Tag Archives: Scotland

The Ying and the Yang

08 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by in W

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Saturday 10th May 2008 ko 15.00

Highland League

WICK ACADEMY 3 (Weir 9 Shearer 27 Macadie 73)

FRASERBURGH 2 (Johnston 22 Hale 78)

Att 263

Entry Comp’

Programme £1

Pain is part and parcel of being a groundhopper, it’s the yang to the ying of a wonderful ground and an exciting game. For some the pain is self-inflicted, the hopper who doesn’t count nil-nil draws travelling from Blackpool to Fakenham 3 times for example, but my ground of pain for years was Harmsworth Park. Of course if the place had have been just a few miles from where I was living at the time, Banbury in Oxfordshire, it wouldn’t have been an issue, but Wick Academy are the most northerly senior club in the UK, and a trip here took more than a little planning. Continue reading →

Rain Clouds Over Leith

29 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in H

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Sunday 25th May 2014 ko 15.30

Scottish Premiership Play-Off Final 2nd Leg

HIBERNIAN 0

HAMILTON ACADEMICAL 2 (Scotland 12 Andreu 90)

Agg 2-2 AET Hamilton won 4-3 on penalties

Att 18,301

Entry £10

Programme £2

Team Sheet FREE

I’d wanted to pay Easter Road a visit for ages, for one thing it was the last of the Scots Big 5 for me to do (Rangers, Celtic, Hearts and Aberdeen being the others), and the O.C.D. side of me wanting to visit a ground I’d parked near to a number of times on holidays! There was also the “Which Hibs?” factor to consider, after a trip to the Maltese Hibernians, the additional “S” is important, just ask a well-known groundhopper! The full sorry story, and the trip to the Maltese version can be found here! Continue reading →

Two Magpies

27 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by in B, M, Uncategorized

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Sunday 25th May 2014 ko 13.00

Scottish Womens Football League 2nd Division South East

BOROUGHMUIR THISTLE 3 (Livingstone 10 Hanson 50 To 83)

HUTCHINSON VALE RESERVES 1 (C Devlin 15)

Att 13  at Meggetland Sports Complex, Edinburgh

Entry FREE

No programme

As I stood in the almost deserted stand watching a game a pitch’s width away I watched two magpies stand on a crash barrier and survey the scene. Like me, they were sheltering from the torrential rain, most of the other spectators tried to keep their umbrellas from turning inside out at pitchside, but lets face it, if there’s cover its best used! Continue reading →

The Canal

27 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by in C

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Saturday 24th May 2014 ko 14.30

Scots Junior East Region, East of Scotland Cup Quarter Final

CAMELON JUNIORS 3 (Wright 34 Allison 48 Batchelor 76)

CARNOUSTIE PANMURE 0

Att 122

Entry £5

No Programme

Aim for the Falkirk Wheel, and you’ll be at the edge of Camelon. It’s a town dominated by its larger neighbour, and the Union Canal that reaches its confluence with Forth and Clyde Canal at the wheel. The latter canal runs behind, and rather counter-intuitively, above Carmuirs Park, set at the back of an estate of social housing. Continue reading →

The Auld Fem Derby

03 Thursday Apr 2014

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Sunday 30th March 2014 ko 12.00

Scottish Women’s Premier League

RANGERS 2 (Sneddon 20p Mulvey 55)

CELTIC 1 (Jones 11)

Att 79 at Petershill Park, Glasgow (Petershill JFC)

Entry £4

No Programme

To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure how to approach this game. On one hand it was a women’s game, not known for being high profile in the UK, but it did involve Celtic and Rangers with all the sectarian idiocy that fixtures between the two clubs attracts. I pondered my attire, would that red Neilston scarf bought the previous day attract unwanted attention, would my SLR camera be allowed in, and would there be a sizeable police presence?

Continue reading →

The Brightest Star

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

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Saturday 29th March 2014 ko 14.00

West of Scotland Junior Cup 3rd Round

NEILSTON JUNIORS 0 Digney sent off FT (2nd booking)

SHOTTS BON ACCORD 1 (McKenna 88p)

Att 121

Entry £5

Programme £1

Scarf £5

We had a guest on this mini-tour, Sim loves his football despite being an Oxford United fan, and with this fixture being the centrepiece of the weekend I wanted it to give him a true flavour of the Junior scene in Scotland. We drove south-west from Glasgow for around 11 miles to Neilston, just south of Paisley. Like the latter town the village grew massively during the Industrial Revolution due to the textile trade and the derelict Crofton Mill still stands, the only survivor of the seven mills than stood beside the River Levern between Neilston and Dovecothall.

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The Third Way

31 Monday Mar 2014

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Friday 28th March 2014 ko 20.00

East of Scotland Amateur Cup Semi-Final

TOLCROSS THISTLE 1 (Perry 43)

STEINS THISTLE 2 (Lynn 46, M Kane 61)

Att 148 at Ainslie Park, Edinburgh

Entry £4

No Programme

North of the border the football is split 3 ways, Senior, Junior and Amateur, and there’s very little cross-over. You get some clubs in one section that could easily play in what is, in theory, the higher level, and especially the case of the Seniors, the converse also holds.

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Farewell, the bonnie banks of Ayr!

23 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in W

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Saturday 22nd February 2014 ko 14.15

Scottish Junior FA Cup 5th Round

WHITLETTS VICTORIA 4 (Holland 56 Allan 59 Balfour 69 72)

YOKER ATHLETIC 1 (Frew 42)

Att 367

Entry £5

Programme (Chinese takeaway style) 30p

Badge Comp

Tea £1

As a hopper when you can’t find anything that takes your fancy, a good option is work on the lengthy list of Scottish Junior grounds that may not be in use for much longer. I like many others had loved Benburb’s soon-to-be lost Tinto Park, and as I drove north up the M6 yet another time, I wondered if my day could be as special as a fortnight ago. I surprised myself by having as good a time as then, if not better. Continue reading →

Everything You Need

09 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in B

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Saturday 8th February 2014 ko 13.45

Scottish Junior FA West Region, Central League Cup 2nd Round

BENBURB 1 (McGurgan 30) Lovering sent off 88 (2nd booking)

THORNIEWOOD UNITED 6 (Duffy 6 Murphy 16 Malone 45 McGowan 62 O’Donnell 78 Brophy 85)

Att 64

Entry £5

Programme £1

When I was a sixth-former we were encouraged to debate the burning issues of the time. I remember a particularly heated debate on the death penalty, and a particularly powerful argument was putting yourself in the position of the condemned prisoner and the dread of waiting for the appointment with the executioner. I felt a flavour of that dread about those involved at Benburb.

Benburb are on borrowed time at their home Tinto Park. The 82 year old stadium has been sold for housing, the “Site Office,” sign is up on the fence outside, and the club neither know who now owns their home, or when the axe will fall.

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Encroachment

30 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in K

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Saturday 28th December 2013 ko 13.30

Scottish Junior FA West Region, West of Scotland Superleague, Premier Division

KIRKINTILLOCH ROB ROY 2 (McGeough 71 Sawyers 90)

CUMNOCK JUNIORS 1 (Maguire 26)

Att 219 (head count)

Entry £5

No Programme (the club normally issue, but editor away on holiday)

Bundle of old issues-complementary

Club bar scarf- complimentary

Continue reading →