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Friday 23rd August 2013 ko 18.30

Welsh Alliance Division 2

GREENFIELD 3 (Robinson 36 Jones 70p Johnson 85)

HALKYN UNITED 0

Att 263

Entry & Programme £3

Badge £3

So back on GroundhopUK duty on what is, I suppose the spiritual home of the organisation, Wales. Chris Berezai’s first forays into organising groundhops started in South Wales, and as leagues have been completed, the offers have led us through the Mid-Wales League, to North Wales and our first groundhop game in the Welsh Alliance, which covers the 3rd and 4th tiers of football along the North Wales coast and Anglesey.

A new league means starting the planning from scratch, from attending League committee meetings, through the clubs voting on whether to go ahead with the venture, then attending groundhop planning meetings with participating clubs. There’s a lot of work that goes on in the background to ensure the days go without a hitch, the hoppers enjoy their weekend and the clubs make a lot of money for their efforts.

Part of that experience is the programme packs that are handed to hoppers with a pre-booked ticket before the first game. They’ve become a staple of the organised groundhop since Rob Hornby introduced them on a Central Midlands League hop many years ago. They do involve the clubs getting sufficient numbers of the publications to us the day before the event, so Chris spent Thursday afternoon collecting 155 programmes from each of the 11 participating club from 4 locations. I was extremely pleased when Chris phoned me to report that all 11 clubs had delivered their programmes without a hitch. He then set about creating the packs back at Hop Base.

That perhaps surprisingly was in England, but only just! We’d looked at several locations, but the best offer was from the University of Chester, and with our coach company based there too, it proved to be an ideal base for us. On Friday morning I made my way up to the University, and spent the afternoon helping to man the desk, handing our room keys and programme packs, and generally helping everyone find their way round a base that was new for everyone.

Soon enough the coaches arrived, and it wasn’t long before we crossed the border into Wales. That’s a strange experience as there doesn’t seem to be a distinct demarcation. In fact when you cross back to England on the A55 there isn’t even a welcome sign, you just notice there’s no welsh translation on the road signs!

The village of Greenfield, or to use its Welsh name, Maes-glas lies in Flintshire on the outskirts of Holywell. Its raison-d’etre is its history of papermaking. A paper mill has been present since 1770, with the site being chosen due to the constant water flow from the stream which comes from the St Winefride’s Well, which gives Holywell its name.

In more recent times Greenfield’s main claim to fame,was the hidden Gatso speed camera on the A548 road leading to Bagillt, near the disused railway bridge. It was voted the worst-placed speed camera in the UK by the Association of British Drivers. That was despite the fact that until, 2009 Arrive Alive conducted their Speed Awareness courses at the Greenfield Business Centre, based a mere 200 yards away!

Greenfield FC were our choice for the opening game as we thought a side still reasonably new to the Welsh Alliance would be popular with the hoppers. The club plays next door to the Mainetti textile factory, derelict and vandalised by arson, but it still dominates the scene. The pitch is fenced off, there’s portacabins for the café and changing rooms and very little else save for a TV gantry that seemed barely necessary.

The catering intrigued both Chris and I. The club decided against our advice to contract-out their catering to an Aussie-style catering van. Although the club were on a percentage, that’s a long way from benefitting from the full value of the food and drink sales, which can be the biggest money-spinner for a host club on their big day.

However we knew that club secretary Denny Hogan had had difficulties with the catering, and in the end whilst it couldn’t have been the money-spinner it could have been, the food was both popular and excellent. The club did after all, do their very best with what they had available, both in terms of resources and personnel, and their welcome was fulsome.

The game was odd to put it mildly. I watched a fair chunk of the game with the Halkyn chairman Ray Roberts who was League delegate for the game, and he couldn’t fathom how his side could have failed to have won the game. Halkyn had the chances, but either spurned them, or found home keeper Andy Davies in inspired form. They were made to pay as Liam Robinson fired home from a corner.

It got worse when with 20 minutes remaining Greenfield doubled their lead when the visitors’ Colin Davies pulled down Mark Seaman and Terry Jones made no mistake from the penalty spot. Still Halkyn piled on the pressure, but Greenfield hit them on the counter. The ball was played down the flank to find Mark Johnson who tapped home with only the keeper to beat.

It wasn’t the greatest ground to open a hop in a new league, but it may well prove to be a vital one. The club are eying up a move to the factory site, with Mainetti Park being used for housing, so perhaps we’ll be looking at another visit in the future. Whether the menu will include kangaroo burger next time is up for negotiation!