Tag Archives: GroundhopUK

Taking Stock… again!

03 Wednesday Jun 2026

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Saturday 14th March 2026 ko 13:15

Lowland League

COWDENBEATH 0

BERWICK RANGERS 2 (Binnie 1 16)

Att 406

Entry £11

Programme £3.50

You could say GroundhopUK and Cowdenbeath go back a fair way. After all Chris Berezai and I visited Central Park back in 2008 to watch Annan Athletic’s first game in the Scottish League, from then the Blue Brazil’s fortunes rocketed, the club were playing in what is now called the Scottish Championship in 2010. But from that zenith the club’s form plummeted, and by the time we visited Kelty Hearts on the 2018 Hop, Cowdenbeath were back in the bottom tier of the SPFL. The assumption seemed to be that Kelty would swap places with the Fife neighbours.

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The Enclosure Act

31 Sunday May 2026

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Friday 13th March 2026 ko 19:30

East of Scotland League Premier Division

HUTCHISON VALE 3 (Forster 17 57 Wilson-Need 57)

WHITBURN JUNIOR 2 (Nicolson 66 75)

Att 246

Entry £8

Programme £2

In groundhopping terms at least, a trip to Edinburgh’s Saughton Enclosure was long overdue. We’d planned on visiting as the 4th game on the Saturday of the Scottish Hop back in 2018. That was the year of the cold snap- it was bad enough at the Oriam Indoors, so losing the game at the then titled Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale was not necessarily bad news!!

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Slightly Miffed Strawberry Blond

15 Friday May 2026

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Sunday 1st March 2026 ko 14:30

North West Counties League First Division North

DAISY HILL 2 (Sheppard 10 Singleton 73)

STEETON 0

Emmerson sent off 90+3 (violent conduct)

Att 478

Entry £7

Programme £2

Things have changed in Westhoughton. We’d become aware of just how much at the start of last year’s hop at Ramsbottom when the attendance at the New Sirs was far higher than ours! Then when we advertised this year’s hop on the GroundhopUK website using a photo at Daisy Hill from a couple of years ago we were told by the club that no, they don’t play at the New Sirs, the ground is now called “The Ginge Power Stadium” as the ground is now sponsored by streamer Angryginge!

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Free Fallin’

11 Monday May 2026

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Sunday 1st March 2026 ko 11:30

North West Counties League Premier Division

ATHERTON LABURNUM ROVERS 2 (Bacon 5 Obasoto 73)

EUXTON VILLA 0

Att 593

Entry £6

Programme £2

Sunday dawned, or more interestly St David’s Day, and the groundhopping tradition of buying my wife Robyn Daffodils. Robyn is from Bristol, and since we visited Albania and our friend Ditmar famously said, “Bristol, isn’t that nearly in Wales?” she’s been teased about being “Welsh” ever since! It’s not often a girl from Bristol walks round Atherton with a bunch of daffs is it?

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Mechanics

05 Tuesday May 2026

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Saturday 28th February 2026 ko 19:30

North West Counties League First Division North

AFC BLACKPOOL 3 (Smith 1 Robinson 16 Bury 74)

HOLKER OLD BOYS 0

Att 405

Entry £6

Programme £2

Is it wrong that I still think of AFC Blackpool as their former selves at Blackpool Mechanics? The club started out in 1947 as Blackpool Metal Mechanics before changing their name to Blackpool Mechanics soon after. They initially played at part of Stanley Park in the town before moving to Jepson Way in 1949.

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The Tower

03 Sunday May 2026

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Saturday 2th February 2026 ko 11:00

North West Counties League First Division North

FULWOOD AMATEURS 2 (Lucas 6 7)

GARSTANG 2 (Carter 43 Bajiraliu 45+3)

Att 519

Entry £5

Programme £3

Saturday saw us head back to a familiar stomping ground for the North West Counties Hop- Blackpool, although you could easily include the West Lancashire League too. That proved to be prophetic for our day sad to say. Our first stop saw us in Preston’s environs, to Fulwood and a side spending their first seasonat Step 6 but there was a little intrigue to start with!

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Background

29 Wednesday Apr 2026

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Friday 27th February 2026 ko 19:45

North West Counties League – First Division North

DARWEN 0

COLNE 0

Att 895

Entry £7

Programme £2.50

So back on GroundhopUK duty, but the 4 of us have been doing it so long we just slip into our roles without any great effort, and that also goes for the North West Counties League too. That for us adds up mainly as Martin Fallon, who seems to become a groundhopper for the weekend! Robyn and I were particularly looking forward to visiting Darwen, with their background of Football League membership, but the evening was to straddle comedy and the bleakest of tragedy in the space of minutes.

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Stairway

04 Wednesday Mar 2026

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Saturday 15th November 2025 ko 14:00

Cymru South

TREOWEN STARS 3 (C Davies 24 Meachan 35 43)

YNYSHIR ALBIONS 0

Att 85

Entry £6

Programme £2

When you’ve spent most of the last 25 years groundhopping, it isn’t the simple statistics of how many and where that do it for me. When people ask I tell them, then add the tagline “Which shows I need to get out more” when the exact opposite is the case! These days, it’s the connections you make that drive me on, and Treowen was a classic case of this.

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Culver Road

22 Sunday Feb 2026

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Saturday 1st November 2025 ko 17:45

Southern Combination Premier Division

LANCING 1 (Collier 36)

NEWHAVEN 3 (Blunt 3 Roag 60p Oliver 87)

Att 293

Entry £8

Programme £2

If you are going to revisit a ground as a neutral, then I’d suggest leaving plenty of time between the visits, and go when the changes to the stadium are clear and manifest. I’d argue that Culver Road and I would be a case in point.

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The Swifts

18 Wednesday Feb 2026

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Saturday 1st November 2025 ko 14:00

Southern Combination Division 2

SOUTHWATER 4 (Bicknell 24 Beg 38 88p Blayney 58)

FERRING 2 (Lanigan 4 Sutton 90+3)

Att 162

Entry £3

Programme £3

We headed to Horsham’s environs for our second game of the day, and by tradition it seems, one from the County League’s bottom division. Southwater is known locally for its country park but it is also home to Southwater Royals FC who play in the West Sussex league and Southwater FC who’ve played in the Southern Combination since 2021.

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