Baht’at

01 Friday Apr 2022

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Sunday 6th March 2022

North West Counties League- Division One North

ILKLEY TOWN 0

GARSTANG 0

Att 455

Entry £6

Programme £2

 

Wheear ‘ast tha bin sin’ ah saw thee, ah saw thee?

Tha’s been a cooartin’ Mary Jane

                                                      On Ilkla Mooar baht ‘at
                                                                                    trad.

I remember when GroundhopUK and the North West Counties League agreed the schedule for this years hop. I saw Ilkley Town and immediately thought, ” As in Ilkley Moor Baht’at?” I mentioned the song to my wife Robyn who, being younger than me hadn’t heard of it. But then, she isn’t old enough to have had John Noakes as a hero when she was growing up either. Continue reading →

Marley

29 Tuesday Mar 2022

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Sunday 6th March 2022 ko 11:30

North West Counties Counties League- Division One North

STEETON 2 (Jeffrey 33 Townend 88)

Briggs sent off 90 (2nd booking)

ASHTON TOWN 1 (D Hill 15)

Van-Aston sent off 81 (violent conduct)

Att 479

Entry £5

Programme £2

If Saturday on the North West Counties Hop had been about 4 old-style grounds, then Sunday was about visiting two of the newest in the league. We headed to Keighley and oddly two clubs playing locally- Steeton and Silsden do have something else in common than West Yorkshire. Continue reading →

The Pipe

28 Monday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 19:30 (delayed to 19:45)

North West Counties League- Premier Division

BARNOLDSWICK TOWN 0

AVRO 2 (Ellis 53p 62)

Att 517

Entry £6

Programme £2

From Nelson we headed north once again for our fourth game of the day. So far north in fact, we saw signs for Kendal and wondered “What? Is that the Kendal in Cumbria?” Yep, that far north…. Continue reading →

Half

25 Friday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 16.00

North West Counties League Division One North

NELSON 3 (Lloyd 13 47 Foster 28)

CHADDERTON 1  (Dean 87)

Att 351

Entry £5

Programme £2

I’m sure that for many on the North West Counties League hop, the trip to Nelson FC was the most anticipated of the 7 clubs we visited. Part was the club’s illustrious history and part was the evocative backdrop of the terraced cottages with the factory chimney jutting out from behind.

Continue reading →

Paddy

23 Wednesday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 13:00

North West Counties League Premier Division

PADIHAM 1 (Hoskin 45p)

ASHTON ATHLETIC 5 (McDermott 16 Carr 23 53 73 Morton 49og)

Att 378

Entry £8

Programme £2

It must have been around twenty years ago that Dean, a Blackburn-based groundhopper told me I simply had to visit the Arbories. Sadly Dean was lost to the groundhopping world a few years ago, and for no sensible reason it took me until now to finally visit. My way of looking at it, is that at least now I could bring Robyn too! Continue reading →

Back-Up

21 Monday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 11:00

North West Counties League Division One North

BACUP BOROUGH 6 (Sherriff 7 Mellor 25 45 Hall K Siddle 77 Fallon 90)

ST HELENS TOWN AFC 1 (Korie-Butler 15p)

Clarke sent off 34 (foul & abusive)

Att 460

Entry £5

Programme £2

If Friday’s game at Golcar felt like we were in Northern Counties East then Saturday morning felt we’d crossed over the border into what I’d call traditional North West Counties territory. Bacup lies on the Lancashire side of the tripartite boundary of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. As the advance party we had the all-important pre-booked programmes and advanced tickets to distribute- not everyone went to the Golcar game. Continue reading →

The John Noakes Hop

11 Friday Mar 2022

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Friday 4th March 2022 ko 19.45

North West Counties League Division One North

GOLCAR UNITED 3 (Cox 14 Barrett 27 Naidole 52)

CAMPION 2 (Maltby 59 Boshell 85)

Att 467

Entry £5

Programme £2

If you are roughly my age then the most famous person to have been born in Halifax was unquestionably John Noakes. The Blue Peter presenter was, in a age of two channel tv and received pronunciation a revelation to this small boy from the shires; who could forget his climbing of Nelson’s Column without any kind of safety equipment? Continue reading →

Travelling Without Moving

09 Wednesday Mar 2022

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Tuesday 1st March 2022 ko 19:45

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division

RISBOROUGH RANGERS 5 (Enver-Marum 27 69 Osborne 41 80 Lamboh 90)

LONDON COLNEY 1 (Igriya 84)

Att 88

Entry £7

Programme FREE, 4 page printed, remainder downloadable 

I think it was in 2003 when I first visited Windsors. The oddity was that I’d just started a new job based in Amersham and on my first day day there I decided I needed a new work shirt. I finished early and headed for Aylesbury where in the local shopping centre’s department store a pleasant young man served me, and a couple of hours later I ended up watching him play for Risborough Rangers! Continue reading →

A Tale of Ian & Nicky

24 Thursday Feb 2022

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Tuesday 22nd February 2022 ko 19.45

Hellenic League Division One

STUDLEY 3 (Brain 11 46 Donnelly 18)

FC STRATFORD 0

Att 87

Entry £6

Programme £1

There were a couple of reasons why I was a little hesitant about attending this one. Firstly I’d visited Studley Sports & Social Club a number of times, and wasn’t aware they’d moved, albeit the shortest distance possible. Then there was the fact GroundhopUK are organising this year’s Easter Hop with Studley scheduled to host on Bank Holiday 11am. Robyn and I won’t be on the event, we’re finally going to have our honeymoon, just the two years after our wedding- and while we have had to wait, if Covid had arrived a few weeks earlier, we’d have had real problems! But Studley and I go back to 2002, and its all to do with a footballing friendship. Continue reading →

Harry & Maurice

18 Friday Feb 2022

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Tuesday 15th February 2022 ko 19.45

Isthmian League Premier Division

WINGATE & FINCHLEY 4 (Ofori 7 Vasilou 18 45 Kearney 79)

ENFIELD TOWN 1 (Bray 51)

Faal penalty saved 68

Att 247

Entry £12

Programme (online, downloadable) £1

These days a trip to suburban London does have a new consideration, the ULEZ. The Ultra Low Emission Zone has recently been expanded to include everything inside (and not including) of the North and South Circular roads, with the exception of the M4/A4 to the Hogarth Roundabout. What it means is if you drive a petrol car that isn’t up to Euro 4 standards or Euro 6 for diesels there’s a £12.50 daily charge. And for the avoidance of doubt if you enter the ULEZ zone at 23.59 and leave 2 minutes later, that’s 2 days charge and £25.00. There’s a vehicle checking tool on the TfL website. Continue reading →