Friday 23rd August 2013 ko 18.30

Welsh Alliance Division 2

GREENFIELD 3 (Robinson 36 Jones 70p Johnson 85)

HALKYN UNITED 0

Att 263

Entry & Programme £3

Badge £3

So back on GroundhopUK duty on what is, I suppose the spiritual home of the organisation, Wales. Chris Berezai’s first forays into organising groundhops started in South Wales, and as leagues have been completed, the offers have led us through the Mid-Wales League, to North Wales and our first groundhop game in the Welsh Alliance, which covers the 3rd and 4th tiers of football along the North Wales coast and Anglesey.

A new league means starting the planning from scratch, from attending League committee meetings, through the clubs voting on whether to go ahead with the venture, then attending groundhop planning meetings with participating clubs. There’s a lot of work that goes on in the background to ensure the days go without a hitch, the hoppers enjoy their weekend and the clubs make a lot of money for their efforts.

Part of that experience is the programme packs that are handed to hoppers with a pre-booked ticket before the first game. They’ve become a staple of the organised groundhop since Rob Hornby introduced them on a Central Midlands League hop many years ago. They do involve the clubs getting sufficient numbers of the publications to us the day before the event, so Chris spent Thursday afternoon collecting 155 programmes from each of the 11 participating club from 4 locations. Continue reading →