Tag Archives: Wales

Lifts

05 Wednesday Jun 2024

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Saturday 20th April 2024 ko 14:30

North Wales Coast East League – Division One

LLYSFAEN 1 (J Reynolds 16)

PENRHYN BAY 4 (S Farrrell 58secs (pen) 81 A Roberts 8 Dickens 74)

Att c25

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After what I regarded as the maddest of mad Marchs I needed a break. I’d made the decision to watch no more than the odd midweek game, but to lean more towards seeing the end of Oxford United’s season and helping with the North Berkshire League’s cup finals. But then 4 of us fancied watching United’s away game at Burton Albion.

Unfortunately, we managed only to get on to the motorway before the gearbox gave way. I managed do no more than to limp the car to safety, and we ended up listening to the game on the radio of the low loader taking the car and we the passengers back to Oxford. After doing just over the distance to the moon in 4 years, the car had finally died, and I ended up having to wait 3 weeks for its replacement to be ready.

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Hospitality

16 Monday Oct 2023

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Sunday 24th September 2023 ko 14:30

West Wales Premier League

CWM WANDERERS 1 (Bradford 69)

CLYDACH FC 4 (Thomas 28 73 C Jones 64 Islam 90)

Att 280

Entry £3

Programme £2

After the collective soaking we’d taken at Bryn Rovers we needed a little TLC. It wasn’t far to Cwm-twrch Isaf, around 5 miles, but I was happy to see a club official pointing out where to park the coach, and he took one look at me as a squelched towards the clubhouse and commiserated. The thought was appreciated, as I made for the final game of the hop.

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Criced Weather

12 Thursday Oct 2023

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Sunday 24th September 2023 ko 11:00

West Wales Premier League

BRYN ROVERS 3 (Campbell 45 53 61)

Campbell missed penalty 69

WEST END 1 (D Griffiths 29)

Att 153

Entry £3

Programme £2

It wasn’t that the rain on the Sunday was unexpected, I’d packed by wet weather gear in readiness, it was that it seemed out-of-step that can happened the day before. I know I’ve said it before, but the whole timbre of a hop changes when it rains. We heard that the game was in doubt then the club needed a delay to work on the pitch. Thankfully we had a brief respite, so we checked out of Carmarthen fortified with hope, and referee Robert Fulford took a generous view of the conditions.

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Environs

10 Tuesday Oct 2023

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Saturday 23rd September 2023 ko 16:45

West Wales Premier League

DAFEN WELFARE 0

Morgan sent off (DOGSO) 28

YNYSTAWE ATHLETIC 8 (Loughlin 5 55 Owens 14p B James 24 34 Morgan 45 Gibbons 90+4)

Att 252

Entry £3

Programme £2

We stayed in Llanelli’s suburbs for the final hop game of the Saturday. The village, as the club’s name suggests is a link to the area’s past as a centre for coal mining, the St David’s and Porthdafen Collieries were close to here. And that fact did have an impact on what we experienced at Dafen Park.

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The Kansei League

05 Thursday Oct 2023

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Saturday 23rd September 2023 ko 14:00

West Wales Premier League

CALSONIC KANSEI SWISS VALLEY 1 (T Lewis 72og)

GARDEN VILLAGE 6 (C Rees 2 4 T Jones 39 Logan 58p 61)

Att 169

Entry £3

Programme £2

If ever a coach drove to a football team with a more intriguing name I’d like to know about it. We headed from Pontarddulais to the Swiss Valley, on the northern outskirts of Llanelli. The name evokes cuckoo clocks, snow-capped mountains and cheese, none of which seemed in evidence at the football ground. Mind you the pizzas must have had some cheese in there somewhere.

