Heed Hopper

Elgin City 3v2 Stirling Albion

Petrofac Training Cup 1st Round

Saturday 25th July 2015

I decided that for my 50th birthday to go somewhere different and as I'm not the sort of person who gives into cliché or type, there was no trip to New York or a holiday in the sun.
As my birthday fell on a Saturday there had to be football involved, so I decided to head as far north as possible, with a night in Inverness and to visit the northernmost senior league ground in the UK*.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Elgin is a former cathedral city and Royal Burgh, the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town sits south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the floodplain and was first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190 AD. It was created a Royal Burgh in the 12th century by King David I of Scotland and by that time had a castle in the west on top of the present day Lady Hill. Nowadays the former castle site on the hilltop is an 80 feet monument erected in 1839 in honour of the 5th Duke of Gordon, the first commander of the Gordon Highlanders regiment.
The modern town straddles the river, splitting the suburbs of Bishopmill to the north and New Elgin to the south. Rare Permo-Triassic rocks are commonly found around Elgin, which comprises of aeolian sandstone formed when the area was subjected to desert conditions.

Plantpot History

In the late 19th century there had been two different clubs that used the Elgin City name. The first of which was founded in October 1879, but lasted for only a short time before a new club was formed in October 1884 and continued until early 1887. The present club was formed on the 10th August 1893 by the union of Elgin clubs, Rovers (Formed 1887) and Vale of Lossie (Founded 1888). The present club's first major honour came in the 1898/99 season when they became the first club outside Inverness to win the North of Scotland Cup beating Clachnacuddin 2-1. The Black and Whites have gone on to win this trophy a total of 18 times including a club record victory in the competition, when they hammered Brora Rangers 18–1 in February 1960.
Elgin City became members of the Scottish Football League in 2000, when the league was expanded with two new clubs, as Peterhead joined them from the Highland League. The club were league champions for the first time in 1931-32 and they won a total of 15 titles as well as lifting the League Cup on five occasions.

Ground no.474 Borough Briggs
(Scottish Grounds 66 Scottish League Grounds 32/42

Elgin City moved from Cooper Park to Borough Briggs in 1921.The Main Stand looks in great nick for its age, the white exterior walls have the club and ground name proudly displayed at the entrance. The stand sits on the halfway line with a capacity of 478, although I stood on the terraces I may have already park my backside on one of its seats, as it is filled with seats giving to the club from Newcastle United when the club were elected to the Scottish League and the Toon were revamping the Milburn Stand. Next to the stand is a small open terrace at one side, with the snack bar which also sells club merchandise on the other side in front of the turnstile entrance. The team dugouts and four sets of thin floodlight pylons are also on this side. Opposite is a pitch length covered enclosure, which has four sets of floodlights which go through the roof and onto the terrace.Behind each goal is new terracing with grass banking behind, so on a lovely summer’s afternoon it was nice to lie on the lawn and watch the game.
The ground currently capacity is 4,520, with a record attendance of 12,608 against Arbroath on the 17th February 1968 in the Scottish Cup.

The Match
The Black and Whites twice came from behind to book their place in the second round of the Scottish Challenge Cup.Craig Beattie fired Stirling into the lead on 19 minutes when he capitalised on a misplaced backpass, then just before the break the hosts were back in it, after a foul in the box saw Craig Gunn stroke home the resulting spot kick.
Stirling looked to have taking charge of the tie, when Sandy Cunningham was on hand to fire in the rebound in the 55th minute after the initial shot hit the post, but City quickly responded making it all square five minutes later when Jamie Duff fired in a right wing cross from six yards.
Elgin dominated the closing stages and were awarded for their efforts when Brian Cameron volleyed in a superb winner to save the match going into extra time and allow us to catch the earlier train back to Inverness.

Matchday Stats
ECFC 3(Gunn 42 Duff 60 Cameron 83) SAFC 2(Beattie 19 Cunningham 54)
Att.612
Top Bloke - Marc McKenzie (Elgin City)

Spondoolicks
Admission £10
Programme £2
Pin badge £2.50
Fridge magnet £2
Coffee 60p

My Matchday
After my two nights in Glasgow, I headed across to Edinburgh on Friday for a birthday eve night out. I met up with the breadknife who was arriving on the 1555 train from Newcastle, and we headed to the James Little guest house for our overnight stay. There was mince 'n' tatties on the menu, which was good blotting paper for our pub crawl around the south side of Edinburgh. We were joined by James' pal John and later Jamie McQueen, who had been to the match at Whitehill Welfare.
After a heavy drink and a late night, me and the breadknife were up sharp at 7am for the Megabus trip to Inverness, where we arrived just after midday. On our arrival there was just enough time to drop off our luggage at the hotel, buy our tickets and catch the 1247 Aberdeen train to Elgin.
Before the match there was the obvious stop off at Wetherspoons, where I enjoyed a tasty Highland Burger and my first birthday drinks of the day. Just prior to kick off I had a quick flick through the matchday programme to find that Elgin City were good enough to wish me a happy birthday, which was a very nice touch ... but how did they know?

Another canny bevvy was enjoyed for my birthday night in Inverness where we found some cracking little pubs and also a few lively ones. The town centre was jumping and I've never seen so many lasses wearing mini-skirts. So much so that I saw more pairs of legs in one night than I've seen watching football so far this season.
So that was my 50th birthday. I wee tour of Scotland, 3 matches and 4 days on the lash. I can now boast that I spent my half a century birthday at the most northerly league ground in Britain*, and not many people, if at all anyone outside Elgin can make that claim.

(* English 92 and Scottish 42)

Foetoes (Matchday album of 32 pictures from Borough Briggs)

Saturday 1st August 2015

7 Game match ticket and programmes £35

The first groundhop of the season in England involved clubs from the United Counties League and the Peterborough & District League, all based in and around the county of Rutland.

Rutland is a county in the East Midlands, landlocked by Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire. The county council adopted the Latin motto Multum in Parvo .. "much in little" in 1950, as its only 18 miles north to south and just 17 miles east to west at its furthest points. It is the smallest historic county in England and the fourth smallest in the UK as a whole. Found at the centre of the county is the Rutland Water reservoir, which is an important nature reserve and wildfowl centre.

Rutland Weekend Television (RWT) was a TV sketch show on BBC2 in the mid-1970’s, which ran for a total of 14 episodes, written by Eric Idle with music by Neil Innes.

One show introduced us to The Rutles, the "Pre-Fab Four".were Ron Nasty, Dirk McQuickly, Stig O’Hara and Barry Wom. The Rutles story is a legend. A living legend. A legend that will live a lifetime long after other living legends have died. Innes wrote the music for the film All You Need Is Cash, most of which was parody of well-known Beatles songs and ranks as one of my favourite comedy films of all time.

I left home at 6.30 to drive down to Houghton-le-Spring as I was travelling to the hop with Katie and Lee. The traffic on the A1 was pretty quiet so the Katiemobile pulled into the Rutland village of Ketton half an hour before the first match kicked off.

475. Pit Lane
Ketton 2v2 Netherton United (10.45am ko)
Peterborough & District League Division 1

The village team of Ketton formed in 1988 and has a flourishing Junior set up covering all ages. The seniors are members of the Peterborough & District League, winning two back-to-back promotions to reach the First Division, before finally reaching the Premier Division this season. The club also run a reserves side in Combination Division Two.

Ketton Sports Association Complex on Pit Lane boasts some of the best facilities in the area for football, cricket and tennis with a fully licensed bar. The pitch is roped off with dugouts and benefits from grass banking up one side and behind the far goal.

This game provided a cracking start to the day as Ketton hosted much fancied league contenders Netherton United. The visitors took the lead when Tommy Randall was on hand at the far post for a simple tap in on 16 minutes, but Ketton drew level when Ben Waldron headed home from a corner kick just after the half hour mark.

In the second half the match was nicely poised but it was Netherton who gained the advantage when Dwayne Rankin played a nice one-two before producing a good finish on 66 minutes. The host grabbed a well earned share of the spoils when they were awarded a late penalty, when the United ‘keeper took out Lewis Morley as he went for a header. Alex Brockbank fired home the resulting spot-kick to make it all square before the mass exodus across to Stamford.

Matchday Stats and Spon

KFC 2(Waldron 33 Brockbank 83) NUFC 2 (Randall 16 Rankin 66)Att.284

Pin badge £3

Sausage sarnie £3

Coffee 50p

476. Blackstone Sports & Social Club

Blackstones 1v1 Rushden & Higham United

(1.45pm ko)

United Counties League Division One

The club was first formed out of the Rutland Ironworks in the late 19th century, with the first recorded match in January 1891. The club played briefly after the First World War, before re-emerging in 1921 as the works team for the Stamford engineering manufacturer Mirrlees Blackstone. From the 1930’s the club were simply known as Blackstones FC. They played locally in both Stamford and Peterborough Leagues and eventually joined the United Counties League Division One in 1984. The Stones won promotion in 1987–88 and played in its Premier Division until they were relegated in 2013.

