Tag Archives: Non League

Nigel of Stafford

13 Tuesday Feb 2018

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Tuesday 6th February 2018 ko 19.45

East Midlands Counties League

STAPENHILL 1 (Gough 85)

KIMBERLEY MINERS WELFARE 3 (Bowen 32 Hassall 60 74)

Att c50

Entry & Programme £5

I sometimes wonder what a non-groundhopper makes of this blog. On one hand there are visits to some high-profile games such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s demolition of England in 2012 and games such as White Horse Abingdon where the attendance was me! People do seem to forget the commonality is that both are still football matches, but the question that isn’t answered by either is “What drives someone to drive through sleet and snow to watch over a 100 games a season?” Continue reading →

The Mill

07 Wednesday Feb 2018

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Saturday 3rd February 2018 ko 14.00

Welsh League Division 3

TREFELIN BGC 2 (Latham 20 Edwards 61)

PANTEG 1 (Ryan 53) Dyke penalty saved 45

Att c30

Entry £3

Programme £1

You’d be hard pressed to believe you were less than a mile from Port Talbot and its Steelworks at Ynys Park. The ground lies in the valley of the River Afan (Afan Lido FC references the river), on the B4268 just south of Cwmafan. So why isn’t the club called something more in keeping with it’s location?

Continue reading →

The Anticompletionist

25 Thursday Jan 2018

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Tuesday 16th January 2017 ko 19.45

Essex Senior League

SAWBRIDGEWORTH TOWN 5 (Mays 35 Cleaver 46 67 Wickenden 62 Monk 80)

HULLBRIDGE SPORTS 0

Att 38

Entry £7

Programme £1

When I started clocking up the grounds the aim was never completion in any league or region. Years later I still like the idea that I can pick up the Football Traveller and still have plenty of options across the levels of the game particularly midweek. But for better or for worse, and for what little it’s worth, this game saw me complete the Essex Senior League. It is after all an achievement notable only to me, and there is a tinge of regret as I do have a lot of time for the league. So for now my journey through the ESL has reached its terminus, but it did end rather oddly. Continue reading →

Purpose

11 Thursday Jan 2018

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Tuesday 9th January 2018 ko 20.15

London FA Junior Cup 4th Round

ALTIS 1 (Aalit 62) McCausland sent off (DOGSO) 90

UNITED LONDON 1 (Texeira 10)

No extra time, United London won 4-2 on penalties

Att 86 @ London Marathon Community Track

Entry & Programme £3

“Altis” ; Greek def. “The Sanctuary of the Gods.”

The thanks for this should go to Talksport radio presenter Tony Incenzo. It was he that spotted that former warm-up track for the 2012 London Olympics had been converted for use as a mini stadium and his suggestion was how Altis came to move there. He then encouraged the club to play one of their games midweek under lights and to produce a one-off programme. And when you know roughly 60 of the attendees you know the ruse worked! Continue reading →

Newton

09 Tuesday Jan 2018

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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 →

Tactics

04 Thursday Jan 2018

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Saturday 30th December 2017 ko 14.00

Suffolk & Ipswich League, Senior Division

EAST BERGHOLT UNITED 2 (Collins 83og Jay 87p)

CAPEL PLOUGH 3 (Alderson 6 Middlebrook 21 Webb 60)

Att 104

Entry FREE

Put yourself in my position. Driving a car-load of hoppers heading east with the ground sodden, and a pitch inspection due at Eastern Counties League outfit Woodbridge Town. The game falls due to a waterlogged pitch so you interrogate the Football Traveller for alternative fixtures. One solution is to divert to Aveley Town’s new ground, it’s on 3G and the game is on. Another is to roll the dice and go for something at Step 7 on grass. So what would you do? Continue reading →

Initiative

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

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Friday 29th December 2017 ko 19.45

Western League Division One

KEYNSHAM TOWN 5 (Brown 19 90 Box 64 M Curnock 75 Harvey 82)

BISHOP SUTTON 2 (Hind 45 Downes 90)

Att 184

Entry/Programme/ Mince Pie £6

They say the lord helps those who help themselves (so why do thieves go to prison?) so all credit should go to Jules French at Keynsham Town and Martin McConachie at Hengrove Athletic for coming up with a cute little marketing ruse. They spotted that Bristol City‘s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers the next day was being televised with a 5.30pm kickoff so moved their kick-offs to the Friday and Saturday at 1.30 pm respectively. Continue reading →

The Localist Derby

28 Thursday Dec 2017

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Saturday 23rd December 2017 ko 14.00

Somerset County League Division One East

MENDIP BROADWALK 0

BROAD PLAIN HOUSE 1 (Scadding 58)

Att c35

Entry FREE

Dear Knowle West, that surburb of South Bristol, within sight of Ashton Gate down Novers Hill. It is of course the home of my girlfriend Robyn, and Filwood Fields just stone’s throw from where she was brought up. Other than Bristol City either of these clubs could lay claim to be her local club. Both of Robyn’s parents worked at the Broad Plain House Social Club too. And therein lies the quirk of this particular game…. Continue reading →

Football By (and in) Coventry

12 Tuesday Dec 2017

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Wednesday 6th December 2017 ko 19.45

FA Vase 3rd Round Replay

COVENTRY UNITED 3 (Rankine 80 Morris 90og Mussa 90)

BROMSGROVE SPORTING 3 (Clark 4 Gregory 18 Cowley 40)

AET Bromsgrove won 4-3 on penalties

Att 205 at Butts Park Arena, Coventry

Entry £7

Programme £2

There can’t be many clubs in the Midlands as groundhopper-friendly as Coventry United. Easy parking (for £2), midweek games on a Wednesday, and an informative Twitter feed. In fact so hopper-friendly are they that earlier this season the league version of this fixture was scheduled for a midday kick-off allowing for all kinds of doubles. Now okay it probably took 20-30 off of each the attendances on the North Berkshire Hop that day and as event organiser that was a shame, but there was no malice in it. As organiser sometimes you have to simply shrug your shoulders and make the best of it. And there are so many reasons to like Coventry United. Continue reading →

The Wrong Floodlights

10 Sunday Dec 2017

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Saturday 2nd December 2017 ko 14.00

Combined Counties League Division One

SHEERWATER 5 (Rideout 30secs 6 Wilson 3 Machay 35 76)

AC LONDON 1 (Silva 69) Dallal sent off (DOGSO) 35

Att c40

Entry £4

Programme £1

Sheerwater is of course the home of mod band The Jam. Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler were all residents of this 1950’s suburb of Woking before hitting the big time with their first single “In the City.” It is a typical commuter town’s suburb with the community’s facilities all at the southern edge but within all of that the local football club has a real problem.

Without doubt the pressure is increasing on those Step 6 clubs whose grounds fail ground grading. The reasons for failing are varied, sometimes it’s because the ground isn’t enclosed and a common one is lack of floodlights, but Sheerwater’s reason is unusual, they do have floodlights, it’s just that they are the wrong ones! Continue reading →