Tag Archives: groundhop

Chapel

09 Monday Mar 2015

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Saturday 7th March 2015 ko 10.15

Ceredigion League Division Two

DEWI STARS 6 (Owens 16 23 29 37 W Williams 74 Thomas 87)

S.D.U.C. 1 (Kennedy 45)

Att 174

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

When you organise the final hop of a league’s run, you always have the difficulty of putting together a schedule with clubs that aren’t necessarily ideally placed geographically. To add to that we had the necessity to put the Dewi Stars on the Saturday as the playing field is owned by the chapel in Llanddewi Brefi, and they objected to the club playing on a Sunday. Yes, that’s right, Llanddewi Brefi of “Little Britain” fame, and as I demolished an early breakfast in Carmarthen my aim for my visit was to dispel the notion of “Only Gay in the village” however funny Matt Lucas’ sketches were.

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The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Organiser

09 Monday Mar 2015

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Friday 6th March 2015 ko 19.30

Welsh League Division One

BRITON FERRY LLANSAWEL 3 (Cockings 10 Jones 60 D Hudson 73)

GARDEN VILLAGE 0 Vickers sent off 85 (2nd booking)

Att 258

Special GroundhopUK package (Entry, buffet, programme and talk on club) £10

Normal Entry £4

Programme £1

The very worst bit of being a groundhop organiser is the trip down to your base for the weekend, in this case Carmarthen. You know you’ve done all the preparation, the league is 100% behind you, the host clubs are ready, and the gazebos are being erected as you drive along the M4. You know that local journalist Chris Harte has all the programmes and badges for the event stored in his library. You’ve covered every base you can, but still the nagging doubt is always there, what could go wrong, and what will go wrong, yes something will, you are dealing with people not robots after all. Yes, its a lonely drive down, even if you’ve got (as I did) passengers. Continue reading →

El Bandito

01 Monday Sep 2014

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Sunday 24th August 2014 ko 18.30

Welsh Alliance Division Two

NANTLLE VALE 3 (Jennings 12 J Evans 45 Kay 60) D Williams missed penalty 17

AMLWCH TOWN 0

Att 344

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

From our exit from Penrhyndeudraeth we remained very much in slate mining country as we reached the foothills of Snowdon and the village of Penygroes. Whilst many of the slate mines have gone, the area remains an administration centre, and for the record the area’s two most famous sons have had absolutely nothing to do with slate mining. Continue reading →

Slate

31 Sunday Aug 2014

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Sunday 24th August 2014 ko 11.00 am

Welsh Alliance Division Two

BLAENAU AMATEURS 4 (Roberts 24 Williams 51p Copsley 90 Bradley 90p)

PENMAENMAWR PHOENIX 2 (S Williams 32 Prince 38)

Att 320

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

We’d shaved a few minutes off the start time to Blaenau Ffestiniog from Chester University. After the difficulties of the previous day, a little time less in our beds was a fair price for breakfast! Of course on the action-reaction principle we got to Blaenau ahead of time. That was no bad thing, as the town is the sort of place you’d want to linger in, even if for one or two that added up to a frantic search for a newsagent that had the “Non League Paper” in stock!

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The Bouncy Castle

09 Saturday Aug 2014

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Sunday 3rd August 2014 ko 11.00

United Counties League Premier Division

PETERBOROUGH NORTHERN STAR 1 (MacLeod 8) Clay sent off 21 (denying clear goalscoring..) Stebbing sent off (2nd booking)

HOLBEACH UNITED 6 (Beeson 22p Fuller 34 Parker 49 Dube 71 78 Spencer 90)

Att 357

Entry £6

Programme £1

Badge £3

Picture the scene; Chris Berezai and I are at a GroundhopUK planning meeting with the host clubs on this hop. We’re new to each other, none of these clubs has ever seen a hop game, let alone participated in one, so at the end of it all, I wanted to give the clubs an idea of what good looks like.

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La Grange

07 Thursday Aug 2014

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Saturday 2nd August 2014 ko 17.00

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

NETHERTON UNTED 2 (Patton 42 Mastin 69)

THORNEY 1 (Baldwin 89)

Att 281

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

It has to be said The Grange turned into one of the more difficult places to find. That’s no reflection on the club, more a reflection on the speed of development in this part of Peterborough. I mean, how many clubs change entrances without moving grounds? I visited the ground back in 2012, and used one entrance, report here and the stream of traffic, not least Rick and the coach caused more than a few surprised looks as the best part of 300 people drove through the new estate.

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The Icon

25 Friday Apr 2014

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Monday 21st April 2014 ko 15.00

Northern League Division One

SPENNYMOOR TOWN 4 (Graydon 13 Capper Taylor 80 90p)

TEAM NORTHUMBRIA 1 (Sayer 85)

Att 627

Entry £6

Programme £1

Badge SOLD OUT

If there was one ground that convinced me to attend the last day of the hop it was the Brewery Field. It has always been the home of football in Spennymoor right from when the first club Spennymoor United was formed in 1904, and took over the lease from Tudhoe Rugby Club. The ground used to belong to B. P. Junor’s ‘Tower Brewery’, hence the name ‘The Brewery Field’

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Past Glories

24 Thursday Apr 2014

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Monday 21st April 2014 ko 12.00

Northern League Division One

BISHOP AUCKLAND 8 (Megran 25 45 Hodgson 37 Hawkins 43 Lawson 48 Brunskill 57 64 Lane 70)

CROOK TOWN 1 (Davis 58)

Att 434

Entry £6

Programme £1.25

Badge £3.50

In many respects this season cannot finish quickly enough; yes you’ve read that correctly, but don’t worry, I’ll still watch the usual bucket-load of games while I can. I was and am tired, and when the Northern League announced the last of their reunion hops, it looked like a good excuse to have Easter away from the organised hops for the first time in a long time. That’s nothing against Harvey Harris, Mike Amos and the Northern League, they are lovely people to deal with, but time with family and friends looked a good option for me. Until I was sat in the pub on Saturday and GroundhopUK’s Chris Berezai phoned, should we go and support the event on its fourth and final day? On go on then….

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Expectations

11 Tuesday Mar 2014

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Saturday 8th March 2014 ko 10.30

Ceredigion League Division One

ABERPORTH 3 (Griffiths 67 Glover 84og Smith 97)

CRANNOG 2 (R Roberts 11 S Jones 28)

Att 166

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £1

Each time our coach crosses the border from Carmarthenshire to Ceredigion I get the feeling that something interesting is going to happen. Perhaps that’s just the anticipation of another game at another new ground, but on this particular Saturday my sense of expectancy was heightened. In this part of West Wales things happen differently, you are in Welsh Wales after all, and the pace of life is more relaxed. Understanding that culture is important and that helped us to help 5 clubs put on what was a hop that showcased themselves and their beautiful part of the world. I loved it, and I hope all those who attended did too. Continue reading →

Me Corderoy Britches

03 Monday Mar 2014

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Saturday 1st March 2014 ko 18.30

Northern League Division Two

DARLINGTON RAILWAY ATHLETIC 2 (Allison 33 84)

THORNABY 3 (Bythway 10 Melvin 22 Woodhouse 82)

Att 195

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

Teamsheet 20p

So journey’s end for the 3rd of the 4 Northern League hops, and for me at least the first revisit of the 3 events! I’d paid Brinkburn Road a visit in 2006 on a Friday night for a FA Vase game against, yes, Thornaby! Continue reading →