The Sports & Social Club which stands behind the near goal at the ground entrance was extended in 1984. I called into the clubhouse for a pint before the match, as Blackstones hosted Rushden & Higham.
All the amenities are at the main paying entrance to the left of the goal. The ground has a 100 seater stand next to a covered standing enclosure on one side, with the team dugouts opposite. The floodlights are slightly hidden by rows of trees on each side with the tall lights looking over the top of the greenery.

After an action packed first game this one wasn’t so good I’m afraid. The visitors took the lead on the half hour with the first piece of quality on show, when Lewis O’Dell whipped in a good cross which was met with a powerful header from Aaron Cormack. The home side gave the impression that the season had arrived too early and they weren’t quite up for it yet. However they still salvaged a draw when a soft looking penalty was awarded after a foul on Staffieri and Dan Evans converted from 12 yards.

Matchday Stats and Spon
BFC 1(Evans 64pen) R&HFC 1(Cormack 30)
Att.327
Adnams Southwold Bitter (3.7%) £3
Pin badge £3
Tea and chocolate bar £1.60

477. Queen Eleanor School
Stamford Belvedere 1v3 Wittering (5pm ko)
PDFL Division Two

We stayed in Stamford for the next game which gave us just enough time to nip into town for a quick bevvy in The Stamford Post, before arriving at the ground with a few minutes to spare. Stamford Belvedere play at the Queen Eleanor School so as you can imagine the facilities are basic. However the ground does have a neat pair of black and orange dugouts at one side, with the pitch roped off from the other surrounding fields.
Stamford Belvedere were born in 1955 by a group of local lads and have played almost their entire history in the Peterborough & District League. The club had a spell playing at Stamford Town’s old ground on Wothorpe Road, before securing the Queen Eleanor pitch in the 1980’s.

Stamford Belvedere faced Wittering who looked a very good side, going two goals up with headed goals from Ashley Middleton and Russ Lockwood, both connecting with decent right wing crosses. Just before the break the hosts halved the arrears when a handball in the box saw Jamie Saddington thump home the resulting spot kick.
The visitors finished the game strongly grabbing a third when substitute Joshua Watson took advantage of a mistake by the home ‘keeper to poke the ball home from close range on 76 minutes. Wittering could have extended that lead even further in the last quarter of an hour, missing a host of good chances in what turned out to be a very good away performance.

Matchday Stats and Spon
SBFC 1(Saddington 42pen )
WFC 3(Middleton 17 Lockwood 23 Watson 76)
Att.314
Pin badge £3
Coffee 60p

478. Stering Meadow
Oakham United 5v2 Buckingham Town
United Counties League - Division One

Next up was an 11 mile drive west to the town of Oakham. We were joined by Jack Warner who was coming for a drink with us in The Captain Noel Newton. We met up with Mark Wilkins as well and there was plenty of time for a couple of pints before the quarter to eight kick off.

The club was formed in 2011 with the merger of Rutland Rangers(formed in 1996 in Grantham & District League) and Oakham Imperial. The Tractor Boys won the Peterborough and District Football League Premier Division title in 2015, winning promotion to the United Counties League Division One.
Sterling Meadow is found within the grounds of the Rutland County College. The club must have some connection with a quality timber merchant as the nearside covered enclosure, the far side team dugouts and the outer perimeter wall are all made with prime wooden product. The ground also has a wee pond at the entrance with a large net on hand to retrieve wayward match balls. There is also three sets of lights on each side.
The nearby Oakham brewery produced its own bottled ale for the club, named after the 5th Earl of Lonsdale whose former residence still overlooks the ground. He was known as “England’s greatest sporting gentleman” having donated the original Lonsdale belts in boxing and was briefly chairman of Arsenal in 1936.

It was a disastrous start to live in the UCL for Oakham United, falling a goal behind after just 80 seconds when a corner kick was met by a good strong header by Sam Folland. They got themselves back in it just before half time when Daniel Jenkins got on the end of a free kick from the left to head in at the near post.
The second was a different story as the hosts dominated, going ahead just before the hour when Richard Nelson was allowed a free header from a right wing free kick, before McDonald followed in from close range after the ‘keeper parried a shot into his path on 65 minutes. Buck Town set up a grandstand finish when Dan Delderfield reduced the arrears with 12 minutes left, but their chance weren’t helped when Scott Weymouth received his second yellow card on 82 minutes.
Oakham took advantage of the numerical advantage with late goals from Lewis Leckie and Stuart Lambie wrapped up a great performance and a great day of football for the Rutland Groundhop 2015.

Matchday Stats and Spon
OUFC 5(Jenkins 40 Nelson 58 McDonald 65 Leckie 88 Lambie 90+1)
BTFC 2 (Folland 2 Delderfield 77)
Att.341
Pin badge £3
Bottles of ale £3.50 each
Cuppa soup £1

After the game we headed to our overnight stay at the Travelodge just outside Threpston, so we were close to the first hop match the following day. I was hungry so we decided to stop somewhere for a bite to eat on the way and luckily we drove past a Wetherspoons pub just outside Corby. The Samuel Lloyd was full of pissed up crackerjacks, but it didn’t put me off having a few pints and a burger before we eventually arrived at our hotel just before midnight. All in all an excellent day with another 3 matches to look forward to on Sunday.

Foetoes

(Matchday Web album of 72 pictures from all 4 matches)

Sunday 2nd August 2015

7 Match ticket and Programmes £35

After 4 matches on Saturday with each team scoring at least one of a grand total of 17 goals, I was keen to see what the next three matches would produce. After a good night’s sleep and a relaxing morning bath, I was ready for the short drive from the hotel to Thrapston town centre for today’s first game.

479.Chancery Lane

Thrapston Town 4v1 St Neots Saints (10.45am ko)

United Counties League Division One

The club was established in 1960 as Thrapston Ventura, joining the Kettering Amateur League, winning the title five times during the 1970’s. They switched to Division Two of the United Counties League in 1978, finishing third in their first season and were subsequently placed in Division One after league restructuring. The club became “Town” in 1996 and were promoted to the Premier Division in 2010-11 but were relegated in their debut season.

The ground is shared with the cricket club, so all the spectator facilities are down one side. There are three small covered sections of seats and a small three step covered enclosure on the other side of the dugouts. The rest of the ground is open with the far side roped off from the cricket pitch.

Thrapston Town started the match on the front foot against St Neots Town Saints. After a spell of early pressure Ben Morgan finally broke the deadlock with an opportunist finish on 19 minutes. Their second was scored by Jed Whiteman on 28 minutes and it was probably the best goal of the weekend. He picked the ball up wide on the left, sprinted down the wing evading tackles, before racing into the box and firing hard and low into the right hand corner of the net. It was 3-0 before half time when Morgan set up Charlie Perkins, then when Chris Hope headed in 35 seconds after the restart, it was just a matter of how many the hosts would score.
St Neots had a chance to get back into the game from the penalty spot on 49 minutes, but Soloman Orieji couldn’t hit the target, firing a good yard past the post. After that missed opportunity the visitors played really well, creating plenty of chances and eventually found the back of the net three minutes from time, when substitute Ageymang got on the end of a right wing ball to slide in at the far post. It was too little too late for the Saints, but it might have been a closer outcome if they had converted that wasted spot-kick early in the second half.

Matchday Stats and Spon
TTFC 4(Morgan 19 Whiteman 28 Perkins 34 Hope 46) StNTSFC 1(Ageymang 87)
Att.257
Pin badge £3
Coffee £1

480.Station Road
Oundle Town 3v4 Baston (2pm ko)
PDFL Division 1

Football in Oundle dates back to 1883, the club secretary was Mr.W.E.Dolby and the club captain Mr.W.T.King both belonged to well known families in the town. The club first played in the Peterborough League in 1910 and have won an array of local cup honours throughout their history. The club moved from its first home, off Benefield Road to their present ground on Station Road in 1952. The ground is known locally as “the Waitrose Arena” as the supermarket stands in the shadow of the fully railed off pitch. There are dugouts on one side, with the ground entrance behind the goal, where access is gained through the homely clubhouse.

This was my favourite club of the seven on show over the weekend as they went all out to make it a special occasion. There was a beer tent serving beer from the local Nene Valley Brewery, including a special commemorative bottled ale, so I bought a couple of bottles(one to drink and one to keep) I was also going to also purchase one of their black ‘n’ white striped away shirts, but unfortunately the jersey didn’t have to club crest on it. There were also plenty of home shirts also available, but as it's red and white stripes I didn’t bother. The whole afternoon was hosted by a bloke on the microphone, who was a bit of a Brian Potter type, but it was all in good humour and he gave out plenty of useful information, including the goalscorers in a seven goal thriller.

