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 →

The Colour of Magic

20 Sunday Oct 2013

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Saturday 19th October 2013 ko 15.00

Western League Division One

WINCANTON TOWN 5 (O’Hare 2 35 Gale 12 90 Davis 89)

DEVIZES TOWN 0

Att 51

Entry £5

Programme £1

To the groundhopper the A303 is something of a mixed blessing. The arterial road has no end of interesting sites to visit, and a multiplicity of quirky football grounds to be discovered. If you haven’t been to these two, Amesbury http://wp.me/p1PehW-pz and Gillingham http://wp.me/p1PehW-fh are highly recommended. The downside of the road is the congested traffic particularly around Stonehenge, it’s always a good idea to factor in an extra 30 minutes for your journey.

Wincanton is a small market town which is just about in Somerset. In fact to give you an idea of how close to the border with Dorset you are, the football club played for much of its history in the Somerset Senior League before transferring to the Dorset Senior League then being promoted to the Dorset Premier League. Last season they finished runners-up and gained promotion to the Western League for the first time in their history.

Of course in sporting terms the town is far more famous for Continue reading →

Behind The Bike Sheds

18 Friday Oct 2013

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Wednesday 16th October 2013 ko 19.45

Southern League Cup First Round

POOLE TOWN 1 (Byeley 63)

WIMBORNE TOWN 1 (Davidson 14)

No extra time, Poole won 5-4 on penalties

Att 206

Entry £10

Programme £2

Tea £1

The Dorset town of Poole is famous for many reasons; there’s the large harbour, and Poole Pottery now sadly closed. There’s Brownsea Island, the birthplace of the Scouting Movement, and during the English Civil War the town was a Puritan stronghold, a bastion against ship tax being levied at the time. With the Royalists on the brink of defeat in 1646, the Parliamentary garrison from Poole laid siege to and captured the nearby Royalist stronghold at Corfe Castle, the ruins of which are still a major tourist near Swanage. During the Second World War the town was a major embarkation point for Operation Overlord, as 81 landing craft containing American troops from the 29th Infantry Division and the US Army Rangers departed Poole Harbour for Omaha Beach for D-Day, in June 1944.

I arrived on a good day for the sporting folk of Poole, as on the previous evening Continue reading →

Square Pegs

13 Sunday Oct 2013

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Saturday 12th October 2013 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNTED 2 (Constable 44 Rose 45p)

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 0

Att 6,177 (910 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3

It did seem strange swapping the mud of Bedfordshire for some League 2, but that I suppose is the dichotomy of being a groundhopper but also having a season ticket at a Football League club. It was great to get the occasional text and Twitter message from Craig and others that the day went well, and that by and large the weather was kind.

Oxford versus Northampton is one of those fixtures that looks like a local derby but isn’t. Oxford hate Swindon like no other club, but in the case of Northampton I do wonder who their local rivals are these days. It used to be Continue reading →

Doing it Right #2

12 Saturday Oct 2013

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Saturday 12th October 2013 ko 10.30

Bedfordshire County League Premier Division

MARSTON SHELTON ROVERS 3 (Reid 59 60 Franks 79)

SHEFFORD TOWN & CAMPTON 1 (Jones 62)

Att 162

Entry FREE

Programme £2

Bacon Roll £2

Badge £3

This season has been by far the busiest by far for organised groundhops with, if I’m correct, this Bedfordshire League being the fifth so far with another six still to come. The diary is congested, and I expect that to be the case for years to come as it seems that Leagues have finally worked out that there’s a windfall to be had from the purse of the groundhopper. There has never been a better time to Continue reading →