• About this humble little website

Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: Cup

Belief

25 Thursday May 2017

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ardley United, Benson Lionesses, Benson Lions, Cup, final, Football, ladies, Nomads, Oxford City, Oxfordshire FA, Womens

Sunday 23rd April 2017 ko 16.30

Oxfordshire FA Women’s Cup Final

OXFORD CITY LADIES 2 (Avery 9 McCabe 83)

BENSON LIONESSES 0

Att c100 at Ardley United FC

Entry & Programme £4

As competitions go, I suspect this one needs a rethink as Oxford City Ladies have won this one 12 times in 16 years! Now that’s no criticism of Oxford City, you can only beat what’s in front of you, and I’d note that Oxford United’s women’s team were notable by their absence from this competition. It didn’t help when Lionesses’ manager Jon Radcliffe was told to “Enjoy your day” with no one giving his side the slightest of chances. That unintentional slight certainly galvanised Jon and his team, not that they ever needed the motivation, and I certainly know why! Continue reading →

51.946043 -1.210577

Testing

16 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by laurencereade in A, T

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

AFC Totton, Cup, Football, groundhopping, Southern League, Testwood Park, Testwood Stadium, Winchester City

Tuesday 4th October 2016 ko 19.45

Southern League Cup 1st Round

AFC TOTTON 2 (Watts 64 Gosney 85)

WINCHESTER CITY 3 (Jenkinson 33 57 Wilson 89p)

Att 157

Entry £6

Programme £2

I think there’s a missing entry in the great groundhopping lexicon. There needs to be word or term for a ground you haven’t visited despite being it easy to get to, and you’ve visited plenty further away beforehand. For me, AFC Totton would be an extreme example, it’s easy enough to get to from Oxford, it’s been open since 2010 and to make things worse I actually managed to visit the adjacent Little Testwood Stadium, home to Totton & Eling four-and-half years ago!! Continue reading →

50.936875 -1.510442

The H out of C and Q

21 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by laurencereade in H

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cirencester League, Cup, Faringdon Thursday, Football, groundhopping, Hatherop, League, Memorial, Poulton

Tuesday 2nd August 2016 ko 18.30

Faringdon Memorial Thursday Cup 1st Round

HATHEROP 3 (Crocker 37 Embling 48 Own Goal 82)

POULTON 1(? 45)

Att 10

Entry FREE

No Programme

Lets’s face it football isn’t the usual reason to visit the Cotswolds. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty, you come here to walk, admire the views and if you’re anything like me, brandish a camera. Of course every rule should have its exceptions, and the village of Hatherop is definitely one of those. Continue reading →

51.746179 -1.775314

Lionesses Pride

05 Thursday May 2016

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Benson Lionesses, Benson Lions, Cup, Football, Milton United, Oxford City Nomads, Thames Valley Counties Womens League

Sunday 24th April ko 16.00

Thames Valley Counties Women’s League Cup Final

BENSON LIONESSES 0

OXFORD CITY NOMADS 3 (Frackiewicz 22 51 62)

Att c200 at Milton United FC

Entry £1

Programme £1

On one level I was at this one purely down to Jon Radcliffe and the Benson Lions. It you aren’t aware of him and them, they represent the absolute pinnacle of my time as a groundhop organiser. Benson Lions are the RAF side based on the base, and if you were at either of the games they hosted, you’ll know why I hold Jon and the club in such high regard. Continue reading →

Trouble Over Bridgwater

21 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

3G, Bridgwater, Charity, College, Cup, Morganians, Rowbarton, Saturday, Taunton League, Westonzoyland

Wednesday February 2016 ko 20.00

Taunton & District Saturday League, Rowbarton Charity Knock Out Cup Quarter Final

WESTONZOYLAND 1 (J Millard 42p)

MORGANIANS 2 (White 35 Barnard 54)

Att 36 at Bridgewater Academy 3G

Entry FREE

No Programme

There are plenty of groundhoppers out there who wouldn’t be interested in a game like this. Some would say the level is too low, the Taunton League feeds the Somerset League which in turn feeds the Western League at Step 6. Others would hate the idea of a plastic pitch in a cage in a school’s grounds, but needless to say I take a slightly contrary view. Continue reading →

