Melksham Without

15 Thursday Feb 2018

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Monday 12th February 2018 ko 19.30

Western League Premier Division

MELKSHAM TOWN 4 (Higdon 14p 42 Sibbick 28 47)

LONGWELL GREEN SPORTS 1 (Pruett 90)

Att 349

Entry £6

Programme £1

It was an evening of mistakes. Missing our turn-off from the M4 saw us arrived uncomfortably close to kick off, and on a day when parts of the country had seen snow, ice and heavy rain I’d consoled myself that since Melksham’s new ground featured a 3G pitch the game was more likely to be on. You can imagine my mixed emotions when I saw the grass pitch… Continue reading →

Nigel of Stafford

13 Tuesday Feb 2018

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Tuesday 6th February 2018 ko 19.45

East Midlands Counties League

STAPENHILL 1 (Gough 85)

KIMBERLEY MINERS WELFARE 3 (Bowen 32 Hassall 60 74)

Att c50

Entry & Programme £5

I sometimes wonder what a non-groundhopper makes of this blog. On one hand there are visits to some high-profile games such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s demolition of England in 2012 and games such as White Horse Abingdon where the attendance was me! People do seem to forget the commonality is that both are still football matches, but the question that isn’t answered by either is “What drives someone to drive through sleet and snow to watch over a 100 games a season?” Continue reading →

The Mill

07 Wednesday Feb 2018

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Saturday 3rd February 2018 ko 14.00

Welsh League Division 3

TREFELIN BGC 2 (Latham 20 Edwards 61)

PANTEG 1 (Ryan 53) Dyke penalty saved 45

Att c30

Entry £3

Programme £1

You’d be hard pressed to believe you were less than a mile from Port Talbot and its Steelworks at Ynys Park. The ground lies in the valley of the River Afan (Afan Lido FC references the river), on the B4268 just south of Cwmafan. So why isn’t the club called something more in keeping with it’s location?

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Miracle on Addison Road

04 Sunday Feb 2018

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Tuesday 30th January 2018 ko 19.45

Oxfordshire Senior Cup Quarter Final

EASINGTON SPORTS 1 (Hill 11)

BANBURY UNITED 2 (Johnson 19 Wise 44)

Att 305 (Ground Record)

Entry & Programme £5

I spent 7 happy (well the first 6) years living in Banbury, and me being me I saw a fair amount of time at both Easington Sports, and at Banbury United’s Spencer Stadium. The latter is still my favourite ground in Oxfordshire. I don’t think anyone would dispute that Easington are the town’s second club but what has happened at Addison Road has been little short of miraculous.  Continue reading →

Jerusalem

01 Thursday Feb 2018

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Saturday 27th January 2018 ko 14.00

West Riding County Amateur League Premier Division

SALTS 2 (Pleasance 53 59)

BRITANNIA SPORTS 0

Att c50

With an honourable mention to Salts 4th’s 4 Horton FC 1 on the adjacent pitch!

Entry FREE

Programme £1

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.

Blake. “And did those feet in ancient time”

Maybe when William Blake wrote what eventually became the hymn “Jerusalem he had Bradford in mind. The area was famous for being the wool capital of the world and the Industrial Revolution saw rapid expansion and industrialisation. The city grew unchecked during the early 19th century and that growth came without any thought to workers rights, or or the lives they led in or out of the workplace. The result was terrible living conditions with horrifying mortality and morbidity figures among the dark Satanic Mills but local mill owner Titus Salt chose to do something about it.

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Medina

26 Friday Jan 2018

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Sunday 21st January 2018 ko 19.00

African Nations Championship Group A

MAURITANIA 0

GUINEA 1 (Sankhon 15)

Att c2,000 at Grand Stade de Marrakech, Morocco

Entry 50 MAD (approx £3.83)

No programme, food, or drinks for sale

It was around 5 in the evening and Robyn and I had been in Marrakech for around 4 hours. We were ensconced in our Riad, in the midst of the souks in the narrow alleyways of Marrakech’s traditional Medina district. It was time to explore so we headed out to Jemaa El- Fnaa, the main square of the city. We emerged from the alleyway and immediately the hawkers descended on us.

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The Anticompletionist

25 Thursday Jan 2018

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Tuesday 16th January 2017 ko 19.45

Essex Senior League

SAWBRIDGEWORTH TOWN 5 (Mays 35 Cleaver 46 67 Wickenden 62 Monk 80)

HULLBRIDGE SPORTS 0

Att 38

Entry £7

Programme £1

When I started clocking up the grounds the aim was never completion in any league or region. Years later I still like the idea that I can pick up the Football Traveller and still have plenty of options across the levels of the game particularly midweek. But for better or for worse, and for what little it’s worth, this game saw me complete the Essex Senior League. It is after all an achievement notable only to me, and there is a tinge of regret as I do have a lot of time for the league. So for now my journey through the ESL has reached its terminus, but it did end rather oddly. Continue reading →

Cistercian

14 Sunday Jan 2018

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Saturday 13th January 2018 ko 14.15

East Gwent League Division 1

TINTERN ABBEY 4 (Hollow 11 G Reynolds 24 30 Morgan 42)

MATHERN FC “A” 4 (Wright 2 65 Pearce 44 55)

Att c20

Entry FREE

I’d been faintly amused by the reaction of a few “Lower numbers” hoppers after I’d published my article on Altis. I know and understand the groundhopper that has to have a stand, a programme, and the game at a certain level but but had I, and others been “Barrel-scraping?” It is of course a question without an answer, the title of this blog suggests location rather than a place in a pecking order after all! What really made me smile was what I had planned for the weekend!

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Purpose

11 Thursday Jan 2018

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Tuesday 9th January 2018 ko 20.15

London FA Junior Cup 4th Round

ALTIS 1 (Aalit 62) McCausland sent off (DOGSO) 90

UNITED LONDON 1 (Texeira 10)

No extra time, United London won 4-2 on penalties

Att 86 @ London Marathon Community Track

Entry & Programme £3

“Altis” ; Greek def. “The Sanctuary of the Gods.”

The thanks for this should go to Talksport radio presenter Tony Incenzo. It was he that spotted that former warm-up track for the 2012 London Olympics had been converted for use as a mini stadium and his suggestion was how Altis came to move there. He then encouraged the club to play one of their games midweek under lights and to produce a one-off programme. And when you know roughly 60 of the attendees you know the ruse worked! Continue reading →

Newton

09 Tuesday Jan 2018

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Friday 5th January 2018 ko 19.45

Isthmian League Division One

AVELEY 0

AFC HORNCHURCH 2 (Fanimo 45 Fairweather-Johnson 85)

Att 398

Entry £10

Programme £2

Robyn and I zoomed round the M25, almost unbelievably clear on a Friday evening, the fact that we were both wearing our work clothes testament to how little time the satnav thought we had. It is of course the law of such things that we arrived half-an-hour early.

If any town could say to be in the shadow of the Dartford Crossing, it’s Aveley to the extent that that just about everywhere you stand you can see the red-lit tops  of the QE2 bridge’s towers. Continue reading →