Tag Archives: groundhopping

Gas Panic

21 Thursday May 2015

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Sunday 17th May 2015 ko 14.00

Conference Promotion Final

BRISTOL ROVERS 1 (Harrison 30)

GRIMSBY TOWN 1 (John-Lewis 2)

AET Bristol Rovers won 5-3 on penalties

Att 47,0229 at Wembley Stadium

Entry £10 (Member clubs’ allocation- “Neutral Zone”)

Programme £5

Now I know the Conference Premier is pretty much League 3 these days. I know it’s almost entirely full-time and I know there are many former Football League clubs in its ranks. The vital word here is “Former” though, and take it from me, a fan of a club that did lose its place in the League, it hurts a lot it when you get relegated. You get used to the comments like “How on earth did you end up there?” and every time you go to a game you cheer your club on straining every mental sinew to get back to whence you came. There’s nothing wrong with the Conference, but believe me the fans of at least half of the clubs in its top flight hate being there.

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The Blue Aeroplanes

06 Wednesday May 2015

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Saturday 2nd May 2015 ko 15.00

Cheltenham League First Division

FC LAKESIDE 3 (Bowers 55 Griffiths 22 Griffiths 90p)

WHADDON UNITED 3 (Peters 45 Watkins 62 80)

Att 116

At Pitch 4, Dowty Rotal Sports Ground, Down Hatherley Lane, Staverton

Entry FREE

No Programme

A few weeks ago I watched Whaddon United, enjoyed the experience, and paid little or no attention afterwards. I thought their win against Kings AFC would see them lift the Cheltenham League title with ease. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the league table with them only one point clear with one game left, and my plans for Saturday were immediately changed when I saw that game was away against Lakeside, the second placed club! A shoot-out for the championship shouldn’t be missed.

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Bias

04 Monday May 2015

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Thursday 30th April 2015 ko 18.30

Spartan South Midlands League4 Division Two

WILLEN 0

TRING CORINTHIANS 3 (Brumwell 5 87 Wheeler-King 29)

Att 16

Entry FREE

No programme

I admit it, I’m biased against Milton Keynes. That may or may not have a lot to do with an unhappy 2-year stint working at a major bank there in the midst of the banking crisis. I hated driving there in the morning, and heading back home each evening (via a football ground of course) was a blessed release. Continue reading →

Nursery

01 Friday May 2015

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Saturday 25th April 2015 ko 18.15

Notts Senior League- Senior Division

SANDHURST 4 (Shaw 30 Pearson 32 Clarkson 54p Chapman 55)

KIRTON BRICKWORKS 2 (Ricketts 6 Cooper 82)

Att 346

Entry £3

Programme £1

You could sense the worry as the stream of traffic left Burton Joyce. With hop organiser Rob Hornby scheduling four games in a day without floodlights the game that would be tightest for time would be this one, pulled forward to preserve the light. We put the postcode into the satnav, and winced as the ETA showed just 15 minutes before kick-off. With no delays, that would be fine, but the queue to the junction was being exacerbated by the regular trains using the level crossing. Continue reading →

Popular

30 Thursday Apr 2015

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Saturday 25th April 2015 ko 15.20

Notts Senior League- Senior Division

BURTON JOYCE 3 (Buckle 5 Ryan Easom 67 Smith 82) 

Clements missed penalty 4

Roscoe Easom sent off 85 (DOGSO)

ATTENBOROUGH 3 (Nice 9 Elliker 30 61)

Att 279

Entry £3

Programme £1

Was I the only one who thought the hop needed a boost when we parked up at the Poplars? Certainly one goal in two games wasn’t what four clubs, the league and one organiser would have wanted, but even if the game here hadn’t had served up a 6-goal thriller, the boost Burton Joyce gave the event was based on far more than just football. Continue reading →

In Defence Of The Nil-Nil Draw

28 Tuesday Apr 2015

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Saturday 25th April 2015 ko 10.10

Notts Senior League- Senior Division

BINGHAM TOWN 0

RUDDINGTON VILLAGE 0

Att 387

Entry £3

Programme £1

Breakfast-in-a box £3.95

I hadn’t paid much attention to Rob Hornby’s schedule for this hop, but when I received my ticket (It always pays to pay in advance for these events) my eyebrow raised a millimetre. Trying to take in 4 games in a day is normal, but achieving the feat with not one of the clubs having floodlights isn’t. It’s been done before, the South Wales Amateur League Hop in 2005 saw a start at Rhydyfelin and a finish at Cwmaman Institute for example, but it does require the clubs to be close together. Still 4 games is always good for value-for-money, and the early finish gets everyone home at a reasonable hour. Continue reading →

Through The Round Window

26 Sunday Apr 2015

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Monday 20th April 2015 ko 18.30

Hampshire Premier League- Senior Division

HAMBLE CLUB 4 (Shrimpton 11 Thomson 32 Cox 53 Bull 76)

WINCHESTER CASTLE 0

Att 36

Entry FREE

No Programme

I have a feeling that many will look at my photos of the Shell Mex ground in Hamble-le-Rice and suggest that the new champions’ home isn’t up to much. Yes, the players change in Portakabins, and the tea bar is housed in another. There’s no cover, no hard standing, and the nets behind the goals are a feat of Heath Robinson-style engineering. All of this is true, but pay attention to these pictures carefully, because when you visit, the place will look nothing like this. Continue reading →

Looking Back

31 Wednesday Dec 2014

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Hindsight is a wonderful thing, so with 2015 nearly upon us let’s cast a final glance on 2014, after all some exceptional places did get a visit! If you’d like to see more of the places featured, the links with take you to the original articles.

January saw a week’s visit to Malta, and between avoiding nervous British pensioners, and my attempts to source the biggest full English breakfast on the Island, we did manage to watch 9 games. For me there were two highlights, the games on Gozo, where there seemed to be more capacity in the Catholic Churches than residents!

SONY DSC

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The Frogmill

14 Sunday Sep 2014

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Tuesday 9th September 2014 ko 18.15

Cheltenham League Division Two

ANDOVERSFORD 5 (R Cleal 41 57 Frewin 61 77 84)

PRESTBURY ROVERS 0

Att 16

Entry FREE

Programme NO

I suspect if you live to the east of Cheltenham, as I do, Andoversford is where you turn off of the A40 to head down to the Air Balloon Pub, then on towards Gloucester and the M5. Apart from passing the Marco Pierre White-owned Frogmill Inn, you do tend to by-pass the pretty village, which really is quintessentially Cotswolds in character. Continue reading →

Wherever Life Takes You

28 Friday Mar 2014

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A few days ago I was asked to write a piece for the United Counties League Facebook page. Given that we’re organising a groundhop for them in August I thought I’m delve a little into groundhopping culture. I  occasionally get asked what’s the most far-flung and unusual ground I’ve ever visited and I’ve got a good tale to tell on that… This isn’t my usual offering but I hope you enjoy it.

 

We took the groundhop to West Wales a few weeks ago, for 5 games in the Ceredigion League. We at GroundhopUK were really happy with how it went, attendances were 20% up on 2013, and the clubs did a marvellous job, making a tidy sum on varied catering, and newsy, interesting programmes.

But I’m not going to talk about that, you’ll all see how that’s done thing coming August, this is a tale from one of my more far-flung travels.

The first game on Sunday was at Bargod Rangers, in the pretty village of Drefach Velindre, near Newcastle Emlyn, and I got volunteered to speak to the local press. The cub reporter asked me what my most bizarre ground visited is, and I told them it was Zweigen Kanazawa in the Japanese 3rd Division.

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