Ambitions

19 Sunday Apr 2015

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Monday 13th April 2015 ko 18.30

Hampshire Premier League, Senior Division

AFC STONEHAM 1 (Forbes 48)

HAMBLE CLUB 3 (Thomson 5 90 Watts 35)

Att 71

Entry FREE

No Programme

When you visit a few grounds in a particular league, you start to get a feel for that league. And then a club comes along that completely changes that perception and that club for me was AFC Stoneham. Continue reading →

Stand By Me

17 Friday Apr 2015

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Saturday 11th April 2015 k0 19.00

North Berkshire League Cup Final

FARINGDON TOWN “A” 0

WALLINGFORD TOWN RESERVES 2 (Bone 32 Marks 59)

Att 180 at “The Heights” Potash Lane, Milton Heights (Milton United FC)

Entry and Programme £3

I don’t think I’ve ever been so surprised as when an email from NBFL media officer Phil Annets plopped into my in-tray inviting me to present the trophies at this final. I mean, why.. yes I know I’ve been behind 4 successful groundhops in the NBFL, one in rather trying circumstances, but it is only 4 and the previous day I watched Bill Gosling present the trophies on the back of 50 years service!

But if it was the reward for those hops, then credit should go to the other half of GroundhopUK Chris Berezai, and all those committeemen, and the legions of volunteers who’ve made the idea come to life. I found myself thinking of the likes of Josh Nathanielz, Jackie Cullen, Jon Radcliffe, Taff Blackshaw, Ian Stonham and Lindsay Mudie as I parked up.

Continue reading →

Shoot Out

16 Thursday Apr 2015

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Saturday 11th April 2015 ko 14.30

North Berkshire League Division One

KINTBURY RANGERS 4 (Allsop 8 11 30 Thorp 30)

BERINSFIELD 5 (Ingram 18p 65p Palmer 41 D Murphy 59 Rawlings 84)

Att 85

Entry FREE

No Programme

With my presence requested at the North Berkshire League Cup Final at Milton United later, my choice of afternoon games was rather limited. But serendipity can be wonderful thing, as I received word from Berinsfield assistant manager Nathan Frost that this game was going to be a shoot-out for the title. Yes I’d visited the ground as part of the Hellenic Hop in 2005 but this game had the potential to be a cracker. But great games on paper seldom turn to be classics do they? Continue reading →

Don’t Mention…

16 Thursday Apr 2015

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Friday 10th April 2015 ko 19.30

North Berkshire League- War Memorial Cup Final

EAST HENDRED 1 (Mason 35og)

BURGHCLERE 2 (Gannon 22 Smallridge 32)

Att 267 at Alfredian Park, Wantage (Wantage Town FC)

Entry & Programme £3

I’m tempted to start with this one with a similar line to the one I used when I attended the 2012 final here, in fact lets do just that, Continue reading →

This Sporting Life

14 Tuesday Apr 2015

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Wednesday 8th April 2015 ko 18.15

North Bucks & District League Premier Division

BRACKLEY SPORTS 0 Hirons missed penalty 27

SYRESHAM 3 (Markham 11 Watts 17 Allen 20)

Att 44

Entry FREE

Nothing for Sale

I do like visiting a town’s second club, you tend to either see a studied indifference to the bigger club or the frustration of a one-sided rivalry. In the case of Brackley Sports its the former, even though the floodlights of Brackley Town’s St James Park are clearly visible from Sports home at the Recreation Centre. Continue reading →

Success

13 Monday Apr 2015

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Tuesday 7th April 2015 ko 18.15

Cheltenham Association Football League- Division One

WHADDON UNITED (Winter 9 Hackett 13)

KINGS FC 0

Att 46

Entry FREE

Nothing for sale

It has so be said that this has been a particularly bad season for football in Cheltenham. Cheltenham Town are rock bottom of the Football League and racing certainties to return to non-league, and other local sides Bishops Cleeve and Cheltenham Saracens are also in deep relegation trouble too. In fact you have to look to local football to find any great success, and the great irony is that the success is to be found right opposite Cheltenham Town’s Whaddon Road ground. Continue reading →

Worship

12 Sunday Apr 2015

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Saturday 4th April 2015 ko 19.30

Northern Counties East League Division One

PENISTONE CHURCH 0 Howes sent off (2nd booking) 70

PONTEFRACT COLLIERIES 7 (Danville 15 Radford 33 Moxam 34 56 Catton 74 Lindley 89 Whitehouse 90)

Att 511

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

We didn’t have much time as tired minds made for the foothills of the Peninnes, and the club new to the NCEL for this season. It was good to see the man in his day-glo jacket directing us in, and the staff on the gate shepherding the coach passengers through the pre-paid ticket gate. “A team sheet? Just go the table to the left of the clubhouse?” As organiser you just love it when all that planning and preparation bears fruit! Continue reading →

Imagine

12 Sunday Apr 2015

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Saturday 4th April 2015 ko 16.45

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

SHAW LANE AQUAFORCE 1 (Denton 38)

HEANOR TOWN 0

Att 344

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Imagine if you will, you were from Barnsley and a keen Sheffield Wednesday fan. You’ve started and built a successful water meter business, so you decide to rent an executive box at Hillsborough. You’ve won the game of life, and are metaphorically munching the prawn sandwiches at your favourite club, but there’s something missing.

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Steelman

12 Sunday Apr 2015

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Saturday 4th April 2015 ko 13.45

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

PARKGATE 1 (Stapleford-Jones 46)

STAVELEY MINERS WELFARE 2 (Watters 63 Smith 88)

Att 301

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

I love it when a club makes the best of what they have, and let’s face it Parkgate’s Green Lane ground, in Rawmarsh, Rotherham does have its challenges. The view of the steelworks is spectacular, but the space isn’t huge. One side is out-of-bounds, and the club have managed to squeeze in the essentials of life everywhere else.

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See Emley Play

10 Friday Apr 2015

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Saturday 4th April 2015 ko 10.30

Northern Counties East League-Division One

AFC EMLEY 0 Jerome sent off (dangerous play) 57 Flynn missed penalty 90

HEMSWORTH MINERS WELFARE 3 (Connolly 45 Blair 51 Guest 60)

Att 463

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

My regular reader will now be aware that the first thing I do on any day of any hop I’m organising is to dash to the nearest window to check on the weather. Except on this occasion I checked for snow, yes that’s right snow! Two years ago Emley were due to be the first game on the Easter Hop, but 6 feet of drifting snow put paid to that idea, and we at GroundhopUK were grateful to Atherton Colleries for taking on the game. The postponement came in no small part to Emley’s altitude so it was fitting that as a coach party we paid a visit to the Emley Moor transmission tower. Its 330 metres tall, weighes 11,200 tonnes, is taller than the Eiffel Tower, and is Britain’s tallest free-standing structure. Continue reading →