Tag Archives: GroundhopUK

Memories

28 Thursday Aug 2014

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Saturday 23rd August 2014 ko 18.30

Welsh Alliance Division One

BARMOUTH & DYFFRYN 6 (Lewis 20 22 59 Harrison 27 S Jones 32 Ap Gwyndwr 63og)

LLANRWST UNITED 2 (Griffiths 43 45p)

Att 294

Entry £4

Programme £1

Two years ago when we at GroundhopUK and the Welsh Alliance agreed that a groundhop should take place, one club loomed large, purely down to its location. In Welsh Alliance terms Barmouth is rather out-on-a-limb, a southern outpost of the league to the extent that on arrival I was struck at how much the scenery reminded me of Aberdyfi which we’d visited on the MID-Wales hop! Continue reading →

Time

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

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Saturday 23rd August 2014 ko 11.00

Welsh Alliance Division One

PWLLHELI 5 (C Jones 7 82 Scott 45 49 68)

LLANRUG UNITED 4 (Lloyd 8 Owen 24p DN Williams 56 Sadler 80)

Att 328

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

When you’re organising a groundhop time is everything. You sit for hours with lists of clubs grouped by geography then use Google maps to calculate distance and from that, time. It’s a precious commodity and a simple error on the part of the coach company, a lost set of keys to one of our coaches, threatened to derail us. Continue reading →

Back to the start of it all

08 Friday Aug 2014

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Saturday 2nd August 2014 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

PETERBOROUGH SPORTS 1 (Simpson 50)

BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS 1 (Ansell 25)

Att 283

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

Mug £5

I do like to see a hop visit its genesis. I deliberately started the very first North Berkshire hop at the geographical centre of the league, Steventon Green, and since my first meeting with the United Counties League was here at the start of last season, report and club history here, it seemed only fitting that they feature on the first UCL/PDFL hop.

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La Grange

07 Thursday Aug 2014

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Saturday 2nd August 2014 ko 17.00

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

NETHERTON UNTED 2 (Patton 42 Mastin 69)

THORNEY 1 (Baldwin 89)

Att 281

Entry £4

Programme £1

Badge £3

It has to be said The Grange turned into one of the more difficult places to find. That’s no reflection on the club, more a reflection on the speed of development in this part of Peterborough. I mean, how many clubs change entrances without moving grounds? I visited the ground back in 2012, and used one entrance, report here and the stream of traffic, not least Rick and the coach caused more than a few surprised looks as the best part of 300 people drove through the new estate.

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Cool

07 Thursday Aug 2014

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Saturday 2nd August 2014 ko 13.45

Peterborough & District League Premier Division

RIVERSIDE 3 (Dello Russo 4 Lancaster 40 Donohoe 90p)

UPPINGHAM TOWN 1 (Binley 62)

Att 257

Entry £5

Programme £1

Badge £3

 

I was a little nervous as the coach left Leading Drove, for the mile-or-so journey to Daimler Avenue also in Yaxley. Its not as though GroundhopUk hadn’t organised games at lower levels of the game, will we ever visit a club of lower status than say Uffington United? It wasn’t as if the people at Riverside weren’t obviously up for the challenge, I’d enjoyed their company and admired their ideas at the club meetings, but I was very aware that we were at least in part taking some people out of their comfort zones.

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Cuckoo

05 Tuesday Aug 2014

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Saturday 2nd August 2014 ko 11.00

United Counties League Premier Division

YAXLEY 3 (Coleman 31 Cotton 43p 76)

LONG BUCKBY 1 (Hailstone 90og)

Att 206

Entry £6

Programme £1

Badge £3

The coach, expertly coaxed by Rick at the wheel made the tight left turn into Leading Drove, and down the narrow drive to the football ground on the left. There’s a pitch to the right, used by Stilton FC, and since they play in the Peterborough & District League the original idea was to have a game there straight after this one, but they turned us at GroundhopUK down for reasons unknown, and with league official Daniel Leggett being an expert on the geography of the PDFL, he approached Riverside in their place, but that is another article!

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In the Deep end

05 Tuesday Aug 2014

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Friday 1st August 2014 ko 19.45

United Counties League Premier Division

DEEPING RANGERS 3 (Lewis 38 Oliver 78 Flack 85) Lewis sent off 43 (dangerous play)

HARBOROUGH TOWN 0

Att 307

Entry £6

Programme £1

Badge £3

So back on GroundhopUK duty and the fruition of something that started with a tweet from league official Daniel Leggett to Notts hop organiser Rob Hornby. That found me visiting Peterborough Sports to meet Daniel, only to find most of the committee there wanting a chat, and things moved fairly quickly from there. The next move was a first for us, involving a new league, the Peterborough & District League, a feeder to the UCL. We’d visited other league’s clubs where geographically convenient, Penybont and Radnor Valley for example on the Mid-Wales hops but a dual hop would be something new for us to plan. Continue reading →

Here, There & Everywhere

11 Friday Jul 2014

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Saturday 5th July 20145 ko 19.45

League of Ireland Division One

LONGFORD TOWN 3 (O’Sullivan 65 81 Shaw 79) G. O’Connor sent off 62 (dangerous play)

SHELBOURNE 0 McDonagh sent off 62 (violent conduct)

Att 780

Entry €10

Programme €3

Badge €5

NB. The Irish tour’s cost of £285 included entry into all the 3 games, and programmes, all transport, all excursions, and 3 nights bed and breakfast at Dublin City University

The great advantage of a day with just the one match to see is that the rest of your time is a blank canvas. There was time for a leisurely, if large breakfast before the coach headed north to the pretty seaside town of Skerries, In fact you could trace the coast north and see over the border to Northern Ireland. Continue reading →

Similarities & Differences

08 Tuesday Jul 2014

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Friday 4th July ko 19.45

League of Ireland Premier Division

BRAY WANDERERS 1 (Kelly 19) Mitchell sent off 60 (2nd booking)

DROGHEDA UNITED 3 (Brennan 4 Holahan 37 Brady 90)

Att 495

Entry €15 (€1 = £0.80)

Programme €3

Badge €3

Pennant €10

NB. The Irish tour’s cost of £285 included entry into all the 3 games, and programmes, all transport, all excursions, and 3 nights bed and breakfast at Dublin City University

This weekend represented something new for GroundhopUK, a trip outside the UK, and the chance to try something different, a tour that didn’t revolve exclusively around football. We’ve been aware for some time that people can attend an organised groundhop and never see much else save for a steady succession of football grounds. This tour was to break that mould completely. Continue reading →

Thoughts

25 Friday Apr 2014

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Monday 21st April 2014 ko 18.00

Northern League Division One

NEWTON AYCLIFFE 1 (Hedley 4)

SHILDON 1 (Wood 68p)

Att 446

Entry £6

Programme £1

Badge £3

Its felt like the end of an era as the cavalcade reached the Newton Aycliffe Sports Ground. There were a few tired legs and still more tired faces, including organiser Harvey Harris. I managed to spend a few minutes with him and thanked him for his efforts, organising one hop a year isn’t easy, 4 including this hop, a monster 4 day 11 game epic is tough, very tough. He seemed pleased to be hanging up his boots, and I don’t blame him for that, the League will organise a staggered kick-off day, not a hop, next season so that people can keep up with new teams and grounds to the league. That day will be in co-operation with the hopping diary, so I’ll look forward to seeing, once again my friends in the North.

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