51.131303 -2.982387

The Town That Didn’t Stare

26 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by laurencereade in E

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cup, East Court, East Grinstead, EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN, GAC stadium, Guinea Pig Club, isthmian league, Mike Gatting, Peacehaven and Telscombe, Sir Archibald McIndoe, Sussex County League

Tuesday 25th November 2014 ko 19.30

Isthmian League Cup 2nd Round

EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN 2 (Campbell 3 Joseph 37)

PEACEHAVEN & TELSCOMBE 1 (Gatting 62)

Att 59

Entry £8

No Programme

Tea £1

It would be all too easy to treat East Grinstead as part of that sprawl of London commuter-belt south of the M25. Are you in Surrey, or are you in Sussex (the latter!) the endless affluent suburbia making the county irrelevant. But this is one of those towns where you need to park your prejudices and look at little deeper. Continue reading →

51.129416 -0.001872

The Brightest Star

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by laurencereade in N

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bon Accord, Brig O'lea, Cup, James Digney, Juniors, Neilston, Scotland, Shotts, West Region

Saturday 29th March 2014 ko 14.00

West of Scotland Junior Cup 3rd Round

NEILSTON JUNIORS 0 Digney sent off FT (2nd booking)

SHOTTS BON ACCORD 1 (McKenna 88p)

Att 121

Entry £5

Programme £1

Scarf £5

We had a guest on this mini-tour, Sim loves his football despite being an Oxford United fan, and with this fixture being the centrepiece of the weekend I wanted it to give him a true flavour of the Junior scene in Scotland. We drove south-west from Glasgow for around 11 miles to Neilston, just south of Paisley. Like the latter town the village grew massively during the Industrial Revolution due to the textile trade and the derelict Crofton Mill still stands, the only survivor of the seven mills than stood beside the River Levern between Neilston and Dovecothall.

Continue reading →

55.781067 -4.433463

Everything You Need

09 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Alex Ferguson, Benburb, Central League, Cup, Juniors, Scotland, Scottish, Superleague, Thorniewood United, Tinto Park, West Region

Saturday 8th February 2014 ko 13.45

Scottish Junior FA West Region, Central League Cup 2nd Round

BENBURB 1 (McGurgan 30) Lovering sent off 88 (2nd booking)

THORNIEWOOD UNITED 6 (Duffy 6 Murphy 16 Malone 45 McGowan 62 O’Donnell 78 Brophy 85)

Att 64

Entry £5

Programme £1

When I was a sixth-former we were encouraged to debate the burning issues of the time. I remember a particularly heated debate on the death penalty, and a particularly powerful argument was putting yourself in the position of the condemned prisoner and the dread of waiting for the appointment with the executioner. I felt a flavour of that dread about those involved at Benburb.

Benburb are on borrowed time at their home Tinto Park. The 82 year old stadium has been sold for housing, the “Site Office,” sign is up on the fence outside, and the club neither know who now owns their home, or when the axe will fall.

Continue reading →

55.780560 -4.343972

The price of a tank

29 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by laurencereade in G

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bilborough Pelican, Borrowash Victoria, Carl Spencer, Cup, East Midlands Counties, East Midlands Counties League Cup, Greenwood Meadows, League, Lenton Lane, Nottingham, Nottingham's Lenton Lane, Round GREENWOOD MEADOWS, Su Pollard

Wednesday 27th November 2013 ko 19.45

East Midlands Counties League Cup 2nd Round

GREENWOOD MEADOWS 2 (Spencer 45 91)

BORROWASH VICTORIA 3 (Thompson 90 105 Finlay 100p)

Att 31

Entry & Programme £5

Tea 70p

Pie & Chips £1.50 (what no peas?)

If I kept detailed records of where I’ve visited, Nottingham’s Lenton Lane would loom large. Its not the prettiest place in the world, a narrow road a sharp left from the Clifton flyover, with a hotel owned by former Hi-de-hi actress Su Pollard at one end, but to the groundhopper you find yourself returning time after time. Continue reading →

52.926926 -1.169411

Who pays the Ferryman?

