Tag Archives: Non League

Ex

19 Tuesday Mar 2024

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Sunday 3rd March 2024 ko 11:45

North West Counties League Division One North

EUXTON VILLA 3 (Singleton 24 63 Briggs 37)

DARWEN 0

Att 618

Entry £5

Programme £2

Sunday dawned in Blackpool and I had two reasons to marvel. The first was the Savoy Hotel’s ability to shift legions of the various coach parties staying there through a buffet breakfast, whilst maintaining the piles of bacon, sausages and so on. The second was relevant only to the GroundhopUK party- we still had two matches to watch.

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Wyre

14 Thursday Mar 2024

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Saturday 2nd March 2024 ko 14:00

North West Counties League Division One North

GARSTANG 3 (Bailey 25 51 Ball 32)

Lewis sent off 86 (DOGSO)

ASHTON TOWN 2 (Lomax 67 Ready 72p)

Att 388

Entry £5

Programme £2

We were fortunate. As part of the GroundhopUK advance party I had a reserved car parking space. It was a bit of a squeeze, but the point was to be in situ ahead of the coach to be able to deal with any on the day snags. The fact that there weren’t any spoke volumes for Garstang FC and their League.

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Elegance

08 Friday Mar 2024

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Saturday 2nd March 2024 ko 11:00

North West Counties League Premier Division

LONGRIDGE TOWN 2 (Homson-Smith 20 Marshall 45)

PADIHAM 3 (Price 27 Brownhill 37 James 79)

Att 438

Entry £7

Programme £2

It was odd having the hop base in Blackpool, way out of season. We were staying on the seafront at the grandly named Savoy Hotel. It was superlatively convenient, the car park was large, there was a tram stop by the entrance and the name was impressive enough for Robyn to wonder what sort deal GroundhopUK had managed to get?

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The Groove

07 Thursday Mar 2024

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Friday 1st March 2024 ko 19:45

North West Counties League Division One North

FC ST HELENS 1 (Hall 24)

Hall penalty saved 21

DAISY HILL 0

Att 504*

Entry £5

Programme £2

Maybe it was the weather, or maybe it was being in such a groove with Step 5/6 hops another GroundhopUK event seemed little more than a continuation of what had finished last October at Billingshurst. Of course there were massive differences, a shift in locale from Sussex to the North West for one but such is the preponderance now of hop in leagues at that “Sweet Spot” of Steps 5 and 6 as part of the organising team there is usually very little that a club can do that will really surprise us. And yet on this weekend, one club managed to do precisely that.

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A yard here or there

15 Thursday Feb 2024

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Saturday 10th February 2024 ko 14:00

North Berkshire League Cup- Quarter Final

MARCHAM 6 (D Murphy 18 47 80 Webb 30 Legge 82 Saulter 89)

UFFINGTON UNITED 1 (Terrana 11)

Att c25 at Moreland Road

Free Entry

I’m sure someone will read this and think, “Didn’t the 2014 North Berks Hop visit there?” and dear reader, you’d be right, to a point. A few weeks ago I found some of the e-shots we’d used to try to advertise that hop as I was under no little pressure that year- the Eastern Counties League tried to schedule against us. For Marcham the selling point was “Come now why you still can” as despite there being an Iron Age burial site underneath the pitch the ground was destined for housing. Continue reading →

Update

25 Thursday Jan 2024

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Saturday 20th January 2024 ko 15:00

Hellenic League Division One

LONG CRENDON 2 (Richardson 32 Bartley 90+4)

FC BRISTOL 5 (Plummer 47 75 80 Miller 69 Collins 70)

Att c40 at Oxford City FC

Entry & Programme £6

It was a day of frozen pitches, or to put a more positive spin on things a time to make use of 3G pitches. In my part of the world that added up to whoever happened to be using Oxford City‘s 3G pitch. I looked, saw it was Long Crendon, and smiled.

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The Hospitality

16 Tuesday Jan 2024

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Friday 12th January 2024 ko 19:30

Northern League Division One

NORTHALLERTON TOWN 0

REDCAR ATHLETIC 1 (Boyes 37)

Att 403

Entry £7

Programmme £2.50

Hospitality package (entry, programme, 2 course meal) £25

It’s odd how some things work out. Robyn and I had tried to watch Northallerton Town around 4 years ago. We’d travelled up from Oxford, and as we reached the Calvert’s Stadium, the floodlights were switched off; the game had just been postponed due to a frozen pitch. We found a meal locally, then headed back home down the A1(M). As Robyn put it, it was a mighty long way to go for a Chinese!

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Royalty

15 Monday Jan 2024

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Saturday 6th January 2024 ko 13:45

Witney & District League Division One

WITNEY ROYALS 0

DUCKLINGTON 2 (Fisher 25 Williams 70og)

Att c15 at Pitch 1 Burwell Recreation Ground, Thorney Leys, Witney

Free Entry

I’d had all kinds of ideas as to where to watch a game. The determining factor was a triple of sorts, football, Oxford City Stars Ice Hockey unusually facing off on a Saturday evening, and the pub quiz at 9pm. But as much as I like being busy there was another factor to be considered- the rain.

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Nesting

09 Tuesday Jan 2024

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Saturday 30th December 2023 ko 15:00

Northern Counties East League Division One

SWALLOWNEST 1 (Spick 84)

SHIREBROOK TOWN 6 (Macaskill 17 38 Day 44 54 Skelton 49og K Watson 80)

Att 135

Entry £6

Programme £2 (reissue from 12/09/23)

On the way back from Warrington we’d pondered ideas for our last game of 2023. I must admit we’d rather neglected the Northern Counties East, I’d more or less completed the league when the groundhop was based there, but that event finished at Selby in 2017 and there’s been plenty of club churn since then.

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Cantilever

01 Monday Jan 2024

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Saturday 23rd December 2023 ko 15:00

National League North

WARRINGTON TOWN 2 (Harris 36 Amis 83)

BANBURY UNITED 1 (Hewitt 21)

Att 1,137

Entry £15 (£12 in bought in advance)

Programme £2

In my eyes at least, I’m slowing down. Part of it is that it’s now almost impossible to find a floodlit game at a new ground midweek, and part its due to a general feeling of not being in any great rush. I see some groundhoppers clocking up the grounds at a rate of over one a day, and while each to their own, I know it’s not for me; I have other interests.

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