Influencers

24 Friday Nov 2023

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Saturday 28th October 2023 ko 14:15

Southern Combination – Division Two

BOSHAM 1 (Harris 32)

JARVIS BROOK 1 (Edmunds 41)

Att 232

Entry & Programme £4

We’d watched the Shoreham game in the midst of a deluge, and the downpour carried on all night. It was therefore of no surprise that at breakfast the news had come through that our first game at Pagham had been lost. And for the record saying the pitch was waterlogged doesn’t do the conditions justice. The place was flooded, as were many of the approach roads.

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Mussel Bound

22 Wednesday Nov 2023

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Friday 27th October 2023 ko 19:45

Southern Combination Premier Division

SHOREHAM 0

Tims sent off 50 (2nd booking)

CROWBOROUGH ATHLETIC 4 (Murraine 59 Killick 62 Pearson 72 83p)

Att 223

Entry £8

Programme £2

I must admit an organised groundhop for the Southern Combination came as a surprise to me. My regular reader might remember that we’d wanted a southern-based hop for a while. That started in 2015 with my unsuccessful attempt to get the Wessex League on board but out of the ashes of that project two things happened. The first was that late Mark Edmonds contacted us at GroundhopUK to organise a hop for the Western League, and around that time I contacted the Southern Combination.

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Tell Sid

21 Tuesday Nov 2023

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Tuesday 24th October ko 19:45

Hampshire Premier League Senior Division

INFINITY 1 (Powell 15)

BISHOPS WALTHAM DYNAMOS 2 (Riddell 11 Dawson 74)

Att 34 at Sidlesham Memorial Recreation Ground

Free Entry

When GroundhopUK’s Chris Berezai phoned me to say that the Southern Combination Hop was in part, going to be based in around the Selsey Peninsula I looked at a map and wondered why I’d never got around to visiting Sidlesham FC? With the line-up we had I knew the following weekend’s event would be passing by the Memorial Ground, and I knew not having seen a game there would irk me.

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Bee Keeping

16 Thursday Nov 2023

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Sunday 22nd October 2023 ko 14:00

FA Women’s Cup 3rd Qualifying Round

WATFORD LADIES 1 (Lovelace 15p)

BRENTFORD FC WOMEN 2 (Woods 12 27)

Att c75 at The Hive 5G, Camrose Avenue

Free Entry

Sunday was a completely different day from the normal lie in with a Sunday roast to follow. Swedish Hop organiser Kim Hedwall was visiting and that meant a busy day.

We’d left Stadhampton FC and headed into London for a game that more or less had our names on it. Kim’s a Barnet fan, and Oxford United are my team so London Bees vs Oxford United Women had something in it for the both of us. Then there was the bonus of the game being played on The Hive’s “temporary” grass pitch behind the main stand, with a demountable stand that once was in use at the away end at Underhill serving as cover. The best laid plans and all that…..

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Crazy Bear

14 Tuesday Nov 2023

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Sunday 22nd October 2023 ko 10:30

Upper Thames Valley Sunday League

STADHAMPTON 0

J Davies sent off 86 (2nd booking)

FC CHILTON 3 (Barrett 13 Hickman 27 Jacks 71p)

Att 27

Free Entry

I don’t think too many hoppers would put up a Swedish groundhopper in their house for the weekend and immediately think, “I know, let’s go and watch Stadhampton FC!”

Swedish Hop organiser Joachim “Kim” Hedwall was over from Stockholm for the weekend, and like me when in his country we see it as the host’s responsibility to find a game that isn’t too obvious. The idea is if the visitor can find it from home, then it’s probably not obscure enough! I’ll leave it to you to decide whether the Upper Thames Valley League is obvious!

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Homonym

13 Monday Nov 2023

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Saturday 14th October 2023 ko 15:00

Gloucestershire County League

WICK 2 (Towler 24 59p)

ROCKLEAZE RANGERS 4 (Taylor 56 Butt 77 Beard 86 90+4)

Att 52

Free Entry

Programme £1

It is strange how things work out. I’m well used to regular trips to see family in Bristol and using that as a springboard to visit grounds either in the area, the South West or in South Wales. Half the reason I was there was my wife Robyn and I knew that with the Southern Combination Hop coming up our opportunties to see family would be limited once again. But I did spot something that made me smile!

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Wheels

10 Friday Nov 2023

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Sunday 8th October 2023 ko 15:00

Southern Counties East Premier Division

DEAL TOWN 2 (T Chapman 46 B Chapman 76)

T Chapman sent off 62 (dangerous play)

Hark sent off 75 (DOGSO)

KENNINGTON 0

Att 535

Entry £8

Programme £2

We left the isolation of Lydd and traced the route of Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway back to Hythe and gradually the view from Shirley’s coach became more urbane. We even eventually reached Deal via Kingsdown which did produce a smile. I’d camped there with the Scouts in the mid-1980’s and as my mum waved off the minibus she looked at the bright sunshine and commented,

” Well you’ve certainly got the weather!”

That night we had the most unbelievable thunderstorm, the local supermarket was hit by lightening, and the bolts were bright and frequent enough for me to read a book in my tent. I’m not sure after all these years I’d have that sang-froid now. Mind you with what happened later, maybe we still do!

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Just Deserts

07 Tuesday Nov 2023

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Sunday 8th October 20243 ko 11:00

Southern Counties East Premier Division

LYDD TOWN 2 (Dickens 17 Webster 42)

SNODLAND TOWN 0

Att 295

Entry £7

Programme £2

If there was a silver lining to the hotel in Chatham making such a pigs ear of the GroundhopUK SCEFL Hop booking for we saw it on Sunday morning. Being in Folkestone instead meant we were closer to Lydd than we’d planned, and the upshot was more sleep. Even coach driver Shirley looked notably relaxed as she made a bacon sandwich in lieu of breakfast.

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What Matters

03 Friday Nov 2023

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Saturday 7th October 2023 ko 18:30

Southern Counties East League Premier Division

WHITSTABLE TOWN 2 (Oliver 3 Smith 55)

BEARSTED 1 (Palmer 70)

Att 682

Entry £10

Programme £2

If I’d felt that the hop’s visit to Faversham Town was an exercise in visiting a future Isthmian club then much the same could have been said above Whitstable Town and their home at the Belmont. But tragically in the days leading up to the hop everything changed. The news came through that club volunteer Matt Milne had died suddenly aged just 43 leaving his widow club secretary Francesca and their two young children bereft.

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Three Lions

02 Thursday Nov 2023

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Saturday 7th October 2023 ko 15:00

Southern Counties East Premier Division

FAVERSHAM TOWN 5 (Campbell 21 Payne 45 49p Miller 80 Gray 88)

HOLLANDS & BLAIR 2 (Grant 77 90)

Att 563

Entry £10

Programme £2

For me the journey from Rochester to Faversham represented far more than just distance, or even a one division increase in status. It all boiled down to perception, I was surprised to see either Faversham or Whitstable at this level, let alone both. I still see them both as Isthmian League clubs and that fact I knew would impact on how the clubs might approach hosting a groundhop game.

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