Tag Archives: GroundhopUK

Terms of Endearment

08 Saturday Aug 2015

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Saturday 1st August 2015 ko 13.45

United Counties League Division One

BLACKSTONES 1 (Evans 64p)

RUSHDEN & HIGHAM UNITED 1 (Cormack 30)

Att 327

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £3

So back to the UCL for our second game of the day, and over the border to Lincolnshire and the historic market town of Stamford. Blackstones take their name from their background as the works team of the Mirlees Blackstones engineering firm (more here) but I did wonder what the crowd would be like here. Continue reading →

Much In Little

07 Friday Aug 2015

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Saturday 1st August 2015 ko 10.45

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

KETTON 2 (Waldron 32 Brockbank 83p)

NETHERTON 2 (Randall 16 Rankin 65)

Att 284

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

When we at GroundhopUK took on a the task of organising a hop for the United Counties and Peterborough Leagues, one area loomed large and that was the tiny county of Rutland. The tradionally smallest county in the UK intrigued Chris Berezai and I, and when I paid Uppingham Town a visit around 4 years ago, I wrote an article titled “Rutland Weekend Television.” a nod to Eric Idle’s 1970’s humorous TV show. So when we agreed the hop we were able to see if we could organise a groundhop exclusively in Rutland but was it even possible? Continue reading →

Types

06 Thursday Aug 2015

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Friday 31st July 2015 ko 19.45

United Counties League Premier Division

HARBOROUGH TOWN 1 (Wright 2)

YAXLEY 3 (Cotton 9 Gearing 48 82)

Att 313

Entry £6

Programme £1

Badge £3

The more organised hops I help organise the more I feel I can see how the future of the organised hop will pan out. On one hand it would be easy for Chris Berezai and I to simply organise events in leagues we’re interested in. With around 3,000 grounds visited between us that would see lower level leagues featuring, along the lines of the Ceredigion or North Berkshire Leagues, but we both feel that we owe it to those with far lower ground counts to organise events at Step 5 and 6. Continue reading →

Worship

12 Sunday Apr 2015

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Saturday 4th April 2015 ko 19.30

Northern Counties East League Division One

PENISTONE CHURCH 0 Howes sent off (2nd booking) 70

PONTEFRACT COLLIERIES 7 (Danville 15 Radford 33 Moxam 34 56 Catton 74 Lindley 89 Whitehouse 90)

Att 511

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

We didn’t have much time as tired minds made for the foothills of the Peninnes, and the club new to the NCEL for this season. It was good to see the man in his day-glo jacket directing us in, and the staff on the gate shepherding the coach passengers through the pre-paid ticket gate. “A team sheet? Just go the table to the left of the clubhouse?” As organiser you just love it when all that planning and preparation bears fruit! Continue reading →

Imagine

12 Sunday Apr 2015

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Saturday 4th April 2015 ko 16.45

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

SHAW LANE AQUAFORCE 1 (Denton 38)

HEANOR TOWN 0

Att 344

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Imagine if you will, you were from Barnsley and a keen Sheffield Wednesday fan. You’ve started and built a successful water meter business, so you decide to rent an executive box at Hillsborough. You’ve won the game of life, and are metaphorically munching the prawn sandwiches at your favourite club, but there’s something missing.

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The Hoppers

09 Thursday Apr 2015

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Friday 3rd April 2015 ko 14.30

Northern Counties East Premier Division

WINTERTON RANGERS 1 (Start 41)

YORKSHIRE AMATEUR 1 (J Hughes 15)

Att 303

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

As large as the attendance was at Barton, I was a little worried about how well it would hold up at Winterton next up. The geography of the league meant that we couldn’t schedule our normal 4 games in a day so “Drift” could come into play. That’s where the middle game sees a fall-off in attendance as hoppers decide to head “Off piste” and attend the wide variety of simultaneous games. I was, therefore rather relieved when I saw the “Car Park Full” sign outside West Street, it wasn’t a large car park, but the message it conveyed was a good one! Continue reading →

The Clutch

06 Monday Apr 2015

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Friday 3rd April 2015 ko 11.30

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

BARTON TOWN OLD BOYS 0

CLEETHORPES TOWN 3 (Robertson 36 90 Grant 87)

Att 517

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

I woke up with a start in Wakeford, and I really must learn to put some clothes on before opening the curtains to check the weather. It was hammering it down with rain, and my torpor was only slightly eased during breakfast with the news that it wasn’t raining in Barton-upon-Humber. That ground had seen significant rainfall during the week and the last thing we wanted was a postponement. I was worried enough about Barton’s prospects anyway.

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The Lump

06 Monday Apr 2015

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Thursday 2nd April 2015 ko 19.45

Northern Counties League Premier Division

NOSTELL MINERS WELFARE 2 (Boardman 30 90)

RETFORD UNITED 0 Thornton sent off 90 (Foul language)

Att 265

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Badge £3

So for the final time this season back on GroundhopUK duty, and to complete our triptych of Ceredigion, Lowland, and North Counties East hops in a mere 5 weeks! From Chris Berezai and I’s perspective this hop was possibly one that we were the most used to organising. Take a look at the 12 year history of the organisation, and the blueprint for the Step 5/6 league (or similar) is one we’ve used the most often.

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Grand Day Out

29 Sunday Mar 2015

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Sunday 22nd March 2015 ko 15.00

Lowland League

THREAVE ROVERS 2 (Struthers 7 Donley 43) Miller sent of 87 (violent conduct)

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY 3 (Daniels-Yeoman 12 Aitken 61 Ward 81)

Att 462

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Here’s a first for you, has a groundhop every visited a club named after a tea rooms? The club is named after the café in Castle Douglas where it was formed in 1953. The tea rooms in turn were named after Threave Castle, and Threave is derived from the Welsh term “Tref,” meaning homestead. Perhaps that’s why we used two Welsh coaches for the weekend! Continue reading →

Brutalist

26 Thursday Mar 2015

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Saturday 21st March 2015 ko 19.00

Lowland League

GALA FAIRYDEAN ROVERS 1 (Bonnar 49)

UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING 2 (Bonar 43 Geddes 90)

Att 323

Entry £5

Programme £2

The sun began to set and as the coach reached Galashiels I relaxed for the first time since we’d left Hilingdon 36 hours earlier. I knew everyone wanted to visit the iconic club of Gala, and in Graeme McIver I had a club contact who was competent to the point where Chris and I knew all we needed to do is let him get on with staging the game. That doesn’t happen very often, clubs at the level GroundhopUK organise hops for aren’t used to having 300-plus crowds so guidance is essential, to do otherwise is at best unfair, and at worst folly. Graeme simply needed to know how many tickets we’d sold and a rough idea of the likely attendance, and he was more than capable of doing the rest. Continue reading →