Oundle good off to a great start against Baston FC, courtesy of yet another penalty as Johnny Hipwell fired in from the spot after the referee spotted a handball offence. The visitors equalised on half an hour when a goalmouth scramble was knocked over the line by Connor Murphy for an own goal, but he made amends in first half stoppage time to fire his side back into the lead.
Baston levelled just after the break when Dan Pitt beat the ‘keeper to a long ball to fire in, then ten minutes later Troy Waters slotted in a left wing cross, which resulted in an injury to the goalkeeper.
The hosts looked to have grabbed a point when Chris Kaye played a quick one-two and finished well, but yet another Rutland ‘Hop penalty decided it in the last minute, as Waters converted from 12 yards to give Baston a credible 4-3 victory.

Matchday Stats and Spon
OTFC 3(Hipwell 3pen Murphy 45 Kaye 77)BFC 4 (Murphy 31OG Pick 49 Waters 58 90pen) Att.321
Pin badge £3
Burger & bacon sarnie £3
Nene Valley NVB(4.1%) £3
Bottles of NVB Groundhopper Ale £3 each

481. Kingsmead
Kings Cliffe United 0v1 Stamford Lions (5pm)
PDFL Division 1

The village of Kings Cliffe was our final destination of a cracking weekend. Kings Cliffe United was founded in 1910 and have played on various pitches around the village. They finally settled at Kings Cliffe Middle School where their junior set up, the Red Kites were formed. In 2011 they moved to the new premises at Kings Cliffe Active after achieving Charter Standard Status, with the facilities supported by the Football Foundation.

I mentioned the special effort Oundle made in hosting a hop game, but Kings Cliffe played the trump card and I'm not talking about the beer tent serving 4 ales from the neighbouring Kings Cliffe Brewery. Prior to kick off six paratroopers from the local airfield landing on the pitch(well 5 did, one ending up behind the goal) as part of a champagne prize draw and more importantly, to present the match ball to the referee.

Those six lads that jumped from the sky was the best thing on the pitch all afternoon, as the final game turned out to be a bit of a stinker. The match had nowts-each written all over it until a late Stamford corner kick was knocked in by Sean Kelly, which was greeted by a huge cheer of relief from the 'hoppers in attendance. In the final few minutes the Lions could have added to the score, with more action in the closing stages than the previous eighty plus minutes.

Matchday Stats and Spon
KCFC 0 SLFC 1 (Kelly 84)
Att.296
Pin badge £3
Kings Cliffe 5C(3.8%) £2.50

Considering I wasn't really looking forward to this weekend it turned out to be really ace. As always it's good to meet up with some of the groundhopping pals from around the country including some people for the first time, namely Squad#170 Neil Daniel, Paul Splodge Proctor, Ian and Duncan the GBG pub collectors and Talksport's Tony Incenzo. A big well done to all the clubs involved and of course Chris and Lawrence for playing another blinder in organising such a wonderful event.

Foetoes
(Matchday album of 74 pictures from all 3 games)

Cambuslang Rangers 1v1 Wishaw Juniors

(Wishaw win 3-2 on penalties)

Euroscot Eng Central League Cup Rd 2

Saturday 28th March 2015

This was my third trip north of the border in the space of seven days, after attending the Sunday leg of the Lowlands Hop followed by the Scotland v Northern Ireland international at Hampden on Wednesday night. This week I was back on my Scottish Joons trail with a trip to Cambuslang, just outside Glasgow.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Cambuslang is a suburban town located just south of the River Clyde, about 6 miles south-east of Glasgow city centre. It is known as "the largest village in Scotland", having a population of around 24,500, with historical links to coal mining, iron and steelmaking.
Cambuslang is an ancient part of South Lanarkshire where Iron Age remains loom over modern day housing estates. Due to its location, the town has been very prosperous over time, due to its agricultural land and mineral resources underfoot, such as limestone, iron and coal. This wealth was guarded by the medieval Church, and later by the local upper classes, particularly the Duke of Hamilton. These riches made the town intimately concerned in the politics of the country and over the centuries the Church has made Cambuslang a major focal point.
The manufacturing industries attracted workers from the rest of Scotland, Ireland and other European countries. This diverse population increase posed problems in housing, employment and education, although Cambuslang has always benefited from its closeness to the thriving city of Glasgow. The two brought closer in the 18th century by a turnpike road then of course the railway and nowadays wider communication networks, particularly the M74 motorway.
The town was represented at the start of the Scottish Football League in 1890-91. Cambuslang FC were founder members but folded after just two seasons in the new league, their most notable achievement being runners-up in the Scottish Cup in 1888.

Plantpot History
The football club were originally known as Leeside and joined the Junior ranks in 1892, changing their name to Clyde Rovers. They became Cambuslang Rangers in 1899, also changing their kit from red and white to Royal Blue to become “The Wee Gers”.
They joined the Glasgow and District Junior League in 1900-01, winning their first trophy as champions in 1901-02 before repeating the feat the following year. The club switched to the Glasgow League in 1904, winning the title in 1911, 1912 and 1916 and finished that decade by reaching their first Junior Cup final in 1920, losing to Parkhead 2-0.

In 1927 they again lost out in the Junior Cup final to Glencair, but made it third time lucky in 1938 defeating Benburb 3-2 at Celtic Park. When football resumed after the Second World War they got to another final but were defeated 3-1 by Burnbank Athletic.During the 1950s and 60s the club won a few minor cup honours and lost two more Junior finals against Dunbar United in 1961 and Johnstone Burgh in ‘64.
After a thirty year wait the the Scottish Junior Cup was finally brought back to Somervell Park, when they defeated Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 1-0 in the 1969 final at Hampden Park. This heralded a golden era for the club, as they went on to beat Newtongrange Star 2-1 in the 1971 final and retained the trophy with a 3-2 win over Bonnyrigg Rose after a replay. This was the first time a club had back-to-back wins in this century and they almost made it a hat-trick, but were thwarted by Irvine Meadow, losing 1-0 in the second replay.
Cambuslang earned the title of "Junior Side of the Century" by the Scottish Newspapers, as during this era they were also winning an array of league titles and cup honours. The Lang added the top prize yet again to regain the Scottish Junior Cup with a 3-1 win over Linlithgow Rose in 1974. Since that golden era silverware has been hard to come by, although they did win the 2nd Division of the Central League in 1989-90 and the Division One title the following season. They currently play in the Central District Second Division.

Ground no.444 Somervell Park
(Scottish Grounds 58 Junior Grounds 13 Lifetime Junior winners 8/27)

The Lang originally played on a park at the "Old Mill" before renting a new ground at Somervell Park in 1904. The ground was named after the property owners, with the first ever match against local rivals Rutherglen Glencairn.
The original wooden stand was replaced with a new pavilion in January 1937, then in December 1941 the football club became owners of the ground having bought it from Colvilles Ltd. This purchase left the club in debt, which was eventually cleared through fundraising and social activities by the committee. In December 1970 they formed the Cambuslang Rangers Social and Recreation Club called Sweepers Lounge Bar. The licensed premises opened with extensive renovations made on the pavilion at the same time. The standing enclosure is about two-thirds pitch length with eight large steps of terracing which runs around the other three sides. The dugouts are opposite built into the perimeter wall. The changing rooms and food hut are at the corner entrance next to Sweepers. The open elements show panoramic views of Glasgow.

The Match
Cambuslang were up against Wishaw in the 2nd round of the Central League Cup. The visitors were the better side throughout the first half, after going behind to an early strike from Grant Howarth, who cheekily lobbed the 'keeper from the edge of the box. After missing several good chances Wishaw finally levelled just before half time, when Chalmers received a left wing cross to place his shot out of the 'keepers reach from the edge of the box.
The second half was an even affair but Wishaw finished the game on top but were unable to grab the vital winner. The whistle blew with the teams still level, however Wishaw deserved their shoot out victory, with Sandy Thomson saving twice to win the penalty shoot out by 3 strikes to 2.

Matchday Stats
GRFC 1(Howarth 8) WJFC 1(Charmers 45)
Att.160hc
Top Bloke - Charmers (Wishaw)

Spondoolicks
Admission £4
Programme: none
Pin badges - 2 badges of old and new design giving free by the club photographer....Many Thanx!
Bovril and Scotch pie £2

My Matchday
Akin to last Saturday’s trip to Dover, I wasn't a "William no mates" as Honest Paul came along for the ride, as we boarded the 7.43 to Edinburgh, then following a quick train swap we arrived in Glasgow at 10.25.
The journey between Edinburgh and Glasgow was pretty stressful, as my Scottish Joons twitter feed list saw the fixtures in the West Region dropping like flies after a night of heavy rain. I was expecting to yet again look for an alternative match, but as I was enjoying my first drink of the day in the Camperdown Place, the news came from the Wishaw Juniors feed that the match was on.
Cambuslang is just an eight minute journey from Glasgow Central, so we enjoyed a good drink before and after the match, including the impressive new Wetherspoons in the town; The John Fairweather on Main Street which was a picture house in its previous life.
To allow ourselves more time in Glasgow we travelled back via Carlisle, where we enjoyed an hilarious ninety minutes in Cumbria before catching the 0924 back to the Toon. So overall a cracking day out which managed to tick all the right boxes as we enjoyed visiting a friendly club, a smashing old ground, a good game of football and of course, a canny bevvy!

