The Island Line

02 Monday Oct 2017

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Saturday 2nd September 2017 ko 13.30

Isle of Wight League – Division One

SHANKLIN 2 (Nash 7 14) Sam Hart missed penalty 31

COWES SPORTS RESERVES 2 (Holdsworth 55 83) 

Att c35

Entry FREE

If you’re the kind of person who looks for the cheapest and easiest way to do things, you’d never use the hovercraft to get to the Isle of Wight. The parking in Southsea is just too expensive, and its so much more straightforward to take the car across from Southampton to Cowes. But life isn’t about treading the path most trodden, and it was Robyn’s birthday after all!

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Finale

01 Sunday Oct 2017

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Monday 28th August 2017 ko 17.00

South Wales Alliance Division 2

LLANRUMNEY UNITED 3 (Cachia 19 Raymond 61 Beckley 76og)

CARDIFF COSMOPOLITAN 1 (Ramasut 51)

Att 215

Entry £3

Programme £1

So all good things must come to an end, and so two coaches slowly picked their way through Cardiff towards the city’s north-east. By repute the area is the birthplace of Sir Henry Morgan, privateer, governor of Jamaica, and inspiration for Captain Morgan rum. But I had plenty to think about.  Continue reading →

The Carpenter

28 Thursday Sep 2017

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Monday 28th August 2017 ko 13.45

South Wales Alliance Division 2

ST JOSEPH’S 0

CARDIFF AIRPORT 5 (Richards 7 Caton 35 73 90 Fallas 64)

Att 258

Entry £3

Programme £1

It didn’t take long for the coaches to get from Penarth to Cardiff, despite the usual bank holiday traffic. In fact the only issue was working out exactly where the ground was, tucked away as it is behind the suburban housing. The fact that this was for a hop game helped, after 9 games I could recognise many of the hoppers’ cars! Continue reading →

The Two Fences

25 Monday Sep 2017

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Monday 28th August 2017 ko 11.00

South Wales Alliance Division One

COGAN CORONATION 0 Boulton sent off 71 (2nd Booking)

AFC WHITCHURCH 6 (Bould 11 Spencer 27 Woodman 49 Fry 54 90 Brazier 74p)

Att 227

Entry £3

Programme £1

Monday dawned, and I half-showered, half used the warm water to breath life into my tired legs. Just the 3 games left, in what has become something of a tradition, Cardiff Monday, scheduled for a coach drop after the final game at Cardiff Central Railway Station. I found myself wondering why I and others were so tired after 7 games when at Maine Road we’d felt more sprightly after 10? Continue reading →

Brecknock

24 Sunday Sep 2017

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Sunday 27th August 2017 ko 18.00

South Wales Alliance Premier Division

BRECON CORINTHIANS 2 (Bain 54 C Jones 83)

PONTLOTTYN AFC 0

Att 236

Entry £3

Programme £1

We headed north from Cwmbach heading past the site of the Tower Colliery in Hirwaun. It was quite a poignant moment as one of our coach drivers Nigel, was and is a shareholder in the workers’ buyout that saw the mine re-open in 1995 and continue work until 2008, and even now the site is being used for open-cast mining.

From there, we left the valleys crossing the Brecon Beacons National Park, and to my way of thinking at least, we left South Wales, entering Mid-Wales in the process.  Continue reading →

The Ginger Tree

21 Thursday Sep 2017

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Sunday 27th August 2017 ko 14.00

South Wales Alliance Division 2

CWMBACH ROYAL STARS 0

TYNTE ROVERS 1 (Richards 2)

Att 267

Entry £3

Programme £1

We left Penrhiwceiber and traveled up the Cynon Valley through the narrow streets of Abercwmboi (remember them from the 2005 hop?) then up the valley passing through Abersdare. From there we crossed both the railway and the River Cynon to the pit village of Cwmbach. Continue reading →

Up The Ceiber

20 Wednesday Sep 2017

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Sunday 27th August 2017 ko 11.00

South Wales Alliance Division One

PENRHIWCEIBER CONSITUTIONAL ATHLETIC 0

FC CWMAMAN 2 (Jenkins 41 49)

Att 292

Entry £3

It’s not often you see a bloke with a little table and a box of programmes and know all is well with the world. I’m well used to helping to organise these events, and ending up taking a coachload of hoppers to places I’ve visited before, I see it as trying to put something back into a sport which has given me a lot over the years. I’d visited here two years ago, and rather fallen in love with the place. So seeing David Matthews there with that table gave me that lovely feeling that I’d repaid a favour.  Continue reading →

Lurvill’s Delight

18 Monday Sep 2017

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Saturday 26th August 2017 ko 18.30

South Wales Alliance Premier Division

YNYSHIR ALBIONS 2 (Williams 6 Evans 10) Rewbury missed pen 44

TON & GELLI B.G.C. 1 (Davies 41)

Att 260

Entry £3

Programme £1

There were a few tired legs as we headed down the hill from the car park to the Ynyshir Oval. Mind you if you wanted someone with reason to be tired a call to the game’s referee Peter Small would be in order. The 70-year-old was about to take the whistle for his 4th game of the day after running the line in the 3 other hop games today. Peter and the Welsh Hop go back a long way, and thanks to him, a genuine legend of Valleys football. Continue reading →

That View

14 Thursday Sep 2017

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Saturday 26th August 2017 ko 15.45

South Wales Alliance Division Two

PENRHIWFER 0 Weston missed penalty 47

BLAENRHONDDA 2 (Jones 40 73)

Att 225

Entry £3

Programme £1

Over the years the Welsh Hop has spent in South Wales we’ve seen the lot. You’ve got basic grounds like Cefn Cribwr and you’ve got the plain jaw-dropping like Garw. We visited the equally wonderful Blaenrhondda back in the day and Chris Berezai and I are contemplating a revisit there next time round. But the QE2 Field in Penrhiwfer is one I feel that really ought to be thought of in the same terms. The catch is you’ll get sore legs seeing it from the best possible perspective.  Continue reading →

Boys & Girls

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

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Saturday 26th August 2017 ko 13.45

South Wales Alliance Division One

TONYREFAIL B.G.C. 2 (T Davies 68p K Davies 90)

CEFN CRIBWR BOYS CLUB 3 (Harris 4 30 Davies 76)

Att 283

Entry £3

Programme £1

It was a short trip down the hill to Tonyrefail, but to one or two on the coaches it was a long-standing revisit of sorts. 14 years ago GroundhopUK had visited Tonyrefail Welfare, but that club is now plying it’s trade in the Rhondda League. But I digress, this year’s visit to the mining town was a trip that reinforced completely the view of when a well-presented groundhop game allows a club and fans to see each other in the best possible light.  Continue reading →