18 Monday Nov 2019
Posted in H
Tuesday 17th September 2019 ko 19.45
Isthmian League- Premier Division
HORSHAM 2 (Harris 3 Smith 27)
WINGATE & FINCHLEY 1 (Kennedy 70)
Att 412
Entry £11
Programme £2
A new home for Horsham at Hop Oast has been one of this season’s good news stories. So much so that not only was my journey round the M25 straightforward, but I even had time to try to remember when it was I’d visited their former home at Queen Street? Continue reading
13 Wednesday Nov 2019
Posted in D
Tags
Ducklington, England, Football, groundhopping, Tommy Caton, Witney and District League, witney hop, Wootton Sports
Saturday 14th September 2019 ko 16.30
Witney & District League- Division Two
DUCKLINGTON 2 (Duthie 33 90)
WOOTTON SPORTS 3 (Spencer 51 78 88)
Att 178
Entry & Programme £4
Ducklington Sports Ground is the kind of place you can drive right past without knowing its there. I should know I spent 3 years as a sales rep in the Witney area and drive along the road from the A40 to Standlake and never once spotted the place. To make things worse I used to visit my friend Matt who once lived in Ducklington and still managed not to spot the place! Continue reading
10 Sunday Nov 2019
Posted in M
Tags
Carterton, England, Football, Minster Lovell, Non League, Wash Meadow, Witney and District League, witney hop
Saturday 14th September 2019 ko 13.30
Witney & District League – Premier Division
MINSTER LOVELL 2 (Fletcher 30 Wright 39)
CARTERTON 3 (Threlfall 46 85p Rogers 61)
Att 126
Entry & Programme £4
I’d actually managed to relax on the journey from Milton-under-Wychwood as we slowly made our way south. We bumped our way down on Britain’s byways passing by Leafield; it seemed barely plausible that F1’s Arrows team used to be based here, and the plant is still a Formula 1 research facility. Continue reading
24 Thursday Oct 2019
Posted in S
Tags
Debdale Park, East Midlands Counties League, England, FA Cup, Football, groundhopping, Loughborough Dynamo, Mansfield Woodhouse, Non League, SHERWOOD COLLIERY
Tuesday 3rd September 2019 ko 19.45
FA CUP Preliminary Round Replay
SHERWOOD COLLIERY 0
LOUGHBOROUGH COLLIERY 1 (Robbins 29)
Att 341
Entry £5
Programmme £1
It’s strange how some clubs and grounds seem to pass you by. Mansfield Woodhouse-based Sherwood Colliery managed to time their rise through the ranks so as to avoid the Central Midlands League’s groundhops, and when they won promotion from that league went into the East Midlands Counties League, avoiding the Northern Counties East Hops too! I ended up driving past no end of places I’d travelled to on a hop coach to Debdale Park!
22 Sunday Sep 2019
Posted in L
Tags
Ann's Pasties, Beacon Terrace, Cornwall, Cornwall Combination, England, Football, Lizard Argyle, Lizard Lighthouse, Lizard Point, Matchstick Man, Non League, Rosudgeon
Saturday 17th August 2019 ko 15.00
Cornwall Combination League
LIZARD ARGYLE 1 (Vaughan-Spruce 10)
ROSUDGEON 0 Fletcher missed penalty 90
Att 30
Entry by donation
Programme £1
“So there he was then, Penzance to play….
..And you, you would-be vagabond
No one invited you, you know
Matchstick man, up in the dawn
You’ve got five hundred miles to go.”
excerpt of Matchstick Man by Mark Knopfler 2018
Remember my comment that all too often I don’t pick my games, they pick me? Well this was a classic case of that happening. Robyn and I were in Bristol wedding planning and I knew that I’d be picking up an easel in Clifton but I’d be finished around 10.30am so could go anywhere within reason before heading back to Oxford afterwards. My initial idea was something in the Peninsula League but then something popped up on Facebook!
15 Thursday Aug 2019
Posted in S
Tags
Banbury Road, Bobby Hancocks Park, Cropredy, England, Football, groundhopping, hellenic league, Midland League, Non League, Southam, Southam Town Juniors, Southam United
Friday 19th July 2019 ko 18.30
Pre-Season Friendly
SOUTHAM UNITED 2 (72 85)
CROPREDY 3 (Welch 25 Dineen 35 Reeves 80)
Att 26 at Youth Ground, Banbury Road.
