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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: Isle of Wight

Smallbrook

14 Tuesday Dec 2021

Posted by laurencereade in N

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Football, groundhopping, Isle of Wight, Newport Isle of Wight, Newport IW, Non League, Racecourse, Ryde Saints, Smallbrook Stadium, Speedway, St Georges Park, wessex league

Saturday 4th December 2021 ko 14:00

Wessex League Division One

NEWPORT (IW) FC 2 (Kelly 23 31)

ANDOVER NEW STREET 1 (Hooper 45)

Att 98 at Smallbrook Stadium

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

I have a nasty feeling I’m groundhopping ways of reaching the Isle of Wight! There’s been, so far, the Fastjet from Portsmouth for Cowes Sports, the ferry from Portsmouth for East Cowes Vics, the ferry from Southampton for Ventnor, and the hovercraft from Southsea for Brading and Shanklin, and there’s plenty more ways to come. No, I will not be trying to swim it! Continue reading →

The Island Line

02 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by laurencereade in S

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1938 tube stock, Class 438, County Ground, Football, groundhopping, hovercraft, Island Line, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight League, lake, railway, Ryde Esplanade, Ryde Pierhead, Shanklin, underground

Saturday 2nd September 2017 ko 13.30

Isle of Wight League – Division One

SHANKLIN 2 (Nash 7 14) Sam Hart missed penalty 31

COWES SPORTS RESERVES 2 (Holdsworth 55 83) 

Att c35

Entry FREE

If you’re the kind of person who looks for the cheapest and easiest way to do things, you’d never use the hovercraft to get to the Isle of Wight. The parking in Southsea is just too expensive, and its so much more straightforward to take the car across from Southampton to Cowes. But life isn’t about treading the path most trodden, and it was Robyn’s birthday after all!

Continue reading →

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Wander For Distraction, Travel For Fulfilment

09 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by laurencereade in V

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Burghclere, Cowes, East Cowes, Ferry, Football, groundhopping, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight League, North Berkshire League, Red Funnel, Southampton, Sports Centre, Ventnor, Watcombe Bottom

Saturday 5th November 2016 ko 14.00

Hampshire Intermediate Cup First Round

VENTNOR 3 (Urry 10 33 40)

BURGHCLERE 1 (Smith 90p)

Att 21

Entry FREE

If ever there was a game I felt I ought to be at this was it. Burghclere are a club I have a lot of time for, not least as they were wonderful hosts on this year’s North Berkshire League Hop and as a proud committeeman I felt I should be there to support one of our own. You see, other than being the only NBFL club in Hampshire, and so the only club in our league in the competition there was another quirk of the draw. Continue reading →

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The Key To It All

25 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

1938 tube stock, Brading Town, hovercraft, Island Line, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight League, Jubliee Cup, Northwood St Johns, Ryde, Vicarage Lane, wessex league

Saturday 22nd August 2015 ko 14.30

Isle of Wight Jubilee Cup

BRADING TOWN 3 (Collins 7 Hichcox 28 Hatcher 45) Vale missed penalty 45)

NORTHWOOD ST JOHNS 0

Att 34

Entry £1

No Programme

The further I delve into every football ground everywhere, the endless choice every Saturday doesn’t get any less bewildering nearly 1,700 grounds in. Writing these articles helps, as it steers you towards places that cry out to have their story told, but in the end Brading Town became a classic piece of completionism. Continue reading →

50.683783 -1.142478

Sea Change

31 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by laurencereade in E

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cowes Sports, Darren Dyer, East Cowes, East Cowes Victoria, groundhop, Isle of Wight, Sports, Vics, wessex league

Friday 27th March 2015 ko 19.30

Isle of Wight DFA Senior (Gold) Cup Quarter-Final

EAST COWES VICTORIA AFC 2 (Gregory 59 Craig 90) Thompson sent off 78 (2nd booking)

EAST COWES SPORTS 2 (Tyler 11 Robjoint 76)

AET East Cowes Sports won 6-5 on penalties

Att 82

Entry £3

Programme 50p

It’s probably now common knowledge that we tried to get a Wessex League groundhop up and running, but a few weeks ago I had to end the project. While there was support from many quarters a final meeting in Totton convinced me that there wasn’t enough enthusiasm where it mattered to make it work. A real shame, as many people put a lot of effort into the project, and I was very taken by the carload of officials from the 3 Wessex League clubs Newport (IW), Cowes Sports, and East Cowes Vics who took the time and expense to take the ferry over to hear what I had to say. When it was all over I felt rather bruised by the encounter, so was heartened when several clubs contacted me to commiserate and invite me to their grounds.

