Tag Archives: Southern Counties East League

The Transformation

07 Thursday Nov 2024

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Friday 4th October 2024 ko 19:45

Southern Counties East League Premier Division

SNODLAND TOWN 0

RUSTHALL 3 (Barton 5 Clover 60 Bissett 76)

Att 395

Entry £8

Programme £2

In GroundhopUK terms October added up to 12 games at 12 grounds in south-eastern England. The games were split over 2 weekends 3 weeks apart between the SCEFL and Southern Combination. In my terms that added up to 11 revisits, so I approached the two events as part organiser, part social event, and part seeing how some of the clubs and their facilities had changed. And nowhere across those twelve games saw more of a transformation than at Snodland’s Potyn’s Field.

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Wheels

10 Friday Nov 2023

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Sunday 8th October 2023 ko 15:00

Southern Counties East Premier Division

DEAL TOWN 2 (T Chapman 46 B Chapman 76)

T Chapman sent off 62 (dangerous play)

Hark sent off 75 (DOGSO)

KENNINGTON 0

Att 535

Entry £8

Programme £2

We left the isolation of Lydd and traced the route of Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway back to Hythe and gradually the view from Shirley’s coach became more urbane. We even eventually reached Deal via Kingsdown which did produce a smile. I’d camped there with the Scouts in the mid-1980’s and as my mum waved off the minibus she looked at the bright sunshine and commented,

” Well you’ve certainly got the weather!”

That night we had the most unbelievable thunderstorm, the local supermarket was hit by lightening, and the bolts were bright and frequent enough for me to read a book in my tent. I’m not sure after all these years I’d have that sang-froid now. Mind you with what happened later, maybe we still do!

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What Matters

03 Friday Nov 2023

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Saturday 7th October 2023 ko 18:30

Southern Counties East League Premier Division

WHITSTABLE TOWN 2 (Oliver 3 Smith 55)

BEARSTED 1 (Palmer 70)

Att 682

Entry £10

Programme £2

If I’d felt that the hop’s visit to Faversham Town was an exercise in visiting a future Isthmian club then much the same could have been said above Whitstable Town and their home at the Belmont. But tragically in the days leading up to the hop everything changed. The news came through that club volunteer Matt Milne had died suddenly aged just 43 leaving his widow club secretary Francesca and their two young children bereft.

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Lords & Ladies

25 Wednesday Oct 2023

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Friday 6th October 2023 ko 19:45

Southern Counties East League- Premier Division

LORDSWOOD 1 (Jeffrey 81p)

CORINTHIAN 1 (Billings 22)

Att 324

Entry £8

Programme £2

After the feeling of stepping out of our comfort zones in the West Wales Premier League, GroundhopUK’s return to the Southern Counties East felt like a return to an old friend even if there had been one or two potential gremlins. The first was the ill health of one member of the SCEFL committee, all the best to them for a speedy recovery and it was good how the rest of the team at the league managed to cover their absence.

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Making It Work

08 Thursday Dec 2022

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Sunday 9th October 2022 

11:00 Southern Counties East League- Premier Division

RUSTHALL 4 (Fares 9 Clark 16 Gitiba 60 Baldwin78)

K SPORTS 2 (Holliday 27 Lewins 48)

Att 344

Entry £8

Programme £2

14:00 Southern Counties East League- Premier Division

TUNBRIDGE WELLS 1 (McCreadie 58)

LORDSWOOD 1 (Reid 32)

Att 518

Entry £8

Programme £2

Without a massive amount of evidence I felt supremely confident about the SCEFL Hop’s Sunday schedule. Part of it was that I felt I knew the clubs a little, I’s seen what a go-ahead club Rusthall are when I’d visited 9 years ago, and my visit to Tunbridge Wells  a year later gave me the impression that they were an Isthmian League club in waiting. Normally my internalised challenge to clubs I revisit on hops is to change my perception of them., here I wanted them to reinforce my view. There were a couple of snags with that though. Continue reading →

Men of Kent

01 Thursday Dec 2022

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Saturday 8th October 2022

11:00 Southern Counties East League Division One

STAPLEHURST MONARCHS 1 (Osagie 74)

ROCHESTER UNITED 0

Att 331

Entry £6

Programme £2

15:00 Southern Counties East League Premier Division

BEARSTED 2 (Freeman 18 52)

FISHER 1 (Kationa 52)

Att 229

Entry/ Parking/ Programme £8

17.45 Southern Counties East League Division One

LARKFIELD & NEW HYTHE 2 (Burdon 13 West 30)

GREENWAYS 1 (Saxton 49)

Att 243

Entry £5

Programme £1

There could be no doubt as to how important the SCEFL saw the groundhop; they did as the South Wales Alliance did and placed an official on the coach, mainly to help with directions but to troubleshoot where needed. Having Barry Fenn around was a godsend, not just for what he was mandated to do, but for the little nuggets of knowledge he imparted on the way. Continue reading →

Kentish Man

23 Wednesday Nov 2022

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Friday 7th October 2022 ko 19:45

Southern Counties East League- Premier Division

PUNJAB UNITED 1 (Vines 70)

STANSFELD 1 (Friend 68)

Att 347

Entry £8

Programme £2

If you drill down to the roots of every hop GroundhopUK organises they all have a conversation with a league official with either Chris Berezai or I at their genesis. Scotland is one of mine, as was the Western Hop while Chris’ include Wales, and the Northern Counties East. But the SCEFL is different, because the conversation wasn’t Chris’ or mine, it was between league chairman Andy Short and my wife Robyn! Continue reading →

Bear Necessities

25 Friday Sep 2020

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Tuesday 15th September 2020 ko 19.30

Southern Counties East League-Premier Division

BEARSTED 2 (Marshall-Katong 20p Abibio 24)

CHATHAM TOWN 5 (Evans 17 71 Butler 74 Bradshaw 80 Abioye 86)

Att 256

Entry & Parking £8

Programme- Free, online only

On Twitter, one of my followers has the following bio, “If it wasn’t for football I wouldn’t know where half the places in the UK are.”

Now that goes double for non-league I suppose; even I had to look up where Bearsted is, and just to make life even more difficult, the football club play in Otham, not Bearsted! Continue reading →

Get Down

21 Monday Sep 2020

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Saturday 12th September 2020 ko 15.00

FA Cup Preliminary Round

SHEPPEY UNITED 4 (Carnegie 19 Midson 78 80 Hammill 84)

UXBRIDGE 1 (Haugh 65)

Att 235

Entry £7 (ALL TICKET)

Programme £1

I suppose I see the Isle of Sheppey as Kent’s Yang to Canvey Island’s Essex Ying. The bridge over The Swale is a little more impressive than its Essex counterpart, the slope (to allow for shipping below) is a little disconcerting! Sheppey does have its own quirks though. Continue reading →

Pride, Passion

20 Wednesday Feb 2019

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Tuesday 5th February 2019 ko 19.45

Southern Counties East- Premier Division

PUNJAB UNITED 5 (Suman 7 34 45 Adesite 52 Hamici 57)

RUSTHALL 1 (Sunday 85)

Att 72

Entry £7

Programme £1

The car found the one remaining parking spot in the Elite Venue in Gravesend and Robyn looked doubtful. It was cold, windy, and frankly she didn’t fancy watching a game, any game. So as I headed to the referees’ changing room for the team line-ups she investigated whether she could spend the evening in the clubhouse. I do wonder what she’d have made of this story, if she’d have managed to avoid going in? Continue reading →