West, yes!

13 Tuesday May 2025

Posted by in L

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 16th March 2025 ko 12:30

East of Scotland League Third Division

LINTON HOTSPUR 2 (Martin 4 McLean 49)

LIVINGSTON UNITED 0

Att 372

Entry £5

Programme £2

Sunday’s fixture on the Scottish Hop saw a complete change of locale. We’d spent a day and a half visiting industrial, and post-industrial towns in the Central Belt. Now it was time to head south and make for the border.

Continue reading →

Wee Help

06 Tuesday May 2025

Posted by in A

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 15th March 2025 ko 10:45

Lowland League

ALBION ROVERS 0

BO’NESS UNITED 0

Att 379

Entry £11

Programme £2

Sometimes I do worry that people forget one of the points of the organized groundhop. Yes, part of it is to allow groundhoppers to tick off multiple grounds over a weekend, but it’s just as much there to act as a fundraiser for the host clubs, and perhaps never before has that side of these events been so important as here.

Continue reading →

Creamery

30 Wednesday Apr 2025

Posted by in B

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 15th March 2025 ko 16:30

East of Scotland League- Second Division

BATHGATE THISTLE 0

EASTHOUSES LILY MWFC 3 (Leslie 44 Dyer 53 Elliott 72)

Att 307

Entry £7

Programme £2

Sat on the coach heading from West Calder to Bathgate I checked social media and was a little surprised. I knew we’d lose a few hoppers for the middle two games, despite our normal attempts to minimise this form of drift. I spotted a few (and I do mean a few) hoppers had opted to miss West Calder and Bathgate in favour of one SPFL game. I allowed myself a raised eyebrow but no more.

Continue reading →

The Five Sisters

23 Wednesday Apr 2025

Posted by in W

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 15th March 2025 ko 13:45

East of Scotland League Division Two

WEST CALDER UNITED 4 (Wilkins 21 45 McConnell 66 Young 83og)

KENNOWAY STAR HEARTS 3 (Nugent 23 Lawrie 54 Walker 90+1p)

Att 336

Entry £8

Programme £2

From Harthill it seemed like no distance at all to West Calder, another village that owes its existance to the mining industry- in this case shale. We passed “The Five Sisters” on the way- huge bings, or spoil heaps that sadly you can’t see from Hermand Park.

Continue reading →

The Lothian Question

15 Tuesday Apr 2025

Posted by in H

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 15th March ko 11:00

East of Scotland League Division Two

HARTHILL ROYAL 1 (Strickland 66)

Carroll missed penalty 59

DALKEITH THISTLE 0

Att 328 (ground record)

Entry £5

Programme £2

Sometimes it’s what, sometimes its where, but in the case of Harthill Royal is was definately a case of both! The small town of Harthill lies close to Whitburn and like there, owes much of its existance to coal mining – in this case the Polkemmet Colliery. Back in the day Gibbshill Park was known as Beechbank Park and was home to Polkemmet Juniors. When the mine closed in 1984 the football club lasted only another 4 years.

Continue reading →

Caracas

08 Tuesday Apr 2025

Posted by in C

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday 14th March 2025 ko 19:45

Lowland League

CUMBERNAULD COLTS 2 (Duncan 10og Ross 40)

BROXBURN ATHLETIC 0

Att 375 at Broadwood Stadium

Entry £6

Programme £2

It is always a brutal journey to the Scottish Hop but for me it’s great joy has been watching it’s evolution. From a conversation at Camelon Juniors in 2014, Jamie McQueen’s stirling work while at Whitehill Welfare, Chris Berezai’s marathon driving stints to meet the Lowland League, through to that first game at East Kilbride this event has never come with the huge history of the organised hop south of the border.

Continue reading →

Upper and Lower

06 Sunday Apr 2025

Posted by in A

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 8th March 2025 ko 14:00

Banbury District & Lord Jersey League Division One

ARNCOTT ATHLETIC 2 (Dawistan 16 Davenport 60)

TYSOE UNITED 1 (Gardiner 40)

Att 15

Free Entry

When it comes to the leagues local to me in Oxford, I reckon I know most of them fairly well. Clearly organising hops for the North Berkshire and the Witney & District and sitting on a committee for the Oxfordshire FA helped for the Oxon Senior League, but the Banbury District & Lord Jersey League remains something of a mystery to me.

Continue reading →

Another kind of hopping

02 Wednesday Apr 2025

Posted by in W

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Friday 7th March 2025 11:00

National League U19 Alliance-South Division

WELLING UNITED 4 (13 24p 71 90+2p)

MAIDENHEAD UNITED 0

Att 5 at Goals Eltham, Baldon Sports Ground, Eltham Palace Road

Free Entry

I’m well used to explaining my rather odd hobby to people, a starting point is usually “Some folks collect stamps or coins, I collect visits to football grounds” and then the next question is invariably “how many?” and that produces incredulity, to which my response is that there are people who watch far more football than I do! This game was in part to demonstrate that, and try out what some of the more committed hoppers do.

Continue reading →

If You Want Bloods You Got It

30 Sunday Mar 2025

Posted by in D

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 2nd March 2025 ko 14:30

North West Counties League Division One North

DROYLSDEN 3 (Kasali 11 Kattah 27 Van 49)

DARWEN 2 (Bailey 3 Severino 49)

Att 1,184

Entry £6

Programme £2

On one level it was fairly predictable that this game, the last of this year’s North West Counties League Hop would see a huge crowd but perhaps not this large! You could easily argue it was caused by a former National League Premier side facing off against a former Football League one. There were a few nuances though.

Continue reading →

Purple Heys

25 Tuesday Mar 2025

Posted by in A

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 2nd March 2025 ko 11:30

North West Counties League Premier Division

ABBEY HEY 0

PRESTWICH HEYS 0

Bardsley-Rowe penalty saved 81

Bardsley-Rowe sent off 90 (violent conduct)

Att 610

Entry £7

Programme £2.50

For Sunday’s fixtures on the North West Counties Hop we returned to suburban Manchester and a club who in my eyes we owed a game to. Abbey Hey had been the visitors at Stafford Town, Wythenshawe Town and even featured on the very first NWCL Hop at Maine Road. That was on 2017, so no withstanding the break due to Covid, Abbey Hey were certainly due!

Continue reading →