Tag Archives: League

The Palace

26 Wednesday Aug 2026

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Saturday 27th June 2026 ko 14:00

Pre-season Friendly

SEVEN SISTERS ONLLYWN 1 (71)

PENLAN AFC 1 (66)

Att 27 at the Welfare Ground

Free Entry

Back in the day the Swedish Hop at the start of June used to bookend my season, and in England that would be the case now, but you are now seeing the occasional friendly pop up at the end of June, even though technically it is still forbidden by the FA. In Wales, you do see a few more driven by the FAW’s clubs early entry in to European competitions but in both cases check and check again that the game is still on.

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Returns

12 Wednesday Aug 2026

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Saturday 6th June 2026 ko 17:15

Division 3 Norra Svealand

IFK UPPSALA 1 (Vahedi 86)

ÖSTERÅKER UNITED 1 (Bechtel 65p)

Att 69 at Lötens IP

Entry & Programme 60 sek

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

If there’s one road we’ve seen the most of during the 19 years of the Swedish Hop it’s the E4. It runs north from Stockholm passing by Arlanda Airport then heading on to the far north, eventually reaching the border with Finland at Haparanda. But we were heading to the first major city north of the capital – Uppsala.

It’s a place of learning with Uppsala University dating back to 1477, and a place of antiquity- Old Uppsala was the main pagan centre of Sweden in Viking times. The Swedish Hop was based in Uppsala back in 2015 and we stayed very close to Lötens IP, and I’m sure we all wondered when we’d ever take in a game there? Just the 11 years then….

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On the Buses

28 Tuesday Jul 2026

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Tuesday 19th May 2026 ko 19:00

Guildford & Woking Alliance Premier Division

UPPER HALE 1 (Stuart 85)

FARNBOROUGH NORTH END ATHLETIC 0

Att 42 at Traco Club, Aldershot

Free Entry

I remember just over 25 years ago, I didn’t really understand the sheer magnitude of the hobby. I went through a phase of trying to do one club in each division which is of course the start of a slippery slope. Some App now tells me I’ve completed 35 divisions… so when a league I’d never heard of popped up I was more than a little intrigued!

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Friends

22 Wednesday Jul 2026

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Saturday 16th May 2026 ko 18:30

North Berkshire Cup Final

BERINSFIELD 3 (Holdsworth 33p Palmer 49 Hinkin 64)

COMPTON 0

Att 215 at Abingdon United FC

Entry & Programme £5

I can’t pretend I couldn’t see the demise of the North Berkshire League coming. When I left the league’s committee 2 years ago the league was down to 2 divisions from 5 when the league was at its peak. Like just about everyone involved in football in the Shire, I’d heard the rumours about a mass exodus to the Oxon Senior League, but hoped that it was either an exaggeration or that the league might find replacement clubs.

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Mynydd y Gaer 

21 Tuesday Jul 2026

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Saturday 9th May 2026 ko 14:30

Ardal North West

CPD LLANNEFYDD 3 (Salisbury 4 Owen 30 Edwards 90)

MYNYDD ISA 1 (Beck 36)

Att 58

Entry £5

It has to be said that Robyn my wife does come up with our best ideas. She fancied a weekend in North Wales so we spent a few days exploring Snowdonia from a base in Llandudno. For me it was a chance to revisit a lot of the places we visited in the days of the Welsh Alliance Hops and introduce Robyn to some seriously long placenames. But somehow we ended up at one with quite a short name really….

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Zumerzet

13 Monday Jul 2026

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Saturday 18th April 2026 ko 11:30

Somerset County League Premier Division

CONGRESBURY 0

WORLE 0

Att 211

Entry, Programme, Bacon Roll, Badge £10 (if bought in advance)

On the day entry £4, Programme £2

From pretty much the moment that Bristolian Robyn and I became an item 10 years ago the Somerset County League has been a favourite destination on my regular visits west. There’s no secret that I’d like to see more organised groundhops at Step 7 and below, variety is the spice of life after all. GroundhopUK did speak with the league about an event for Somerset, but organising an eighth event in a season would have been too much for us. Our offering ended up being the West Lancashire League Hop in August, and the Somerset County League opted to organise their event for themselves.

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Bold as a Sergeant Major

12 Sunday Jul 2026

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Tuesday 14th April 2026 ko 19:30

Combined Counties League Division One

OXHEY JETS 1 (Mosca 59)

HILLINGDON BOROUGH 0

Att 89

Entry £8

Teamsheet FREE

After the exertions of the Northern Hop both Robyn and I took a little time to ourselves. I concentrated myself in Oxford United’s vain attempts to stay in the Championship, and watched with growing concern at what was going on in the North Berkshire League- I’d been on committee there until 2 years ago, but still maintained an interest from afar. But then Robyn fancied an evening game, and there was more than a touch of tragedy about heading here.

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Isn’t it Iconic, Doncha Think?

02 Thursday Jul 2026

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Sunday 5th April 2026 ko 14:30

Northern League Division One

CROOK TOWN 1 (Rose 41)

SHILDON 2 (Posthill 35p Darville 50og)

Att 717

Entry £7

Programme £2

In groundhopping terms there are grounds, and then there are grounds that you drop everything for. As I’m sure dear reader you are aware there are no end of arguments to be had over all kinds of facilities, but if you walk into the Millfield and don’t immediately fall in love with the place, then I wonder why you started groundhopping?

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Fuel My Fire

30 Tuesday Jun 2026

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Saturday 4th April 2026 ko 18:30

Northern League Division Two

TOW LAW TOWN 1 (Bates 27)

RYTON & CRAWCROOK ALBION 1 (Anderson 31)

Att 509

Entry £5

Programme £2

When any fan of football in the North East mentions Tow Law it’s elevation is always mentioned. It is 997 feet above sea level, and the football ground in Ironworks Road is extremely exposed so the epithet tends to be that it is always cold at Tow Law. On that basis I did fee that my visit there in September 2014 may have been under false pretences. It was lovely and warm, I didn’t even wear a coat! That was unlikely to be the case this time round…

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La Grange

23 Tuesday Jun 2026

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Friday 3rd April 2026 ko 11:00

Northern League Division Two

GRANGETOWN BOYS CLUB 0

Martin missed pen 90+5

REDCAR TOWN 1 (Stares 38)

Att 531

Entry £5

Programme £3

I felt that the juggernaut that is the Northern Hop was beginning to stretch it’s legs as was headed to Middlesbrough. We passeed the Riverside Stadium, itself gearing up for a home game versus Millwall. Grangetown is reasonably close by, at the foot of a flyover- and the boys club here pride themselve on being the largest grassroots club in Middlesbrough.

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