Tag Archives: North West Counties League

The Hopsters!

17 Wednesday May 2017

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Monday 14th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Premier Division

WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 3 (Bayunu 70 Henderson 90 Mendes Gomes 90)

CONGLETON TOWN 1 (Gardner 84)

Att 295

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

The coach picked its way through the affluent leafy suburbia of Chorlton-cum-Hardy as we worked out exactly where to park, the club had earmarked a car park near to a pub, but that was full, and even when empty had a height barrier precluding coach entry. Eventually a club official found us, we disembarked, and Godfrey the driver found alternative parking arrangements. I saw him later in the cafe, so Plan B was clearly a good one! Continue reading →

The Imperative

16 Tuesday May 2017

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Monday 14th April 2017 ko 11.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

ATHERTON COLLERIES 5 (Kenny 4og Cover 20 66 73p Bailey 49)

AFC DARWEN 1 (Hepple 80)

Att 478

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

It’s a well-told story, how Atherton Collieries in 2013 helped us at GroundhopUK out by taking on an Easter Hop game on 48 hours’ notice after our planned game at AFC Emley got snowed off.

They moved heaven and earth to accommodate us, secretary Emil Anderson even dragged himself from his sick bed to be there. It took a knock-back or two to get a NWCL hop, but Joe Gibbons, Emil and all the Colls were there pushing to make it happen, so when the idea finally was agreed it was obvious that we’d want them on our first hop. That though would create an issue …. Continue reading →

My Chemical Romance

15 Monday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 18.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

RUNCORN TOWN 4 (Cairns 16p 77 Reed 49 77)

BARNTON 1 (J McShane 73)

Att 335

Entry £6

Programme £2

People were beginning to flag as the coach searched for a parking spot at Weston Point. If this had been the normal August Bank Holiday hop we’d have been parking up at our last game. I glanced over the Mersey estuary towards Halkyn United who had once been the opener for such a jaunt and remembered the view of the chemical works and inwardly reminisced.  Continue reading →

Onwards & Upwards

10 Wednesday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2017 ko 14.30

North West Counties League Division One

ASHTON TOWN 0

STOCKPORT TOWN 2 (Hinchliffe 29p 57)

Att 315

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

If any future host club at a groundhop wants a piece of advice on how best to endear themselves to the organiser I suggest having someone waiting to guide in the coach when we arrive at the ground. It sets the tone for the visit, in confirming competence and in the case of Ashton Town I’m not sure we’d have found the parking spot without help. You couldn’t help but like Ashton Town, tucked away as they are between the houses in the middle of Ashton-in-Makerfield but we all knew they had their own problems over and above coping with a crowd up to 10 times normal. Continue reading →

Shakermaker

09 Tuesday May 2017

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Sunday 16th April 2016 ko 11.00

North-West Counties League Premier Division

ASHTON ATHLETIC 2 (Smith 10 Vaughan 63)

SQUIRES GATE 1 (Nobley 2)

Att 298

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

It seemed odd to be starting a new hop when traditionally we’d be recovering from a 3 day, 7 game blast. But let’s face it the Northern League’s whole of Easter event a couple of years ago changed everything. For a start it proved that running games on Easter Sunday was popular amongst fans and it reinforced some work that Chris Berezai and I at GroundhopUK had been doing behind the scenes.  Continue reading →

The Tryptych

22 Tuesday Mar 2016

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Saturday 19th March 2016 ko 15.00

North West Counties League Division One

NORTHWICH MANCHESTER VILLA 1 (Martins 67) Norris sent off 90 (violent conduct)

HOLKER OLD BOYS 2 (Stanway 13 52)

Att 25 at Manchester Regional Arena

Entry £5

Programme £2

For the hopper there’s three stadiums to complete at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. Other than the newly enlarged main stadium, there’s the Academy Stadium,  and on the other side of Alan Turing Way there’s the Manchester Regional Arena. Originally built in 2002 as a warm-up track for the City of Manchester Stadium (now the Etihad) for the Commonwealth Games, it’s had a history as chequered as the football club that currently calls it home. Continue reading →

We Long Endure

21 Sunday Feb 2016

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Saturday 13th February 2016 ko 15.00

North West Counties League Premier Division

COLNE 0

SQUIRES GATE 0

Att 150

Entry £6

Programme £1

You climb to get to Colne, right out of Mancunian suburbs into the mill towns of Lancashire, many still sporting the factory chimneys immortalised by Milton. You’re in the cradle of the game here too, passing the likes of Blackburn, Bolton, and Accrington on the way. As a southerner even after visiting all of those grounds, the names still resonate.

Continue reading →

Building Jerusalem

23 Sunday Aug 2015

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Saturday 15th August 2015 ko 15.00

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round

NELSON 0

NEWTON AYCLIFFE 4 (Knight 29 Banks 59 Moffat 81 86)

Att 96

Entry £6

Programme £2

Badge £3

If there’s one competition every football fan should be a fan of it’s the FA Cup. Despite top flight clubs attempts to devalue it, for me the memories of clubs you’d never heard of battling against familiar Football League clubs remain a romantic part of growing up a football fan. Be it Blyth Spartans, Shepshed Charterhouse or Sutton United, the FA Cup was and is where the thrill of the underdog giving the patrician a bloody nose was more interesting than watching the same old sides fight for the League title. With those thoughts in mind I wanted something special to visit for the competition’s opening round.  Continue reading →

But It Was Gone

10 Sunday May 2015

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Saturday 9th May 2015 ko 15.00

FA Vase Final

GLOSSOP NORTH END 1 (Bailey 55)

NORTH SHIELDS 2 (Bainbridge 80 Forster 96)

After Extra Time

Att 9,674 at Wembley Stadium

Entry- Complimentary (Many thanks to the Wessex League)

Programme £4

I do enjoy my annual trip to the Vase final, even though on this occasion I found myself photographing the same people I did a few years ago! There’s something touching about the trip to the hospitality seats and seeing all those officials from Step 5 leagues. These people aren’t the career administrators from the higher echelons, these are the people who do it for the love of it, and I do wonder whether when the event will switch to a joint Trophy and Vase day that flavour will be lost in a sea of professionalism? Continue reading →

Countywide

05 Thursday Mar 2015

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Wednesday 4th March 2015 ko 19.30

Staffordshire County Senior League Division One

LEEK C.S.O.B. 4 (Bown 3 Pointon 46 57 83)

KEELE UNIVERSITY 0

Att 62

Entry FREE

Teamsheet FREE

Tea 50p

We really should start with the obvious, it’s County School Old Boys! From a groundhopper’s perspective they were the North West Counties League club that shared at Leek Town. Most hoppers don’t seem to be interested in a ground’s second club, so for many years they sailed under many people’s radar, mine included.

All that changed with their resignation from the NWCL at the end of last season. They took their reserves place in the second tier of the Staffs County League, and moved to Pointon Park, in Cheddleton, some 4 miles south of Leek. That is where its starts getting interesting. Continue reading →