Central Perk

04 Wednesday Sep 2013

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Monday 26th August 2013 ko 11.15

Welsh Alliance Division One

DENBIGH TOWN 4 (Lundstram 27 Pierce 30 72p 75)

BARMOUTH & DYFFRYN UNITED 0

Att 285

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

Back in Chester as I woke I carried out a mental inventory of how I was feeling. Legs – sore, feet – swollen, and face- sunburnt! In truth I was pleased this was the last day of the hop, there is a limit on how much football you can watch, both physically and mentally. Over breakfast, notably quieter compared to the other days, I pondered the very first Northern Counties East hop when we’d planned a 14-game 5 day hop over Easter. We’d received many emails telling us it would be too much, Continue reading →

People Watching

02 Monday Sep 2013

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Sunday 25th August 2013 ko 18.15

Welsh Alliance Division One

LLANRWST UNITED 0

BODEDERN ATHLETIC 0

Att 370

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

As organiser you love to see good decisions made without you having to prompt them. We were part of a huge convoy leaving Glan Conwy on the A470, and heading into Snowdonia, and I was day-dreaming on how the A470 eventually goes right past the University of Glamorgan in Treforest, the base for the first Welsh Groundhops. Neil our coach driver suddenly turned right, with Colin in the other coach following with the rest of the convoy carrying on along the main road. I asked why the detour Continue reading →

Truncated by the Authorities

01 Sunday Sep 2013

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Sunday 25th August 2013 ko 15.00pm

Welsh Alliance Division One

GLAN CONWY 1 (Knight 51)

NEFYN UNITED 1 (C Jones 4)

Att 305

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

The journey from Llandudno Junction was a short one, so short in fact that the backdrop remained the same, it was just a different facet of Conwy Castle that faced us!

One way another Glan Conwy seems to have been truncated by the authorities! The village’s full name is Llansanffraid Glan Conwy, or in English Church of St Ffraid on the bank of the River Conwy, but the name was shortened by the railway to the more usual Glan Conwy. The village’s raison d’etre used was Continue reading →

A change in locale

01 Sunday Sep 2013

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Sunday 25thy August 2013 ko 12.00

Welsh Alliance Division One

LLANDUDNO JUNCTION 0

HOLYWELL TOWN 5 (McElmeel 25 G Williams 45 S Jones 54 J Jones 73 PD Williams 81p) PD Williams missed penalty 65

Att 302

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

As we’d left Anglesey the previous evening I’d expected a change of feel for the Sunday fixtures. Yes, 3 games in a day is easier in many ways but despite the fact that Llandudno Junction is only 22 miles from Llanfairpwll, it felt far more urbane, yet still unmistakably Welsh.

Llandudno Junction, once known as Tremarl, lies south of Llandudno, and unsurprisingly grew up around the railway station here. Opposite the station is  The Old Station Hotel. Its known locally as ‘The Killer’ Continue reading →

Yr Wyddfa

31 Saturday Aug 2013

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Saturday 24th August 2013 ko 18.30

Welsh Alliance Division One

GLANTRAETH 3 (Taylor 25 76 C Roberts 78)

LLANRUG UNITED 2 (Pritchard 18 D.N. Williams 90) D. N. Williams missed penalty 15

Att 308

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

Pint of Beer £2.50

I’m sure the Welsh hop has taken in locations more remote than Cae Glantraeth, the trip to Rhosgoch with the coach’s cooked brakes springs to mind, but this one was up with the best of them!

The club is named after the Glantraeth Farm and the nearest settlement is the small village of Trefdraeth, with the larger 400 inhabitant village of Malltraeth, about a mile-and-half distant. The district, Bodorgan is the current home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge while Prince William serves as a search and rescue pilot at RAF Valley, 9 or so miles away. I did keep half an eye open for a yellow helicopter! Other than transplanted royalty, Hollywood actress Continue reading →

The Lake of Winter Dwelling

29 Thursday Aug 2013

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Saturday 24th August 2013 ko 15.45

Welsh Alliance Division One

GWALCHMAI 5 (Sinnott 19 Evans 36 38  83 S Sinclair 54)

LLANBERIS 1 (R Parry 88)

