Tag Archives: GroundhopUK

Beauty & Tragedy

07 Wednesday Sep 2016

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Saturday 27th August 2016 ko 13.15

South Wales Alliance Division Two

ABERFAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC CLUB 4 (Caffell 21 62 80 Madgwick 49)

FOCHRIW 1 (Brannan 25)

Att 220 

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

If ever there was a village touched by tragedy it’s Aberfan. So ingrained in the collective consciousness is the village it’s hard to believe it’s 50 years since a spoil heap collapsed on Pantglas Junior School killing 116 children and 28 adults. The village will be forever remembered for what happened on 21st October 1966 and while the graveyard in clearly visible from Grove Field, this was a day for at least some of us to see Aberfan in terms other than the tragedy. That said, I was pleased that many managed to visit the memorial garden either before or after the match. Continue reading →

St Illtud

05 Monday Sep 2016

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Saturday 27th August 2016 ko 10.30

South Wales Alliance – Premier Division

LLANTWIT FARDRE 6 (L Jawad 7 Miller 16 48 80 Griffiths 21 K Jawad 60)

BETTWS 0 Williams sent off (dangerous play 45)

Att 190

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

I’m not sure why I still felt tired, one piece of useful information from 6 years previously I had remembered. If you’ve enjoyed yourself at the Otley Arms and there are four of you that are sufficiently lazy, it is only £1 each to take a taxi up the hill back to your digs at the university in Treforest! That and we’d changed the way we do breakfast too…. Continue reading →

Homecoming

03 Saturday Sep 2016

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Friday 26th August 2016 ko 18.30

South Wales Alliance Premier Division

SULLY SPORTS 2 (Briscombe 22 73p)

CANTON LIBERAL 4 (Kooper 10 Phillips 27 61 Quick 40)

Att 281

Entry £3

Programme £1

When the 2015 Welsh Groundhop finished its stint in the Welsh Alliance at Penmaenmawr Phoenix Chris Berezai and I had a few decisions to make. On one hand we loved the accommodation at Chester University, and had an excellent relationship with our coach company up there, but we were torn over which league or leagues to visit. Ideally we like multi-division leagues with no reserve teams as that allows for the hop to stay in a league for 3 or more years, but there was a clarion call from our past…. Continue reading →

Aftermath

20 Saturday Aug 2016

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Sunday 31st July 2016 ko 17.30

Peterborough & District League Division One

WITTERING HARRIERS 5 (Lockwood 23secs Middleton 27 Braint 37 Cayley 56 Tippett 90)

LONG SUTTON ATHLETIC 2 (W Oliver 3 Cawthorn 59)

Att 250

Entry £4

Programme £1

The throng finally managed to escape Sawtry’s car park and headed off for the last game of the hop. We were bound for the RAF town of Wittering, and in the planning stage this did throw up an unusual decision or two. The club do play some of their games on the air base, beyond security so there was a decision on where to play this one. At GroundhopUK we’ve held games with a security check, who could forget Benson Lions at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham? In this case though the base don’t seem to like Wittering holding all their games there, so we decided to stick with the straightforward, for this time anyway! Continue reading →

Loads Here Already

18 Thursday Aug 2016

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Sunday 31st July 2016 ko 14.00

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

SAWTRY 0

STILTON UNITED 2 (West 77 Denning 81)

Att 534

Entry £4

Programme £1

I remember last time “The Itinerant Football Watcher” Peter Miles sent me the “There’s loads here already” message. That was at the final game of the 2015 Welsh hop at Penmaenmawr Phoenix and the gate turned out to be a Welsh hop record! Our coach pulled off the A1, that message arrived again, and I hoped for something similar. Continue reading →

Breakfast

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

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Sunday 31st July 2016 ko 10.30

United Counties League Division One

BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS 2 (McNeil 53 Richard-Noel 85)

BOURNE TOWN 1 (Munton 39)

Att 241

Entry £4

Programme £1

Teamsheet 20p

It didn’t feel like a lazy Sunday morning even if in the pretty village of Bugbrooke St Michaels the only signs of life seemed to be at Birds Close. We’d all had an early start not least all those at Bourne Town, who’d met at 7.30am to fulfill this fixture. Thanks therefore to them, and their gesture has not been forgotten- they’ll get their chance as hosts. Continue reading →

Heritage

12 Friday Aug 2016

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Saturday 30th July 2016 ko 19.45

United Counties League- Division One

RUSHDEN & HIGHAM UNITED 2 (A Cormack 20 Ainge 23)

OAKHAM UNITED 7 (M Nelson 6 61 90 Brown 14og Brockbank 22 43 Lord 53og)

Att 214

Entry £6

Programme £1

It was interesting to see the demographic of the hoppers at the fourth game of the day. On one hand we’d lost a few “Big numbers” boys who like me, had ticked of Hayden Road years before, but we gained back the hoppers who’d opted to miss the games at Eye and Thorney in favour of Wisbech St Mary. But no matter who you are Hayden Road, is a ground that’s always worth a visit.

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Motivation

08 Monday Aug 2016

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Saturday 30th July 2016 ko 16.30

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

THORNEY 3 (Gallacher 71 Lodzian 80 Rayner 87)

LEVERINGTON SPORTS 4 (Reed 19 Kudaba 54 64 90)

Att 203

Entry £4

Programme £1

There are many reasons why a club would want to host a hop game. For some it’s purely a fundraiser, for others it’s the chance to bring the community together. I remember for Berinsfield it was a charm offensive, and for the likes of Films SK in Sweden it was to show off their beautiful country. For Thorney though, the motivation was a first, and completely different. Continue reading →

Run For Home

07 Sunday Aug 2016

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Saturday 31st July 2016 ko 13.30

Peterborough & District League- Division 3

EYE UNITED 3 (Law 31 Joyce 81 90)

FC PETERBOROUGH 0

Att 196

Entry £4

Programme £1

Chicken/ Veggie curry £3

We knew we’d lose a few hoppers after the Crowland game, Wisbech St Mary’s first ever game in the Eastern Counties League was always going to be an attraction. In fact I was slightly relieved when I spotted that the opposition there was to be AFC Sudbury’s reserves. Many hoppers won’t watch a game involving a reserve side, so that league’s decision to schedule the match that way was, I’m sure unwittingly, doing us a favour! But whatever the whys and wherefores due east, I felt we had a good pair of games to offer, and Eye was intriguing. Continue reading →

Incroyable

03 Wednesday Aug 2016

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Saturday 30th July 2016 ko 10.30

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

CROWLAND TOWN 2 (Hunt 2 Ellis 29)

AFC STANGROUND 7 (West 51 62 Mahoney 60 J Staggs 83 87 Rankin 85 Brown 89)

Att 240

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

One of the things I love about this hop is the variety of grounds we get to visit, as as organiser the challenge is understanding those clubs’ highly varied needs. You saw it in a nutshell between our first game at Long Buckby and at Snowdon Fields in Crowland. In terms of facilities they are chalk and cheese. Continue reading →