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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: Football

Gifford

21 Tuesday Mar 2023

Posted by laurencereade in S

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Football, groundhopping, Gloucestershire County League, Stoke Gifford, England, Hardwicke, Bristol, Non League, Stoke Gifford United, Stoke Gifford Stadium

Tuesday 28th February 2023 ko 19:45

Gloucestershire County League

STOKE GIFFORD UNITED 7 (McInevery 34 43 72 Weaver 38 72 90 Barry 45)

HARDWICKE 0

Att 39

Entry FREE

Programme £1

It does pay to keep an eye on the Gloucestershire County League. I tend to see it as a quasi-Step 6 league, the mandatory programme rule, and the reasonably stringent ground gradings to make for an experience unlike most at the level. It was though, an odd evening to be in Bristol.

On one hand Bristol City were at home to Manchester City that night in the FA Cup, but that only meant that the southern half of the city would be having cup fever. Stoke Gifford is in the northern suburbs, and well and truly in Bristol Rovers territory, so I expected and got studied indifference to the goings on at Ashton Gate. 

Of course there was an irony, Bristol City’s women played at Stoke Gifford Stadium prior to their move to the High Performance Centre for last season. I covered the fact that Bristol City Women used to be Bristol Rovers women in that article, and were Bristol Academy in between, and even had a men’s team too. They played at Stoke Gifford too, so I must admit when I saw Stoke Gifford had been promoted into the County League and were using South Gloucestershire & Stroud College too, I assumed they were using the same place. Well they aren’t… sort of!

The old Stoke Gifford Stadium is now 3G and laid out for American Football only, and as you work your way through the complex you’ll see the odd bit of signage for Bristol City, then the remains of turnstiles that were installed for Bristol City’s stint in the Women’s Super League. Stoke Gifford are using the pitch the other side of the changing room block and have improved their new home accordingly. If you’re the kind of person that sees this as part of the same then the complex then you’ll see my attendance as a revisit, if not, then you won’t!

Whatever your view Stoke Gifford are certainly friendly and the tea was much appreciated on a cold, dank evening. They’re also talented; there was nothing wrong with Hardwicke save for them having some key players missing, but they were taken to pieces by their hosts. I’ve not seen a beating this complete for a while. 

I don’t think this will be Stoke Gifford’s season to make the jump into the Hellenic League. They’re third, and the ground will need some sort of surrounding fence for Step 6, but I may have got slightly ahead of myself here. The fact is Stoke Gifford have a fine team, and a ground to match. 

George

16 Thursday Mar 2023

Posted by laurencereade in K

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Albania, Dijar Nikqi, Ditmar Mira, Endi, Football, groundhopping, Joan Cela, Kamëz, Kamza, Kastrioti, KF Tirana, Krujë, Stadiumi Kamza, Zaja

Sunday 19th February 2023 ko 13:00

Kategoria Superiore

KS KASTRIOTI 0

KF TIRANA 1 (Nikqi 90+10)

Hasani penalty saved 16 

Att c1,000 at Stadiumi Kamza

Entry 1000 lek (approx.’ £7.69) for a seat in the stand, 500 lek for the terrace

I must admit there was one small worry on our final day in Albania. It was a combination of two quirks, one is that WizzAir don’t let you check in until 48 hours before your flight, and that in any case online check-ins aren’t recognised at Tirana airport. You produce a document that is headed “This is not a boarding pass” which you exchange for a boarding pass at the check-in desk. I’d not seen it before, and I am grateful to our hotel, Vila e Artё for their help in printing out something that served so little purpose! Continue reading →

Zaja

13 Monday Mar 2023

Posted by laurencereade in P, T

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Albania, Football, groundhopping, Kategoria Superiore, KF Erzeni, Komplexi Partizani, Partizani Tirana, Tirana

Saturday 18th February 2023 ko 19:00

Kategoria Superiore

PARTIZANI TIRANA 3 (Rrapajy 45 Da Silva 46 Hoti 71)

Gueye sent off 1 (dangerous play- VAR)

KF ERZENI 0

Att c 1,500 at Kompleksi Partizani

Entry- Complimentary (tickets in our stand was on sale of 1000 lek – roughly £7.69; opposite was 300 lek)

We’d got back from Vorë with more than enough time for a late lunch. We’d settled in the Tirana suburb of Kinostudio, Ditmar’s home and where the communists used to produce their propaganda films. Since those days the area has seen no little investment, and I suspect the bar we sat in had never known rule by Enver Hoxha.

