When The Seaside Came

14 Sunday Oct 2018

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Sunday 29th August 2018 ko 14.00

South Wales Alliance Division One

PORTHCAWL TOWN 4 (Davis 8 Crofts 17 90 Comley 90)

CORNELLY UNITED 0

Att 234

Entry £3

Programme £1

We’d got thoroughly soaked at Vale United, and there was little time between there and our middle game at Porthcawl to dry off. The coaches picked their way along Porthcawl seafront, and the rain lashed over the pier, arcades, and the beach. As the rivulets streamed down my coach’s windscreen it seemed barely plausible that this could be during the height of the holiday season. Continue reading →

The Corntown Carpet

12 Friday Oct 2018

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Sunday 26th August 2018 ko 11.00

South Wales Alliance Division Two

VALE UNITED 7 (Waagenes 7 35 Gregory 32 Caseley 74 Richards 83 86 Hanson 90)

STM SPORTS OLD BOYS 1 (Partridge 48p)

Att 168

Entry £3

Programme £1

The alarm sounded with a judder and I was shocked into life. Perhaps that evening in Abertillery could have been curtailed a little earlier. But the band Jo90 were excellent (Robyn and I booked them for our wedding!) and the delights of what appeared to be “Grab a Granny” night at the Glasgow Phoenix nightclub were nothing if not amusing!

The weather though was a cause for concern. The rain was sheeting down and at the Upper Boat in Rhydyfelin the two coachloads of hoppers wore expressions that evoked that of a schoolboy sat outside the headmasters office waiting for six of the best. I sat quietly and ate and thought. I know I and the other hoppers are well used to getting wet, but if there was one host club I really didn’t want it to rain for it was Vale United.  Continue reading →

This Is Not a Blog Entry

11 Thursday Oct 2018

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Saturday 25th August ko 18.30

Gwent County League Division One

PILL YMCA 0 Simmons sent off 65 (violent conduct)

LLISWERRY 2 (Allman 23 Verren 87)

Att 174

Entry £3

Programme £1

The coaches squeezed into the car park at the YMCA in Mendalgief Road, in Newport. Three young men already there furtively looked round, their guilty expressions speaking volumes. When the passengers disembarked they looked pleased, perhaps there was a source of business. Little did they know that if their business had been bottle-conditioned ale, they’d have made a fortune. They watched the action through the bars of the fence, which may or may not become a metaphor for their futures. Continue reading →

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

09 Tuesday Oct 2018

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Saturday 25th August 2018 ko 16.15

Gwent County League Division One

VILLA DINO CHRISTCHURCH 1 (Butler 61)

NEWPORT CIVIL SERVICE 3 (Eidoori 8 9 Ridler 80) Berry sent off 84 (2nd booking)

Att 201

Entry £3

Programme £1

Let’s start with by answering the obvious. The village is Christchurch near Newport, the chairman’s name is Dino Gulotta, and he owns an Italian restaurant called Villa Dino. So that ought to explain the name oughtn’t it? Well not quite…. Continue reading →

Roger

04 Thursday Oct 2018

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Saturday 25th August 2018 ko 13.00

Gwent County League Division One

ROGERSTONE 1 (McIntosh 90)

NEWPORT CORINTHIANS 2 (Morgan 30p Lewis 80)

Att 201

Entry £4

Programme £1

You’d find it hard to imagine the village of Rogerstone as anything other than a sleepy suburb of Newport, a place of trees and a well-planted flower boxes at the Welfare Park. However the Park’s name hints at the area’s past.  Continue reading →

Passing On The Baton

03 Wednesday Oct 2018

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Saturday 25th August 2018 ko 11.00

Gwent County League- Division One

A.C. PONTYMISTER 3 (Thomas 53 Davies 71 Kidman 85p)

BLAENAVON BLUES 2 (Burton 28 Cuff 76og)

Att 238

Entry £3

Programme £1

Saturday dawned, and the University of South Wales looked the same as it always did. I readied myself for the day ahead and walked down the hill to meet the coaches. The hill was still as steep as ever. And breakfast at the Upper Boat Inn, at Rhydyfelin was the same as ever, and I remain amazed that there’s any bacon left in Wales. But for all the familiarity, everything had changed. Continue reading →

Returning The Favour

01 Monday Oct 2018

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Friday 24th August 2018 ko 18.30

South Wales Alliance – Premier Division

CANTON LIBERAL 2 (K Cotterill 4 49)

GRANGE ALBION 1 (Churchill 43)

Att 189

Entry £3

Programme £2

The Welsh Hop is an operation built on experience from top to bottom, and I do include the hill at our accommodation at the University of South Wales, in Trefforest! This year there seemed to be more to do, and at times it seemed that we were using more of our fail safes than usual. It started as early as Thursday when Caerphilly failed to deliver their programmes (they turned up Friday afternoon over 24 hours late!) and then after the driest summer since 1976 the rains came…
Continue reading →

The Lakes

28 Friday Sep 2018

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Saturday 18th August 2018 ko 14.30

Westmorland League- Division One

KESWICK 2 (Atkinson 32 Hindmarsh 40)

KIRKOSWALD 0

Att 50

Free Entry

I suspect that in the end this blog will be about places like this. I could document all those grounds from the Premier League to Step 6 and while there are some amazing places amongst those, I’d hit the publish button without ever feeling I’d shared something new. But trips to the Westmorland League are by definition off the beaten track, and after all, you can’t go wrong with a trip to the Lake District can you?  Continue reading →

The Pocket Borough

26 Wednesday Sep 2018

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Tuesday 14th August 2018 ko 19.45

Wessex League Division One

DOWNTON 2 (Hooper 67 Prentice 78)

TOTTON & ELING 1 (Gain 58)

Att 78

Entry & Programme £5

There are no end of settlements called Downton, in fact there are at least two in the Wessex League’s footprint. This Downton is a pretty as a picture village in South Wiltshire, the nearest city is Salisbury and you pass by several military bases, to get here, Porton Down being probably the most well-known. Downton is also remembered as being the village that managed to elect an MP without the candidate knowing! Continue reading →

The High Fortified Place

26 Wednesday Sep 2018

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Saturday 4th August 2018 ko 15.00

Gloucestershire County League

HENBURY 1 (Cox 11)

HARDWICKE 1 (Smith 79) Tracey penalty saved 78

Att c30

Entry FREE

Programme £1

I’m not sure why, but every time I drop Robyn off at Ashton Gate and I drive under the Clifton Suspension Bridge on the A4, I think I’m heading west. In fact I’m heading more northerly than west, especially when you turn right just past Bristol Manor Farm, and you soon end up in Bristol’s northern suburbs. As Robyn would put it, you’re in Gashead (Bristol Rovers) country here! Continue reading →