Foetoes(Matchday album of 31 pictures from Somervell)

Footnote
All going well I’m in the process of writing a book on the winners of the Junior Cup over the last 50 years, so I’ll be writing a more thorough piece on my matchday at Cambuslang. This chapter will also include my first childhood memory and the confessions of Honest Paul.
You can check the progress and a map of the grounds on my list on the T’Do Page.

Bevvy Almanac (Scotland only)
Camperdown Place
Mauldons ‘Bronze Adder’(4.1%)***
The Counting House
Brains ‘Pocket Full of Rye’(4.3%)**+
Weltons ‘Churchillian’(6.6%)***
Caledonian Merman XXX(4.8%)****
The Crystal Palace
Celt Experience ‘A False Dawn’(4.4%)****+
The John Fairweather(Main St,Camuslang)
Robinsons Mojo(3.7%)***+
Pot Still (Hope Street)
Scottish Border ‘Foxy Blonde’ (3.8%)****
Also the usual pint of ‘Bitter & Twisted’ in The Horse Shoe and a Deuchars IPA in the Royal Scot.

Renfrew 2v0 Johnstone Burgh

Euroscot Section League Cup

Saturday 8th August 2015

As part of this continuous journey I was hoping to tick off Renfrew on the day they moved into their new ground. I booked advance train tickets to Glasgow for this date and luckily fate was on my side, as the club announced the opening of New Western Park was against their former landlords in the group stage of the League Cup.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Renfrew is a town 5 miles west of Glasgow, known as the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" due to its connection with the Royal house of Scotland and Great Britain. The town gained royal burgh status in 1397, becoming the county town of Renfrewshire and is also a barony. The current Baron of Renfrew is HRH Prince Charles. Down our way he is known as The Prince of Wales, but up in this part of the world he's the Duke of Rothesay, who holds lands in the area as part of the principality of Scotland.

There is still evidence of the Royal Stewart castle which dates back to the 12th century, built by Walter fitz Alan, High Steward of Scotland. The tactical location of this castle was to prevent the eastern expansion of Somerled's lordship and from Norse invaders. It was rebuilt and extended in the 13th century by James Stewart and was the chief residence of Clan Stewart. The castle eventually fell into decay and was converted into a soap works before being demolished in the 19th century. The town centre skyline is dominated by Renfrew town hall, designed by James Lamb of Paisley. The building is a mix of French and Gothic styles, featuring its square tower standing 105 feet high with corbelled turrets at each corner.
On route to the match I stopped off at the Braehead shopping complex, which was opened not far from the town centre in 1999. I wasn’t there to do a spot of shopping mind, there was a Wetherspoons tick to be had amongst its many bars, restaurants and attractions. The town lies close to the M8 motorway, making it easily accessible by car, while regular bus services connect the town to Glasgow and other places in the area.

Plantpot History

Renfrew F.C. were founded on the 6th May 1912, taking over Western Park from the defunct Junior Club Renfrew Victoria, who had called it a day and vacated the ground two years earlier. There was also a senior side which played in the town in the late 19th century, who took part in early years of the Scottish Cup. The club were successful from the off, winning the Scottish Junior Division One title twice and lifting the Renfrewshire Cup for the first time in 1917, a trophy they have gone on the win ten times. This was also the year when they reached their first Junior Cup final, navigating everyone round without conceding a goal, until the cup final replay saw St Mirren Juniors bag the only goal of the game to claim the top prize. It was a similar story in 1962, a single goal defeat to Rob Roy in the replay after a 1-1 draw, then in 2001 they completed a unique Junior Cup final hat-trick. The Frew faced Carnoustie Panmure at Firhill Park and played out yet another draw, however the days of replays are long gone, so after another 120 goalless minutes they overcame their opponents 6-5 in a penalty shoot out, with Neil Shearer scoring the decisive spot-kick.
The blue and white striped shirts of The Frew have won a host of local cup competition and in the league they claimed the Central League Division One title in 1991-92. Their highest finish since the Juniors reconstruction was in 2005-06 when they finished runners-up to Auchinleck Talbot in the West Super League Premier Division.

Ground no.482 New Western Park
(Scottish grounds 67 SJFA grounds 20 Lifetime Junior Cup winners 14/27)

The move to a new ground has been mooted for over 30 years and at long last the club begin a new era on the edge of Renfrew Retail Park. The paying entrance is in the corner, where behind the goal is the changing rooms, hospitality bar, toilets and refreshment hatch all within one building. Down one side is a small covered terrace with hard standing along this side which continues behind the nearside goal. Spectators are only allowed to use these two sides, as the opposite side has the team dugouts and a players warm up area, while there isn’t enough space behind the far goal. The ground has floodlights and a superb 3G pitch, which is good news for Groundhoppers during the winter months. The stadium is a working progress, so with more funding further improvements will be made including the option to extend the stand.

The Match
It was quite fitting that Johnstone Burgh provided the opposition for the first match at this new venue, having been kind enough to allow The Frew to groundshare at Keanie Park last season. As for the game there was little action in the first half and as the match progressed it was looking more likely that I was about to record my first goalless game of the season.
The first decent chance fell to Burgh after an hour, when an effort from Jason Hardie hit the underside of the crossbar and fortunately for Renfrew the ball bounced on the goalline, before being safely cleared.
Renfrew finally broke the deadlock on 74 minutes, when Marc McDaid found room on the right to pick out Alan Kinney in the box who slotted the ball home. The win was sealed in injury time when Scott Arthur timed his run to perfection to stay onside before rounding the ‘keeper and running the ball into the net. So a good start to Renfrew at New Western Park, a win, a clean sheet and a decent crowd in attendance.

Matchday Stats
RFC 2(Kinney 74 Arthur 90+2) JBFC 0
Att.300hc
Top Bloke - Scott Arthur(Renfrew)

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme £1
Pin badge £3
Specialty Pie (chicken curry) £2
Coffee 90p

My Matchday
I caught the direct train from Newcastle to Glasgow, where on arrival I stopped off for breakfast and numerous cups of coffee. I met up with James Little at Buchanan Street Bus Station at 11am, to catch the X23 bus out to Renfrew. We originally planned to get the train to Yoker, then catch the ferry across the river. Because of its close proximity to the south bank of the River Clyde, a ferry has operated between Renfrew and Yoker on the opposite bank for more than 300 years. The last car ferry was retired in 1984, but a frequent passenger-only ferry still plies the route. We got off the bus at Intu Braehad for a few swift pints in The Lord of the Isles, before making more use of our £3.80 all day ticket to catch the bus to the town centre. After a few more bevvys in the Davidson bar we walked along to the ground, passing the original Western Park which is nothing but barren land and no clues that this was once the proud home of Renfrew FC for over a century.
When we arrived back in Glasgow after the match, there was enough time to call in the Horse Shoe bar before catching the train home. We got there in time for the pending full time scores, discovering that the Heed won, the mackems had lost and for James, a win for Hearts and a defeat for Hibs. Other football scores went my way so there was the rarity of my football bet kopping, all this as well as a good day out in Renfrew, completed what I would call a perfect Soccer Saturday.

Foetoes (Matchday album of 29 pictures from New Western Park)

Footnote
Hopefully a book will be published on my journey around the winners of the Junior Cup over the last 50 years, which will feature a more detailed account of my visit to Renfew.

Friday 3rd April 2015

445. Marsh Lane

Barton Town Old Boys 0v3 Cleethorpes Town

NCEL Premier Division

(11.30am ko)

I was the designated driver for this latest Groundhop, departing at 8am to pick up Lee Stewart, before navigating through the damp weather along the A1 and M62 on route to Humberside. Our first destination was Barton-upon-Humber, which is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire. This meant crossing the Humber Bridge as the town is found on the south bank of the Humber Estuary, six miles south-west of the city of Hull.

Barton Town Old Boys Football Club was formed in the summer of 1995 after the merger of the town’s two established clubs; Barton Town and Barton Old Boys.
Barton Town formed in 1880 and were one of the founder members of the Lincolnshire League, which was won in 1960-61. The club went on to have two spells in the Yorkshire League, with a few seasons in the Midland League sandwiched in between. The club returned to the Lincolnshire League in 1981, winning the title in their first season and remained in the league for a further decade, before dropping out due to finances
.
Barton Old Boys had been a member of the Scunthorpe and District League since 1959. The club became one of the most successful clubs in the league culminating in winning of all four major Scunthorpe League competitions in 1994-95.

