Tag Archives: groundhop

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 →

Drift

03 Monday Mar 2014

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Saturday 1st March 2014 ko 14.30

Northern League Division Two

STOKESLEY SPORTS CLUB 1 (Upton 67)

TOW LAW TOWN 2 (Thexton 18 26)

Att 189

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

Pie & Peas £2

The second game of the “Southern” day of the Northern League saw one of the league’s southernmost outposts. So much so the that the town is actually in North Yorkshire, more normally associated with the Northern Counties East league at this level of the game, although there’s been a fair amount of exchange over the years.

This is the land where Captain Cook grew up. He was born in nearby Great Ayton in the foothills of the North York Moors, and the distinctive Roseberry Topping hill, with its Matterhorn-esque silhouette as a background. It was once the symbol of the now defunct county of Cleveland and was in almost complete contrast with the petrochemical industrial backdrop of Redcar that we’d left behind. It’s fair to say that Broughton Road is a ground best visited in the light for the spectacular scenery behind. Continue reading →

Northern Ventures

02 Sunday Mar 2014

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Saturday 1st March 2014 ko 11.00

Northern League Division One

MARSKE UNITED 0 O’Sullivan sent off 37 (violent conduct)

GUISBOROUGH TOWN 4 (Johnson 30 90 Roberts 63 86)

Att 433

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £3

One of the advantages of a one-day Northern League hop is also its great disadvantage! I left darkened Oxfordshire at 5.30am wondering what the weather would be like, and as the sun rose over scenic Coventry it became clear that organiser Harvey Harris had booked the weather; the cold I can live with, but getting wet on a multi-game day is just plain depressing. Continue reading →

Circles

12 Sunday Jan 2014

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A week or two ago I was asked by the United Counties League Facebook page to write a guest article. It quite deliberately doesn’t mention the Peterborough & District League, who are also involved in August’s hop, after all it was for a purely UCL audience!

I’m a groundhopper, there I’ve said it, and the United Counties League and I go back to October 2003. I’d just moved to Banbury, and saw that Woodford United were at home to Stewarts & Lloyds. The ground was a devil to find, it helped when the lights were switched on, and I watched S & L triumph once their regular goalkeeper arrived and was substituted on! The people were friendly, and the barbeque tasted as good as it smelled!

I must have enjoyed myself, Continue reading →

Kes

19 Thursday Dec 2013

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Tuesday 17th December 2013 ko 19.45

United Counties League Premier Division

SLEAFORD TOWN 2 (Siddons 15 Tunstall 86) B Greenwood sent off 80 (2nd booking)

WISBECH TOWN 4 (Jones 64p Reed 65 80 83)

Att 106

Entry £5

Programme £1

6 days earlier, Wavendon-based Chris Garner and I were thawing out after the game at Waltham Forest and we talked about where to head next. Between us we’ve visited around 1,900 grounds, and fortunately there’s very little duplication, but when he suggested Sleaford I reflected for a moment.

Chris didn’t know, but with my GroundhopUK hat on Chris Berezai and I had been talking to the United Counties League and one of their feeder Leagues the Peterborough & District League, about a potential groundhop starting in August next year. The UCL committee, I knew were meeting on Monday evening to make a final decision so me being at a UCL fixture the next day was either going to look like perfect timing or somewhat awkward. Fortunately, the groundhop proposal was passed, I’ll post the details at the end of this, and I was able to have a chat with both club and league officials during the game. Continue reading →

Any Two Can Play

28 Monday Oct 2013

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Saturday 26th October 2013 ko 16.00

Northern League Division One

TEAM NORTHUMBRIA 3 (Luke 7 Riley 21 Watling 55)

WHITLEY BAY 4 (Chow 16 27p 53 65)

Att 396

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge NOT AVAILABLE

Parking 50p

It says something about the proximity of Team Northumbria to West Allotment that notoriously impatient hoppers were happy to wait for the car park to clear! It was less than a mile from Whitley Park to Coach Lane and as I arrived I spotted a queue of hoppers grumbling about paying 50p to park.

On one hand it IS only 50p, a trifle but the argument some hoppers make is that
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Step Right Up & Say

28 Monday Oct 2013

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Saturday 26th October 2013 ko 13.15

Northern League Division Two

WEST ALLOTMENT CELTIC 0

NORTH SHIELDS 0

Att 429

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £2.50

Teamsheet 10p

The journey from Heaton to West Allotment was the longest of the hop, a full 1.3 miles by road, and considerably shorter by foot, and it was amusing to see the stream of hoppers with their printed-out maps cutting through the parks and alleyways between the grounds.

Those short distances had given hop organiser Harvey Harris a dilemma. Transport between the games is a staple of the serious organised hop, but since it was possible to walk the entire hop there was a case for not bothering. But since some folk either don’t want to walk, or are less fleet of foot, Harvey came up with an ingenious solution. Continue reading →

Money for Muscle

27 Sunday Oct 2013

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Saturday 26th October 2013 ko 10.30

Northern League Division Two

HEATON STANNINGTON 3 (Wright 19p 89 Smith 21)

BIRTLEY TOWN 0

Att 412

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £2

Is the heartland of the Northern League Newcastle-on-Tyne? If not, it certainly feels like it! With the Northern League celebrating its 125 year anniversary this 4-game hop in Newcastle was the second of 4 events, that will culminate in a massive 11 game 4-day hop over Easter next year. The events are covering the grounds not in the league when the Northern League groundhops ended 17 years ago.

It was certainly handy that the grounds on this hop were all in a 3 mile radius of each other in the east of the city. Nearby is Gosforth where Continue reading →