Tag Archives: Sports

The Palace

26 Wednesday Aug 2026

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Saturday 27th June 2026 ko 14:00

Pre-season Friendly

SEVEN SISTERS ONLLYWN 1 (71)

PENLAN AFC 1 (66)

Att 27 at the Welfare Ground

Free Entry

Back in the day the Swedish Hop at the start of June used to bookend my season, and in England that would be the case now, but you are now seeing the occasional friendly pop up at the end of June, even though technically it is still forbidden by the FA. In Wales, you do see a few more driven by the FAW’s clubs early entry in to European competitions but in both cases check and check again that the game is still on.

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The Bridge

20 Thursday Aug 2026

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Sunday 7th June 2026 ko 15:00

Division 6B Stockholm

BRO IK 3 (Tayeb 68 Zhao 80 84)

VÄLLINGBY AIK 0

Att 45 at Bro IP

Free Entry

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

They say always end on a good note, and leaving them wanting more. I tend to look at all the grounds we’re visiting well in advance, I do like to plan! I’d expected the opening ground on this year’s Swedish Hop to be wonderful, and Häradsvallen didn’t disappoint. I certainly didn’t expect Bro (pronounced “Brew”) to be another gem, clearly the photos I’d seen didn’t do the place justice!

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Winner Takes It All

14 Friday Aug 2026

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Sunday 7th June 2026 ko 13:00

Division 4 Norra Stockholm

SPÅNGA IS FF 8 (Falsen 3 Bergtoft 33 Callebro 38 46 54 Aga 55 73 Hussein 75p)

DANDERYDS SK FF 0

Att 77 at Spånga IP

Entry & Programme Free

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

There was time when I found the final day of the Swedish Hop hard work. I know how much gets invested in 3 days and 2 nights so when I sense it all ending there was always a sense of melancholy. In recent years, I’ve dealt with it by simply extending my stay, and organiser Kim Hedwall seems to have kept us all busy in any case!

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Returns

12 Wednesday Aug 2026

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Saturday 6th June 2026 ko 17:15

Division 3 Norra Svealand

IFK UPPSALA 1 (Vahedi 86)

ÖSTERÅKER UNITED 1 (Bechtel 65p)

Att 69 at Lötens IP

Entry & Programme 60 sek

The Swedish Hop cost £360 which included all transport from and to Arlanda Airport and between games, 2 nights bed and breakfast, and any admission fees.

If there’s one road we’ve seen the most of during the 19 years of the Swedish Hop it’s the E4. It runs north from Stockholm passing by Arlanda Airport then heading on to the far north, eventually reaching the border with Finland at Haparanda. But we were heading to the first major city north of the capital – Uppsala.

It’s a place of learning with Uppsala University dating back to 1477, and a place of antiquity- Old Uppsala was the main pagan centre of Sweden in Viking times. The Swedish Hop was based in Uppsala back in 2015 and we stayed very close to Lötens IP, and I’m sure we all wondered when we’d ever take in a game there? Just the 11 years then….

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Robin

29 Wednesday Jul 2026

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Saturday 30th May 2026 ko 14:00

West Wales Tier 5 Playoffs Game 3

WAUNARLWYDD GALAXY 2 (Pritchard 71 89)

Fowler sent off 37 (serious foul play)

GLYNNEATH TOWN 0

Att 348

Entry, Programme & Raffle ticket £3

The season was in its last knockings, but non league in Wales does tend to produce some interesting play-offs. The issue has long been the same, there are more league winners than there are places in the leagues above. Who could forget the playoffs to get into the South Wales Alliance ?

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On the Buses

28 Tuesday Jul 2026

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Tuesday 19th May 2026 ko 19:00

Guildford & Woking Alliance Premier Division

UPPER HALE 1 (Stuart 85)

FARNBOROUGH NORTH END ATHLETIC 0

Att 42 at Traco Club, Aldershot

Free Entry

I remember just over 25 years ago, I didn’t really understand the sheer magnitude of the hobby. I went through a phase of trying to do one club in each division which is of course the start of a slippery slope. Some App now tells me I’ve completed 35 divisions… so when a league I’d never heard of popped up I was more than a little intrigued!

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Friends

22 Wednesday Jul 2026

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Saturday 16th May 2026 ko 18:30

North Berkshire Cup Final

BERINSFIELD 3 (Holdsworth 33p Palmer 49 Hinkin 64)

COMPTON 0

Att 215 at Abingdon United FC

Entry & Programme £5

I can’t pretend I couldn’t see the demise of the North Berkshire League coming. When I left the league’s committee 2 years ago the league was down to 2 divisions from 5 when the league was at its peak. Like just about everyone involved in football in the Shire, I’d heard the rumours about a mass exodus to the Oxon Senior League, but hoped that it was either an exaggeration or that the league might find replacement clubs.

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Mynydd y Gaer 

21 Tuesday Jul 2026

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Saturday 9th May 2026 ko 14:30

Ardal North West

CPD LLANNEFYDD 3 (Salisbury 4 Owen 30 Edwards 90)

MYNYDD ISA 1 (Beck 36)

Att 58

Entry £5

It has to be said that Robyn my wife does come up with our best ideas. She fancied a weekend in North Wales so we spent a few days exploring Snowdonia from a base in Llandudno. For me it was a chance to revisit a lot of the places we visited in the days of the Welsh Alliance Hops and introduce Robyn to some seriously long placenames. But somehow we ended up at one with quite a short name really….

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The Drawbridge

21 Tuesday Jul 2026

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Monday 4th May 2026 ko 15:00

Midland League Division 2

WAKE GREEN AMATEUR 1 (Kelly 56)

Kelly penalty saved 29

NORTHFIELD TOWN 6 (Halpin 8 32 73 Ward 31 Forbes 54 Parker 84og)

Att 71

Entry £5

I know why I found myself in Solihull’s environs- local football at the lower divisions is a lot of fun and there”s plenty of it. So much so that I’ve been heading to this part of the world for the best part of twenty years, and I’m still turning up interesting grounds, Wake Green being a case in point.

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The Oldest Club in… well….

17 Friday Jul 2026

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Saturday 2nd May 2026 ko 15:00

Shropshire County League Premier Division

LLANYMYNECH 1 (Thomas 46)

WHITCHURCH ALPORT 1946 5 (Jones 24 Milburn 25 Hailes 48 Owen 66 Cadman 87)

Att 21

Free Entry

Back in medieval times the border between modern day English Shropshire and Welsh Montgomeryshire must have been fairly porous. Even hundreds of years later there are still towns with Welsh names in England such as Trefonen and vice versa. But none managed to be quite as odd as Llanmynech the village that manages to be both English and Welsh!

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