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The Running Theme

02 Monday Oct 2023

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Saturday 23rd September 2023 ko 11:00

West Wales Premier League

PONTARDDULAIS TOWN 1 (A Jones 35og)

ROCKSPUR FC 6 (Griffiths 2og Price 18 Williams 24 Keefe 45+4 66p C Harris 54)

Morgan sent off (foul & abusive) 74

Att 260

Entry £3

Programme £2

I’d argue we found the true nature of the West Wales Premier League on the Saturday of the hop. Whilst the visit to Cwmamman United was enjoyable, the fact was it was at a club and ground that had recently played two tiers higher. These next 3 games saw me comparing GroundhopUK’s experiences in leagues such as the Gwent Premier and the South Wales Alliance, who do operate parallel to this one.

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The Premier

29 Friday Sep 2023

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Friday 22nd September 2023 ko 19:00

West Wales Premier League

CWMAMMAN UNITED 6 (T Smith 28 C Davies 59p Rees 61og Wickham 63 E Smith 67 77)

AFC GLAIS 3 (Gregory 12 Smith 35 Robb-Gregory 49)

Bowles sent off 73 (second booking)

Att 242

Entry £3

Programme £2

When the West Wales Premier League approached GroundhopUK owner Chris Berezai to invite us to organise a hop for their league, I was more than a little intrigued. For a start I’m more than aware that the restructure of Welsh club football has rather passed this site by- for example I haven’t watched a single Tier 3 Ardal (Regional) League game so far! Then the pandemic got in the way of things, and to add to that a new league was created for the West of Wales.

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The Rail Traction Company

19 Tuesday Sep 2023

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Saturday 16th September 2023 ko 14:30

Aberystwyth & District League

CORRIS UNITED 4 (Vaughan 2 Kohler 42 Roberts 51 Jellett 78)

LLANILAR RESERVES 1 (Ashton 75)

Att 60

Entry & Programme by donation

I’ll admit to have been feeling jaded. I was more than aware that I should have been leading a group of 100 or so groundhoppers around 5 grounds in the Witney & District League. That didn’t happen due to us not being able to find a club willing to host in the Saturday morning slot. The irony therefore of getting up at 6:30am for this one was not lost on me! As my regular reader knows, I have a bucket list of places I’d like to visit that are a little unusual. Or putting it another way, if the fixture is the kind that pops up on an App when you’re near it, then it’s not on the list! More than anything else I wanted to head somewhere far away from football admin.

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The Bridge

24 Monday Jul 2023

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Saturday 24th June 2023 ko 13:00

Pre-season Friendly

TREFELIN BGC 2 (54, 60)

CARDIFF CORINTHIANS 5 (16 40p 45 76 89)

Att 45 at Cefn Saeson Comprehensive School

Some folks, it seems, do like rules. After the Swedish Hop I’d been quite happy to do very little in footballing terms. It was a chance to rest, recharge, and pursue other interests. Yes, there is a lot more to Robyn and I than just football! But then Robyn wanted to spend the afternoon with her mum in Bristol, and I’d spotted a game, in South Wales. And if you can’t find something interesting there, then with all due respect, you probably have your eyes closed.

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Rejiggery

28 Friday Oct 2022

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Monday 29th August 2022 

11:00 South Wales Alliance Division One

MAESTEG PARK 2 (Kingdon 26 Evans 42)

VALE UNITED 2 (Hanson 40 Jefferies 70)

Gauci sent off (DOGSO) 55

Jefferies missed penalty 60

Att 302

Entry £3

Programme £2

14:00 South Wales Alliance Division One

CANTON RANGERS 3 (Injai 32 Tegeltha 62 Power 68)

AFC BUTETOWN 2 (Abdulkaliq Yusuf 6 24)

Att 223

Entry £3

Programme £1

16:15 South Wales Alliance Division One

CLWB CYMRIC 4 (Withers 18 Hughes 60 Roberts 77 90)

GRANGE ALBION 0

Att 226

Entry £3

Programme £1

With this being a South Wales Alliance reunion hop we’d always planned on the Monday being the traditional “Cardiff Day.” With Canton Liberal and Canton Rangers having moved into adjacent grounds as part of the development behind the Cardiff International Sports Stadium. So it was an obvious move to make the first game at Liberal then stroll over to Rangers. There was only one issue with that idea though…. Continue reading →