Tag Archives: South Wales Alliance

Lurvill’s Delight

18 Monday Sep 2017

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Saturday 26th August 2017 ko 18.30

South Wales Alliance Premier Division

YNYSHIR ALBIONS 2 (Williams 6 Evans 10) Rewbury missed pen 44

TON & GELLI B.G.C. 1 (Davies 41)

Att 260

Entry £3

Programme £1

There were a few tired legs as we headed down the hill from the car park to the Ynyshir Oval. Mind you if you wanted someone with reason to be tired a call to the game’s referee Peter Small would be in order. The 70-year-old was about to take the whistle for his 4th game of the day after running the line in the 3 other hop games today. Peter and the Welsh Hop go back a long way, and thanks to him, a genuine legend of Valleys football. 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 →

Say It With Flowers

10 Sunday Sep 2017

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Saturday 26th August 2017 ko 10.45

South Wales Alliance Division 1

TREBANOG 4 (Howe 2 10 Hares 52 Cory 58)

GARW S.G.B.C. 0

Att 265

Entry £3

Programme £1

The young man was waiting to greet the GroundhopUK coaches, resplendent in his Trebanog training top and baseball cap. He positively floated over, and welcomed us all to his village, explaining, “I’d be playing, but I’m banned!”

We’d met Trebanog, then new to the league, at Garw last year, and it’s fair to say they made quite an impression! Continue reading →

Coke

10 Sunday Sep 2017

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Friday 25th August 2017 ko 18.45

South Wales Alliance Premier Division

CWM WELFARE 2 (Williams 24 Whitfield 90)

CARDIFF CORINTHIANS 3 (R Withers 6 90 Misbah 57p)

Att 233

Entry £3

Programme £1

Seldom have I felt so relaxed travelling down to a hop I’ve been involved in. The South Wales Alliance are the main reason why life is straightforward, we at GroundhopUK have been working with them and their predecessors, the South Wales Amateur League for years. Chris Berezai and I know that as and when an issue arises its simply a question of phoning either Dave or Phil at the league and it’s dealt with. We understand their needs, and they ours, and not every league can claim that! Continue reading →

Four Into Three

12 Monday Jun 2017

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Saturday 20th May 2017 ko 15.30

South Wales FA Playoff for South Wales Alliance

VALE UNITED 4 (Tominey 35 63p 86 Gregory 71)

LLANHARRY 2 (TJ Jones 18 Davies 86)

Att 116 at Pentre Park

Free entry

With the merger of the South Wales Senior and Amateur Leagues to form the South Wales Alliance a kink in the ladder in the Welsh footballing pyramid was ironed out. However in doing so another partial blockage was created, for clubs wishing to seek promotion to the Alliance. The South Wales FA’s solution to it is nothing if not ingenious though.  Continue reading →

Athletic On The Road

24 Monday Apr 2017

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Saturday 8th April 2017 ko 14.30

Welsh League Division 3

TREHARRIS ATHLETIC WESTERN 1 (Mitchell 55) Mitchell missed penalty 86

TREFELIN B.G.C. 1 (Latham 23) Monks-Landeg sent off 65 (dangerous play)

Att c25 at Welfare Ground, Fochriw

Entry £3

Programme £1

In the lexicon of great South Wales non-league grounds three places stand out. There’s Blaenrhondda, Garw and until recently Treharris Athletic Western’s Athletic Ground home. Those in the know knew it was on borrowed time, if for no other reason than the pitch being too small for Welsh League requirements, but the club’s abrupt departure earlier this year took many by surprise. Continue reading →

Reputations

30 Thursday Mar 2017

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Sunday 12th March 2017 ko 15.00

South Wales Alliance Premier Division

CARDIFF CORINTHIANS 1 (Canley 52)

PONTYCLUN 2 (Moss 49p Woodington 71)

Att 189

Entry £3

Programme £1

It’s worth remembering that the roots of the Welsh Spring Hop lie with GroundhopUK organising a “Hop Up” in March for clubs in the South Wales Amateur League, who due to cricket couldn’t host during August Bank Holiday.

The idea was transferred along with the August Hop to the Mid-Wales League, but then one year we were approached by the Ceredigion League who offered us a games in Lampeter, and New Quay to pad out trips to UWA and Aberaeron and we enjoyed their company so much we completed the league before moving the event to the Carmarthenshire League last season. This return to both the roots of the Spring Hop, and the now merged Alliance League was a good chance to compare past and present. Continue reading →

Penultimate

22 Thursday Sep 2016

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Monday 29th August 2016 ko 14.55

South Wales Alliance Premier Division

GRANGE ALBION 3 (Beattie 26 Cotterill 28 Daly 43)

CARDIFF CORINTHIANS 0

Att 225

Entry £3

Programme £1

I remember my first encounter with Coronation Park. I’d parked up to visit Cardiff City’s Ninian Park, spotted the little ground with the name picked out in the brickwork and wondered what league Grange Albion played in. By the time I parked in roughly the same place in Sloper Road a few years’ later, beyond the Bus Garage to tick off Cardiff City Stadium I knew they played in the South Wales Senior League. As I alighted Coach 2 it felt like the aligning of the groundhopping planets! As if to accentuate the feeling, the tips of the Millenium Stadium’s cantilevering are visible too. Continue reading →

Gareth

14 Wednesday Sep 2016

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Sunday 28th August 2016 ko 18.00

South Wales Alliance Division One

CORNELLY UNITED 2 (Richards 19 Roche 81)

PORTHCAWL TOWN ATHLETIC 1 (Fisher 12)

Att 351

Entry £3

Programme £1

Badge £3

The final game of the day was just what I fancied, a thoroughly working class local derby with the 150-or-so hoppers augmented by as many locals as possible. Cornelly managed all that and more, but the fact that they even took a hop game, let alone made a success of it was all the more remarkable. Continue reading →