Tag Archives: League 2

Utopia

24 Monday Jan 2022

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Tuesday 18th January 2022 ko 19:45

EFL League 2

STEVENAGE 2 (Taylor 29 Norris 73)

CRAWLEY TOWN 1 (Nichols 45)

Att 1,942 (210 away)

Entry (seat- West Stand- in advance) £22

Programme online only, downloadable

Teamsheet- FREE

Roughly 75 years ago the “New Towns Act” saw Stevenage built, with chief architect Lewis Siskin originally envisaging it as a “gay and bright” place. His utopian idea was see the neighbourly “spirit of the slums” combined with easy access to the countryside, sports and leisure facilities in a self-contained community. Back in the early 1990’s I studied places like this at University and even then there was a slightly snobby attitude to the New Towns. Thirty years later I watch the little “Starship” robots run on the dedicated cycle routes in Milton Keynes delivering people’s groceries and wonder whether Siskin was in fact just ahead of his time. Continue reading →

Life In Black & White

02 Thursday Sep 2021

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Saturday 14th August 2021 ko 15:00

Scottish League 2

ELGIN CITY 3 (Hester 17 22 46)

ALBION ROVERS 0

Att 488 at Borough Briggs

Entry (Main Stand) £14

Programme- Online

Teamsheet- Free with raffle ticket

Badge £3

The car was packed to the gunnels ready for the long drive south. I stopped for a final coffee as we were about to leave Inverness, and roughly half the Fort William FC side followed me in. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I could have so easily been watching them play. With the pitch at Claggan Park in such a state that it can’t be used this season Fort are playing all their home games away and were en route to a home defeat at Forres Mechanics. Robyn and I ended up following them along the A96 but carried on to Elgin, a destination that for me did have some significance. Continue reading →

Gay Times

28 Tuesday Jul 2020

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Friday 2nd March 2007 ko 19.45

League 2

SHREWSBURY TOWN 0

Asomoah missed penalty 90

BRISTOL ROVERS 0

Hinton sent off (2nd booking) 90

Att 4,227 at Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury

Entry £15 (Main Stand)

Programme £2.50

Oddly it was surprising I was there. Groundhopping legend Martin “Spud” Hollands phoned to ask whether I was going and preemptively ask for a lift from the station to Gay Meadow. I wasn’t planning on going, but with the ground going at the end of the season a revisit wasn’t even close to being a wasted journey. Continue reading →

The Saga

29 Monday Jun 2020

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Tuesday 23rd December 2008 ko 19.45

FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

DROYLSDEN 2 (Newton 31 55p)

CHESTERFIELD 1 (Lester 35)

Lester sent off 84 (violent conduct)

Att 2,824 

Entry £5

Programme £1

On one level I knew exactly why I was at the Butchers Arms Ground in Manchester’s eastern suburbs. Leaving aside the groundhopper’s insatiable urge to collect football grounds I was happy to escape a Milton Keynes office, and the kind of job where you inwardly measure every minute you’re on duty. So to Droylsden I drove, and all because any FA Cup tie is interesting and a potential upset involving a Conference North club against a League 2 outfit looked attractive. However, if you know what had happened in the month prior to the tie you’ll know just how much of an understatement that last sentence is! Continue reading →

Taking Stock

14 Sunday Jun 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 2nd August 2008 ko 14.20

Scottish League Division 3

COWDENBEATH 1 (McQuade 16)

ANNAN ATHLETIC 4 (Jack 30p 48 Archibald 58 Johnstone 90)

Att 596

Entry £10

Programme £1.50

There are of course no lack of towns that with the greatest of respect to their residents, that you’d never visit for tourism but would for football.  That said I do know one couple where the wife made the rather rash decision to let hubby book their summer holiday. They were due to visit Sunderland this June had it not been for Coronavirus. Cue the complaints from the Sunderland tourist board….. Continue reading →

The Class Of 92

09 Sunday Feb 2020

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Saturday 16th November 2019 ko 15.00

League 2

SALFORD CITY 2 (Rooney 4p 90p)

swindon town 3 (Doyle 9 54p Yates 78)

Att 3,509 (1,340 away

Entry £10 (terrace)

Programme £3

Its been many years since I completed the 92, that is the grounds of the 92 clubs that make up the Premier League and EFL. For what little it’s worth I finished at Doncaster Rovers’ old home of Belle Vue, and each season I normally get a new ground to aim for. This season though, the 92 has been reduced to 90, with Coventry City sharing at Birmingham City and Bury FC having been ejected from the EFL. But with Tottenham at their new ground, and Salford City having been promoted into the EFL, I had two new grounds to visit, and you could easily argue Salford is the more interesting case! Continue reading →

Westland

20 Thursday Jul 2017

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Saturday 15th July 2017 ko 15.00

Preseason Friendly

YEOVIL TOWN 1 (Olomola 75)

BRISTOL CITY 3 (Reid 22 28 Magnusson 25)

Att 2,636 (883 away)

Entry £8

Programme £1

On occasion I get asked how I pick my games, and people are often surprised when I say that often they pick me! This one was a case in point, I was due to be in Minehead in the evening and my girlfriend Robyn is a Bristol City fan. Then there was the Martin McConachie factor to consider…

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My Wembley

10 Sunday Apr 2016

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Sunday 3rd April 2016 ko 14.30

Football League Trophy Final

BARNSLEY 3 (Dunkley 50og Fletcher 68 Hammill 74)

OXFORD UNITED 2 (O’Dowda 29 Hylton 76)

Att 59,230 @ Wembley Stadium

Entry £60

Programme £5

Tea £2

I’m fortunate in that I get to visit Wembley reasonably frequently. It fulfills both sides of my divergent footballing personality. On one hand I’m a traditionalist, for me Wembley is English football’s spiritual home, so when the stadium was rebuilt in situ it was the correct decision. I admit it may well have been entirely logical to build the national stadium in Birmingham, but….. Wembley, is… home isn’t it? Continue reading →

Making Bets On Local Derby Day

08 Thursday Oct 2015

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Tuesday 6th October 2015 ko 19.45

Football League Trophy Southern Section, 2nd Round

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Roofe 41 54)

swindon town 0 Turnbull sent off (violent conduct) 31

Att 9,013 (1,179 away)

Entry £15

Programme £3

It was 6.30 and there I was stood sheltering under the canopy over turnstile 1 waiting for Alan to open up. I watched the other Oxford fans waiting alongside me, and we all had the same expression on our faces. We were nervous, and despite there being 50 or so stood there it was quiet, I could even hear Joey Beauchamp’s footsteps as he walked over to the Quad Bar hospitality entrance. Being an Oxford United legend affords you that luxury. Continue reading →

The Barnett Formula

14 Sunday Dec 2014

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Saturday 13th December 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Jones 70og Barnett 90)

BURY 1 (Mayor 63)

Att 6,912 (215 away)

Entry- Season Ticket, my guest FREE

Programme £3 (incl Oxford Mail)

There are several strands to my footballing life, what I travel to watch personally is often different from what I’d organise a groundhop to, and I the only club I watch with any degree of regularity is my home-town team Oxford United. Perhaps the great irony of my existence is that the further the club slid down the footballing pecking order the more creditability I gained in my groundhopping life!

Continue reading →