Tag Archives: Football

Smiley’s People

15 Thursday Jun 2023

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Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Aylesbury & District League: Premier Division

GREAT MISSENDEN 3 (Tripp 65 78 84)

ELMHURST 1 (Giles 42)

Att 51

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Football watching does tend you to draw threads. A week so earlier I’d watched a game at Brill – once the furthest flung outpost of the London Underground. Here I found myself another village with station that used to be on the Metropolitan Line but this time the station is still open; it’s just that the trains these days are normal sized ones!

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The Derby Of Ten

14 Wednesday Jun 2023

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Monday 1st May 2023 ko 14:45

Kent County League Premier Division

TENTERDEN TOWN 2 (Kirby 3 Sharp 31)

Burton sent off 57 (2nd booking)

TEN-EM-BEE 1 (Nelson 7)

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From leafy Surrey it didn’t take long to relocate to leafy Kent, and no the difference wasn’t massive! Tenterden lies close to Ashford, and maintains a feeling of gentle affluence. In fact Robyn and I took full advantage, after the game we decamped to the White Lion for a quite superb meal. It seemed churlish not to.  Continue reading →

Walcountian

13 Tuesday Jun 2023

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Monday 1st May 2023 ko 11:00

Surrey County Premier League

AFC WALCOUNTIANS 1 (Davis 65)

STAINES & LAMMAS 0

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I know that I say this a lot, and that is a lot of my games choose me rather than the other way round. This was a case in point, with no end of Kent County League games at 3pm, and this Surrey game at 11:00. I followed quite a few hoppers to the extent that the car park at Old Walcountians felt like a meeting of the clans! Continue reading →

Metroland

10 Saturday Jun 2023

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Wednesday 26th April 2023 ko 18:30

Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Division

ASHTON FOLLY 5 (Laver 5 24 35 65 Benjamin 68)

Baker sent off (foul & abusive)

HALSE UNITED 0

Att 15 at Brill Sports and Social Club

For a small village on the westernmost tip of Buckinghamshire, the village of Brill seems to punch above its weight. Brill used to have a palace as the centre of the Forest of Bernwood, owned by the crown, so the likes of Henry II, King John, and Henry III all stayed here. Charles I used the palace as a garrison during the English Civil War, which is probably why the place was destroyed during the Commonwealth! Continue reading →

Linnets

09 Friday Jun 2023

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Saturday 15th April 2023 ko 15:00

Northern Premier League – Division One West

RUNCORN LINNETS 5 (Birchall 2 Brooke 36p Doyle 37 78 Rooney 89)

RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 0

Att 580

Entry £10

Programme £2

I’d argue there are 4 strands to my footballing life, and I spend a lot of my time trying to keep each of them happy. Firstly there’s Oxford United, I’m a season ticket holder there, then I’m still Chris Berezai’s deputy at GroundhopUK, then there’s my committee work for the North Berkshire League. Then there’s my groundhopping, and this weekend for the first time saw all four strands clash. Continue reading →

Rest

06 Tuesday Jun 2023

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Tuesday 11th April 2023 ko 18:30

Banbury, District and Lord Jersey League- Premier Division

CHESTERTON 0

GRAVEN HILL 5 (Watts 45 Quarterman 48 Smith 52 Munday 60 Edwards 78)

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Groundhoppers do tend to love that last part of the football season when the clocks of gone forward, and the clubs with no floodlights can play midweek fixtures. It tends to evoke thoughts of warm evenings, watching games in a t-shirt and shorts as the sun slowly sets. Well, in theory at least! Continue reading →

Rains

05 Monday Jun 2023

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Monday 10th April 2023 ko 11:30

Hellenic League Division Two West

SHIPSTON EXCELSIOR 4 (Fetherston 43 secs Gill 21 Cardwell 36 Clarke 53)

FECKENHAM 2 (Davies 46 Skelton 85)

Att 193

Entry £3.50

Programme £1.50

I drove past Chipping Norton, then headed still further north heading over from Oxfordshire to Warwickshire. There always seemed to be a sense of crossing the Rubicon at that County boundary- from Hellenic Country to Midland League territory. Just to add to the sense of change, the rains came. We drove through Long Compton with the wipers barely able to keep the windscreen clear. Continue reading →

Personal

29 Monday May 2023

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Sunday 9th April 2023

11:00 Hellenic League Division Two East

WATLINGTON TOWN 0

NEWBURY 10 (Frank 24 35 Allen 45 84 90  Armstrong 55 82 90p Goddard 59 Pattern 87)

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Entry & Programme £4

14:00 Hellenic League Division One

ABINGDON UNITED 3 (Mills 27 Bartlett 30 Downie 82)

SHORTWOOD UNITED 1 (Barrett 77)

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Entry £5

Programme £2

15:45 Hellenic League Division One

CLANFIELD 85 3 (Dickinson 46 Seacole 49 Fullarton 76)

MALMESBURY VICTORIA 1 (Patey 55)

Att 279

Entry £6

Programme £2

You could say it was personal. Easter Sunday on the Hellenic Hop may have been revisits to grounds I’d visited many times, but I had a personal connection to every host club. I always want our host clubs to do well but never more than on this day. Continue reading →

The Day Off

24 Wednesday May 2023

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Saturday 8th April 2023

11:00 Hellenic League Division 2 East

MORTIMER 2 (Gorman 22 Parfitt-Bowes 57)

CHINNOR 0

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14:30 Hellenic League Division 2 East

TAPLOW UNITED 2 (Eaves 35 Umbewa 38)

CHALFONT WASPS 2 (Drummond 45 Sava 76)

Pereira penalty saved 90

Att 140

17:30 Hellenic League Division 2 East

WOODCOTE FC 4 (Allen 19og Webber 28 Nowell 45 Downes 84)

FC BEACONSFIELD 0

Att 243

Entry & Programme for each game – £4

I suppose it had to happen at some point, I actually took a day off- from GroundhopUK at least! It had certainly been a while, to the point that I’d actually got married, separated, divorced, engaged, and married again during all those hops we’ve organised over the last 15-plus years. But the great beauty of GroundHopUK these days is that it isn’t just about Chris Berezai and I. Since the Bedfordshire League decided to spurn Craig Dabbs’ skills, kindness and hard work, he’s come on board- your loss Mr Francis, and now my wife Robyn deals with the social media too. There are also no end of folks that help us out, and there’s the various league officials to do some of the leg work too. Continue reading →

Flypast

19 Friday May 2023

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Tuesday 3rd April 2023 ko 18:30

Spartan South Midlands League Division Two

AFC CADDINGTON 1 (Moore 6)

SARRATT 2 (Ormsby 31 Vercesi 77)

Att 48

Free Entry

I know I’ve said it before but when it comes to groundhopping unlike the majority, I’m not target driven. Many will concentrate on a league or level, but I tend to see a set of fixtures a week or two in advance and either I get an invite, or someone suggests somewhere, or I just go where my nose takes me. Continue reading →