18 Monday Nov 2019
Posted in H
Tuesday 17th September 2019 ko 19.45
Isthmian League- Premier Division
HORSHAM 2 (Harris 3 Smith 27)
WINGATE & FINCHLEY 1 (Kennedy 70)
Att 412
Entry £11
Programme £2
A new home for Horsham at Hop Oast has been one of this season’s good news stories. So much so that not only was my journey round the M25 straightforward, but I even had time to try to remember when it was I’d visited their former home at Queen Street? Continue reading
01 Friday Nov 2019
Posted in C
Tags
Alwyns Lane, Chertsey Town, Chipstead, Combined Counties League, groundhopping, isthmian league, Non League, Surrey, Velocity Trophy
Tuesday 10th September 2019 ko 19.45
Isthmian League Cup – Group 10
CHERTSEY TOWN 2 (Baxter 80 Cozens 84)
Bennell sent off (serious foul play) 41
CHIPSTEAD 3 (Hudson 26 55 Miller 63)
Att 110
Entry £9
Programme £1
The dichotomy of having visited well over 2000 football grounds is that although my options for a midweek tick are fairly limited these days, I have built up a huge database of wonderful grounds for me to take Robyn to see. A distinct advantage is also a trip to Surrey commuter belt from Oxford is a lot easier than some of my more far-flung destinations! Continue reading
23 Wednesday Jan 2019
Tags
Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Football, groundhopping, invicta, isthmian league, Margate, Non League, White Horse
Tuesday 1st January 2019 ko 15.00
Isthmian League Premier Division
FOLKESTONE INVICTA 1 (ter Horst 9)
MARGATE 0
Att 629
Entry £11
Programme £1.50
Remember my assertion that every hopper has their own point of pain? Or putting it another way the ground that despite their best attempts remains stubbornly unticked? For years mine was the most northerly senior club in the UK, Wick Academy that took 3 cars, 2 hotels and 3 visits to see a game there. But another club, almost as far south as you can get from Wick took nearly as much pain to visit there. Here’s the story of Folkestone Invicta and I. Continue reading
09 Wednesday Jan 2019
Posted in H
Tags
Beaconsfield Town, Earlsmead, England, Football, groundhopping, Harrow Borough, isthmian league, London, Non League, Southern League Premier Division South
Tuesday 18th December 2018 ko 19.45
Southern League- Premier Division South
HARROW BOROUGH 2 (Kearney 11 87)
BEACONSFIELD TOWN 1 (Morgan 4)
Att 127
Entry £10
Programme £2
In the great unwritten book of groundhopping tactics, the idea of using 3G pitches as insurance against bad weather is fairly well entrenched. It seems, unfortunately, to have replaced the rule of having a knowledge of well-draining pitches for those times. I was navigating my way around a rain-lashed M25, when I got notification that my intended destination- Sittingbourne, was postponed. It was time to consider my options, and simply going home wasn’t one of them! Continue reading
31 Friday Aug 2018
Posted in G
Tags
Conference North, Eastern Counties League, Emerald Park, Gorleston, isthmian league, Lowestoft Town, National League North
Saturday 21st July 2018 ko 15.00
Pre-season Friendly
GORLESTON 3 (Gilfedder 13 45 Ramm 21)
LOWESTOFT TOWN 4 (Brown 9 12 Overy 46 Folkes 54)
Att 193
Entry £3
No Programme
My regular reader my have spotted a running theme of me gradually ticking off the grounds of the Eastern Counties League. Part of the reason is prioritising those Leagues not being visited by an organised hop, and another is regular trips with Wavendon- based Chris. His location near Milton Keynes makes heading east sensible, but there is the vexed question of what to do about the grounds he’s done that I haven’t. One was Gorleston, and with him being unavailable I simply picked the furthest one east! Continue reading
30 Thursday Aug 2018
Posted in D
Tags
