Poacher Turned Goalkeeper

31 Thursday Oct 2013

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Tuesday 29th October 2013 ko 19.45

Southern League South & West Division

EVESHAM UNITED 0

MANGOTSFIELD UNITED 3 (Bath 50 Hunt 66 Egan 86) Sawyer sent off 57 (denying a clear goal scoring opportunity)

Att 173

Entry £9

Programme £2

Team sheet FREE

It seems an age since I visited Evesham’s former home at Common Road, in fact well over a decade. Evesham is one of those delightful market towns, built around a meander (in this case the River Avon) with two bridges over it that create traffic chaos. I remember travelling round the one-way system twice before finding the turn for the ground!

The town was founded around an 8th century abbey, one of the largest in Europe, which was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, with only Abbot Lichfield’s Bell Tower remaining. In Evesham’s case the meander is almost closed, making the old town easily fortified but also extremely prone to flooding. However the area has fertile land, and even today the area is noted for the sheer number of market gardens.

Musically speaking, Traffic’s Jim Capaldi was born here, and American singer PJ Proby lives here. In contrast, Harry Styles from One Direction was born in Evesham.

United sold Common Road for housing and left Continue reading →

From Steeplechase to Pallisades

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

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Saturday 26th October 2013 ko 19.00

Northern League Division One

NEWCASTLE BENFIELD 2 (Stephenson 29 Brayson 31)

MORPETH TOWN 1 (Chilton 35)

Att 328

Entry £5

Programme £1

Teamsheet 10p

Badge £3.50

Chicken Curry & Rice £2

It may have been less than a mile from Team Northumbria to Sam Smith’s Park, but the whole feel of the area changed completely between the two grounds. I’m sure nightfall had something to with it, but Benfield’s home looks like a traditional football ground, and one that could grace a league higher up the footballing pyramid.

Looks are deceiving, the club has only been around since 1988, and with Northern Alliance outfit Newcastle East End next door I wonder how many hoppers pondered whether a fifth game could have been squeezed in? It wasn’t a long-lived thought, it would have been too much- four is enough!

Where the club unquestionably got it absolutely right is Continue reading →

Any Two Can Play

28 Monday Oct 2013

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Saturday 26th October 2013 ko 16.00

Northern League Division One

TEAM NORTHUMBRIA 3 (Luke 7 Riley 21 Watling 55)

WHITLEY BAY 4 (Chow 16 27p 53 65)

Att 396

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge NOT AVAILABLE

Parking 50p

It says something about the proximity of Team Northumbria to West Allotment that notoriously impatient hoppers were happy to wait for the car park to clear! It was less than a mile from Whitley Park to Coach Lane and as I arrived I spotted a queue of hoppers grumbling about paying 50p to park.

On one hand it IS only 50p, a trifle but the argument some hoppers make is that
Continue reading →

Step Right Up & Say

28 Monday Oct 2013

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Saturday 26th October 2013 ko 13.15

Northern League Division Two

WEST ALLOTMENT CELTIC 0

NORTH SHIELDS 0

Att 429

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £2.50

Teamsheet 10p

The journey from Heaton to West Allotment was the longest of the hop, a full 1.3 miles by road, and considerably shorter by foot, and it was amusing to see the stream of hoppers with their printed-out maps cutting through the parks and alleyways between the grounds.

Those short distances had given hop organiser Harvey Harris a dilemma. Transport between the games is a staple of the serious organised hop, but since it was possible to walk the entire hop there was a case for not bothering. But since some folk either don’t want to walk, or are less fleet of foot, Harvey came up with an ingenious solution. Continue reading →

Money for Muscle

27 Sunday Oct 2013

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Saturday 26th October 2013 ko 10.30

Northern League Division Two

HEATON STANNINGTON 3 (Wright 19p 89 Smith 21)

BIRTLEY TOWN 0

Att 412

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £2

Is the heartland of the Northern League Newcastle-on-Tyne? If not, it certainly feels like it! With the Northern League celebrating its 125 year anniversary this 4-game hop in Newcastle was the second of 4 events, that will culminate in a massive 11 game 4-day hop over Easter next year. The events are covering the grounds not in the league when the Northern League groundhops ended 17 years ago.