Continue reading →

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Vectis

18 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by laurencereade in N

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alek Przepolewski, Cadbury Heath, FA Vase, Gary Streeter, Isle of Wight, Mark Reynolds, Matt Huxley, Newport IW, Red Jet, St Georges Park, Vectis, wessex league, Western League

Saturday 17th November 2012 ko 15.00

FA Vase 2nd Round

NEWPORT (IW) 1 (Przepolewski 10)

CADBURY HEATH 0

Att 201

Entry £6

Programme £1.30

Badge £3.50

Tea £1

In my last article I commented that I liked Sweden, at least in part for its wide open spaces. As I sat on the bus leaving the Red Jet ferry terminal at Cowes, I realised one of the reasons why I like the Isle of Wight, is the compact nature of the place. The streets are narrow and winding and there’s no great distance between anywhere. Other than my somewhat contrary nature, that feeling was rather shattered when the bus passed HMP Albany on the outskirts of Newport. The maximum security walls circling the huge facility looked particularly austere on a grey, cold day.

The bus amused me, as the company is called “Southern Vectis.” Vectis is the Roman name for the Isle of Wight, so why do you need to add “Southern?” From the bus station, its a short walk to St George’s Park, and you pass the Morrison’s and Marks & Spencer shops that sit where the football club used to live, until land prices saw a move further away from the town centre, to a purpose-built facility 25 years ago. Now Asda are sniffing around St George’s Park, but the club reckon they’ll move in next door, rather than displace them.

The ground reflects the club’s former Southern League status, with a large main stand and cover on all 4 sides. It’s an impressive home, albeit lacking the quirks and character traits of an older ground. The land was extensively levelled to build the the ground which has created a problem, with the pitch flooding. When there’s rain its a good idea to call ahead, we did, and the club were very good, calling me back with the message that the game was “Definately ON.”

The match was a match-up of the form teams of the Wessex and Western Leagues. I’d watched the Bristolian side at home in the 2010/11 FA Vase. They lost badly to an almost ridiculously strong Spennymoor side, but I remember the day most for a classy article in their programme by former resident Ian Holloway, now manager of Crystal Palace. This was a far more competitive match, although Cadbury Heath will wonder how on earth they managed to fail to at least force a replay.

Alek Przepolewski’s early header was his 18th goal of the season, but was also the end of Newport’s domination of play. Cadbury soon gained the ascendancy with some fine passing and movement, but at the end of it all, the forwards either blazed wide, or forced another good save from Gary Streeter in the home goal. Matt Huxley ballooned a shot over when it looked a good deal easier to score, and Streeter’s acrobatic tip over the bar from Mark Reynolds will live long in the memory.

Even a change of forward line couldn’t change the visitors’ fortunes and its was well before 5 minutes of stoppage time that their heads dropped. There was one last penalty shout, the aftermath of which saw Reynolds booked, but Newport had already one eye on Monday’s draw, as of course will I!





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  • Groundhopping.se Per-Gunnar Nilsson’s trips around his native Sweden, and into Europe 0
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  • Kate Shrewsday. A thousand thousand stories Not about football, but beautiful writing, Kate can make words dance. 0
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  • Swedish Football History & Statistics Mats Nyström’s curates this site, which does exactly what you’d expect 0
  • The 100 Grounds Club Shaun Smith’s groundhopping football blog. The original internet ground logging website. 0
  • The Football Traveller The bible for every groundhopper. Non-League fixtures magazine delivered weekly. Published and edited by Chris Bedford 0
  • The Intinerant Football Watcher Peter finds the grounds other hoppers cannot reach. Top bloke too! 0
  • The66POW Rob Waite’s travels 0

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