Tag Archives: Sport

The Return To Something Big

19 Monday May 2025

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Saturday 23rd March 2025 ko 19:45

Essex Senior League

TAKELEY 2 (Westcott 63 Miles 90+5)

SAFFRON WALDEN TOWN 0

Att 586

Non-League Day “Passport” £30

Entry £8

Programme £2

It has to be said there was a lot more time available to get from Little Oakley to Takeley than there had from Benfleet to Little Oakley earlier in the day. So much so there was enough time to visit a nearby chippy and listen to the planes roaring over our heads, taking off and landing at Stansted airport. Once we arrived at Station Road it was obvious we were, like at Benfleet, visiting something big.

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The One In The Middle

16 Friday May 2025

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Saturday 23rd March 2025 ko 15:30

Essex Senior League

LITTLE OAKLEY 1 (Harris 37og)

Papple sent off (violent conduct) 90+1

STANWAY ROVERS 2 (Okoye 41 Maycock 45+1)

Chatting sent off (violent conduct) 90+1

Att 111

Non-League Day “Passport” £30

Entry £6

Programme FREE

After the Benfleet game it seemed that the hordes scattered to the four winds. There were no end of options for the middle game of the three on the Essex Senior League’s Non League Day event, albeit those of us with the passports were limited to clubs within the league. For me I had two options that would represent a new ground, Little Oakley or Athletic Newham and it was fairly obvious which one I favoured.

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Wee Help

06 Tuesday May 2025

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Saturday 15th March 2025 ko 10:45

Lowland League

ALBION ROVERS 0

BO’NESS UNITED 0

Att 379

Entry £11

Programme £2

Sometimes I do worry that people forget one of the points of the organized groundhop. Yes, part of it is to allow groundhoppers to tick off multiple grounds over a weekend, but it’s just as much there to act as a fundraiser for the host clubs, and perhaps never before has that side of these events been so important as here.

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The Five Sisters

23 Wednesday Apr 2025

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Saturday 15th March 2025 ko 13:45

East of Scotland League Division Two

WEST CALDER UNITED 4 (Wilkins 21 45 McConnell 66 Young 83og)

KENNOWAY STAR HEARTS 3 (Nugent 23 Lawrie 54 Walker 90+1p)

Att 336

Entry £8

Programme £2

From Harthill it seemed like no distance at all to West Calder, another village that owes its existance to the mining industry- in this case shale. We passed “The Five Sisters” on the way- huge bings, or spoil heaps that sadly you can’t see from Hermand Park.

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Caracas

08 Tuesday Apr 2025

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Friday 14th March 2025 ko 19:45

Lowland League

CUMBERNAULD COLTS 2 (Duncan 10og Ross 40)

BROXBURN ATHLETIC 0

Att 375 at Broadwood Stadium

Entry £6

Programme £2

It is always a brutal journey to the Scottish Hop but for me it’s great joy has been watching it’s evolution. From a conversation at Camelon Juniors in 2014, Jamie McQueen’s stirling work while at Whitehill Welfare, Chris Berezai’s marathon driving stints to meet the Lowland League, through to that first game at East Kilbride this event has never come with the huge history of the organised hop south of the border.

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Rammy

04 Tuesday Mar 2025

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Friday 28th February 2025 ko 19:45

North West Counties League Premier Division

RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 2 (Whyte 48 Hoyle 56)

FC ST HELENS 3 (Barker 59 Spiers 74 90+1)

Att 551

Entry £9

Programme £2

So back on GroundhopUK duty and despite this being, I believe, the only hop game ever to have taken place in February I was comfortable with what we were doing, and although noone mentioned it, the weather forecast looked kind.

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Lucky Ducks

23 Thursday Jan 2025

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Wednesday 1st January 2025 ko 15:00

Northern Premier League-Premier Division

WHITBY TOWN 0

Gell sent off (2nd booking) 74

STOCKTON TOWN 2 (Sweet 70 Nicholson 76)

Att 826

Entry £12

Programme £2.50

I do question my sanity sometimes. A 4 hour trip north the morning after a New Year party, in the aftermath of the a storm affecting the North East and Scotland. In fact so daft was my idea we cruised into Whitby far earlier than we needed to be, which got me thinking…

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The Other Side

13 Monday Jan 2025

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Tuesday 17th December 2024 ko 19:30

Argonaut Trophy

SOUTHERN AMATEUR LEAGUE 1 (Kelly 90+1)

AMATEUR FOOTBALL COMBINATION 2 (Sherriff-Jolly 33 50)

Att c20 at Quintin Hogg Memorial Sports Ground, Chiswick

Free Entry (although parking is chargeable, via an App)

In rugby the schism of 1895 is still obvious. Back then the Northern Rugby Union broke away from the established Rugby Football Union (RFU) to allow for professionalism. In Association football the schism happened in 1907 , albeit in reverse. The clubs wanting amateurism formed the Amateur Football Association and left the Football Association rather than the other way round. I’ll never forget that wonderful quote dating from the time describing professionalism as the, “Fungus growth which had become attached to the machinery of football management!” 

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Smooth Hoperator

30 Monday Dec 2024

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Sunday 27th October 2024 ko 14:30

Southern Combination Division One

EAST PRESTON 1 (Kaffo 18)

Green penalty saved 31

Hastings sent off 65 (DOGSO)

GOLDALMING TOWN 2 (S Ndiulor 5 Edwin 59)

Att 231

Entry £6.50

Programme £2

I’d had to look up my previous visit to the Lashmar, 2007 for those interested, and my abiding memory of the place was that the footprint of the area pitchside wasn’t big so I wondered how East Preston might make best use of it with a big crowd expected. I’d seen their plans, but expectation and delivery can be two completely different things, can’t they?

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The Crows Arms

16 Monday Dec 2024

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Saturday 26th October 2024 ko 17:45

Southern Combination Premier Division

CROWBOROUGH ATHLETIC 2 (Forster 6 18)

HASSOCKS 1 (Funnell 4)

Att 413

Entry £7

Programme £2

I must admit I treated the Saturday evening game on the Sussex Hop with a certain amount of trepidation. It wasn’t that Crowborough might do badly, rather it was me considering the antonym of the maxim “Smaller clubs tend to make more of an effort.”

Please don’t see this as a dig at any one club, more a comment that the vast majority of clubs with a history at Southern, Isthmian or Northern Premier League level can cope with hosting a hop game’s crowd. The catch is by scaling up and no more the club does miss out on additional revenue and the hopper gets to swerve the burgers…. again!

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