It was certainly handy that the grounds on this hop were all in a 3 mile radius of each other in the east of the city. Nearby is Gosforth where Continue reading →

Sing about the Six Blade

27 Sunday Oct 2013

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Friday 25th October 2013 ko 19.30

Wearside League

SILKSWORTH COLLIERY WELFARE 2 (Gill 58 77)

RYHOPE COLLIERY WELFARE 6 (O’Neill 30p Butler 54 Hall 56 Winn 65 Pounder 74 Yip 90)

Att 168

Entry, Programme, and 60th Anniversary Shipowners’ Cup Final Programme £4

Sometimes, coincidence can be a wonderful thing. With the Northern League staging a 4-game groundhop in Newcastle the next day, any club staging a game in the area the evening before was always likely to see a glut of southern-based hoppers. 4 clubs did; in the Northern League there were games at Shildon and Spennymoor, and a few saw Middlesbrough beat Doncaster in the Championship, but for me the most intriguing was Silksworth CW.

Silksworth is a district of Sunderland, and I passed the Stadium of Light on my way to the Bobby Gurney Memorial Park. Gurney was born in Silksworth as his father worked at the local pit, now where the local leisure centre. Bobby was spotted playing for Bishop Auckland in 1925 and signed for Continue reading →

What Is and What Should Never Be

24 Thursday Oct 2013

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Wednesday 23rd October 2013 ko 19.30

Western League Premier Division

SHERBORNE TOWN 3 (Day 15 28 Plant 75p)

LARKHALL ATHLETIC 4 (Casey 13 Auckland 56p 90p Hobbs 63 )

Att 106

Entry £5

Programme £1

It did seem strange seeing a Western League game in the historical capital of Wessex although the location does lend itself better to the club’s current league!

The town is best known for the castle built by Walter Raleigh in the 16th century, and Sherborne School, one of the top independent schools in Britain, boasting alumni, including Alan Turing, Jeremy Irons, Chris Martin (of Coldplay fame) and John le Carré.

The town’s football ground Raleigh Grove is a nod to the famous former resident. It lies just out of town, on the south side, as part of a larger complex, Terrace Fields which includes two cricket pitches. As I arrived a group of horse boxes were leaving, and at first glance I wondered whether I’d arrived at a late postponement. The club admitted that earlier in the day a postponement looked inevitable, heavy rain had left the pitch underwater. The formality of a pitch inspection was organised for 3pm, but there was warm sun, and strong wind and the pitch wasn’t just fit for play, it played perfectly.

If ever the maxim that “Stadia do not make clubs, people do,” was the case this was the prime example. I had a chat with both clubs’ officials before kick off and each and every one was a joy to deal with, a real credit to their respective clubs, the Western League and football in general. I found time to try the club’s delicacy Continue reading →

Thunder & Lightenings

24 Thursday Oct 2013

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Tuesday 22nd October 2013 ko 19.45

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0 Kitson sent off 90 (2nd Booking)

EXETER CITY 0

Att 5,083 (362 away)

Entry S/T

Programme (including Oxford Mail) £3

It is a footballing maxim that when a game matters, it normally ends up being a draw. Although this goal-less draw wasn’t the stereotypical bore draw, in fact in was a fine spectacle, it was just as frustrating as one.

With City 3rd and United 4th the game was set-up beautifully, and despite a spectacular thunderstorm throughout the first half the pitch held up perfectly. Thankfully the itinerant Welsh rugby enthusiasts haven’t managed to chew up the pitch as yet this season. A good job too as both sides played good passing football, just without any tangible end product.

The major talking point will inevitably be the dismissal of Dave Kitson. Whilst its clear he’s Continue reading →

The Plastered Plasterer

22 Tuesday Oct 2013

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I think its time for another of the non-football stories, and this one has no point or purpose, but then those are the best ones aren’t they?

Many years ago someone I know decided to have an extension to his house built. Planning permission was sought, and obtained quickly, and soon enough the builders arrived. The upheaval was minimal, and the extension was quickly completed. There was however one major problem, they left the two new rooms unplastered.

With the house being in Oxford, the owner had contacts with the university and a local plasterer was quickly found.  The homeowner asked for a quote and was rather surprised when he was quoted, “£XXXX and a bottle of Scotch!”  Continue reading →

Heart & Soul

21 Monday Oct 2013

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Just occasionally I get asked to do a piece for a programme which is a rather different task from what I do on this blog, still its good to do something different once in a while!

Rightly or wrongly I ask for the same thing. A copy of the programme with my article in, and if I’m writing about a specific game, a press pass too. I’m certainly up for doing a few more, so if you want me and my camera at your ground just contact me via this site.

This piece appeared in Hellenic League outfit AFC Hinksey’s programme a week or two ago. They asked for around 500 words on “Groundhopping,” and I think they were reasonably happy with what I gave them. Hope you enjoy it. Continue reading →