28 Wednesday Sep 2016
Posted in C
Monday 29th August ko 17.00
South Wales Alliance- Division One
CADOXTON BARRY 5 (Morgan 5 79 Weekley 8 Oaten 15 Dawson 32)
COGAN CORONATION 3 (Walsh 33og Fitzgerald 45 Jones 75)
Att 301
Entry £3
Programme £1
As is usually the case with these mega-hops it felt like the end of an era as the coaches pulled into the ground at Parc Bryn-y-Don. But once again tired legs headed for the pitch and clubhouse, but in this case there was the chequered history of the club to consider. Continue reading
22 Thursday Sep 2016
Posted in C
Tags
Cardiff Corinthians, Cardiff Corries, Coronation Park, Football, Grange Albion, GroundhopUK, South Wales Alliance, South Wales Senior League, Wales, Welsh League
Monday 29th August 2016 ko 14.55
South Wales Alliance Premier Division
GRANGE ALBION 3 (Beattie 26 Cotterill 28 Daly 43)
CARDIFF CORINTHIANS 0
Att 225
Entry £3
Programme £1
I remember my first encounter with Coronation Park. I’d parked up to visit Cardiff City’s Ninian Park, spotted the little ground with the name picked out in the brickwork and wondered what league Grange Albion played in. By the time I parked in roughly the same place in Sloper Road a few years’ later, beyond the Bus Garage to tick off Cardiff City Stadium I knew they played in the South Wales Senior League. As I alighted Coach 2 it felt like the aligning of the groundhopping planets! As if to accentuate the feeling, the tips of the Millenium Stadium’s cantilevering are visible too. Continue reading
20 Wednesday Jul 2016
Saturday 16th July 2016 ko 13.00
Pre-season friendly
NEW INN AFC 7 (13 17 32 41p 47 48 77)
SEVERN TUNNEL NPC 3 (65 75 90)
Att 35
Entry FREE
No Programme
The feeder leagues to the Welsh League are manna from heaven for the groundhopper. There’s a multiplicity of villages steeped in history (mainly in coal mining and steel production) and in the case of the league these two clubs play in, the Gwent County League, programme production is mandatory.
Mind you if the printed word is a deal-breaker for you I’d phone ahead before travelling, print runs do tend to be low, often in single figures. It’s seen as a chore by the majority of the clubs, little more than a means of avoiding a fine from the league! Continue reading
31 Tuesday May 2016
Saturday 21st May 2016 ko 14.30
Welsh League Division 2
TATA STEEL P
CHEPSTOW TOWN P
Thursday 26th May 2016 ko 18.45
TATA STEEL 1 (M Lewis 59)
CHEPSTOW TOWN 1 (Murphy 68)
Att 17
Entry £4
Programme £1
Unless you live outside the UK and South Wales in particular you can’t help but have noticed the problems that have befallen Port Talbot. The town is dominated by steel production, so the decision by the steelworks owners Tata to sell the loss-making plant has the potential to be devastating for the area. At the moment the owners, unions, politicians and potential buyers are trying to find a way forward. Until a conclusion is reached the area collectively holds its breath. Continue reading
30 Monday May 2016
Posted in G
Tags
Aberbargoed, Buds, Football, Goytre United, Wales, Welsh League
Saturday 21st May 2016 ko 14.30
Welsh League Division One
GOYTRE UNITED 2 (Harris 6 Ryan 14)
ABERBARGOED BUDS 3 (Maisey 8 Hughes 46 Meacham 54p) Harding sent off (2nd booking) 90
Att c100
Entry £5
Programme £1
This turned into something of a mad dash! The original plan was to watch Margam-based Tata Steel but a deluge over the Neath/Swansea/Port Talbot area saw my game correctly waterlogged off, so using a little local knowledge I ducked under the M4 and made for Goytre. For the avoidance of doubt this is the Goytre that’s near Port Talbot, not the Goytre who play in Penperlleni, south of Abergavenny. It really doesn’t help that Goytre and Goytre United are in the same division! Mind you I remember when you could watch the local derby that really isn’t! Click here! Continue reading
24 Sunday Apr 2016
Posted in J
Tags
Carmarthenshire, Drefach, Football, groundhoppers, GroundhopUK, Johnstown, League, Maridunum Playing Fields, Wales
Saturday 16th April 2016 ko 17.00
Carmarthenshire League Division 2
JOHNSTOWN 1 (J Evans 49)
DREFACH 3 (J Jones 40og Baker 79 S Jones 82)
Att 137
Entry £3
Programme £1
We headed back to a rather chilly Carmarthen for our final game of the day, and again there was a quirk, the name of the club! Perhaps if there’s an etymologist reading this they can tell me why so few place names begin with a “J?” There’s Jarrow, but offhand I can’t think of any well-known others, and I know there was at least one hopper at this game that this was his first “J” club. But there was far more to like about Johnstown than just a letter. Continue reading
24 Sunday Apr 2016
Posted in L
Tags
Carmarthenshire, Football, groundhop, groundhoppers, GroundhopUK, League, Llandeilo, Llangennech, Wales
Saturday 16th April 2016 ko 14.00
Carmarthenshire League Division Two
LLANDEILO 5 (Jones 5 90 Dainton 9 Thomas 26 Willams 59)
LLANGENNECH 0 J Williams sent off 29 (violent conduct)
Att 107
Entry £3
Programme £1
From Abergwili we headed further east along the A40 to the town of Llandeilo. We turned left into the town and spotted a well-apppointed ground, with an impressive stand. Sadly for us, that was Cae William, home to Llandeilo RUFC and Llandeilo CC, while the football club plays in the nearby village of Ffair-Fach at the back of Ysgol (School) Bro Dinefwr. The tragedy is that it could have all been so different. Continue reading
22 Friday Apr 2016
Posted in G
Friday 15th April 2016 ko 19.30
Welsh League Division One
GARDEN VILLAGE 2 (Morris 36 Matthews 63)
TON PENTRE 1 (Davis 52)
Att 108
Entry, Programme, and Sausage & Chips- Special GroundhopUK deal £7
Back in 2010 I found myself on a working visit to South Wales, so on the basis that no trip anywhere is complete without a football match I pondered where to head. It boiled down to either Gorseinon-based Garden Village or Mayhill-based West End. I plumped for Garden Village, I’ve no idea why, I haven’t yet got to West End, and so I allowed myself a wry smile when Garden Village became the obvious precursor to the inaugural Carmarthenshire Hop. Continue reading
25 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted in E
Tuesday 23rd February 2016 ko 19.30
Gwent County League Division 2
FC TREDEGAR 1 (Monk 35)
CLYDACH WASPS 1 (Williams 45)
Att 35 at Eugene Cross Park, Ebbw Vale
Entry FREE
No Programme
In Ebbw Vale there are 2 kings, one is steel, fired by the South Wales coal industry, and the other is Rugby Union. Oddly, both are represented in the town’s stadium, Eugene Cross Park, but this ground’s connection with Association Rules is a little more tenuous. Continue reading
15 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in P
Wednesday 10th February 2016 ko 19.15
Welsh League Division 3
PONTYPRIDD TOWN 3 (Gullick 25p 61 90)
CAERLEON 0
Att c30
Entry £3
Programme £1
If you want to know where my love affair with Welsh non-league football football started, it was here. It was August 2005 I’d signed up for my first Welsh hop, and the Friday night game was at the (to English ears anyway) the almost unpronounceable Ynysangharad Park. Pontypridd beat the soon-to-fold Gwynfi United 4-0 but the evening wasn’t remembered for that. Continue reading
Football: Wherever it may be 