Tag Archives: League

La Grange

23 Tuesday Jun 2026

Posted by in G

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Continue reading →

Waterwells

20 Saturday Jun 2026

Posted by in Q

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 24th March 2026 ko 19:30

Gloucestershire County League

QUEDGELEY WANDERERS 3 (Osbudhien 12 21 Miles 72)

STOKE GIFFORD SGS UNITED 0

Att 23

Free Entry

Programme £1

I’m close to having the opinion that the measure of a big numbers groundhopper is how easy it is to find a floodlit tick midweek. I suspect I’m on the cusp of that, given my opportunities these days seem to add up to Step 7 leagues and newly built grounds. The Gloucester County League does act as close as you can get to a Step 6 league as was the case 20-odd years ago.

Continue reading →

Saintly

14 Sunday Jun 2026

Posted by in A

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 14th March 2026 ko 19:30

East of Scotland League Premier Division

ST ANDREWS UNITED 3 (Sneddon 69 Dunn 88p)

McManus sent off 59 (2nd booking)

SAUCHIE JUNIORS 1 (Elphinson 38)

Columbine sent off 67 (2nd booking)

Att 374

Entry £11

Programme FREE/ £3

4 game days are always tough, and with St Andrews being substantially further north than the other 3 games, we felt under pressure, particularly with a coach driver light. I understood all too well the East of Scotland League’s desire for the extra game- when else could we head to northern Fife?

Continue reading →

Six Towns

16 Thursday Apr 2026

Posted by in H

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 24th January 2026 ko 15:00

Midland League Premier Division

HANLEY TOWN 8 (Middleton 33 Porter 35 80 J van der Laan 38 52 60 T van der Laan 75 87)

STUDLEY 0

Att 84

Entry £10

No programme

Groundhoppers do like to complete leagues it seems, but why not try for other things to complete? I’ve done the Stockwood treble in Bristol, and the Lenton Lane triple in Nottingham, that sadly is no longer possible. But here’s another, Stoke is famously the UK’s only polycentric city, consisting of the six towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Fenton and Longton so why not try for football in each of them?

Continue reading →

Ram

08 Wednesday Apr 2026

Posted by in D

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 4th January 2026 ko 15:00

EFL Championship

DERBY COUNTY 1 (Brereton-Diaz 34)

WREXHAM 2 (Smith 25 James 48)

Att 29,939

Entry £37

Programme £4

Sometimes you go groundhopping for others. It was the end of the Christmas break, and with our friend Andreas over from Stuttgart, we let him pick the game. He’s nearing the completion of his 92 but needed Port Vale, so I booked tickets for he, Robyn and I, and set off only to lose the game due to a waterlogged pitch when we were roughly an hour north of Oxford.

Continue reading →

Persistence

30 Monday Mar 2026

Posted by in P

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday 31st December 2025 ko 12:30

Cymru North

PENRHYNCOCH 1 (Owen 86)

RUTHIN TOWN 1 (Holland 24)

Att 140 at Cae Baker, Penrhyn-coch

Entry £7

Programme online/downloadable

For those of you that ask, yes I do question my sanity, and driving as I was, on New Year’s Eve through Snowdonia with the temperature dropping alarmingly as I climbed the mountains. It got to point where I drove through Troedyrallt and so white was the scene outside that I couldn’t imagine that the game was still on. But I was committed, 3 hours in to my drive from Oxford, with no alternate game to divert to.

Continue reading →

Wild Wild West

26 Monday Jan 2026

Posted by in B

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 25th October 2025 ko 14:00

Somerset County League Division 3

BROAD PLAIN HOUSE 5 (A Hemmings 4 14 Tucker 5 15 50)

BURNHAM UNITED RESERVES 2 (Harding 33 Edenshaw 80)

Att 12 at the main pitch, Filwood Fields, Knowle West, Bristol

Free Entry

Just about anyone who knows my wife Robyn and I know that I’m from Oxford, and she’s from Bristol. In the case of Robyn the accent does rather give the game away! So for the last 10 years I’ve become used to regular drives to Knowle West to see “Muvver” and to nearby Whitchurch to see my sister-in-law Kelly and her family. The routine involves driving up Novers Hill and glancing to my right to catch a glimpse of the Clifton Suspension Bridge before parking up. In truth this part of South Bristol has become close to a second home, and for those in the know- if you think Robyn has a Bristol accent, try speaking to her when she’s back in Knowle West!

Continue reading →

Family

24 Wednesday Dec 2025

Posted by in B

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 13th September 2025 ko 17:30

Carmarthenshire League-Premier Division

BURRY PORT 0

Brown sent off 72 (handling outside of box)

KIDWELLY TOWN 2 (Boucher 86 Bessent 90+1)

Att 203

Entry & Programme £3

The final game of the day saw the West Wales Hop do something I didn’t think we’d ever do, and that is head back to the Carmarthenshire League. We’d used the league are a replacement for the the hugely successful Ceredigion Hops, but our time with them was nowhere near as succcessful, not least because we had real issues getting clubs to be away teams. It all culminated in the 2018 Hop that contained Swansea City’s youth team, the Bridgend Sunday League and a trip to Butetown in Cardiff but absolutely no games in Carmarthenshire.

Continue reading →

The Curious Case Of Hubert Busby Junior

24 Monday Feb 2025

Posted by in W

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 18th February 2025 ko 19:45

EFL League 1

WYCOMBE WANDERERS 2 ( Humphreys 5 Udoh 58)

BRISTOL ROVERS 0

Forde sent off 82 (serious foul play)

Att 4,419 (419 away)

Entry £31 (middle 3 blocks, top tier Frank Adams stand)

As an Oxford United fan I’m all too aware that when we play Wycombe Wanderers it gets seen as some kind of local derby. I can understand why, the closest EFL ground to Grenoble Road is Adams Park. But to Oxford United fans the derby is with sw!ndon town, with any other team it’s a rivalry.

Continue reading →

The Microwave Oven Song

05 Sunday Jan 2025

Posted by in G

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 16th November 2024 ko 14:00

North Bucks & District League- Intermediate Division Challenge Trophy- Quarter Final

REAL MK 1 (Boboc 21)

BLETCHLEY SCOT RESERVES 1 (Dowdall 41)

No extra time Scot won 6-4 on penalties

Att 4 at Pitch 2 Marsh Drive, Great Linford, Milton Keynes

Sometimes the restrictions placed upon you produce something interesting. That morning the car was going in for a change of sensor, and in the evening we had tickets to see a tribute band in Banbury. So my options were restricted so I travelled to Wavendon, collected Chris Garner and simply aimed for the nearest game at a ground neither of us had been to before.

Continue reading →