Fenner’s

13 Wednesday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Wednesday 4th November 2009 ko 14.00

B.U.C.S. League Midlands Conference Division 1A

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 4 (Stock 6 81 Rutt 66 Johnson 70p)

OXFORD BROOKS UNIVERSITY 0

Att 14 at Fenner’s, Cambridge.

Free Entry

Being from Oxford, the assumption that there’s some sort of rivalry between my home town and Cambridge is something of an occupational hazard. The assumption that there’s any kind of rivalry between either Oxford United and Cambridge United or Oxford City and Cambridge City is partly erroneous, as the rivalry is purely between the two universities. The 4 clubs mentioned represent the “Town” part of the two cities where there is no rivalry, but of course it’s a different story in the “Gown” parts of the cities!

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The Lane

12 Tuesday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Monday 19th January 2009 ko 19.45

Conference North

WORCESTER CITY 0

NEWPORT COUNTY 0

Att 769

Entry £11

Programme £2

I suspect this piece will produce just one or two reactions. Those who visited St George’s Lane will go slightly misty-eyed and remember what a wonderful ground it was. Those who didn’t manage to get there will no doubt from the groundhopper’s affliction of wishing they could turn back time. Continue reading →

Albatros

10 Sunday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 4th April 2009 ko 15.00

Anglian Combination – Division One

WELLS TOWN 1 (Harrison 23)

East sent off 90 (2nd booking)

BUNGAY TOWN 1 (McFarlane 3)

Att 30

Free Entry

Programme £1

The curiosity of Wells-next-the-sea is that it isn’t! The small town on the North Norfolk coast is roughly a mile from the sea due to land reclamation works by the Holkeham Estate in 1859. To this day the “Albatros” an 18th Dutch century schooner lies in permanent dry dock  in the old harbour and was in use as a pub; you can see its masts in some of my photos. But other than the obvious, why was I there? Continue reading →

Church Going

08 Friday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Friday 24th April 2009 ko 19.30

Welsh League Division Two

ELY RANGERS 1 (Penikett 53)

U.W.I.C. 0

Att 88

Entry £3

Programme 50p

The more senior hoppers may look at this game and wonder with my GroundhopUK connections why I wasn’t at the visit here that proceeded the “Welsh Hop-Up” a year earlier? The answer was straightforward- I was in Newport Gwent Hospital’s maternity unit! I’d even travelled down for the game with the ex-wife, but half way down we’d got word that Bethan, our friend from Magor had given birth. Continue reading →

What Was Left

06 Wednesday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 18th November 2006 ko 15.00

FA Vase 2nd Round 

FLIXTON 4 (Mitten 44 Grandison 53 Wilkinson 75 Tobin 83)

PICKERING TOWN 0

Att 84

Entry £3

Programme £1.50

The sole reason I, and around 50 groundhoppers ended up here was the Salford City/FC United game at the Willows that kicked off at midday. There was roughly an hour to get the tram back to the car, and make a quick blast across western Manchester which did limit the opportunities to complete a Mancunian double. It boiled down to a choice between Trafford and Flixton, we chose the latter mainly to watch another Vase game. It proved to be both a good move, and an interesting one too! Continue reading →

The Sportcentre

04 Monday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 1st July 2006 ko 14.00
Pre-Season Friendly

HARLOW TOWN 0

LINFIELD 2 (McAreavey 42 Thompson 56 )

Att c500

Entry £7

Programme £2

I’ve never minded pre-season friendlies, and sometimes the fixture Gods do smile on me. I was due to collect my parents from Gatwick Airport in the evening and wanted somewhere suitable to watch the England vs Portugal World Cup Quarter Final on TV. The initial plan was to get to the airport early and watch the game but then Harlow Town rather came to the rescue.

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Who’d Have Thought It?

03 Sunday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 18th November 2006 ko 12.00

FA Vase 2nd Round 

SALFORD CITY 2 (Turner 2 Burrrows 90)

FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER 3 (Rudd 8 Carden 13 Chadwick 54)

Att 2,799 at The Willows, Salford

Entry £7

Programme £2

It must be said that 2006 and 2007 was a pretty good time to be a ground hopper, we’d had Llanelli playing a one-off game at Stradey Park and the birth of FC United of Manchester had given the clubs of the north-west something to think about. Continue reading →

The Dead Rubber

30 Thursday Apr 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

And believe me there’s a story to tell here….

Wednesday October 31st 2007 ko 19.30
Welsh Premier League Cup Group A

CAERNARFON TOWN 2 (Addo 48p Glendenning 82)

Sampson sent off 76 (violent conduct) 76

Maxwell sent off 76 (violent conduct 76)

McGarry sent off 87 (2nd booking)

B Jones sent off 89 (2nd booking)

LLANGEFNI TOWN 3 (A Jones 3 Lloyd 15 C Jones 69)

C Evans sent off (violent conduct) 76

Lloyd sent off (violent conduct) 76

Att 170

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

I remember the day well, or should I say the day before as well! I was working in Milton Keynes at the time, and the best I say for that part of my life is that at least it gave quick access to the M1! The previous day I’d headed to the North Wales coast to to watch Colwyn Bay, returned home, then back to work the next day. I sat in an uninspiring office, in a uninspiring job, in an uninspiring town and pondered should I head back up to North Wales after work? Silly question really…

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The Jam Factory

29 Wednesday Apr 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Tuesday 17th April 2007 ko 19.45

Eastern Counties League Division One

TIPTREE UNITED 5 (Hill 11 31 Robinson 43 Bryan 45 Defoe 55)

Emery sent off 45 (violent conduct)

CORNARD UNITED 0

Att 52

Entry £5

Programme £1

This is a curious tale in so many ways, but I really couldn’t have predicted just how bizarre it was going to be when I drove to the Essex town 13 years ago. The village is to the south-west of Colchester and is unquestionably most famous for jam, the Wilkin & Sons factory is here, and the labels on the jars still have Tiptree on them. In fact there’s even a Tiptree Jam Museum. I’ll claim it was closed when I visited!

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Day Tripper

27 Monday Apr 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Thursday 13th July 2006 ko 19.30

UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round, First Leg

RHYL FC 0

FK SŪDOVA 0

Att 1,475

Entry £10

Programme £1.50

I write this with Rhyl FC looking like being an early victim of the Coronavirus crisis. The 141-year-old club currently playing in Wales’ second tier, the Cymru North stated that with all football suspended, and no funds forthcoming for the foreseeable future, they have had little option but to initiate the winding-up of the company. Now a rather unhelpful landlord has clearly not helped, and the resignation is clearly aimed at producing a phoenix club, but the sadness of the piece is obvious. Continue reading →