Tag Archives: Sussex

Crabtree

22 Thursday Dec 2022

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Tuesday 25th October 2022 ko 19:45

Sussex R.U.R. Cup First Round

WICK 0

BROADBRIDGE HEATH 5 (Croal 27 59 Parminter 47 Carvalho 88 Barbary 90)

Att c50

Entry £8

Programme £2

It’s in the makeup of any groundhopper to collect. For some it’s programmes, badges and the like. Others like completing leagues, but I like completing clubs with something in common. Here I found myself thinking back to Wick Academy, Hackney Wick, Eton Wick and the other Wick FC who hail from Bristol’s suburbs. Oddly enough given Bristol is Robyn’s home town, the only Wick that’s now left for me to visit is the Gloucestershire County League outfit! Continue reading →

Meaning

10 Wednesday Aug 2022

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Saturday 25th June 2022 ko 15:00

Pre-Season Friendly

LINGFIELD 2 (Redfern 20 83)

CROYDON 1 (Peacock 46)

Att 81, at Coombe Field, Edenbridge (Edenbridge RUFC)

Free Entry

Football watching takes several forms, even when you break away from the “I follow my team only” principle. Some groundhoppers will only deal in competitive games, others only within certain levels of the the footballing pyramid, and others will look at what the ground looks like before committing. Others, like me will think “Here’s a game on an unusual ground, ” and that will be enough. This was one of those occasions. Continue reading →

Broadreeds

14 Monday Feb 2022

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Tuesday 8th February 2022 ko 19.45

Southern Combination Division One

SELSEY 2 (Alman 42 Higgins-Pearce 73)

ARUNDEL 1 (Hawkins 90)

Att 156

Entry £5

Programme Free, online/downloadable

It really wasn’t the plan to make this season all about what I still think of as the Sussex County League. The reality is that 2,300 grounds plus into this groundhopping odyssey I am rapidly running out of opportunities within a 2 hour radius of work. Then there’s a tactical element too; with my GroundhopUK hat on I’m less likely to visit grounds in leagues I’m likely to be couriering a coachload of hoppers to! And for what little its worth we did have a brief chat with the Southern Combination a couple of years ago but at committee level there seemed to be little interest in a organised groundhop. 

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St Wilfrids

03 Thursday Feb 2022

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Tuesday 1st February 2022 ko 19:45

Southern Combination Division One

OAKWOOD 0

Neathey sent off 65 (2nd Booking)

GODALMING TOWN 2 (McAleese 57 Oakley 77)

Att 37

Entry £5

When your opportunities for a new ground to visit midweek are limited sometimes its funny how somewhere so straightforward to get to could have somehow have avoided my attention for all my years groundhopping. Oakwood are named after the district of Crawley they play in, and were formed in 1962 by former pupils of St Wilfrids School, an establishment that preferred the oval ball! Continue reading →

Undercliff

08 Wednesday Dec 2021

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Tuesday 30th November 2021 ko 19:45

Southern Combination “Peter Bentley” Cup 2nd Round

SALTDEAN UNITED 3 (Pamment 2 Allen 6 Shelley 43)

ALFOLD 0

Att 62

Entry £5

Programme £1

It seems that I’m destined to complete the Southern Combination with a combination of the RUR Cup and the Peter Bentley Cup through those competitions’ midweek fixtures and yes, my ability to reach the grounds in 2 hours after work in Oxford. Continue reading →

Returning Heroes

18 Friday Dec 2020

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Saturday 12th December 2020 ko 15.00

Southern Combination Premier Division

PEACEHAVEN & TELSCOMBE 2 (Benson 50 Webber 78)

STEYNING TOWN COMMUNITY 1 (Cousins 10)

Att 153

Entry £7

Programme online only

Lockdown #2 ended up lasting a couple of weeks longer than either Robyn or I planned, and the irony of both of us contracting Coronavirus during a lockdown isn’t lost on me. We were fortunate, very fortunate to contract only a mild strain of the disease and although we were pretty wiped out for a few days we quickly recovered, with fatigue being the last symptom to fade away. But that fact did influence where we went. I wanted to break up the driving a little, I wasn’t comfortable with the marathon stints I’ve taken on in the past. That brought an idea from the past into my head…. Continue reading →

Bring Them Home

27 Sunday Sep 2020

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Saturday 19th September 2020 ko 14.00

Mid Sussex League- Championship

SOUTHWICK 1882 2 (Russell 20 McDowell 80)

ASHURST WOOD 1 (Grafton 10)

Att c130

Entry & Programme – By Donation

You may remember 18 months ago I watched Southwick FC at their home Old Barn Way. I found a friendly club struggling with the weight of a storied history and a home that had clearly seen better days. I saw them lose, wrote about them, and hoped for better things for them. Sadly disaster befell them. Continue reading →

All About Wickhurst Lane

27 Monday Jan 2020

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Tuesday 8th November 2019 ko 19.45

Sussex Senior Cup 2nd Round

BROADBRIDGE HEATH 2 (Jones 27 Wanstall 61)

PEACEHAVEN & TELSCOMBE 3 (Wiltshire 38 Ford 50 Bant 90)

Att 64

Entry £6

Programme £1

After all that had gone before, it seemed strange to be returning to pyramid football. Not in any perjorative sense, although the inevitable battle with the M25 evening rush hour was as unwelcome. As hellish as the traffic was, it was familiar I’d passed Broadbridge Heath’s new ground on the way to Horsham a couple of months earlier. I found myself wishing my journeys were a little more straightforward, but then that is skill that Broadbridge Heath are rather good at! Continue reading →

Atmospheric

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Tuesday 10th October 2017 ko 19.45

Southern Combination Premier Division

LOXWOOD 2 (Pritchard 52 Holvey 85)

CHICHESTER CITY 4 (Jones 13secs Heggarty 44 Clack 76 Herbert 90)

Att 46

Entry £6

Programme £1

On one hand non-league photography is a good deal easier in daylight, to the extent I’ve built up a collection of lenses that Robyn and I use more or less specifically for night games. But if you can produce the pictures in good enough quality, photographing non-league at night does produce a feel all of it’s own. Loxwood’s Plaistow Road Recreation Ground does though take that idea to a new dimension altogether. Continue reading →

Gunpowder

07 Sunday Feb 2016

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Saturday 6th February 2015 ko 14.00

Southern Combination Division Two

ALFOLD 1 (Hallett 90)

AFC ROFFEY CLUB 0

Att 19

Entry FREE

Programme £1

It did seem a little strange driving down the A3 to take in a game in what used to be called the Sussex County League, passing through Guildford then making for Horsham. You’ll always be in Surrey, and genteel wooded Surrey at that. You really should stop on the way in Bramley, the Kingfish Chip Shop provides an excellent lunch, and once you’ve worked out how to navigate the nearby road junction, you’ll arrive at Alfold’s Recreation Ground. Continue reading →