The Why and Why Not

12 Friday Jun 2015

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Friday5th June 2015 ko 19.00

Division 6 Norra Uppland

FILMS SK 1 (Wallmo 37)

FC BÃLINGE CITY 2 (Freij 24 Jansson 76)

Att 78

NB The Swedish hop’s cost of £280 included all entry fees, programmes, two nights bed and breakfast, and coach travel between the games and Arlanda airport.

Entry 20sek

Kim Hedwall has been running the Swedish hop since 2007, and this first game on the 9th hop was our 50th game at our 48th ground. In those years we’ve been rained on, two of the party have been roped in as linesmen, and we’ve appeared on Swedish national TV and “Offside” magazine, the Swedish equivalent of “4-4-2.” We’ve never taken a party of more than 30, due in part to a misunderstanding about what the event is for.

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Change at the Globen

11 Thursday Jun 2015

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Thursday 4th June 2015 ko 19.00

Allsvenskan

DJURGÅRDEN 1 (Johnson 37)

IFK NORRKÖPING 1 (Tklalcic 55)

Att 17.902

Entry 275 sek (c£20.61)

Programme 20 sek

If you want to know why I watch so much Swedish football this evening demonstrated why neatly. After a day’s sightseeing I was in the process of dumping my bag at the hotel in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan when my phone went off. Back in 2011 the Swedish Groundhop visited a tiny club called Åkersberga, and since the away team objected to the club’s choice of club linesmen, I was roped into helping out! It would have ended up being an obscure footnote, and a fun story to tell at parties but Continue reading →

You are kidding…..!!

11 Thursday Jun 2015

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Wednesday 3rd June 2015 ko 19.30

Division 2 Södra Svealand

EKERÖ I.F. 2 (Ahlund 21 48p)

KONYASPOR K.I.F. 1 (Stojanovic 87)

Att 45

Entry & Programme 40sek (c£3.13)

For the independent traveller landing at Stockholm Arlanda airport the route is straightforward. Aim to the Pressbyrån in the SkyCity part of the complex and buy a SL access card for 20 sek then load up multiple days of credit for use on the capital’s trains, buses, trams, and metro. 24 hours for 115sek is a real bargain, but I do wonder whether it gets used to its full potential. Continue reading →

Size Matters

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

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Tuesday 2nd June 2015 ko 19.00

Superettan

IF BROMMAPOJKARNA 2 (Hellberg 29 75)

IFK VÄRNAMO 1 (Cederqvist 44)

Att 624

Entry (seating) 150sek (c £11.76)

Programme/ Lottery 20 sek

In Stockholm there’s a fairly obvious footballing pecking order. Top are Djurgården and AIK, closely followed by Hammarby, and all are currently playing in top flight of Swedish football, the Allsvenskan. Bromma were relegated from there last season, and currently lie bottom of the second tier Superettan, or Super-One division if you’d prefer the English translation. But to judge Brommapojkarna, or to translate, the Bromma Boys Club, on their league position would be to completely miss the point of their existence, as they are the biggest club in Europe. Continue reading →

Fine Margins

31 Sunday May 2015

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Saturday 30th May 2015 ko 14.00

Scottish Junior FA, West Region Superleague Premier Division

HURLFORD UNTED 2 (C Robertson 59 Donnelly 77)

SHOTTS BON ACCORD 1 (McCrum 90)

Att 144

Entry £5

Programme (reissue from 6/12/14) £1 (original price £1.50)

 In Scotland below the professional ranks there’s two visions of how non-league could look. On one hand there’s the new Scottish pyramid with the Lowland and Highland league champions playing off for the right to play off against the Scottish League’s bottom side for the final place in the league. On the other there’s the Juniors, not aged-based, more an alternative FA, with the North, East and West Regions ploughing their separate furrows, save for the Junior Cup. Continue reading →

Tin Plate

28 Thursday May 2015

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Thursday 27th July 2006 ko 19.30

UEFA Cup 1st Qualifying Road 2nd Leg

LLANELLI AFC 0

GEFLE IF 0 Hedlund sent off 27 (DOGSO)

Llanelli won 2-1 on aggregate

Att 2,500 at Stradey Park, Llanelli (Llanelli RUFC)

Entry £10

Programme £2

Just occasionally as a groundhopper you get an opportunity so good, virtually everyone drops everything just to be there. This was one of those occasions, as back in 2006 Llanelli’s home at Stebonheath Park wasn’t yet up to UEFA ground-grading regulations, so the club decided to play their UEFA Cup fixture at Stradey Park, the home of Llanelli Rugby Union Club. Continue reading →

Third Parties

27 Wednesday May 2015

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Tuesday 26th May 2015 ko 18.30

Coventry Alliance Premier Division

FOLLY LANE OLD BOYS 2 (Jones 44 Fitzharris 50p) Pidgeon sent off 45 (violent conduct) Fitzharris sent off 90 (violent conduct)

WHITNASH TOWN 2 (Wilkinson 30 Scott 83) Watkin missed penalty 90

Att 353

Entry FREE

Programme 50p

Recently I saw a comment on Twitter about this game. It said something along the lines of “It’s not often you see a league’s season boiling down to a final game shoot-out for the title.” I allowed myself a wry smile, this was the third such shoot-out I was to witness this season after the tense afternoons at Harold Wood and Dowty Staverton! This one was to surpass both of them. Continue reading →

Mistress

24 Sunday May 2015

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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 →

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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