Setting it up

24 Sunday May 2015

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Tuesday 19th May 2015 kop 18.15

Coventry Alliance Premier Division

AMBLESIDE SPORTS 0

A.E.I. RUGBY 6 (Halim 2 60 Vince 63 65 76p Glover 85)

Att 47

Entry FREE

No Programme

Start with the obvious I suppose, this is Ambleside Way in Nuneaton, not the pretty town in the Lake District, and the club takes its name from the Ambleside Sports Ground, which in turn is named after the street. After all, the other Ambleside would be a little far for the Coventry Alliance’s footprint! Incidentally the ground is a few hundred yards from the Hinckley and North Warwickshire College ground, used for some Midland U21 League fixtures Continue reading →

Gas Panic

21 Thursday May 2015

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Sunday 17th May 2015 ko 14.00

Conference Promotion Final

BRISTOL ROVERS 1 (Harrison 30)

GRIMSBY TOWN 1 (John-Lewis 2)

AET Bristol Rovers won 5-3 on penalties

Att 47,0229 at Wembley Stadium

Entry £10 (Member clubs’ allocation- “Neutral Zone”)

Programme £5

Now I know the Conference Premier is pretty much League 3 these days. I know it’s almost entirely full-time and I know there are many former Football League clubs in its ranks. The vital word here is “Former” though, and take it from me, a fan of a club that did lose its place in the League, it hurts a lot it when you get relegated. You get used to the comments like “How on earth did you end up there?” and every time you go to a game you cheer your club on straining every mental sinew to get back to whence you came. There’s nothing wrong with the Conference, but believe me the fans of at least half of the clubs in its top flight hate being there.

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Pickin’ ’em

20 Wednesday May 2015

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Saturday 16th May 2015 ko 14.30

Essex Olympian League- Premier Division

HAROLD WOOD ATHLETIC 4 (Tolan 45p Ziepe 68 Suchley 73 Foley 86) WADHAM LODGE 1 (Holt 6)

Att 212

Entry FREE

Teamsheet FREE

When the games start to run out what do you look for? The pretty ground? The game with something on it? I even know one hopper whom eschewed this one as there wasn’t a programme on sale! He wasn’t the only one who put the paper-based souvenir before the match, the club put up notices advertising the lack of a programme, and the strap-line on their website told the same story. You could only imagine the number of phone calls they’d taken…. Continue reading →

Second Class Post

15 Friday May 2015

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Wednesday 13th May 2015 ko 18.30

Middlesex County League- Premier Division

L.P.O.S.S.A. 0

HILLINGDON 4 (Altomare 34 Casey 51 Rose 63 Mohamed 71)

Att 66

Entry FREE

Programme £1

I suppose I should start by answering the obvious question, its London Post Office Sports and Social Association. The club plays at the London Post Office Association Club, close to Sudbury Hill Harrow railway station and Sudbury Hill tube station. Continue reading →

Tested For The Unexpected

14 Thursday May 2015

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Tuesday 12th May 2015 ko 18.30

Coventry Alliance Premier Division

DUNLOP 0

A.E.I. RUGBY 2 (Linton 13 Newman 48)

Att 32

Entry FREE

No Programme

A tip for those visiting Coventry, always allow plenty of time to negotiate the suburbs, it took me 30 minutes to negotiate the final mile to the Dunlop Sports and Social Club, in Burnaby Road! As the joke goes, the Luftwaffe did horrible things to Coventry during the Second World War but the town planners did worse afterwards! Continue reading →

Rounding It All Off

11 Monday May 2015

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Saturday 9th May 2015 ko 19.00

North Berkshire Cup Final

BERINSFIELD 5 (Saunders 21 D Murphy 26 37 90 Holdsworth 60)

SAXTON ROVERS 0

Att c450 at Northcourt Road, Abingdon (Abingdon United FC)

Entry & Programme £3

If there’s one game at the end of each season I hate to miss its this one, and please don’t confuse it with the North Berkshire League Cup Final, this one is open to all first XI’s in the league, and you get a far better class of guest of honour, the trophy was presented by Angela Lawrence, Mayor of Abingdon. She was rewarded for her efforts with a champagne soaking! It’s the traditional closing of the NBFL season, a celebration, but this year there was more than usual to consider.

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But It Was Gone

10 Sunday May 2015

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Saturday 9th May 2015 ko 15.00

FA Vase Final

GLOSSOP NORTH END 1 (Bailey 55)

NORTH SHIELDS 2 (Bainbridge 80 Forster 96)

After Extra Time

Att 9,674 at Wembley Stadium

Entry- Complimentary (Many thanks to the Wessex League)

Programme £4

I do enjoy my annual trip to the Vase final, even though on this occasion I found myself photographing the same people I did a few years ago! There’s something touching about the trip to the hospitality seats and seeing all those officials from Step 5 leagues. These people aren’t the career administrators from the higher echelons, these are the people who do it for the love of it, and I do wonder whether when the event will switch to a joint Trophy and Vase day that flavour will be lost in a sea of professionalism? Continue reading →

The Timeless Truth

10 Sunday May 2015

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Thursday 7th May 201k 18.45

Kent County League-Premier Division

GURU NANAK 0

STANSFELD (OXFORD & BERMONDSEY) 2 (Jolley 24 33)

Att 83

Entry FREE

No Programme

Very much with my GroundhopUK hat on I’d love to see a hop game at an ethnic club like Gravesend’s Guru Nanak. For me the clubs I like to see on these events tend to be those who give a little local flavour to their visitors, and a Sikh club with their cuisine and culture would be as much an education as it would be a football match. Continue reading →

Eastern Promise

10 Sunday May 2015

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Tuesday 5th May 2015 ko 18.30

Somerset County League- Premier Davison

FRY CLUB 1 (Gregory 78)

NAILSEA UNITED 1 (Fisher 25)

Entry & Programme £2

I’m not sure how often a multi-national company’s takeover of another sends groundhoppers scurrying to the works ground, but this one was definitely an example! When Kraft took over Cadbury in 2010, it was on the understanding that the Cadbury factory (and its sportsground) would be kept open, so when a year later the plant shut down a House of Commons investigation resulted. Continue reading →

The Blue Aeroplanes

06 Wednesday May 2015

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Saturday 2nd May 2015 ko 15.00

Cheltenham League First Division

FC LAKESIDE 3 (Bowers 55 Griffiths 22 Griffiths 90p)

WHADDON UNITED 3 (Peters 45 Watkins 62 80)

Att 116

At Pitch 4, Dowty Rotal Sports Ground, Down Hatherley Lane, Staverton

Entry FREE

No Programme

A few weeks ago I watched Whaddon United, enjoyed the experience, and paid little or no attention afterwards. I thought their win against Kings AFC would see them lift the Cheltenham League title with ease. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the league table with them only one point clear with one game left, and my plans for Saturday were immediately changed when I saw that game was away against Lakeside, the second placed club! A shoot-out for the championship shouldn’t be missed.

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