The new club began life in the Lincolnshire League in 1995-96 season, winning the title the following season. The Swans joined the newly formed Humber Premier League for the start of the 2000/01 season, after a third place finish they progressed to the Central Midlands League. The club joined the Northern Counties East League in 2007-08, winning promotion to the Premier Division in 2010-11 after finishing runners-up to Staveley MW.

The club play at Marsh Lane which was the home of Barton Town since 1927. Entrance to the ground is in the corner next to the the changing rooms and clubhouse building. The main stand is over the far side, which sits central and made up of 240 white flip seats across four rows. There are two identical standing enclosures each side of the goal posts at the top end, and the rest of the ground is open with the dugouts on the clubhouse side. The ground is now known as The Euronics Stadium as they are the main club sponsor.

Cleethorpes Town backed by a large and noisy following kept their title challenge alive with a convincing victory. The Swans could have been a few goals to the good before Brody Robertson gave the visitors the lead on 36 minutes. The striker picked up the ball on the left wing before cutting inside, his initial effort was blocked by the defender but he found the net at the second attempt with a neat finish.
Barton worked hard to grab an equaliser but were undone late on when Louis Grant rounded off a quick counter attack on 87 minutes, before Robertson fired in his second deep into injury time, latching onto a long ball for an easy task from close range which send the travelling hordes into raptures.

Matchday Stats

BTOBFC 0 CTFC 3(Robertson 35,90 Grant 86)
Att.517
Top Bloke - Brody Robertson(Cleethorpes Town)
Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme £1.50
Pin badge £3
Sausage sandwich £.1.70

446. West Street

Winterton Rangers 1v1 Yorkshire Amateur

NCEL Division One

(2.30pm ko)

For the second game of the day we headed 8 miles west along the A1077 Ferriby Road to Winterton, which is a small town in North Lincolnshire, five miles north-east of Scunthorpe on the banks of the Humber. The history of Winterton goes back to Roman times with several large mosaic floors and findings of other Roman remains in the town.

Winterton Rangers formed in 1934 and became members of the Scunthorpe & District League in 1935 .They spent five seasons in the Lincolnshire County League from 1965 until they accepted an invitation to join the Yorkshire Football League. They won a hat-trick of league titles during the 1970’s, before becoming founder members of the NCEL in 1982. After just two seasons the club disbanded due to financial difficulties, but reappeared in 1986, re-entered the NCEL Division 2
In 2007-08 season they were Premier League champions winning the title by a clear 13 points and bagging 116 goals. They are currently back in the First Division after being relegated last season.

Winterton originally played at Sewers Lane, then Watery Lane until purchasing the land at West Street for £700 in 1950. The players originally used the Butchers Arms before installing an ex-Army hut from a POW camp for changing facilities. The land was sparse with just an adjoining cricket field but nowadays the area has grown, surrounded by modern houses and the football ground now reflects its contemporary surroundings.
The ground has two identical stands on each side, one having 245 blue flip seats bolted to its three steps and the other a standing terrace. The rest of the ground is open with hard standing behind the goals. Next to the entrance is the main building which has the changing rooms, Rangers cafe and the Rangers Bar at the back.

Rangers came from behind with a daisy cutter from Jack Start just before half time giving them a share of the spoils. Amas ‘keeper Bojang pulled of a string of fine saves before Joel Hughes headed in a close range header after quarter of an hour. The equaliser came on 41 minutes when the ball dropped to Start on the edge of the box, his shot trickled into the corner of the net with Josh Batty trying to claim the goal, maintaining it took a deflection on route to goal. The second half was a pretty even affair and the draw was the just about the right result.

Matchday Stats

WRFC 1 (Start 42) YAFC 1(Hughes 14)
Att.303
Top Bloke - Suwara Bojang(Yorkshire Amateur)
Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme £1.50
Pin badge £3
Tea £1

447.The Bradley Football Development Centre
Grimsby Borough 3v1 Hall Road Rangers
NCEL Division One
(6.30pm ko)

The trio of today’s matches concluded on the outskirts of Grimsby at the Bradley Football Development Centre. As there was a few hours spare before the 6.30 kick off we took a detour to Brigg. Last week Graham Precious teased me on Facebook with a picture of the Wetherspoons pub in the town and the fact I hadn’t been to The White Horse. This was soon rectified with a ‘Fish Friday’ tea, a couple of cups of coffee and a half of Milk Stout. The distance between the two grounds was 28 miles, so we still arrived in plenty of time, a good half an hour before kick off.

The club was formed in 2003 after a meeting at the Lord Tennyson pub in Louth. Borough are another club who started life in the Lincolnshire League, finishing runners-up in their first campaign to earn promotion to the Central Midlands League Premier Division in 2004.
They finished second in their debut season but were unable to gain promotion as they failed to meet the required ground criteria. They finished runners-up again in 2006-07 and promotion was granted to the Supreme Division, having agreed on a groundshare with Brigg Town. The following season despite finishing mid-table, they were invited to join Division One of the Northern Counties East League, where they’ve played since.

“The Wilderness Boys” originally played at the King George V ground, before playing at the Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education following their promotion to the Central Midlands League. After the groundshare at Brigg Town's, they moved to the new Bradley Football Development Centre in 2010. The first game at the new council owned stadium was against Scarborough Athletic on the 24th November, where over 580 people saw Borough lose a NCEL League Cup tie 4-3.
The ground is pretty basic with a standard seated stand on one side and a cover directly behind the top goal. The ground is open with hard standing on all sides. The refreshment and bar facilities plus the changing rooms are all in the main building. The ground is currently share with Cleethorpes Town, which means there’s a club from Cleethorpes playing in Grimsby and a club called Grimsby playing in Cleethorpes!!!

I recently saw bottom of the table Borough in action just a few weeks ago at Yorkshire Amateur. On that occasion they made a promising start to the game, but still managed to get gubbed 5-0. Again, they were on the front foot from the kick off against Hall Road Rangers, but conceded in the fifth minute after a cracking 25 yard drive from Daniel Walker with the visitors first decent attack. After that early setback another good hiding looked on the cards, but they grabbed a well deserved equaliser on 21 minutes, when Peter Fuller was on hand to fire home a left wing cross from six yards.
Grimsby Borough probably produced their best 45 minutes of the season in the second half, dominated throughout with two fabulous goals to double their win tally for the season. Twenty minutes from time Matthew Hall picked up the ball in midfield before running at the defence and unleashing a powerful shot which gave the ‘keeper no chance. The points were wrapped up ten minutes later when Fuller claimed his second, picking up a square ball and placing his side foot effort into the far corner.
This was without doubt the best game of the day and it was pleasing to see the hosts claiming a rare victory.

Matchday Stats

GBFC3(Fuller 21 81 Hall 70) HRRFC 1(Walker 5)
Att.284
Top Bloke - Peter Fuller(Grimsby Borough)
Spondoolicks
Admission £4
Programme £1
Pin badge £3

Another cracking Groundhop, and as always it’s good to catch up with friends from all corners of the UK. I didn’t spare the horses on the way home, after dropping Lee off in Houghton-le-Spring I was back at Gallowgate View for 11.15pm. A 5.30am start at work the next morning meant I was unable to attend the Saturday leg of the hop, but I’m sure another grand day out was had by all.

Foetoes (Matchday album of 53 pictures from all 3 matches)

100FgC Squad#177 Frans Van Der Berg - Amsterdam

Yuri (Magshop team) Tayyip Erdogan, Istanbul

100FgC Squad#68 Jonathan Elton - Red Bull Arena

Stephen Carpenter - Kingstonian

100FgC Squad #50 Joris van der Wier - Billingham Synthonia

100FgC A17 Peter Miles - Vitesse Arnham

Please cast your vote by leaving a comment or on our Facebook site

https://www.facebook.com/groups/100FgC/

It’s been donkeys years since I last visited The Sir Tom Cowie Millfield which means the ground has never featured on this website. I travelled down to County Durham to watch Dunston take on The Black and Ambers in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup and to also take an album of pictures for the blog.

The club have played at Millfield since the club formed in 1889, purchasing the ground from the local rugby club for £625. In 1896 they joined the Northern League from the Bishop Auckland and District League.

They won the first of five FA Amateur Cup in 1901 defeating King's Lynn 3–0 after a replay. Further success in the competition came at the old Wembley Stadium with victories over Bishop Auckland (1953) Barnet (1959) Hounslow Town (1962) and Enfield (1964)

The Northern League was first won in 1914-15 and further championships have been few and far between, claiming the title in 1926–27, 1952–53, 1958–59, 1962–63.

