Tag Archives: Non League

Ambivalence

06 Wednesday Dec 2017

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Wednesday 29th November 2017 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

BUCKINGHAM TOWN 3 (Osei-Addo 26p Wreh 67 79)

POTTON UNITED 2 (Murrell 38 Webb 74)

Att 77

Entry £4

Programme £1

It’s been over 4 years since Buckingham Town moved into the Irish Centre in Bletchley and over 6 since they were evicted from their spiritual home, Ford Meadow back in Buckingham a rather distant 14 miles away. My reader might remember my surprise when I visited here 2 years ago at just how much the place had been improved since the club had taken on the pitch following the demise of Bletchley Town. Home in Buckingham Town’s case though, isn’t necessarily where the heart is. Continue reading →

Learnings

26 Sunday Nov 2017

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Friday 10th November 2017 ko 19.45

Essex Senior League

BARKINGSIDE 2 (Toke 45 Ogborn 75)

CLAPTON 3 (Coblah 40 Reed 48 87)

Att 275

Entry & Programme £5

I’d first heard the Essex Senior League were looking at hosting a “Groundhoppers Event” a month or two ago on Peter Dudley’s excellent “Grassroots Footy Show” on East London Radio. There, league secretary Michelle Dorling outlined the idea, and made it clear that the idea needed fleshing out before they could commit to it fully. Very much with my GroundhopUK hat on I wondered how we could help. Continue reading →

The Hero & The Villian

23 Thursday Nov 2017

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Tuesday 31st October 2017 ko 19.45

Spartan South Midlands League Division One

CODICOTE 0

BALDOCK TOWN 6 (Coley 14 A Barker 45 Hoy 47og L Barker 54 Coppin 63 Robertson 82)

Att 73

Entry & Programme £5

If ever a home of sport was named after a hero it’s Codicote’s. The John Clements Memorial Ground is named after the local schoolteacher who, in 1976 saved several schoolchildren from a hotel fire during a school skiing trip in Italy. He refused all advice as to his own safety and eventually succumbed to smoke inhalation. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian award for gallantry. It was to be an evening of contrasts though.    Continue reading →

Into The Light

16 Thursday Nov 2017

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Wednesday 18th October 2017 ko 19.45

Wiltshire Senior Cup- First Round

SHREWTON UNITED 0

CHIPPENHAM TOWN 7 (Ricketts 15 77 81 Richards 24 Smile 51 87 Bowman 54)

Att c115

Entry £5

When groundhoppers get deeper into the hobby they tend to realise that the number of floodlit grounds is far more finite than those without, so tend to go for unlit grounds on Saturdays and save the floodlit grounds for midweeks when the lights are in use. That throws up the unusual sub-set of grounds who have floodlights, but seldom use them. An extreme example of this is North Berkshire League club Uffington United who currently are the only club in their league to have lights, and have only used them twice, both times for games I’ve helped organise! Shrewton’s case is less extreme, as their lights are there as a legacy. Continue reading →

The Belle of Snodland Town

11 Saturday Nov 2017

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Wednesday 11th October 2017 ko 19.45

Southern Counties East Division One

SNODLAND TOWN 0

LYDD TOWN 1 (Lockyer 65)

Att 86

Entry £6

Programme £1

The Kentish town of Snodland grew based around, like so much in the area around paper making, in principle due to the lime deposits in the area. Today the town is still well-to-do in an unobtrusive way, but it’s the story of the village nearby that needs to be told.  Continue reading →

Qualities

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Sunday 8th October 2017 ko 14.15

Western League Division One

BISHOPS LYDEARD 2 (James Quick 39 Hebditch 45) James Quick missed pen 51

CHEDDAR AFC 4 (Coomes 9 Jones 67 Bennett 75)

Att 264

Entry & Programme £6

The Western hop’s final destination for 2017 was easily the most anticipated of the weekend. There was nothing too involved about the reason why, it was because Bishops Lydeard are new to the league joining last season, and that Cothelstone Road has seen massive improvements to allow the club that  promotion. That meant that a large strand of the groundhopping hobby would suddenly have the club on their radar for a visit and that was reflected with the second-highest attendance of the event, and easily the highest number of hoppers. The question was how would Lydeard cope with the large crowd?

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The Two Fences

25 Monday Sep 2017

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Monday 28th August 2017 ko 11.00

South Wales Alliance Division One

COGAN CORONATION 0 Boulton sent off 71 (2nd Booking)

AFC WHITCHURCH 6 (Bould 11 Spencer 27 Woodman 49 Fry 54 90 Brazier 74p)

Att 227

Entry £3

Programme £1

Monday dawned, and I half-showered, half used the warm water to breath life into my tired legs. Just the 3 games left, in what has become something of a tradition, Cardiff Monday, scheduled for a coach drop after the final game at Cardiff Central Railway Station. I found myself wondering why I and others were so tired after 7 games when at Maine Road we’d felt more sprightly after 10? Continue reading →

That View

14 Thursday Sep 2017

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Saturday 26th August 2017 ko 15.45

South Wales Alliance Division Two

PENRHIWFER 0 Weston missed penalty 47

BLAENRHONDDA 2 (Jones 40 73)

Att 225

Entry £3

Programme £1

Over the years the Welsh Hop has spent in South Wales we’ve seen the lot. You’ve got basic grounds like Cefn Cribwr and you’ve got the plain jaw-dropping like Garw. We visited the equally wonderful Blaenrhondda back in the day and Chris Berezai and I are contemplating a revisit there next time round. But the QE2 Field in Penrhiwfer is one I feel that really ought to be thought of in the same terms. The catch is you’ll get sore legs seeing it from the best possible perspective.  Continue reading →

Boys & Girls

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

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Saturday 26th August 2017 ko 13.45

South Wales Alliance Division One

TONYREFAIL B.G.C. 2 (T Davies 68p K Davies 90)

CEFN CRIBWR BOYS CLUB 3 (Harris 4 30 Davies 76)

Att 283

Entry £3

Programme £1

It was a short trip down the hill to Tonyrefail, but to one or two on the coaches it was a long-standing revisit of sorts. 14 years ago GroundhopUK had visited Tonyrefail Welfare, but that club is now plying it’s trade in the Rhondda League. But I digress, this year’s visit to the mining town was a trip that reinforced completely the view of when a well-presented groundhop game allows a club and fans to see each other in the best possible light.  Continue reading →

Rubber Sheet Geometry

31 Thursday Aug 2017

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Friday 18th August 2017 ko 19.45

Wessex League Cup 2nd Round

BEMERTON HEATH HARLEQUINS 0

HAMBLE CLUB 4 (Magookin 2 S Wilson 6 Byrne 14 Lynch 47)

Att 71

Entry £6

No Programme

I remember as an 11 year old my maths teacher introducing the concept of rubber sheet geometry. Topology to use its correct term is the idea that by distorting distance or shape you may simplify its depiction. The London Underground map is a classic example, but groundhoppers do tend to use their own version, and this game rather proved the point. Continue reading →