Att 389

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

It didn’t take long to get from Gaerwen to Gwalchmai, passing the Anglesey Showground along the way. The village is named after the 12th-century court poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr. Just to the north is a small lake Llyn Hendref, or to translate, The Lake of Winter Dwelling. Not that there was anything remotely wintery about Cae Maes Murig, set as it is behind a ribbon of social housing and in front of farmland with Snowdonia behind. It was determinedly t-shirt weather, and the ground surprised many, me included. Continue reading →

Western Star

29 Thursday Aug 2013

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Saturday 24th August 2013 ko 12.45

Welsh Alliance Division 2

GAERWEN 0

PENRHYNDEUDRAETH 5 (Roberts 33 Hughes 45p 79 S Jones 68 L Jones 88) Hughes missed penalty 30

Att 241

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

Lobscouse £2

We were a little tight for time in reaching Gaerwen after the groundhop’s opener at Llanfairpwll, but had enough time for a little coach tour round the local cattle market, before our drivers Colin and Neil decided to drop the passengers off at Maes Merddyn before returning to the market to park up.

The village of Gaerwen is best known as being the southern terminus of the Anglesey Central Railway which was in use between 1864 and 1993. The station was only the Holyhead to Bangor line until being closed to passenger traffic under the Beeching axe in 1963. The tiny village of Star is situated to the east of Gaerwen.

On arrival the ground was a hive of activity. Continue reading →

Speak in Welsh (but swear in English)

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

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Saturday 24th August 2013 ko 10.15

Welsh Alliance Division One

LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH  4 (Frazer 8 48 Smith 39 J Vousden 71)

PWLLHELI 0

Att 271

Entry £4

Programme £1

Of the 4 days on this groundhop, Saturday proved to be by far the most difficult to organise. We prefer to have 4 games on the Saturday, as with 3 games you tend to see attendances drop alarmingly for the middle game, as hoppers go off-piste and find alternate games. With 4 they have to give up two hop games which tends to see more stay with the hop.

With a day on Anglesey, the obvious last game would have been Llangefni, with a set of floodlights a relic of their one season in the Welsh Premier, but that idea was scotched as we soon discovered they no longer work. They were replaced by Glantraeth, but were to be the away team at Llanfairpwll. Sadly Llangefni then opted to drop down to the Anglesey League, so we were grateful to Pwllheli who offered to replace them and be an away side twice on the hop.

With all 4 clubs lacking floodlights, it meant an early start from the University Continue reading →

New Round Here

27 Tuesday Aug 2013

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Friday 23rd August 2013 ko 18.30

Welsh Alliance Division 2

GREENFIELD 3 (Robinson 36 Jones 70p Johnson 85)

HALKYN UNITED 0

Att 263

Entry & Programme £3

Badge £3

So back on GroundhopUK duty on what is, I suppose the spiritual home of the organisation, Wales. Chris Berezai’s first forays into organising groundhops started in South Wales, and as leagues have been completed, the offers have led us through the Mid-Wales League, to North Wales and our first groundhop game in the Welsh Alliance, which covers the 3rd and 4th tiers of football along the North Wales coast and Anglesey.

A new league means starting the planning from scratch, from attending League committee meetings, through the clubs voting on whether to go ahead with the venture, then attending groundhop planning meetings with participating clubs. There’s a lot of work that goes on in the background to ensure the days go without a hitch, the hoppers enjoy their weekend and the clubs make a lot of money for their efforts.

Part of that experience is the programme packs that are handed to hoppers with a pre-booked ticket before the first game. They’ve become a staple of the organised groundhop since Rob Hornby introduced them on a Central Midlands League hop many years ago. They do involve the clubs getting sufficient numbers of the publications to us the day before the event, so Chris spent Thursday afternoon collecting 155 programmes from each of the 11 participating club from 4 locations. Continue reading →

The Tyre Pyre

22 Thursday Aug 2013

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Wednesday 20th August 2013 ko 18.15

Hampshire Premier League Senior Division

COLDEN COMMON 2 (L Magee 35 Barrett 90)

OVERTON UNITED 5 (Bode 64 Englefield 78 81 Parry 90 90)

Att 37

Entry FREE

Programme £1

If you head down the M3 past Winchester then head east along the South Downs, passing through Twyford, you’ll reach the small village of Colden Common. You’re close to Marwell Zoological Park which houses 1,200 animals of 235 different species, and is a major attraction in the area. One their more unusual requests came on 22nd May 2011 when Hampshire Constabulary contacted them for advice on how to tranquilise a white tiger lurking in long grass near Hedge End. The tiger turned out to be Continue reading →