads narrowed, the heather turned purple almost it seemed through oxygen deprivation, and eventually we reached the tiny village of Mynydd (Mountain) Llandegai. Continue reading →