Scenes From A Swedish Italian Restaurant

26 Tuesday Aug 2025

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Sunday 8th June ko 13:00

Ettan Norra

IFK STOCKSUND 3 (Suleiman 31 Perez 54 Lundström 57)

ASSYRISKA FF 2 (Ugwu 10 Fernandez 34)

Att 325 at Danderyds Arena

Entry 100 sek

The Swedish Hop’s cost of £350 included bed and breakfast for two nights, all transport in Sweden, together with entry fees for all games, and a goodie bag!

It seemed unusual to not be packing our suitcases. The Swedish Hop was ending, but Robyn, Adrian and I had booked an extra night in Hammarby Sjöstad before travelling to Tallinn on the overnight ferry on Monday evening. It allowed us the most precious of commodities, time and we managed to make full use of it, but not as a few folks expected!

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The Waterworks

19 Tuesday Aug 2025

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Saturday 7th June 2025 ko 16:00

Division 4 Stockholm Södra

NORSBORG FC 2 (Kelile 6 38)

Baysal sent off 67 (second booking)

IFK ASPUDDEN-TELLUS 4 (Vaitsis 35secs Hassan 15 Tavares 56 Birggersson 61p)

Att 88 at Kärsby BP

Free Entry

The Swedish Hop’s cost of £350 included bed and breakfast for two nights, all transport in Sweden, together with entry fees for all games, and a goodie bag!

The merry band that was the 2025 Swedish Hop continued our tour into Stockholm’s southern suburbs. Norsborg is famous as being for where the capital’s waterworks is based- I’m now wondering whether we could do some kind of Swedish Monopoly Board Hop next year. But moreover Norsborg is also used as the name of a range of furniture at IKEA- is there anything in the world more Swedish than that?

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Ivar Lo

15 Friday Aug 2025

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Saturday 7th June 2025 13:00

Division 4 Stockholm Södra

STUVSTA IF (Labihouton 16)

SKOGÅS-TRÅNGSUNDS 1 (Thunberg 52)

Att 62 at Stuvsta IP

Free Entry

Free Programme (to Swedish Hop party)

The party also received either a mug or pennant each too

The Swedish Hop’s cost of £350 included bed and breakfast for two nights, all transport in Sweden, together with entry fees for all games, and a goodie bag!

Saturday morning dawned as what this Englishman calls the Full Swedish breakfast was in order at our hotel in Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm’s southern suburbs. I’m not saying its for everyone, but the scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, meatballs and chicken sausages were lovely, and if you’re feeling adventurous, you could try a side of pickled herrings on crispbread. I did every time, but then Sweden and I do get along…

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Icelandic

13 Wednesday Aug 2025

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Friday 6th June 2025 ko 19:30

Division 2 Norra Svealand

NACKA FC 1 (Nisic 64)

IK FRANKE 0

Att 66 at Myrsjö I.P.

Free Entry

The Swedish Hop’s cost of £350 included bed and breakfast for two nights, all transport in Sweden, together with entry fees for all games, and a goodie bag!

The Swedish Hop minibus parked up in Sickla Kaj, in Stockholm’s ultra-hip Hammarby Sjöstad and the party had a short time to settle at the Best Western Hotel. Robyn and I have got so used to the place, and the area that it all feels as comfortable as old slippers.

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National Day

11 Monday Aug 2025

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Friday 6th June 2025 ko 14:00

Division 3 Östra Svealand

IK VILJAN STRÄNGNÄS 1 (Malmqvist 87)

IFK NYKÖPING 2 (Thunström 50p Björklund 79)

Att 206 at Vasavallen

Entry 80sek

Programme online

The Swedish Hop’s cost of £350 included bed and breakfast for two nights, all transport in Sweden, together with entry fees for all games, and a goodie bag!

It was Thursday evening, and I was airside at Heathrow Terminal 2. Robyn was contemplating how far it was to our gate (SAS, so 200 metres only) and Adrian was complating whether he had time for another beer (as always- yes). As for me I was contemplating the series of occurences that had got us to there for a flight to Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport.

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The Knockin Shop

08 Friday Aug 2025

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Saturday 30th May 2025 ko 14:30

Montgomeryshire Amateur League

TREFONEN 2 (C Jones 4 L Davies 32)

LLANGEDWYN 1 (Buckley 36)

Att 72

Free Entry

With the season in England and Wales in its last couple of days it was a case of leagues squeezing in their final fixtures. I decided to do something specific and that is to mine the seam that is the narrow strip of territory in Shropshire, that’s still English but the place names are Welsh.

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Goats

06 Wednesday Aug 2025

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Saturday 24th May 2025 ko 14:00

East Berkshire League-Division One

CAVERSHAM UNITED 5 (Doran 14 23 49 Mole 78 Abery 90)

van Luk sent off 39 (violent conduct)

OLD WINDSOR RESERVES 1 (Spires 26)

George sent off 39 (violent conduct)

Att 22

Free Entry

If you take the A4074 from Wallingford towards Reading, you’ll pass by some lovely villages as you pass through west Oxfordshire into east Berkshire. I’ve documented the likes of Checkendon and Goring on here but my connections to the area go back far further back- to childhood in fact.

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Epic

31 Thursday Jul 2025

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Saturday 18th May ko 18:00

Championnat National 3 Groupe E

RACING CLUB DE CALAIS 3 (Merien 6 Sylla 14og Knockhaert 58)

STADE DE REIMS II 1 (Diadeie 47)

Att c500 at Stade de l’Épopée

Free Entry

I must admit, a trip to France wasn’t on my list of priorities for the end of the 24/25 football season, but sometimes a random conversation changes everything. Here the conversation was between Robyn and Chris Garrett (he’s a weatherman) at the hop game at Newquay. He’d spotted a fairly random game at Racing Club Calais on a Saturday evening making it straightforward enough to get there and back via the Channel Tunnel in a day.

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The Chicken And The Egg

21 Monday Jul 2025

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Saturday 10th May 2026 ko 15:00

Alex Horne’s Comedy Trophy

CHICKEN CITY 6 (Adam 18 Grant 29 75 Smith 79 Robins 35 90)

EGG UNITED 7 (Euman 6 Daly 14 Key 52 59 Baker 56 McQueen 77)

Egg won 4-4 on penalties 😉

Att 3,992 (all ticket-sold out) at Chesham United

Entry £12

Programme & Teamsheet £3

Now there are plenty of grounds you’d happily visit once, but very few you’d revisit time and time again, so when Chesham United volunteer Giles Stevenson suggested an end of season charity game, and one I could pair with the North Berkshire cup final that evening, Robyn and I jumped at the chance. And now I think of it, the suggestion came on March 1st, just after Giles handed Robyn a bunch of Daffodils as it was St David’s Day. The joke that Bristolian Robyn is basically Welsh is a long running joke. A joke you see….

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Football From A Stone

20 Sunday Jul 2025

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Wednesday 7th May 2025 ko 18:30

Aylesbury & District League Premier Division

AW FC 1 (Sheppard 37)

GREAT MISSENDEN 3 (Smith 18 73 Stephenson 59)

Att 11 at St John’s Sports & Social, Stone

Free Entry

If you drive on the A418 between Thame and Aylesbury then inevitably you’ll pass through the pretty village of Stone. It’s one of those places that thousands of people drive through giving the place barely a thought. But there is plenty to enthuse….

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