Crook made the first of three tours to Spain in 1913 which included matches against played Barcelona, who they played a total of 10 times following subsequent tours in 1921 and 1922. Crook born Jack Greenwell played on the first tour and stayed on to play for Barcelona. Jack went on to manage the Catalan club and also the Spanish national team before coaching all over the world during the 1930's.

The ground is one of the best in the Northern League with a traditional stand and large covered terrace on one side. There's a standing terrace behind one goal and hard standing with grass banking on the far side and behind the top goal.
Dunston continued their fabulous start to the season with an emphatic 6-0 win at Millfield, coasting into the Preliminary Round where they will face Holker Old Boys in a fortnights time.

First Visit
Ground no.99
Thursday 20th November 2003
Barcelona Cup
Crook Town 1 (Morris 43)
Newcastle United 10(og 7 Ambrose 10 O'Brien 19, 21 Guy 30, 32, 71, 89 Gate 76 Brittain 86)
Att.1000est

Latest Visit
Saturday 15th August 2015
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Crook Town 0
Dunston UTS 6(Bulford 6 Wilkinson 13 Smith Richardson Halliday 77 Kemp 86OG)
Att.TBC
Admission £5
Programme £1

Matchday Album (33 pictures)

484. Oxford Centre Ground

Longbenton 1v1 Gosforth Bohemian

Northern Alliance Division One

Wednesday 12th August 2015

Longbenton is a district of North Tyneside, which is largely an extensive estate originally built as municipal housing by Newcastle City Council in the 1950s and 60s. Longbenton FC first joined the Northern Alliance in 1988, winning promotion from Division Two in 1989-90 followed by the First Division title in 1992-93. The club left the league in 1998 before rejoined in 2012, placed in Division One this season after finishing fourth last term.
Their home ground is at the Oxford Centre, which is a large community facility with the pitch set back from the main building opposite the bowling green. The pitch is fully enclosed with fencing and greenery.

Visitors Gosforth Bohs dominated the early stages and should have taking a tenth minute lead when a penalty kick from Mark Wright came back off the post. They were made to pay for those missed chances, when a free kick from the right flank was met at the far post by a firm header by Stephen Thompson, to give Longbenton a 33rd minute lead.
Bohs got back on level terms three minutes before the break, when Kev Turnbull was put clear on goal and produced a cool finish. Both teams had decent chances to claim the three points in the second half but on reflection a draw was a fair result.

Matchday Stats

LFC 1(Turnbull 33)GBFC 1(Thompson 42)

Admission/programme:none

Att.13hc

Top Bloke - Stephen Thompson(Longbenton)

485. Isabella Playing FieldsBlyth Isabella 1V3 Shilbottle CW Northern Alliance Division One Wednesday 19th August 2015

Blyth Isabella are a relatively new club, joining the Alliance in 2012 and winning the Division Two title in their second campaign. The club are based at the Isabella Playing Fields in the town, but according to the league website they have moved to Cowpen Park. I arrived at the ground five minutes before the 6.15 kick off to find the place deserted, before quickly finding my way along to Isabella where the players were just entering the field.
The club should be moving to the new place in time for their next home fixture, so I've scored for an extra ground having previously not ticked off this original home.The ground is on Ogle Drive having a roped off pitch with changing room facilities behind the goal, next to the nearby kiddies park.

Isabella faced Division One newcomer's Shilbottle CW who dominated the first half but were unable to beat 'keeper Tony Guy who was in fine form between the sticks. They finally made the breakthrough five minutes after the restart, when Matty Graham headed home unmarked from a corner kick.
The hosts equalised just after the hour mark with their first decent offensive move, when left-back Steven Turnbull made a good overlapping run and fired in a powerful left foot shot into the far corner.
During the match there was a bitter undercurrent both on and off the pitch which all came to a head on 73 minutes when a late challenge resulted in a mass brawl, with no cards surprisingly produced from the refs pocket.
Shilbottle finished the match on top with Josh Hay finally finding the target, arriving on the end of a free kick to fire in at the far post, before Graham grabbed his second to wrap up the points in the dying minutes.
Overall a really enjoyable game, the match nearly as entertaining as the sledging happening on the sidelines, which as a neutral observer I found quite amusing.

Matchday Stats
BIFC 1(Turnbull 62) SCWFC 3(Graham 50,85 Hay 83)
Admission/programme:none
Att.24hc
Top Bloke - Josh Hay(Shilbottle CW)

486.Shilbottle Welfare Ground
Shilbottle CW 6v0 Cramlington Town
Northern Alliance Division One
Saturday 22nd August 2015

Shilbottle is a village found just off the A1 motorway in Northumberland, 3 miles south-east of Alnwick. The village was build around Shilbottle Colliery which was bought for £50 by the English Co-operative Wholesale Society at the turn of the 20th century. The mine was upgraded and a new village of 170 houses were built, including some aged miners cottages. Shilbottle Colliery was the only pit in the area where workers had a pension scheme and were given a week's paid holiday. The National Coal Board took over after the Second World War, with production continuing until the ‘70s decline and the pit eventually closing in 1981.

The football club originally played in the Northern Alliance between 1993 and ‘96 and returned last season after winning the North Northumberland League in 2013-14. They easily won the Division Two title last term, winning 25 of their 30 matches and amassing 142 goals.
In September 2010 the new Shilbottle Community Hall was opened at the ground, costing over £1m which included a £100,000 contribution from the Football Foundation. The pitch is build up above ground level and fully railed off, with grass banking at the far side.

Shilbottle continued from where they left off on Wednesday night with an impressive gubbin of Cramlington Town. They made an early breakthrough when Josh Hay linked up well with Callum Brooks to fire his side into the lead, before Brooks did well to stay onside and easily beat the goalkeeper with a one-on-one on 28 minutes. Just before the break a ball from the left found Hay who nodded the ball into the path of Brooks who hit a first time effort in off the post to make it 3-0.
Five minutes after the restart a foul on Hay in the box meant Brooks could complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot. Having seen Shilbottle twice this week they look a good bet to win their third consecutive league title, they seem to have a good squad of players with the three substitutes all playing their part, one of which set up Hay to make it five on 76 minutes.
In the final few minutes full back Ryan Douglas rifled in a shot from 20 yards to bring up the half dozen and complete an impressive display from the home side.

Matchday Stats
SCWFC 6(Hay 8,76 Brooks 28,45,51pen Douglas 88) CTFC 0
Admission/programme:none
Att.38hc
Top Bloke - Callum Brooks(Shilbottle CW)

Holker Old Boys 0v2 Dunston UTS

FA Cup Preliminary Round

Saturday 29th August 2015

Following on from catching Dunston’s emphatic win in the FA Cup at Crook Town a fortnight ago, I was keen to see them progress further in the competition. After my Saturday shift at work I jumped into the car and drove to the tip of the Furness peninsula from their Preliminary Round tie with Holker Old Boys.

The football club started life as a school team, formed by the under-16s from the Holker Central Secondary School in 1936. The club originally competed in the West Lancashire League before joining the North West Counties Football League Division Two in 1991, winning promotion in their third season.
The club played at step 5 for five seasons until they were relegated in 1999. The closest they’ve come to returning to the NWCL top division was last season, when after a 5th place finish they lost the play-off semi-final match 3-1 away at Hanley Town.

The club play in Barrow-in-Furness, a town I visited back in 2009 for what turned out to be a Christmas cracker. Their home ground is found just off the A590, on the outskirts of the town next to the Barrow Golf Club. The club have played at Rakesmoor Lane since 1972, which has a capacity of 1,750, made up of a 220 seated stand and open standing all around. The stand is at the entrance between the corner flag and the goal, with the clubhouse and changing rooms down one side. There is also some cover on this side but the majority of the roof is missing. Opposite is the team dugouts and there are three sets of lights at each side. Rakesmoor has nice panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, but its exposed location means it’s a bit of a wind trap, so an August visit was ideal.

The biggest attendance at Rakesmoor was 1,240 for a cup game with neighbours Barrow in 1995, although their record gate was 2,300 against F.C. United of Manchester in the 2005–06 season. The match was held at Craven Park, the home ground of Rugby League side Barrow Raiders due to the large away support.

I pulled into the car park just before 2.30, where there wasn’t any spectators around as they were all crammed into the bar watching the Newcastle match. I paid the gentleman at the turnstile £4 for admission and inquired about a programme, but they were all sold out as they don’t print many because of a lack of demand. I went into the clubhouse and caught the dying embers of the game and saw a bloke sitting with a programme, who wasn’t a Dunston fan and judging by his southern accent he didn’t support Holker either, although I deducted he must be a groundhopper judging by the haversacks him and his two mates had with them.
When I visit a new ground I like to get a programme, but if I don’t manage to trouser one I won’t get too upset, however if possible I try and get a photo of the issue instead. I approached the gentleman and when he saw me coming he quickly but the programme away in his giant bag. I said “excuse me” three times before he finally responded, in which time the paperchaser had zipped his bag closed. I asked if I could take a photograph and his reply was “I’ll let you take a picture but that’s all you can do with it” Well, what did he think I was going to do with his valuable piece of paper? Take it into the bog and wipe my arse with it!

When the game started it was Dunston who kicked against the breeze and up the slope in the first half. After an even contest they took the lead after on the half hour mark, when Luke Gilhespy won the ball in midfield and threaded a ball through to Steven Richardson, who danced ‘round the defender to make himself room for a shot, before firing past the keeper from 12 yards.
Richardson could have had a hat-trick, twice going close in the second half before the game was wrapped up on 76 minutes. A long ball from Wilkinson sent Bulford on his way on the left wing, whose cross picked out the incoming Alex Francis for an easy finish.
A determined Holker side tried to get themselves back in the game, but overall it was a comfortable passage into the First Qualifying Round for Dunston UTS, who face a tricky away tie to either North Shields or Kendal Town on the 12th September.

Matchday Stats
HOBAFC 0 DUTSFC 2(Richardson 30 Francis 67)
Att.
Top Bloke - Steven Richardson(Dunston UTS)
Spondoolicks
Admission £4
Programme (limited issue)
Coffee £1
Meat & potato pie £1.50

Foetoes (32 pictures from Rakesmoor)

Eccleshill United 2v4 Heaton Stannington
FA Vase First Qualifying Round
Saturday 5th September 2015

This date has been set in the diary for almost a year, the start of the FA Vase and also the beginning of another football odyssey for Alan Oliver and Calvin Wade. During the 2013-14 season they started off on the road to the final of the FA Cup at West Didsbury & Chorlton,following the winning team through every round, with the eventual finishing line being Arsenal’s triumph over Hull City at Wembley. Last season it was the same format in the FA Trophy, where they soon stumbled upon North Ferriby United, watching every minute of The Villagers fabulous cup run which cumulated in Wembley success.

Last year I spoke to Alan and promised I would be their at the beginning, the end and hopefully somewhere in between, on the last of their FA silverware trilogy. As Alan lives in Manchester, we decided to meet somewhere in between, at a ground both of us hadn’t visited with Yorkshire the obvious central point. When the draw was made in early July, it provided us the perfect location as Eccleshill United were drawn at home to Heaton Stannington.
The club are based in the village of Wrose, which is a civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, about 3 miles north of Bradford city centre. The village sits on top of a hillside which is around 600 feet above sea level, overlooking the Aire valley and Bradford valley.

The football club formed in 1948 originally playing in the Bradford Amateur League, followed by the West Riding County Amateur League. They joined the Northern Counties East League Division Three in 1985, before the league switched to a two division format. Eccleshill United have twice been promoted in 1987 and 1997 and also relegated twice, having played in Division One since 2009. The Eagles won the West Riding County Cup in 2014 and their best performance in the FA Vase was in 1999-2000 when they reached the fifth round.

The Vase draw didn’t just deliver an ideal destination, but I scored with the away ball out of the bag, as one of my local Northern League club’s Heaton Stannington head to Plumpton Park. This meant my transport on the players and supporters bus was soon sorted after contacting the Stan’s travel agent James Colwill on twitter. The Heaton charabanc left Grounsell Park at 10.15 and after a piss and pastie stop at Wetherby services, we arrived at the sponsored named Mitton Group Stadium just before half one.

Eccleshill United started life playing on the recreation ground and then on various pitches in the area before purchasing a plot of land on Plumpton Park in 1963. Changes and major improvements were made when the club joined the NCEL, so the ground was fully enclosed by 1990. The main stand sits on the halfway line, decked out with 225 blue and white flip seats. There's a covered enclosure at the turnstile entrance behind the goal, with the refreshment cabin and changing rooms at each side. The team dugouts are opposite the stand with the rest of the ground open with hard standing all 'round. The overall capacity is 2,225 and the record crowd is 715 for a game against Bradford City in the 1996-97 season, the Bantams have also used the ground as a home base for their reserve side

I had a few pints in the clubhouse before Alan, Calvin and fellow traveller Gordon the ref arrived just after 2pm. It was good see Alan again and meet the other two lads for the first time, although I feel I already know them pretty well, having read about their adventures in ‘Another Saturday and Sweet FA’ and ‘Brutal Giants & the Village King’ the two books Calvin wrote on their road to Wembley over the last two seasons.

The lads feared a goalless draw but I told them there was no need to worry as my goal average so far this season after 30 games is 4.43. My goal fest confidence was soon confirmed as the Stan took an early lead from the penalty spot, after a foul on Burns was converted by Jon Wright after seven minutes, but the lead was short lived when Luke Harrop got on the end of a right wing ball to nip in and level the score six minutes later.
Heaton got their noses back in front when a square ball from Telford on the right wing teed up Matt Hayton to slot home, but yet again the Eagles soon equalised when a corner kick was met at the near post by Jermaine Springer to volley home.
Two's each at the break with the game finely balanced with the outcome unpredictable as the second half got under way, although it would be interesting to see how Heaton would react to going behind for the first time. In the 55th minute a free kick into the box was headed clear and fell nicely to Lewis Burns on the edge of the box , who unleashed a splendid right foot volley to put the Stan ahead for the third time.
The hosts applied the pressure late on, desperate for an equaliser to take the game into extra time. Some excellent saves from Dan Rule maintained Heaton's lead until the match was settled deep into injury time, when the ball was flicked into the path of Ben Telford who fired a first time effort past Joe Stead to make it 4-2. In the end an enjoyable game and a cracking result for Heaton Stannington, as the club recorded their first win in the FA Vase for 34 years.

At the game I also met 100FgC Squad #161 Michael Swaffield for the first time, who had travelled with his mate Keith from Saltaire to come and say hello and meet for a drink. We staying in the clubhouse until 5.50 before the Stan bus hit the road, doing a detour through Boroughbridge where we stopped off at the Three Horse Shoes and The Crown, before finally getting back to Grounsell Park at quarter to ten.
Overall a cracking day out, I enjoyed travelling with the Stan players and supporters, who were all very friendly and seem a good bunch of lads. However for me this day was mostly about the start of another adventure for three lads from Lancashire, who will be following today’s winners at Chester-le-Street in the next round on Saturday 3rd October, and I’ll also be their with them for the next chapter of ‘The Unbreakable Vase’, which is a smashing title for a book ... I wonder who came up with that incredible idea?

Matchday Stats and Spondoolicks

EUFC 2(Harrop 13 Springer 38) HSFC 4(Wright 7pen Hayton 27 Burns 55 Telford 90+4)
Att.75
Top Bloke - Ben Telford(Heaton Stannington)
Admission £5
Programme £1
Mince beef and onion pie £1
Coffee £1
Tetley Bitter £2.10 pint

Foetoes (32 pictures from Eccleshill United)

Footnote
Alan Oliver
The matches Alan attended in the FA Cup, FA Trophy and also this season’s FA Vase run is all part of his charity work for The Christie, a charity which is close to Alan’s heart having lost his mother-in-law Pat to cancer a few years ago. You can support Alan in his latest road to Wembley be donated on his charity page at
https://www.justgiving.com/alan-oliver3/

Calvin Wade
You can read about the lads road to Wembley in Calvin’s two previous publications ‘Another Saturday & Sweet FA’ and ‘Brutal Giants & The Village King’ which are both available in paperback and Kindle additions from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Calvin-Wade/e/B007V476YQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1441535884&sr=1-2-ent

Johnstone Burgh 2v0 Thorniewood United

West of Scotland League Central Division First

Saturday 19th September 2015

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
The Renfrewshire town of Johnstone lies 12 miles west of Glasgow city centre and just 3 miles from the neighbouring town of Paisley, found on the edge of the Greater Glasgow Urban Area.
The town was a planned community created and designed by the local Laird, George Ludovic Houston who held an estate in the town, the remains of which are known as Johnstone Castle.
The town’s early population was around 1,500, which included the local estate and rural hinterland.George Houston became 4th Laird of Johnstone in 1757 at the age of 14. During his 58 years as Laird, George extended Johnstone Castle, developed the extensive coal mines at nearby Quarrelton and opened lime works at Floor Craig. In 1781 he began selling land for housing near the Bridge of Johnstone for the layout of a new town. Houston designed street plans, two mirroring civic squares: Houstoun Square and Ludovic Square and by 1794 the town had gained its current parish church.
Johnstone developed through its main industry of thread-making and cotton weaving, with mills powered by the Black Cart Water which runs to the north of the town. The community expanded in the 1930s with freshly built residential estates, which addressed the problem of population density in the historic area of the town. Nowadays it chiefly serves as a commuter town for Paisley and Glasgow with a population of almost 16,000.