Free Entry
Back in the the day when I lived in Banbury it became something of a tradition for Southam to play near neighbours Leamington at 11am each Boxing Day. It was never likely to be a tradition that lasted, the reformed Leamington were never likely to stay in the Midland Combination for long. Nevertheless I’m sure Southam enjoyed the bumper crowd, and I enjoyed visiting each time, even to the point of me enjoying a plate of bubble and squeak as my ex-wife drove me to Oxford United for their festive fixture afterwards! Continue reading
05 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in L
Tags
8th REME, England, Football, MOD Lyneham, Non League, REME, Royal Wootton Bassett, Shrewton, Shrewton United, Wootton Bassett
Tuesday 7th July 2019 ko 19.30
Pre-Season Friendly
8TH TRAINING BATTALION ROYAL ELECTRICAL & MECHANICAL ENGINEERS 2 (Auger 52 J Allen 62p)
SHREWTON UNITED 4 (Johnson 17 Utterson 21 Watson 44 Himsworth 65)
Att 6 @ MOD Lyneham
Free Entry
After the Swedish Hop I surprised myself by enjoying some time off from football. I needed the rest and contrary to the beliefs of some I do enjoy plenty of other things other than just football! Gone are the days when my close season was short, and on one occasion less than 24 hours! (Final game of Swedish Hop then Derby Summer League the next day!) In the end I found myself looking for a fixture rather half-heartedly, it would have to be something interesting to make me end my summer break. Then a game behind the fence at MOD Lyneham popped up! Continue reading
31 Friday May 2019
Tags
Bourton Rovers, Brimscombe and Thrupp, Cotswolds, England, Football, GroundhopUK, hellenic league, London Road, Moreton Rangers, Non League, Rissington Road, The Meadow
Sunday 21st April 2019
11.00 Hellenic League Division Two West
BOURTON ROVERS 3 (Nurse 19 Tyack 76 Way 90)
HEADINGTON AMATEURS 1 (Curtis 83)
Att 278
Entry £4
Programme £1
14.15 Hellenic League Division Two West
MORETON RANGERS 0
ADDERBURY PARK 1 (Northam 62)
Att 384
Entry £2
Programme £1
18.00 Hellenic League Premier
BRIMSCOMBE & THRUPP 4 (Blackie 5 Pitts 55 Campbell 70 J Pitt 90)
ABINGDON UNITED 0 Butler sent off 55 (2nd Booking)
Att 403
Entry £5
Programme £1
Easter Sunday dawned, and the compromise that is an organised hop was brought into sharp focus. On one hand we were always likely to see the most hoppers today when compared to the rest of the weekend, but then we were asking more of the clubs in asking them to play on Easter Sunday. You could argue that extra crowds mean extra revenue for our host clubs but that doesn’t help the visiting clubs taking part. I know there was some discomfiture amongst those involved at Headington Amateurs, Adderbury Park and Abingdon United in playing on this day so our sincere thanks to them for helping us, the league and the host clubs. Thanks also to Brian King and all at the league too, plenty of leagues wouldn’t have even countenanced trying!
25 Saturday May 2019
Tags
Chalfont Wasps, Chinnor, England, Football, groundhopping, GroundhopUK, hellenic league, Holyport, Long Crendon, Non League, Stokenchurch, Yateley United
Saturday 20th April 2019
11.00 Hellenic League Division 2 East
STOKENCHURCH 0
CHALFONT WASPS 3 (Letterman 29 42 Williams 47)
Att 234
Entry & Programme £5
15.30
15.30 Hellenic League Division 1 East
CHINNOR 1 (Knowles 54)
HOLYPORT 4 (Raply 4 45 56 Driffill 16)
Att 196
Entry £4
Programme £1
19.00 Hellenic League Division 2 East
LONG CRENDON 0
YATELEY UNITED 0
Att 269
Entry £6
Programme £1
It was unusual to be in the middle of an organised hop and for me to wake up at home. But with the Hellenic Hop visiting 3 clubs all within 20 miles from home and with an elderly father to keep an eye on, it made sense to have a couple of nights back home, even if Robyn and I did miss the full English breakfasts back at the Almondsbury Interchange! I found myself harking back to the days of the North Berkshire League’s Hops too, and on arrival at Stokenchurch you could see why. Continue reading
22 Wednesday May 2019
Tags
England, Football, groundhoppers, groundhopping, GroundhopUK, hellenic league, Longlevens, Lydney Town, Newent Town, Non League
Friday 19th April 2019
12.00 Hellenic League Premier Division
LONGLEVENS 2 (Welch 59 Malshanskij 62)
READING CITY 1 (Darboe 14)
Att 331
Entry £6
Programe £1
15.30 Hellenic League Premier Division
LYDNEY TOWN 2 (Thompson 59p Halford 83)
WINDSOR 0
Att 337
Entry £5
Programme £1
19.00 Hellenic League Division One West
NEWENT TOWN 0
CHELTENHAM SARACENS 1 (Barnard 54)
Att 369
Entry £5
Programme £1
Looking at it selfishly, the Easter Hop moving from the North West Counties League to the Hellenic was a neat way of me swapping a probable 11 new ticks from 13 games to 11 re-visits. The Hellenic hinterland is my stamping ground, and so many of these clubs I know reasonably well, so for this weekend the pleasure was in the catching up rather than the process of accumulation. Look out for the click-throughs for the grounds as they were when I first visited them. In some cases the changes are remarkable.
