Rubber Sheet Geometry

Tags

Bemerton Heath Harlequins, Football, groundhopping, Hamble Club, Non League, wessex league, Westwood Recreation Ground

Friday 18th August 2017 ko 19.45

Wessex League Cup 2nd Round

BEMERTON HEATH HARLEQUINS 0

HAMBLE CLUB 4 (Magookin 2 S Wilson 6 Byrne 14 Lynch 47)

Att 71

Entry £6

No Programme

I remember as an 11 year old my maths teacher introducing the concept of rubber sheet geometry. Topology to use its correct term is the idea that by distorting distance or shape you may simplify its depiction. The London Underground map is a classic example, but groundhoppers do tend to use their own version, and this game rather proved the point.

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Old School

Tags

Brentford, Bristol City, England, Football, Griffin Park, groundhopping, Lionel Road, London, New Ground

Tuesday 15th August 2017 ko 19.45

Championship

BRENTFORD 2 (Watkins 56 Maupay 77)

BRISTOL CITY 2 (Brownhill 5 Reid 90)

Att 9,811 (1,650 away)

Entry £24

Programme £3.50

There aren’t many grounds like this left. Grounds tucked away in amongst the houses in the communities they represent with only the floodlights to beckon you in from afield. Grounds built to tessellate with the footprint of the land available, and grounds that positively ooze with history and tradition.

The Itch

Tags

Brize Norton, Burford, FA Ascot, Football, groundhopping, Non League, Tanners Lane, Witney and District League

Thursday 3rd August 2017 ko 18.45

Pre-season friendly

FC ASCOT 9 (6 12 16 29 34 41 50 60 72)

BRIZE NORTON 2 (80 82)

Att c10 at Tanners Lane, Burford

To be a groundhopper you do need a large dose of OCD, and I’ll leave you to judge whether that’s in any way healthy. Some worry about what counts as a suitable game, some as to whether there’s a programme and one or two obsess about whether a goal is scored, they can’t count the ground as visited if it finishes nil-nil! ( I know….) But my little bit of OCD is different……

The Power of 3000

Tags

Abbey Lawns, Bourne Town, Football, groundhopping, GroundhopUK, Raunds Town, United Counties League

Saturday 29th July 2017 ko 19.45

United Counties League Division One

BOURNE TOWN 1 (Russell 90p)

RAUNDS TOWN 2 (Porter 36 Townsend 81)

Att 459

Entry £5

Programme £2 (poor for what it was)

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating how much Chris Berezai and I love it when there’s someone there to meet the hop coach, it takes any uncertainty out what adds up to GroundhopUK handing over a coachload of hoppers to another club for another couple of hours, even if a fair few immediately disappear to tick off a pub or pubs! Here Bourne did the greeting in spades with an official there to welcome each and everyone to Abbey Lawns before whisking Chris, coach driver Dwayne and I off to hospitality. But this wasn’t an evening about hospitality, this was an evening about redemption.

Added Value

Tags

Bala Town, Europa League, Friendly, Linfield, Maes Tegid, Wales, welsh premier league

Saturday 17th June 2017 ko 14.00

Pre-season Friendly

BALA TOWN 1 (Connolly 72)

LINFIELD 3 (Waterworth 22 Burns 39p C Stewart 86)

Att c400

and

Bala Lake Steam Railway 

return ticket from Llanuwchllyn to Bala £11

Entry £6

Programme 50p

If there was one thought that I took home from the Swedish Hop it was the idea of adding value. Event organiser Kim Hedwall managed to do that with every single game we attended and that principle certainly influenced my approach to this game. It was a confluence of ideas, my girlfriend Robyn fancied a trip to a steam railway, and needless to say I fancied a football match! I looked at Bala, remembered my visit around 10 years previously, and quickly put “Steam railways Bala” into Google.

The 100th Final

Tags

100th final, Abingdon United, Berinsfield, Berkshire, Cup Final, North Berks Cup, North Berks League, Saxton Rovers

Saturday 13th May 2017 ko 19.00

North Berkshire Cup Final

BERINSFIELD 2 (D Murphy 23 78)

SAXTON ROVERS 1 (Bloomfield 57)

Att c500

at Abingdon United FC

Entry £4

Programme 50p

I could have got involved in a few leagues over the years, let’s face it the North Berkshire League isn’t the only league I help organise hops for. But I found, and continue to find something incredibly endearing about this off-pyramid village competition. Yes, I still hear a few hoppers’ comments about “Fields” but what’s more important, an “Arena”stand or values like friendship and camaraderie? 

Finals Part 2

Tags

Berinsfield, Charity Shield, Milton United, North Berkshire League, Saxton Rovers, Steve Phipps

Saturday 29th April 2017 ko 19.00

North Berkshire League Charity Shield

BERINSFIELD 5 (Rawlings 9 54  Lee 44 Palmer 75 Ingram 90p)

SAXTON ROVERS 3 (Haines 30 Parry 40 Cox 78)

Att 204 at Milton United FC

Entry & Programme £3

If you want value from your cup finals then the North Berkshire League seldom lets you down. Three quid, 8 goals, and your programme thrown in too! And just to make it even better, the ability to go to another game first, and a massive local derby to finish off your day!

Finals Part 1

Tags

Development, Kidlington, Nomads, North Berkshire League, Oxford City, Oxfordshire Intermediate Cup

Wednesday 26th April 2017 ko 19.30

Oxfordshire FA Intermediate Cup Final

OXFORD CITY NOMADS 4 (Landers 80 90 115p Martei 99)

BERINSFIELD 2 (Palmer 53 Hinkin 60) Palmer sent off 70 (2nd booking) Hinkin sent off 105 (2nd booking)

Att c200 at Kidlington FC

It is a quirk that either of these sides play in this competition. If Berinsfield were to transfer from the North Berkshire League to the Oxfordshire Senior League then they’d appear in the Senior Cup, and if what is in effect Oxford City’s 3rd XI weren’t playing in a the Hellenic’s rebadged former reserve section, they’d be in the Junior Cup. 

Belief

Tags

Ardley United, Benson Lionesses, Benson Lions, Cup, final, Football, ladies, Nomads, Oxford City, Oxfordshire FA, Womens

Sunday 23rd April 2017 ko 16.30

Oxfordshire FA Women’s Cup Final

OXFORD CITY LADIES 2 (Avery 9 McCabe 83)

BENSON LIONESSES 0

Att c100 at Ardley United FC

Entry & Programme £4

As competitions go, I suspect this one needs a rethink as Oxford City Ladies have won this one 12 times in 16 years! Now that’s no criticism of Oxford City, you can only beat what’s in front of you, and I’d note that Oxford United’s women’s team were notable by their absence from this competition. It didn’t help when Lionesses’ manager Jon Radcliffe was told to “Enjoy your day” with no one giving his side the slightest of chances. That unintentional slight certainly galvanised Jon and his team, not that they ever needed the motivation, and I certainly know why!

Copthall

Tags

Barnet, Barnet FC, Brimsdown Rovers, Copthall, Kentish Town, Rugby union, Saracens, Spartan South Midlands League, stadium

Wednesday 3rd September 2008 ko 19.45

Spartan South Midlands League- Premier Division

KENTISH TOWN 1 (Donoghue 68)

BRIMSDOWN ROVERS 1 (Farrell 87)

Att 48 @Barnet Copthall Stadium

Entry & Programme £4

Here’s one from the archives, or to put in another way, the “Before” shot as the ground looks radically different these days. And unusually for this blog, it’s the ground that’s more the subject than the club playing there.