The Outskirts

15 Wednesday May 2024

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Friday 29th March 2024 ko 15:00

South West Peninsula League Premier East

TORRIDGESIDE 0

OAKHAMPTON ARGYLE 3 (Rowe 8 12 Mortimore 22)

Att 451

Entry £6

Programme £2.50

The cavalcade moved to the outskirts of Torrington, and the programme enthusiasts greeted the car park attendents as old retainers. They’d been here earlier, before the Torrington game to make absolutely, doubly certain they got a programme. They needn’t have worried, the club had more than enough to spare, even for the hoppers who’d decided to go off-piste to Ilfracombe but had been forced to turn tail when they discovered the game was off due to waterlogging.

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Devonian

12 Sunday May 2024

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Thursday 28th March 2024 ko 19:30

South-West Peninsula League- Premier East

HONITON TOWN P

SIDMOUTH TOWN P

postponed due to a waterlogged pitch

Friday 29th March 2024 ko 11:30

South-West Peninsula League- Premier East

TORRINGTON 1 (Davey 18)

Harper-Penman penalty saved 52

CREDITON UNITED 0

Att 422

Entry £6

Programme £2

It was good to be attending the Easter Hop without being too closely involved. We at GroundhopUK were pleased to have the Peninsula League’s Phil Hiscox along for last July for the United Counties League Hop, mainly for the company. I’m fairly sure we can’t teach him much about running one of these events, he’s been doing it longer than we have!

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Locality

28 Sunday Apr 2024

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Saturday 23rd March 2024 ko 15:00

Northern Premier League- Division One West

CLITHEROE 1 (Baker 72)

RUNCORN LINNETS 1 (Molloy 40)

Att 938

Entry £10

Programme £2

It had been a busy few weeks. There’d been Belfast, then a week at home, then the North West Counties Hop, then a week at home, then the Scottish Hop then this, a week off before the South West Peninsula League Hop over Easter. My thought was to stay reasonably local to Oxford, which I did reflect upon sat on the M6 for hours on end!!

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Wish You The Best

23 Tuesday Apr 2024

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Sunday 17th March 2024 ko 12:00

East of Scotland League-Division One

WHITBURN JUNIOR 1 (Liddell 65)

WHITEHILL WELFARE 0

Att 540

Entry £8

Programme £2

I came into this game with a little inside knowledge. I knew just how fortunate we’d been that the Sauchie Juniors but I also knew from Craig Dabbs just how nervous Whitburn were over the state of their pitch. He’d been there on Friday morning to collect their programmes for advance ticket holders, saw how hard they were working in their pitch, and clearly built up an excellent working relationship with Ann Haddow the club secretary. Now no organiser likes to see a postponement, but that relationship meant we all felt that little bit extra pressure.

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Beechwood

19 Friday Apr 2024

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Saturday 16th March 2024 ko 20:00

East of Scotland League- Premier Division

SAUCHIE JUNIORS 3 (D Smith 7 30p 44)

Kavanagh sent off 39 (violent conduct)

HILL OF BEATH HAWTHORN 2 (Watt 46 Tosh 83)

Att 447

Entry £10

Programme £2

We left the Perth area with mixed feelings. On one hand we’d visited 3 lovely clubs and taken advantage of the weather holding while we were visiting grounds with little or no cover, on the other the rain was hammering down putting the evening’s game at Sauchie in doubt, and by extension at Whitburn on Sunday morning.

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Down By The Riverside

12 Friday Apr 2024

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Saturday 16th March 2024 ko 16:45

East of Scotland League Premier Division

JEANFIELD SWIFTS 1 (F Smith 5)

DUNBAR UNITED 1 (Hendry 90+2)

Att 385

Entry £7

Programme £2.50

We stayed in Perth for the third game of the day, and arguably the club I was anticipating visiting the most. The reason for that was pretty arcane, I’d been very taken by them being willing to help the event back in 2019 by playing on a Saturday evening at Linlithgow Rose. It felt like a major undertalking on their part; I was and am grateful, and their fans did add a new beverage to the groundhop lexicon, namely “Dragon Soop!”

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Tulloch

10 Wednesday Apr 2024

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Saturday 16th March 2024 ko 14:00

East of Scotland League Premier Division

KINNOULL 0

PENICUIK ATHLETIC 0

Att 356

Entry £7

Programme £2

Like some others I’d heard the so-called experts’ opinion on Kinnoull and their home Tulloch Park. If some were to be believed we’d be visiting a dull ground, and a club on their knees. While it was true that at kick-off Kinnoull had just 4 points all season, there had to more to it than witnessing a club having a poor season?

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Bleach

03 Wednesday Apr 2024

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Saturday 16th March 2024 ko 11:15

East of Scotland League- Premier Division

LUNCARTY 5 (Woolley 21 McLaughlin 32 Davies 34 40p Scarborough 84)

CROSSGATES PRIMROSE 3 (Sutherland 3 Muirhead 31 77)

Att 386

Entry £7

Programme £2

There are so many reasons to love the Scottish Hop. For me though there’s far more to it than just the chance to visit new places and to put more ticks in my imaginary black book. One of the great joys is the time I get to spend with Davie Baxter, secretary of the league. It’s got to a point where I arm myself with a couple of hopefully erudite questions to ask him. And this year the question was one of boundaries.

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A Long Way To The Top

02 Tuesday Apr 2024

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Friday 15th March 2024 ko 19:45

East of Scotland League Division Two

ARMADALE THISTLE 3 (Jackson 13 Strickland 84 Wood 86)

ORMISTON PRIMROSE 2 (Adrian 11 43)

Att 436

Entry £6

Programme £2

Ridin’ on the highway,

Goin’ to a show 
Stop in all the byways
Playin’ rock ‘n’ roll…

I tell you, folks
It’s harder than it looks

Bon Scott 1975

The coach had already been on the road for over 4 hours before it reached Robyn and I in Lewknor. From Cardiff to Perth via London isn’t most folks’ idea of normal, but I don’t think there’s too many folks who think us hoppers are entirely sane…

I felt under certain amount of pressure for this hop. Part of it was the loss of the two Blackpool games on the North West Counties Hop, we really didn’t want to lose a game on each of the last three hops. But much more than that, was where were heading.

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Leggatts

26 Tuesday Mar 2024

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Tuesday 12th March 2024 ko 19:45

Hertfordshire Senior County League- Premier Division

EVERETT ROVERS 2 (Kerley 52 60)

BELSTONE 9 (Akinbulumo 3 Costin 23 Swain 26 Blunden 36 45 87 Marley Wilson-Braithwaite 39 Campbell 45 Bernhauser 79)

Att 48

Entry & Programme £3

These days I’m not used to being able to visit a new ground under lights on a work night and be able to drive there in less than an hour from Oxford. So how come Leggatt’s Playing Field sailed under my, and other groundhoppers’ radars?

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