Tag Archives: NWCFL

Evans

05 Wednesday Apr 2023

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Sunday 5th March 2023 ko 14:30

North West Counties League Division One South

STAFFORD TOWN 2 (Simcox 27 57)

ABBEY HEY 1 (Kirkman 90)

Att 489

Entry £6

Programme £1.50

The great mercy of this particular Sunday on the North West Counties Hop is that we didn’t get the chance to get cold, in fact and don’t say this too loudly, the day was actually a relaxing meander through two charming Stafford clubs. Robyn and I even managed to get home at a sensible time after it all- that will never do! Continue reading →

Foley

27 Monday Mar 2023

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Saturday 4th March 2023 ko 13:00

North-West Counties League Division One South

FOLEY MEIR 0 

MAINE ROAD 1 (Keyworth 68)

Livesey (gk) sent off 13 (foul & abusive)

Att 303

Entry £6

Programme £1

For Saturday’s second game we headed to Stoke-on-Trent, for what was, for me at least, the most surprising visit on the hop. I’d visited Whitcombe Road back in 2010 when the club were still just Foley FC for a Staffordshire County League game. The ground was just as basic as it gets, albeit with a wonderful vista of Stoke from behind the near goal. I just couldn’t imagine that the club could get the place fit for pyramid football. I am wrong on occasion…. just ask my wife Robyn! Continue reading →

Gilbert

23 Thursday Mar 2023

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Saturday 4th March 2023 ko 11:00

North West Counties League Division One South

ROCESTER 0

SANDBACH UNITED 4 (Tatters 22 Fitzpatrick 44 Cope 48 Barton 85)

Att 356

Entry £6

Programme £1

I should start by answering the two most frequent questions asked about Rocester; it’s near Uttoxeter and its pronounced Roaster! We set off from Stafford knowing that we had 4 completely different grounds to visit. On a personal note, I knew 3 of them, and I fully expected Rocester’s to be my highlight, at least on architectural grounds. Continue reading →

Borders

22 Wednesday Mar 2023

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Friday 3rd March 2023 ko 19:45

North-West Counties League- Division One South

ELLESMERE RANGERS 2 (Harris 62 Rogers 79)

ALSAGER TOWN 1 (Bebbington 34)

Att 272

Entry £5

Programme £1

It would be so easy to paint this as Robyn and I’s return to GroundhopUK duty, but in reality we hadn’t stopped, even after the final games in the SCEFL Hop. Robyn gradually took over social media duties, and you really couldn’t have failed to see her efforts on the @NWCLHop2023 account. That really helped us both to tease the hop, but also to update people too. Continue reading →

Half

25 Friday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 16.00

North West Counties League Division One North

NELSON 3 (Lloyd 13 47 Foster 28)

CHADDERTON 1  (Dean 87)

Att 351

Entry £5

Programme £2

I’m sure that for many on the North West Counties League hop, the trip to Nelson FC was the most anticipated of the 7 clubs we visited. Part was the club’s illustrious history and part was the evocative backdrop of the terraced cottages with the factory chimney jutting out from behind.

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The Fan Club

21 Sunday May 2017

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Monday 17th April 2017 ko 17.45

North West Counties League Premier Division

MAINE ROAD 2 (Morgan 18 51)

ABBEY HEY 2 (Hardy 62 Blake 79)

Att 259

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

We saw George Galloway campaigning in Gorton, near Brantingham Road, just in front of his coterie was the Labour candidate and his entourage. We soon parked up and coach driver Godfrey scuttled off to find hospitality, if there’s a radar for such things the he’s got it! I strolled in, exchanging a joke with physio Lucy Weir on her second game of the hop but was secretly hoping that seeing a crowd the candidates might come in a swell the crowd. There was of course a compelling reason why they wouldn’t…. 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 →

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 →

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 →