Tag Archives: North Berkshire League

The Duck Pond

28 Friday Aug 2020

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Thursday 20th August 2020 ko 18.30

Friendly

CHILDREY FC 5 (James 6p Triallist 23 28 Burgess 35 Austin 75)

KINGSCLERE 3 (Foster 52 Sopp 57 Murtagh 70)

Att 39 at The Mallards Nest, Froud’s Close, Childrey OX12 9NT

Free Entry

If you were to ask me what the quintessential North Berkshire League village ground would look like, I’d have always said Childrey, even if the village didn’t have a football club from 2013 to 2020. The village, just outside of Wantage lies alongside the likes of Challow and Letcombe who either have or currently stage North Berkshire League football. Continue reading →

Station’s End

20 Thursday Aug 2020

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Tuesday 11th August 2020 ko 19.00

Friendly

WATLINGTON TOWN 0

ARDLEY UNITED DEVELOPMENT 2 (Casbierd 15 Hollister 84)

Att c20

Free Entry

When the North Berkshire League Hops ended at Appleton in 2017, there was one club that unquestionably missed out, and that was Watlington Town. When I tried to put together the 2018 edition all the other clubs that were left for us to visit either couldn’t host, didn’t want to, or in one instance complained that neither Phil Annets nor I hadn’t asked them to be on the very first hop! Continue reading →

Coda

08 Wednesday Apr 2020

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Saturday 14th March 2020 ko 13.30

Oxfordshire FA Intermediate Cup Semi-Final

HEYFORD ATHLETIC 1 (Roberts 78)

BERINSFIELD 0

Att 52

Free Entry

You could sense that the walls were closing in. The Coronavirus pandemic had seen the Premier League, EFL and all three Step 3 leagues shut down to allow for social distancing. The National League had fudged making a decision and it seemed that the FA had yet to make a decision on local football. They’d left it to individual leagues to make up their minds what to do, and that produced the odd situation that the North Berkshire League had cancelled their games, but ended up seeing one of their clubs, Berinsfield still end up playing! Continue reading →

Life At The Grassroots

14 Friday Feb 2020

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Saturday 30th November 2019 ko 13.30

North Berkshire League Division 2

KINGSTON COLTS 0

LONG WITTENHAM ATHLETIC RESERVES 6 (Crowley 4 27 Bishop 9 24 Hunt 13 Barton 28)

Att 4 at Dalton Barracks, Shippon, near Abingdon

Free Entry

The North Berkshire Hops may be over for now, and despite me being from Oxford I’ll always be a North Berkshire man. It’s a league that put their trust in me to organise a hop when many wouldn’t, and those who really know me knew that back in 2011 I was at a pretty low ebb. I remain on the league’s management committee and will probably do so while they feel I can be of some use to them. Being right at grass roots does give you an insight as to what life really is like at the bottom of the pile. Continue reading →

The Miniature Railway

28 Sunday Oct 2018

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Saturday 15th September 2018 ko 14.00

North Berkshire League Division One

NORTH OXFORD 2 (T Mawema 22 T Mungai 65)

LONG WITTENHAM 4 (Bowler 12 36 Houseman 17 47)

Att 5 at Top Pavilion, Cutteslowe Park, Oxford

As a small boy growing up in Oxford I was fortunate to have a public park at the back of our house. You could say that park, and regular trips to the Manor Ground are the reason you’re reading this. But to the 5-year-old self the real treat was when Mum and I sat on a bus for the entire length of the “Number 2” bus route and spent the day at Cuttleslowe Park. Continue reading →

The Rivals

07 Saturday Jul 2018

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Saturday 12th May 2018 ko 18.00

North Berkshire Cup Final

BERINSFIELD 2 (Ingram 43p Palmer 71) Kenny sent off 77 (2nd booking)

SAXTON ROVERS 0

Att 341

At Abingdon United FC

Entry & Programme £4

Something a little different, but perhaps it’s also just the same as normal! As a very proud committeeman at the North Berkshire League it was inevitable I’d be at our Blue Riband event, the North Berkshire Cup Final. But with Benno the press officer away attending a wedding- his own- I was pressed into service to write a report, and Robyn became official photographer. Here are the results.  Continue reading →

Milestone

11 Friday May 2018

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Wednesday 11th April 2018 ko 18.00

Oxford City FA League

HEADINGTON BUTCHERS 1 (Rowbotham 80)

DORCHESTER 3 (Kay 18 Brown 46 J Lyne 58)

Att 5 at Sandy Lane Sports Ground, Oxford

Free Entry

By far the most common question about groundhopping I get asked is how many grounds I’ve done. It’s an obvious one, but it’s also one with little meaning, after all it’s a figure that is only really relevant to myself. There is no award, thank God, to the groundhopper with the most grounds visited.  I used to celebrate each hundredth  ground I visited, 900 was the Cardiff City Stadium, and the thousandth was Newbridge (on Wye) Town.

Since then those milestones have felt less and less important, but there was an unintended consequence of Honiton Town’s game on the Easter Hop being moved to Exwick Villa, a ground I’d visited before. Continue reading →

Stars

17 Tuesday Oct 2017

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Saturday 16th September 2017 ko 16.15

North Berkshire League Division One/ James Rennie Trophy

WESTMINSTER 5 (Connolly 18og Younie 26 72 75 78) Hughes missed pen 5 Hickey sent off 65 (Serious Foul Play)

NORTH OXFORD 1 (Hamis 19) Ward sent off 88 (2nd booking)

Att 108 at Appleton Sportsfield

Entry by programme £4

In planning this event I’d come close to drawing a blank with where to head for our last game. An option was Ardington & Lockinge but I want the hop to visit there next season, and another was Hagbourne United but the Parish Council’s habit of booking out their clubhouse at short notice causing late postponements made that a non-starter. The answer came when I was doing a spot of stadium announcing for the NBFL’s War Memorial Cup Final, and Westminster were one of the finalists. Continue reading →

Diamond Lights

15 Sunday Oct 2017

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Saturday 16th September 2017 k0 10.45

North Berkshire League Division 3

DRAYTON 7 (Dennis 8 29 55p 68 S Bolton 15 C Bolton 51 Hughes 57)

UFFINGTON UNITED 1 (Harfield 66)

Att 112 at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Pitch, Chilton, near Harwell.

Entry by programme £4

In so many ways the North Berkshire Hop is the Hummingbird of the organised hops. We’re off pyramid, we’ve only ever been a one-day event, and we’ve even had another league schedule a rival “Hop” against us. But despite some folks turning up their noses up at us, and a few even telling us it wouldn’t work, just like the hummingbird, that the laws of physics say shouldn’t fly, we’re still here, and still doing things our way.  Continue reading →

Intrigue

05 Thursday Oct 2017

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Friday 15th September 2017 ko 19.30

Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy First Round

MILTON UNITED 2 (Morgan 23 Davies 75)

STANFORD-IN-THE-VALE 0

Att 91

Entry £5

Programme £1

It seems that part of the ritual of the North Berkshire League Hop is a precursor game. The tradition started in 2014 when I wanted to do something to help Abingdon Town, and despite the lack of floodlights in the league, just Uffington United this season we’ve managed to stage one every year since. Who could forget the Wally Bus? Continue reading →