Sea Salt

09 Friday Mar 2018

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Sunday 25th February 2018 ko 14.30

Welsh Premier League

PRESTATYN TOWN 0

NEWTOWN 1 (Goodwin 4)

Att 201

Entry £7

Programme £2

We’d had a bit of an adventure after returning back to our hotel after the Bala game. We were walking in the main entrance when an ambulance on blues and twos screamed into the car park. There’d been a wedding at the hotel and a guest had thought it would be a jolly jape to drop a Viagra pill into someone’s champagne… In the end no harm was done, I hope the victim wasn’t the groom (he spent the night in hospital) and it did serve to empty the bar for the hop party!

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Sunset Over Snowdonia

05 Monday Mar 2018

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Saturday 24th February 2018 ko 17.30

Welsh Premier League

BALA TOWN 1 (Davies 15)

CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY 0

Att 303

Entry £6

Programme £1

Teamsheet FREE

We headed south-west through the foothills over Snowdonia, and although the journey was only 40 or so miles it took us over a hour, such is the realities of travel in rural North Wales. We arrived at Maes Tegid and it became clear that the late kick off had attracted hoppers that we hadn’t seen for the rest of the day. It was a pleasure to grab a tea and catch up, well apart from the one hopper that went through the turnstiles with his hood pulled up then scuttled off to the far end without such as an acknowledgment to anyone else. Different strokes for different folks I suppose… Continue reading →

Life On The Periphery

05 Monday Mar 2018

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Saturday 24th February 2018 ko 14.00

Welsh Premier League

CONNAH’S QUAY NOMADS 0

THE NEW SAINTS 1 (Routledge 45) Harrison sent off (offensive/insulting language and/or gestures)

Att 222

Entry £7

Programme £2

Teamsheet FREE

You’d think the Flintshire Suspension Bridge marks the border between Wales and England; it doesn’t but it comes pretty close! It’s Britain’s only assymetrical suspension bridge, but suffers by being nicknamed, “The bridge to nowhere,” that’s rather disparaging to the good people of Connah’s Quay and Shotton but the feeling of being on the periphery persisted. Continue reading →

Resource

02 Friday Mar 2018

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Saturday 24th February 2018 ko 11.00

EFL Youth Alliance North-Western Division

WREXHAM AFC 4 (Freeman 45 Bulkeley 65 75 82p)

ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0

Att 64

Entry & Teamsheet FREE

We’d have liked a 3rd Welsh Premier League game on the Saturday’s itinerary. You could see why that wasn’t made available to us, it would have been virtually impossible to have got a visiting team to travel (potentially) the length of Wales for an 11am kick-off. We tried to get the second tier Cymru Alliance involved but as in the past were rebuffed, so it was time to get creative.  Continue reading →

Rock Climbing

28 Wednesday Feb 2018

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Friday 23rd February 2018 ko 19.45

Welsh Premier League

CEFN DRUIDS 0

BANGOR CITY 2 (Hewitt 44 45p)

Att 426

Entry £7

Programme  & Teamsheet £2

There’s no question that it was highly flattering for GroundhopUK to to be approached to run a Welsh Premier League Hop. But when Chris Berezai mentioned it to me I found myself questioning whether the idea could be made to work? I looked back to the set of compromises that is a successful hop and wondered how we could adapt them for the needs of the Wales’ top domestic league? Continue reading →

Dengie Fever

22 Thursday Feb 2018

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Tuesday 21st February 2018 ko 19.55

Essex Senior League

BURNHAM RAMBLERS 1 (Hughes 10)

SAWBRIDGEWORTH TOWN 2 (Mays 52 Thomas 90)

Att 16

Entry £6

Programme £1

“Huh, because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth”

Pharrell Williams “Happy” 2013

My car came to rest in the Leslie Field’s car park. It was a cold, dank evening; even the operatives in the “Hand Car Wash” operating here had gone home. But Pharrell Williams’ hit could be heard from within the football ground, and all felt well with the world, sadly the song served only to mask the club’s problems.  Continue reading →

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 →