Continue reading →

Ditmar

09 Thursday Mar 2023

Posted by laurencereade in V

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Albania, FK Shenkolli, Football, Fusha Sportiv Vorë, Gerdec, groundhopping, Kategoria e Dytë, KF Shenkolli, Kodra e Gjatë, Tirana, Vora FK, Vorë, Vore

Saturday 18th February 2023 ko 13:00

Kategorie e Dytë Grp A

VORA FK 7 (Shani 4 Raboshta 12 25 Vrapi 24 71 Bashaj 45 Prengar 82)

KF SHËNKOLLI 0

Att c1,000

Free Entry

We met Ditmar at the roundabout near to Tirana’s New Bazaar. It’s the place you head to if you want a souvenir, fruit and veg or anything you’d find at a flea market; there’s also a fish market next door too! You can also change your currency, buy a cheap meal or have a leisurely coffee. As a result, it’s a hub for much of what makes Tirana tick, away from the tourists, the 4 of us seemed to be the only foreigners there. Continue reading →

Endi

07 Tuesday Mar 2023

Posted by laurencereade in A

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Air Albania Stadium, Albania, Arena Kombëtare, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Football, groundhopping, Matteo Dashi, Stefan Marcetic, Tirana

Friday 17th February 2023 ko 11:30

U17 International Friendly

ALBANIA 0

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA 0

Marcetic sent off (2nd booking) 63

Att c700 at Arena Kombëtare, Tirana

Free Entry

It is a matter of fact that 9 men went to Tirana in 2019 to celebrate my Stag Weekend, expecting little more than a couple of matches and more than a few beers. We ended up watching 5 games and enjoyed ourselves so much the “Scottish Delegation” bored my wife Robyn silly with all our stories for months afterwards. But that weekend was so much more than beer and football. Continue reading →

Motorway

06 Monday Mar 2023

Posted by laurencereade in A

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Football, groundhopping, Bristol, Non League, Bristol and Suburban League, Avonmouth, St Nicholas

Saturday 11th February 2023 ko 14:00

Gloucestershire Senior Amateur Cup Quarter Final

AVONMOUTH 7 (Groves 13 29 30 89 Aldom 35 Pearce 43 O’Donovan 82)

ST NICHOLAS 1 (Slade 56p)

Att 42

Free Entry

One of the great advantages of having family in Bristol is the extra centre of gravity it gives my groundhopping. You’d expect me to have done a lot in around my hometown of Oxford, but 7 years of Robyn and I means regular visits west, and very slowly I’m uncovering some real Bristolian gems.  Continue reading →

Gills not Gills

02 Thursday Mar 2023

Posted by laurencereade in G

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Bishops Lydeard, Dorset, Football, Gillingham Town, groundhopping, Non League, Western League, Woodwater Lane

Tuesday 8th February 2023 ko 19:30

Western League Division One

GILLINGHAM TOWN 0

BISHOPS LYDEARD 1 (Willis 58)

Att 35

Entry £6

Programme £2

Perhaps the measure of what differentiates a genuine groundhopper from a general football fan is the Dorset town of Gillingham. My feeling is that a football fan will look at the name as immediately assume its pronounced with a soft “G” as in the EFL club of the same name, whereas the groundhopper sees the name “Gillingham” and wonders which county we’re in? Since this is Dorset, the “G” is hard, so the Gill is what fish have, not the girl’s name! Hope we’re clear on that one! Continue reading →

Robyn

27 Monday Feb 2023

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bristol City, Failand, Football, groundhopping, High Performance Centre, Oxford United, Robins, Training Ground, Women, Womens FA Cup

Sunday 29th January 2023 ko 15:00

FA Women’s Cup 4th Round

BRISTOL CITY 4 (Hayles 45 Hutton 48 Woolley 73 Syme 83)

OXFORD UNITED 0

Att 449

Entry £8

Teamsheet- Free

After seven years together and three years married, its a little surprising that Robyn and I’s teams Bristol City and Oxford United have only met once, again the women’s teams back in 2016 at Stoke Gifford Stadium. So when the two clubs were drawn again, this time in the FA Women’s Cup it was obvious we’d be making a beeline for the game! Continue reading →

Blazing Saddlers

23 Thursday Feb 2023

Posted by laurencereade in W

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Football, groundhopping, League 2, FA Cup, Leicester City, Walsall, Bescot Stadium, Saddlers, Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, Kerechi Iheanacho

Saturday 28th January 2023 ko 12:30

FA Cup 4th Round

WALSALL 0

LEICESTER CITY 1 (Iheanacho 68)

Tielemans missed penalty 48

Entry £20

Programme £4

It certainly wasn’t the plan to have the next instalment of Robyn’s completion of the 92 EFL and Premier League clubs to be at a club who would regard our previous visit as their great rivals. Walsall fans regard Wolverhampton Wanderers as public enemy number 1, referring to them as “The Dingles” a comment on the “Emmerdale” family- the archetypal neighbours from hell! Continue reading →

Colts

22 Wednesday Feb 2023

Posted by laurencereade in C, K

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Tags

Abingdon Road, Football, groundhopping, Kingston Bagpuize, Kingston Colts, nbfl, Non League, North Berkshire League, Wantage Town

Saturday 7th January 2023 ko 14:00

North Berkshire League Division 3

KINGSTON COLTS 2 (G Bailey 57 Sam Bailey 83)

WANTAGE TOWN A 2 (Dance 69 71)

Att c30 at Abingdon Road, Kingston Bagpuize

Free Entry

You may remember Robyn and I visiting the Kingston Colts before. Back in 2019 we saw them at their temporary ground at Dalton Barracks, near Abingdon. That was 6 miles from home at Kingston Bagpuize, the exile due to their pavilion back home not being ready. The distance proved to be their undoing as they dropped out of league soon after, with the club retreating to exclusively youth football.

Continue reading →

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