Tag Archives: United Counties League

Old Rowley

01 Monday Jun 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 6th October 2007 ko 15.00

United Counties League Premier Division

ST NEOTS TOWN 1 (Garwell 17)

BOURNE TOWN 0

Att 105

Entry £3

Programme £1.50

For the avoidance of any doubt this piece is about the old Rowley Park, as this could get a little confusing! St Neots Town moved from Rowley Park in 2008 to a ground roughly a quarter of a mile away, also called Rowley Park. Now you could look at it was simply a case of a club being at the right place at the right time, but there is more to it than just that. Continue reading →

The Straw Bear

09 Monday Sep 2019

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Sunday 28th July 2019 ko 17.15

United Counties League Division One

WHITTLESEY ATHLETIC 1 (Ilsley 70)

HUNTINGDON TOWN 2 (Roberts 68 Jones 84)

Att 340

Entry £5

Programme £1

The final club on the UCL Hop was a team with that one way or another have stamped themselves on the event’s history. When we visited Coates Athletic for the finale of the 2014 hop we knew they were going to soon change both name and ground, and that new ground would allow a tilt at the United Counties League. What no one realised back then was just how convoluted that tilt would end up being! Continue reading →

Roman Times

06 Friday Sep 2019

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Sunday 28th July 2019 ko 13.45

United Counties League Division One

IRCHESTER UNITED 3 (Clark 7 Ball 70 79)

WELLINGBOROUGH WHITWORTH 3 (Brittain 8 Crawley 45 Hazell 90)

Att 328

Entry £5

Programme £1

It wasn’t far from Cogenhoe to Irchester- just enough time to get comfortable it seemed! When we first established the United Counties League Hop I’d imagined that we’d visit Irchester either before or after both Wellingborough Town and Wellingborough Whitworth, as Irchester is very close to the town. Now there were compelling reasons to visit Stilton when we did last year, but it did leave Irchester a little high and dry. In the end I was pleased we were able to fit them in quickly. Continue reading →

Compton

05 Thursday Sep 2019

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Sunday 28th July 2019 ko 11.00

United Counties League Premier Division

COGENHOE UNITED 0

LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY 1 (Akpobire 32)

Att 262

Entry £6

Programme £1

As the hop coach climbed up into the hills above Northampton there seemed to be a symmetry between the UCL/PDFL hop’s visit to Compton Park and my visit 15 years-or so earlier. Then I’d watched a game in the wind and rain and returned to my car soaked. It had been a good thing that I was living in Banbury back then, less than an an hour’s drive away. Continue reading →

The Rules

04 Wednesday Sep 2019

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Saturday 27th July 2019 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

BURTON PARK WANDERERS 4 (Allen 8 Thomson 15 20 Dalby 49)

Dalby missed penalty 45

LUTTERWORTH ATHLETIC 0

Att 284

Entry £5

Programme £1

The rains returned as the hop reached the fourth game in Burton Latimer, near Kettering. If football isn’t your thing then the town is where Weetabix is made but if non-league football is your passion then it also is where Latimer Park is. The ground is home to perennial UCL strugglers Burton Park Wanderers, or is it? Continue reading →

Sargeant Major

01 Sunday Sep 2019

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Saturday 27th July 2019 ko 17.00

United Counties League Premier Division

ROTHWELL CORINTHIANS 3 (Archer 5 Duffy 57 Henson 66)

LUTTERWORTH TOWN 0

Att 316

Entry £5

Programme £1

The move from Orton Rangers in Peterborough to Rothwell in Northamptonshire added up to far more than a 5 division jump in status, although that fact is one reason I love this hop. It meant that in the event’s fourth game we were taking in a United Counties game for the first game, and fittingly that was marked by a minutes applause for the late league chairman John Weekes. Other than being the reason for this hop and being the person I’d most associate with the UCL, he was a gentleman and like many others I miss him immensely. Continue reading →

Come As You Are

05 Wednesday Dec 2018

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Tuesday 6th November 2018 ko 19.45

United Counties League Premier Division

LEICESTER NIRVANA 6 (Nassor 32 43p 50 Anastasi 45 65 Brown-Wingfield 79)

WELLINGBOROUGH WHITWORTH 0

Att c50

Entry £5

Programme £1

It was of little surprise that this game was something of a hopper-fest. The case of Leicester Nirvana is an odd one, but rather compelling. The original Leicester Nirvana club started in the 1980’s and rose through youth football to play two stints in the Central Midlands League in the late 80’s and early 90’s. However in 1992 they left the CMFL to return to their roots of providing youth football. Continue reading →

The Flour of Wellingborough

19 Wednesday Sep 2018

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Sunday 29th July 2018 ko 13.15

United Counties League Premier Division

WELLINGBOROUGH WHITWORTH 0

COGENHOE UNITED 3 (Dore 27 Dove 45 82)

Att 302

Entry £5

Programme £1

Quite literally it was a 30 second walk from Wellingborough Town’s Dog & Duck to Wellingborough Whitworth’s Victoria Mills Ground. One lies at right-angles to the other, and for years Whitworth were seen as very much the junior neighbour to Town. The club were started in 1973, and despite the name seem to have had little or no connection to the famous flour-making company based originally in Irthlingborough and now in Wellingborough. But in the here and now I had a queue to contemplate.

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Take It Easy

17 Monday Sep 2018

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Sunday 29th July 2018 ko 11.00

United Counties League Premier Division

WELLINGBOROUGH TOWN 3 (Freitas 48 Speight 55 59)

PETERBOROUGH NORTHERN STAR 0

Att 237

Entry £6

Programme £2

When the rains came we were glad of a little cover. Having a large stand at the Dog & Duck Ground was a godsend, it meant that everyone who wanted to be undercover could be. Someone came up to me and laughed, “You planned it this way didn’t you?” If only life were that easy…. Continue reading →

The Shop Window

04 Tuesday Sep 2018

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Friday 27th July 2018 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

RAUNDS TOWN 0

IRCHESTER UNITED 4 (Harewood 46 Lovell 57 Taylor 63 Bell 75)

Att 245

Entry £5

Programme £1

Of all the organised events GroundhopUK are involved in the United Counties/ Peterborough & District Leagues’ hop is the easiest to organise. A lot of that is down to John Weeks and Wendy Newey at HQ, it really does help when you know that if you ask a favour it’ll get done, but much as due to the high standards that the two leagues have set over the 3 previous years the hop has run. In fact the measure of how good those host clubs have been was the reaction of all concerned when the standard dropped slightly.

Continue reading →