Tag Archives: GroundhopUK

The One We All Wanted

08 Friday Feb 2019

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Saturday 26th January 2019 ko 13.30

Norfolk Senior Cup Quarter Final

U.E.A. 0

SWAFFHAM TOWN 3 (Pearson 5 Castellan 65 75)

Att c60 at University of East Anglia Playing Fields, Colney Lane, Norwich

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It’s probably common knowledge that GroundhopUK and the Anglian Combination have agreed to work together to stage an Anglian Hop in 2020. If you’d have told me even at the start of this season I’d get to write that, I’d have laughed at you. We’d tried, and tried again but each time received a firm, but polite “No” from the league. I’d mentally filed the idea along with the Highland League Hop in that folder marked “Nice idea but it’ll never happen” but then Twitter intervened! Continue reading →

Is Vic There?

18 Sunday Nov 2018

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Sunday 9th October 2018 ko 14.00

Western League Division One

BRISTOL TELEPHONES 1 (Goulding 60)

KEYNSHAM TOWN 2 (Shorney 27 38)

Att 310

Entry £6

Programme £1

There was no secret as to why the final game of the 2018 Western Hop was always going to be the most popular amongst the groundhoppers. Bristol Telephones are only in their second season in the Western League having won the Gloucestershire County League in 2017 so many would target this game, and this game alone in order to re-complete the league. By means of an example, the BTRA Ground, Stockwood Lane was to be my only new ground of the weekend! Continue reading →

Fairfax

15 Thursday Nov 2018

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Sunday 7th October 2018 ko 11.00

Western League Premier Division

BRIDGWATER TOWN 1 (Ellis 74)

BRIDPORT 0 Martin sent off 70 (Serious Foul Play)

Att 371

Entry £6

Programme £1

 

Sunday dawned and with it the longest drive of the hop, from our base in Almondsbury to Bridgwater. It was odd driving one of our 3 minibuses, full of hoppers but utterly incapable of going more than 60 mph! The extra time on the M5 did give me time to consider what we’d be likely to find at Fairfax Park. Continue reading →

Planning Gain

08 Thursday Nov 2018

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Saturday 6th October 2018 ko 17.00

Western League Premier Division

HALLEN 0

SHEPTON MALLET 3 (Willmott 45 Pollard 59 Morgan 77)

Att 218

Entry £6

Programme £1

Given one or two groundhoppers’ predisposition for getting their geography in a twist I ought to make it clear that this in the Hallen, which is the other side of the M5 from Bristol and not the club playing at the World’s oldest football ground- that’s Hallam! And while we were never ever going to visit the Hallen Centre on the Northern Counties East Hop, we could have easily have visited back in the day on the Hellenic Hop, the club are based in, and affiliated to the Gloucestershire FA, and it took until 2000 to prise themselves away and into the more logical Western League. That isn’t the limit of the club’s adventures though! Continue reading →

Knee Deep In the Hoopla

05 Monday Nov 2018

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Saturday 6th October 2018 ko 14.15

Western League Premier Division

CLEVEDON TOWN 1 (Camm 12)

BUCKLAND ATHLETIC 3 (Johansen 30 Bush 72 Richards 85)

Att 213

Entry £6

Programme £1

Without wishing to be in any way disparaging to the good folk at Clevedon Town, the Western Hop’s visit to the Hand Stadium was the one I was anticipating the least. That was for two reasons, I’d visited twice before, during their Southern League days, and that the ground is still relatively new, being opened in 1992. Of course, life being as contrary as it is, it turned out to be one I’ll remember the most! Continue reading →

Titan

03 Saturday Nov 2018

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Saturday 6th October 2018 ko 11.00

Western League Division One

LONGWELL GREEN SPORTS 2 (Brittain 2 Keary 36)

WELTON ROVERS 3 (Hunt 28 Seviour 54 77)

Att 213

Entry £5

Programme £1

When we started the Western Hop back in 2015 we actually passed Longwell Green Sports on our way between Bitton and Oldland Abbotonians. Whilst amusing myself with the knowledge that we’d succeeded in convincing a hopper that the latter club was so named because comedian Russ Abbott was a secret benefactor (He actually recorded it in his blog before rapidly deleting it!) we passed the ground and I wondered why we weren’t visiting there and then? Continue reading →

Bris (tol)

01 Thursday Nov 2018

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Friday 5th October 2018 ko 19.45

Western League Premier Division

BRISLINGTON 2 (Taylor 40 Biggins 71)

ODD DOWN (BATH) 3 (Lloyd6 79 82)

Att 262 

Entry £6

Programme £1

For as long as I visit grounds of the Western League I will always think of the late Mark Edmonds, That goes double for the Western Hop, the idea he had, that every year Chris Berezai and try our best to make the most of his legacy for the clubs he set out to help.  It puts us under a good kind of pressure, and that goes for everyone involved that remembers Mark. This year it was lovely to see his widow Sarah joining us all for this hop, mainly based in and around Bristol, and I hope she feels we did Mark’s idea justice.  Continue reading →

The Finale (For Now)

21 Sunday Oct 2018

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Monday 26th August 2018 ko 17.00

South Wales Alliance Division 1

AFC WHITCHURCH 1 (Bould 66p)

CARDIFF CORINTHIANS 3 (Raven 50 76p Malloys 86p)

Att 312

Entry ??

Programme £1

There are a few jokes to be told about taking 2 coachloads of groundhoppers a game in a mental hospital, my favourite being that we’d get the same number out than we took in, but there’d be plenty of different faces!  Continue reading →

Attack! Attack!

18 Thursday Oct 2018

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Monday 27th August 2018 ko 14.00

South Wales Alliance- Premier Division

CAERPHILLY ATHLETIC 7 (Tedstone 31 49 55 76 Leadbeater 44 74 Edwards 50)

CWM WELFARE 0

Att 252

Entry £3

Programme £1

I refuse to believe there isn’t a groundhopper out there that doesn’t have more than a healthy dose of O.C.D., it goes hand-in-hand with the hobby! My version of it is an odd variant, if I see a town’s name on a road sign, I want to go and see that town’s club. So after 15 or so years heading up and down the A470 passing Caerphilly each time, you can imagine how pleased I was to be finally seeing a game here! Continue reading →

The Dog That Had Its Day

17 Wednesday Oct 2018

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Monday 27th August 2018 ko 11.00

Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley League Premier Division

RHYDYFELIN 2 (Mahoney 4p 73)

Mahoney missed penalty 37

YNYSYBWL 4 (Dan Davies 39 Livock 45 82 L Price 57) 

C Jones sent off 3 (DOGSO)

Tooze sent off 37 (DOGSO)

Att 229

Entry £3

Programme £1

Monday dawned on the final day of the hop, and fortunately the rain had abated save for the odd shower. I knew I’d be approaching the day with mixed feelings, as this was to be GroundhopUK’s last day with the South Wales Alliance for the time being since we’ve run out of clubs that either want to host, can host, or we’ve not already visited.

For this hop the original plan was to start Monday at Cardiff-based St Albans, but they turned us down so the next idea was to go to STM Sports Old Boys, but the pitch they use as the University of Wales wasn’t available as the university was closed over the bank holiday. So we decided to go for a blast from our collective past. Continue reading →