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by laurencereade in L

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Burnley, Cup, Fareham Town, Lymington Town, Matt Vokes, Russell Cotes, Sam James, Sam Vokes, soccer, Splodge, Wales, wessex league

Tuesday 5th February 2013 ko 19.45

Russell Cotes Cup Quarter-Final

LYMINGTON TOWN 2 (Vokes 75 James 87)

FAREHAM TOWN 0

Att 23

Entry £3

Programme £1

Situated on the edge of the New Forest, the pretty town of Lymington is primarily a port. It’s the only place I’ve ever encountered where the docks (for the Isle of Wight ferry) can be accessed if you turn either right or left! That said, the town is more famous for smaller boats, yachts, and the boutiques and coffee shops suggest more Howard’s Way than, Brittany Ferry.

The name Lymington is derived from the Old English word tun means a farm or hamlet whilst limen is derived from the Ancient British word lemanos meaning elm-tree. It’s a a fair allegory to its arboreal location. From the early nineteenth century it had a thriving shipbuilding industry, particularly associated with Thomas Inman the builder of the schooner Alarm. Much of the town centre is Victorian and Georgian, with narrow cobbled streets, giving an air of quaintness. The wealth of the town at the time is represented in its architecture.

For a watcher of the non-league game, a well-to-do town is often a sign of a club who finds it difficult to get the necessary ground grading to progress, and the Lymington Sports Ground is a case in point. Shared with both tennis and cricket, the latter makes it difficult to fully enclose the ground, and it looks like a public footpath runs around the pitch. In most cases this and the fact that the changing rooms are a little too small to pass muster, are overlooked but the ground-graders have called a meeting, and the club are nervous…

The ground is dominated by the main stand, a benched affair with park seats at its centre. Its spick, span and obviously does the job, but then agaisn ground-graders don’t like benches, preferring the easily counted plastic flip-up seats commonplace in the fully professional game. I liked the pavilion-style clubhouse with tea served in a mug, no ecologically unfriendly paper cups here. The only downside was the R & B music blasting out from the television in the corner, even the young girl who presumably the barman was trying to impress had retreated to her ipod!

The Russell Cotes Cup was described by one official is “Just be in Hampshire and pay £30 and you’re in.” It’s for senior clubs in the county but holds no senior status, existing as a fund-raising competition for the Hampshire FA’s benevolent coffers. Clubs don’t always take it too seriously, although tonight’s side did, and for those interested in such fripperies, programme production is not mandatory.

And for all the world it looked like a nil-nil, and extra-time game. No lack of action, or goal-mouth incident, but poor finishing and a howling wind put paid to chance after chance. Peter Hurford’s header over the bar from a corner could well be miss of the season, it looked a good deal easier to simply bury the header. Eventually the deadlock was broken by Matt Vokes for Lymington. His elder brother by the way is Sam Vokes, currently playing for Burnley, and representing Wales.

The coup de grace was applied by Sam James, whose neat turn wrong-footed the Fareham defence completely, although I was more than happy to avoid extra-time on a cold evening!





← Older posts

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 5,615 other followers

Look for stuff here folks!

Blogroll

  • Damage In The Box Chris Powell’s travels across the UK and Europe. The artist must frequently seen in the pub 0
  • FA Cup Factfile Phil Annets on all things to do with the World’s greatest cup competition 10
  • Football Club History Database Want to know where a club finished in what league and in what year? Richard Rundle’s site is a veritable goldmine! 0
  • Football Hopper “Fast” Eddie McGeown’s erudite perambulations around the nation’s football grounds 0
  • Gibbo's 92 As Atherton Colleries’ programme editor puts it, ” The best trips are random, unplanned and spontaneous.” 0
  • Groundhopping.se Per-Gunnar Nilsson’s trips around his native Sweden, and into Europe 0
  • Grounds for concern The late Mishi Morath’s picture blog. Obviously no longer updated but still a wonderful archive. 0
  • Kate Shrewsday. A thousand thousand stories Not about football, but beautiful writing, Kate can make words dance. 0
  • Los Boyos Matt is Welsh, a teacher, and lives in Malaga. His old “Lost Boyos” blog was essential reading. Here’s the Spanish Sequel!! 0
  • Modus Hopper Random Graham Yapp’s travels 0
  • The 100 Grounds Club Shaun Smith’s groundhopping football blog. The original internet ground logging website. 0
  • The Football Traveller The bible for every groundhopper. Non-League fixtures magazine delivered weekly. Published and edited by Chris Bedford 0
  • The Intinerant Football Watcher Peter finds the grounds other hoppers cannot reach. Top bloke too! 0
  • The66POW Rob Waite’s travels 0

Your very own calendar!

January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel