Tag Archives: GroundhopUK

The Quiet Ones

11 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by in L

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Sunday 30th July 2017 ko 14.00

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

LEVERINGTON SPORTS 2 (Alexander 53 Raychev 90)

PETERBOROUGH I.C.A. SPORTS 0

Att 304

Entry £4

Programme £1

When you organise one of these events clubs tend to take one of two approaches. Some, like Steve Weeks’ Hanney United phone you up every day for advice so you know everything that’s likely to be waiting for you when you arrive. Others prefer to do their preparation quietly, and leave that element of surprise. Leverington definitely fitted into the latter category. Continue reading →

The Power of 3000

07 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by in B

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Saturday 29th July 2017 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

BOURNE TOWN 1 (Russell 90p)

RAUNDS TOWN 2 (Porter 36 Townsend 81)

Att 459

Entry £5

Programme £2 (poor for what it was)

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating how much Chris Berezai and I love it when there’s someone there to meet the hop coach, it takes any uncertainty out what adds up to GroundhopUK handing over a coachload of hoppers to another club for another couple of hours, even if a fair few immediately disappear to tick off a pub or pubs! Here Bourne did the greeting in spades with an official there to welcome each and everyone to Abbey Lawns before whisking Chris, coach driver Dwayne and I off to hospitality. But this wasn’t an evening about hospitality, this was an evening about redemption. Continue reading →

The Prime Meridian

01 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by in H

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Saturday 29th July 2017 ko 10.45

United Counties League Premier Division

HOLBEACH UNITED 6 (Bird 14 53 Leckie 18 Jackson 56 Sanders 83 Davies 85)

SLEAFORD TOWN 0

Att 333

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

From our base in Peterborough coach driver Dwayne set sail north-east heading into East Anglia in general and more specifically the Fenlands. The topography flattened out considerably, Holbeach has a coastal suffix with good reason, it used to be only 2 miles from the sea, and it’s area South Holland, a good hint as to who drained the land!  Continue reading →

The Hot Spot

31 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by in H

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Friday 28th July 2017 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

HUNTINGDON TOWN 0

PINCHBECK UNITED 0

Att 221

Entry £6

Programme £1

I’ll never forget the genesis of the United Counties/ Peterborough & District League Hop. It all started with the UCL tasking apprentice Daniel Leggett to organise what they’d seen work well elsewhere. He soon hit an impasse and contacted former Notts Senior League hop organiser Rob Hornby. Rob couldn’t help him, but did contact me. I met Daniel at Peterborough Sports, and soon enough Chris Berezai and I were meeting the clubs. There was a surprise waiting for us though! Continue reading →

The Fan Club

21 Sunday May 2017

Posted by in M

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Monday 17th April 2017 ko 17.45

North West Counties League Premier Division

MAINE ROAD 2 (Morgan 18 51)

ABBEY HEY 2 (Hardy 62 Blake 79)

Att 259

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

We saw George Galloway campaigning in Gorton, near Brantingham Road, just in front of his coterie was the Labour candidate and his entourage. We soon parked up and coach driver Godfrey scuttled off to find hospitality, if there’s a radar for such things the he’s got it! I strolled in, exchanging a joke with physio Lucy Weir on her second game of the hop but was secretly hoping that seeing a crowd the candidates might come in a swell the crowd. There was of course a compelling reason why they wouldn’t…. Continue reading →

The Hopsters!

17 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in W

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Monday 14th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Premier Division

WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 3 (Bayunu 70 Henderson 90 Mendes Gomes 90)

CONGLETON TOWN 1 (Gardner 84)

Att 295

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

The coach picked its way through the affluent leafy suburbia of Chorlton-cum-Hardy as we worked out exactly where to park, the club had earmarked a car park near to a pub, but that was full, and even when empty had a height barrier precluding coach entry. Eventually a club official found us, we disembarked, and Godfrey the driver found alternative parking arrangements. I saw him later in the cafe, so Plan B was clearly a good one! Continue reading →

The Imperative

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by in A

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Monday 14th April 2017 ko 11.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

ATHERTON COLLERIES 5 (Kenny 4og Cover 20 66 73p Bailey 49)

AFC DARWEN 1 (Hepple 80)

Att 478

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

It’s a well-told story, how Atherton Collieries in 2013 helped us at GroundhopUK out by taking on an Easter Hop game on 48 hours’ notice after our planned game at AFC Emley got snowed off.

They moved heaven and earth to accommodate us, secretary Emil Anderson even dragged himself from his sick bed to be there. It took a knock-back or two to get a NWCL hop, but Joe Gibbons, Emil and all the Colls were there pushing to make it happen, so when the idea finally was agreed it was obvious that we’d want them on our first hop. That though would create an issue …. Continue reading →

My Chemical Romance

15 Monday May 2017

Posted by in R

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 18.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

RUNCORN TOWN 4 (Cairns 16p 77 Reed 49 77)

BARNTON 1 (J McShane 73)

Att 335

Entry £6

Programme £2

People were beginning to flag as the coach searched for a parking spot at Weston Point. If this had been the normal August Bank Holiday hop we’d have been parking up at our last game. I glanced over the Mersey estuary towards Halkyn United who had once been the opener for such a jaunt and remembered the view of the chemical works and inwardly reminisced.  Continue reading →

Onwards & Upwards

10 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in A

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Division One

ASHTON TOWN 0

STOCKPORT TOWN 2 (Hinchliffe 29p 57)

Att 315

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

If any future host club at a groundhop wants a piece of advice on how best to endear themselves to the organiser I suggest having someone waiting to guide in the coach when we arrive at the ground. It sets the tone for the visit, in confirming competence and in the case of Ashton Town I’m not sure we’d have found the parking spot without help. You couldn’t help but like Ashton Town, tucked away as they are between the houses in the middle of Ashton-in-Makerfield but we all knew they had their own problems over and above coping with a crowd up to 10 times normal. Continue reading →

Rock On Selby

08 Monday May 2017

Posted by in S

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Saturday 15th April 2017 ko 18.30

Northern Counties East League Division One

SELBY TOWN 1 (Mortimer 34)

PENISTONE CHURCH 1 (Whittington 68)

Att 386

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

It was good to see that all the supporters that had gone missing had made it back for this game, as the coach parked near Flaxley Road it felt close to being the end of an era. I remembered Chris meeting with the league before a hastily rearranged precursor game before a Central Midlands League hop as I did all the normal GroundhopUK duties. I remember our first game at Yorkshire Amateur where the club marvelled at just how many pints of real ale a coachload of hoppers could drink, and many rather took to the female PCSO who turned up wondering why there was a crowd at Bracken Edge? Continue reading →