Chelsea, Council, Dorking, Dorking Wanderers, Football, groundhopping, isthmian league, Meadowbank, Mole Valley, oxford united., Surrey FA
Monday 16th July 2018 ko 19.15
Surrey FA Meadowbank Launch Event/ Pre-season Friendly
CHELSEA U18 4 (Ballo 23 38 Wiggett 49 Clark 84)
OXFORD UNITED U18 0
Att 600
Entry FREE (by advance ticket)
Programme FREE
Teamsheet FREE
If the visit to Bath City’s Twerton Park was visiting one of the grounds you simply have to see before you die, then back in the day Dorking FC’s Meadowbank Ground was another on that list. Dorking were already struggling following relegation from the Isthmian League and when I visited in 2013 it was to be the club’s last season here. When the ground’s owners, Mole Valley District Council closed Meadowbank down on health and safety grounds, their exile at local rivals Dorking Wanderers’ Westhumble home was to be the death knell for the club. Continue reading
09 Tuesday Jan 2018
Posted in A
Tags
AFC Hornchurch, Aveley, Football, groundhopping, isthmian league, Mill Field, Non League, Parkside
Friday 5th January 2018 ko 19.45
Isthmian League Division One
AVELEY 0
AFC HORNCHURCH 2 (Fanimo 45 Fairweather-Johnson 85)
Att 398
Entry £10
Programme £2
Robyn and I zoomed round the M25, almost unbelievably clear on a Friday evening, the fact that we were both wearing our work clothes testament to how little time the satnav thought we had. It is of course the law of such things that we arrived half-an-hour early.
If any town could say to be in the shadow of the Dartford Crossing, it’s Aveley to the extent that that just about everywhere you stand you can see the red-lit tops of the QE2 bridge’s towers. Continue reading
19 Thursday Oct 2017
Tags
Chertsey Town, Combined Counties League, Elmbriidge Sports Hub, Football, groundhopping, isthmian league, Stompond Lane, Walton and Hersham
Tuesday 19th September 2017 k0 19.45
Combined Counties League Premier Division
WALTON & HERSHAM 7 (Hornby 13 Abdul 23 59 78 J Newton 41 Nkoma 70 83)
CHERTSEY TOWN 0
Att 225
Entry £7
Programme £1.50
I worry for the Swans. I have no connection with Walton or Hersham save for a visit to the ground 10 years ago. But on a slightly dank Tuesday night I was faced with an option. Either head to watch Walton Casuals at the new Walton Sports Hub or revisit Stompond Lane to see what looked like being the Swans last game at the historic ground. Continue reading
24 Tuesday Jan 2017
Tags
Billericay Town, Football, groundhopping, Imber Court, isthmian league, Met Police, Metropolitan Police, Parakeet
Tuesday 17th January 2017 ko 19.45
Isthmian League Premier Division
METROPOLITAN POLICE 1 (Michael-Percil 45p)
BILLERICAY TOWN 1 (Adelowo 1)
Att 108
Entry £10
Programme £2
Football does have the happy habit of throwing up quirks, and London’s police force having a side in the third tier of non-league is certainly one. The side are based at the force’s sports and social club, Imber Court in Molesey, just a stone’s throw from Hampden Court. It is worth noting that Molesey is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police! Continue reading
29 Thursday Dec 2016
Posted in N
Tags
Eynsham Hall, Eynsham Park, FA Trophy, isthmian league, North Leigh, South Park, Southern League
Tuesday 21st December 2016 ko 19.45
FA Trophy 2nd Round Replay
NORTH LEIGH 1 (Cook 89p)
SOUTH PARK 3 (Lavery 29p Quartey 62 O’Sullivan 81)
Att 157
Entry £8
Programme £1
Back in the day I used to regularly drive along the A4095 between Witney and Woodstock. With psyche like mine that added up to finding out whether each village I passed through had a football club, and where they played. It didn’t take long to pay the grounds a visit. There was Witney Town who played in the Southern League, then as you headed towards Woodstock, there were no end of grounds to visit. Continue reading
