Tag Archives: Easter Hop

The Gas Man Cometh

13 Thursday Jun 2019

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Monday 22nd April 2019

11.00 Hellenic Premier

BISHOPS CLEEVE 5 (Watts 30 56 Iddles 48 Davidge 59 Johnstone 82)

SHRIVENHAM AFC 1 (Ballard 65)

Att 231

Entry £7

Programme £2

14.15 Hellenic Premier

TUFFLEY ROVERS 3 (Bloomfield 19 29 Alder 73)

FAIRFORD TOWN 0

Att 221

Entry £5

Programme £1

18.00 Hellenic League Division One West

THORNBURY TOWN 2 (Brock 52 Wormwell 90+8)

NEWENT TOWN 2 (Marquis 7 Jones 61og)

Att 295

Entry & Programme £5

So the Hellenic Hop reached it’s final day and we’d been fortunate in so many ways. Firstly the weather had been kinder than it had been to Phil Hiscox and the South West Peninsula League the previous Easter, and the clubs in the most part had covered themselves in glory with some excellent hosting. The coach inched its way out of the Almondsbury Interchange Hotel, and I relaxed as Robyn managed her usual trick of falling asleep as soon as the coach started moving… Continue reading →

Tiger Feet

26 Thursday Apr 2018

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Friday 30th March 2018 ko 19.00

South West Peninsula League Division One East

AXMINSTER TOWN 2 (Hurford 13 Dibling 21)

CREDITON TOWN 1 (Morish 32)

Att 306

Hop ticket £25 (programmes not included)

Entry £4

Programme £1.50

We left Exwick Villa, and Exeter’s suburbs and headed east. It was good that hop organiser Phil Hiscox had confirmed that the day’s final game was definitely on. The weather was dreadful, we passed Honiton and when we climbed into the southern foothills of the Blackdown Hills the torrential rain turned into sleet. Surely the game couldn’t still be on, could it? Continue reading →

Reputations

22 Sunday Apr 2018

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Friday 30th March 2018 ko 11.30

South West Peninsula League Division One East

SIDMOUTH TOWN 3 (Davies 32 Knight 74 83)

BUDLEIGH SALTERTON 4 (Taylor 37 Antat 49 A Boere 54 White 78_

Att 336

Hop Ticket (programmes not included) £25

Entry £3

Programme £1.50

The alarm sounded at Robyn and I’s bed and breakfast, and I didn’t need to open the curtains to check the weather, I could hear the torrents hammering the cars parked outside. Whilst the Full English breakfast was superlative, we ate in near silence knowing that the weather was at best going make watching 3 matches in a day difficult and at worst curtail the fun early. It was a day to trust Phil Hiscox the event organiser, and take what was coming. Little did we know that their would be a whole series of problems beyond the organiser’s control.  Continue reading →

The Spur

19 Thursday Apr 2018

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Thursday 29th March 2018 k0 19.30

South West Peninsula League Division One East

NEWTON ABBOT SPURS 2 (O Aplin 13 Metters 51)

TEIGNMOUTH 1 (Ayre 18) 

Breslan sent off 83 (2nd booking 83)

Eves sent off 90 (2nd booking 90)

Att 318

All games Hop ticket £25 (entry only)

Entry £4

Programme £1

I was around half-way down the M5 heading for the South West Peninsula Hop and was debating whether to stop for a coffee. Robyn was, as normal, fast asleep in the passenger seat, so I delayed my stop for another service station; there are no lack of them in this part of the world. I spent the extra few minutes imagining what hop organiser and League General Secretary Phil Hiscox was doing at that moment. I knew what I’d been feeling on eve of the Easter Hop I’d helped organise the previous year but as the Thursday and Friday games in Devon proved, I didn’t succeed in coming remotely close. Continue reading →

The Fan Club

21 Sunday May 2017

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Monday 17th April 2017 ko 17.45

North West Counties League Premier Division

MAINE ROAD 2 (Morgan 18 51)

ABBEY HEY 2 (Hardy 62 Blake 79)

Att 259

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

We saw George Galloway campaigning in Gorton, near Brantingham Road, just in front of his coterie was the Labour candidate and his entourage. We soon parked up and coach driver Godfrey scuttled off to find hospitality, if there’s a radar for such things the he’s got it! I strolled in, exchanging a joke with physio Lucy Weir on her second game of the hop but was secretly hoping that seeing a crowd the candidates might come in a swell the crowd. There was of course a compelling reason why they wouldn’t…. Continue reading →

The Hopsters!

17 Wednesday May 2017

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Monday 14th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Premier Division

WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 3 (Bayunu 70 Henderson 90 Mendes Gomes 90)

CONGLETON TOWN 1 (Gardner 84)

Att 295

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

The coach picked its way through the affluent leafy suburbia of Chorlton-cum-Hardy as we worked out exactly where to park, the club had earmarked a car park near to a pub, but that was full, and even when empty had a height barrier precluding coach entry. Eventually a club official found us, we disembarked, and Godfrey the driver found alternative parking arrangements. I saw him later in the cafe, so Plan B was clearly a good one! Continue reading →

The Imperative

16 Tuesday May 2017

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Monday 14th April 2017 ko 11.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

ATHERTON COLLERIES 5 (Kenny 4og Cover 20 66 73p Bailey 49)

AFC DARWEN 1 (Hepple 80)

Att 478

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

It’s a well-told story, how Atherton Collieries in 2013 helped us at GroundhopUK out by taking on an Easter Hop game on 48 hours’ notice after our planned game at AFC Emley got snowed off.

They moved heaven and earth to accommodate us, secretary Emil Anderson even dragged himself from his sick bed to be there. It took a knock-back or two to get a NWCL hop, but Joe Gibbons, Emil and all the Colls were there pushing to make it happen, so when the idea finally was agreed it was obvious that we’d want them on our first hop. That though would create an issue …. Continue reading →

My Chemical Romance

15 Monday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 18.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

RUNCORN TOWN 4 (Cairns 16p 77 Reed 49 77)

BARNTON 1 (J McShane 73)

Att 335

Entry £6

Programme £2

People were beginning to flag as the coach searched for a parking spot at Weston Point. If this had been the normal August Bank Holiday hop we’d have been parking up at our last game. I glanced over the Mersey estuary towards Halkyn United who had once been the opener for such a jaunt and remembered the view of the chemical works and inwardly reminisced.  Continue reading →

Onwards & Upwards

10 Wednesday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Division One

ASHTON TOWN 0

STOCKPORT TOWN 2 (Hinchliffe 29p 57)

Att 315

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

If any future host club at a groundhop wants a piece of advice on how best to endear themselves to the organiser I suggest having someone waiting to guide in the coach when we arrive at the ground. It sets the tone for the visit, in confirming competence and in the case of Ashton Town I’m not sure we’d have found the parking spot without help. You couldn’t help but like Ashton Town, tucked away as they are between the houses in the middle of Ashton-in-Makerfield but we all knew they had their own problems over and above coping with a crowd up to 10 times normal. Continue reading →

Shakermaker

09 Tuesday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2016 ko 11.00

North-West Counties League Premier Division

ASHTON ATHLETIC 2 (Smith 10 Vaughan 63)

SQUIRES GATE 1 (Nobley 2)

Att 298

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

It seemed odd to be starting a new hop when traditionally we’d be recovering from a 3 day, 7 game blast. But let’s face it the Northern League’s whole of Easter event a couple of years ago changed everything. For a start it proved that running games on Easter Sunday was popular amongst fans and it reinforced some work that Chris Berezai and I at GroundhopUK had been doing behind the scenes.  Continue reading →