Plantpot History
During the many years writing this blog I’ve researched hundreds of clubs, but the formation of Johnstone Burgh in 1956 is quite unique. The club emerged from a newspaper article in the "Johnstone & Linwood Gazette” after a journalist had been ordered out of the newspaper's office by his gaffer with orders not to return until he had a story. The journalist in question stood on the corner of Johnstone's Rankine Street and proceeded to ask locals their thoughts about forming a new football club to replace the former Scottish league side Johnstone FC.

From the article a new Junior football club was born and The Burgh soon found success, winning the treble of Central League, the West of Scotland Cup and the Glasgow Dryburgh Cup in 1958-59. Under the leadership of Jimmy Blackburn they won two league titles in the 1960s, as well as lifting the prestigious Junior Cup twice. In 1964 they beat Cambuslang Rangers 3-0 in a replay after a 1-1 draw, then four years later a second tie was again required, after a 2-2 draw they overcame Glenrothes 4-3 with Hugh Glishan grabbing the winner in extra time.
It wasn’t until the turn of the millennium that the Burgh reached their third final and yet again the final finished in a draw. The club faced Whitburn with goals from Colin Lindsay and John McLay saw the match finish all square after extra time. Johnstone Burgh won on penalties in their semi-final at Love Street, but failed to repeat this success in the 2000 final, losing the penalty shoot out by four goals to three.
The following season they won the Central League Premier Division and since the rejigging of the leagues, they were Central District Second Division champions in 2009-10. Last term they finished runners-up to Rossvale in the Second Division, so return to Central Division One after they were relegated in 2011.

Ground no.488 Keanie Park
(Scottish Grounds 68 SJFA grounds 21 Lifetime Junior Cup winners 15/27)

The club have been based at James Y. Keanie Park since their formation, named after the builder who donated the land on which the ground was built. There is a barrel roofed covered terrace at the far side which sits on the halfway line with grass banking behind both goals. At the paying entrance side there's the main building which houses the changing rooms, toilets and the snack bar. In front of this is a wooden shelter on the grass verge, with a few terraced steps leading down to the brick dugouts.

For a number of years there have been plans in place to relocate to a new ground at Thomas Shanks Memorial Park less than one mile away, built in conjunction with the local council. I don’t know if this will ever come to fruition, but there has to be a solution to the drainage problems, which makes Keanie Park prone to flooding resulting in the regular postponements.

The Match
Johnstone faced table toppers Thorniewood United, who went into this game with maximum points from their first three fixtures. The Burgh wearing their traditional all red kit with white trimmings were under the cosh for most of the first half, with the visitors from Viewpark creating the better chances.
As the game progressed it was beginning to look likely that a solitary goal would settle the result. That golden opportunity fell to Jack Heron on 73 minutes, who latched onto a flicked header to find himself clear on goal, making no mistake to fire under the 'keeper and break the deadlock.
The hosts almost immediately blew their lead, when just two minutes later a reckless challenge just inside the penalty area gave the referee an easy decision to award a spot kick. The Thorniewood number 7 Lennon had been in the running for my top bloke of the match award, but his penalty was saved and the easier chance from the follow up was blasting over the bar and into the grass banking behind the goal.
The Burgh wrapped up the victory two minutes from time when a neat ball was threaded into the path of substitute Jason Hardie, who fired a first time effort past the Wood 'keeper, then a minute later Thorniewood's miserable afternoon was complete when Cherrie was sent off for handball just outside the box. This win puts the Burgh level with Thorniewood and there’s now five clubs sharing top spot after winning three of their first four fixtures.

Matchday Stats and Spon
JBFC 2(Heron 73 Hardie 88) TUFC 0
Att.90hc
Top Bloke - Harp(Johnstone Burgh)
Admission £5
Programme:none
Coffee £1

My Matchday
My original plan for today was to tick off one of the East Region clubs, with Whitburn Juniors first choice as a return to their own ground is imminent. After the release of the latest round of fixtures, it turned out to be the only option in the east from my t'do list. That was until they announcing on Wednesday that Central Park still isn't ready yet, so a quick look at the fixtures meant booking further trains to Johnstone Burgh, as this was one of only two choices available in the west.

My type of boozer

I left Newcastle on the 0945 and travelled straight to Johnstone, without refreshment stops in Edinburgh or Glasgow, so I arrived just over three hours from my departure. During my preparation I discovered there are two pubs in the Good Beer Guide in Johnstone so I had a few bevvys in Callum’s and Rennies before the 2 o'clock kick off.
There is a regular train service back to Glasgow, so I was in The Horse Shoe Bar by half four to check out the incoming full time scores, which was disastrous in regards to my two teams on each side of the River Tyne. My day out was complete with a drink at the Jinglin Geordie in Edinburgh before catching the 1900 train home.
Another good day north of the border which now takes project: “From the Toon to the Scottish Joons” (working title) up to 15 ticks from the 27 on the list. I’m satisfied with the progress I’m making and well on course to finish it in the next 12 months. There won’t be another trip now until two planned visits in November, but there’s already obstacles blocking my path, however I’m up for the challenge to make sure I hit the north twice before Christmas.

Footnote
I'm writing a book on the winners of the Scottish Junior Cup over the last 50 years, which will include a more detailed account of my trip to Johnstone. This chapter features a former Burgh player who lives just down to road from me and more insight on the GBG bible.

Bevvy Almanac

Johnstone
Callum's(High St)
Jaw Brew 'Drop' (4.2%)****
Strathaven 'Ginger Jock' (4%)****
~~Rennie's(Collier Street)~~
Caledonia Best***
(no Real Ale)
Glasgow
The usual Bitter & Twisted in The Horse Shoe****+
Edinburgh
Jinglin Geordie
Inveralmond 'Fair Maid' (3.6%)****

Edit. Stupid, stupid me. I've just realised(Monday afternoon)that I had walked into Colliers Bar, not Rennie's.

Foetoes (Matchday album of 36 pictures from Keanie Park)

FB Group Neil Edgar - Lanark United

100FgC AF11 Laurence Reade - Nelson

100FgC AF8 Simon Langton - Llanberis

100FgC Squad#155 James Little - SC Mittersill

100FgC squad #30 Matt Ross - Lausanne Sport

FB Group Jim McAlwane - derelict Kettering

Please vote by leaving a comment or on the Facebook Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/100FgC/

My holiday in the Algarve coincided with international week, so of course there was no senior fixtures. However there was the option of the Algarve League with games kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. The team closest to our hotel was Imortal Deportivo in Albufeira, but as luck would have it they were playing away on that weekend. That same bad luck also meant I missed out on watching Scotland take on Gibraltar in Faroe. With international matches spread over four days, that fixture had to take place on the day I flew back home.

They say bad luck comes in three's, well it does in my case as torrential rain but the dampeners on my planned trip to Guia, so a rare holiday without watching live football. Apart from that we had a fantastic time, so much so I'll have to go back, but book up well in advance to tick off these grounds I sadly missed out on.

I did however have a walk up to the Municipal Stadium in Albufeira to take some pictures for the blog ....

One of the best things about being on holiday, apart from having lots of spare time to indulge in my favourite pastimes (ie sun, sea, sex, beer and good bait) is having plenty of time to reflect. On my recent holiday in the Algarve I got thinking about this blog, which has now been on the go for over nine years, featuring over 400 different football grounds.

When I first started writing about my ground visits the website was quite unique, with just a few fellow Groundhopping bloggers, like Steve Dobson, Tim Rigby and David Poole who contacted me to swap links, as they were also covering the hobby in their own style.
Nowadays the internet is flooded with similar sites so much so that readers are spoilt for choice, with my own efforts probably not as good as other blogs around.

So in short there will be no more reports in the usual 'My Matchday' form. However I will still be logging my ground visits but in a more simple format, although I'll probably will do the odd 'My Matchday' post if I experience an eventful day which is worth sharing.

As most of you are aware I'm currently halfway through writing a book which I'm hoping to get published next year on Scottish Junior football, so all my literature skills are now fully focused on this project.

Billingham FC 1v6 Staithes Athletic

Mitre Prostar MacMilan Bowl 2nd Round

Saturday 17th October 2015

Billingham, Cleveland (population over 35,000)
Former home of the ICI chemical plant and current Northern Club football clubs “Town” and “Synthonia”
Birthplace of Boro legend Willie Maddren, thespian Jamie Bell and Maximo Park vocalist Paul Smith.
… and the first lass I had a proper snog with was Julie from Billingham (Hexham camp April ‘76)

Billingham FC - formed 2010 from Billingham Juniors FC
Teesside League 2010-11 to date

Current English Non-League Grounds visited 238
Current Teesside League visited 2/18
Northfield School & Sports Complex
Thames Road,
Billingham TS22 5EG
Roped off pitch within large sports complex.

The Gadabout
Travelled on me todd in the car, 32 miles door to door via A19.
Spon
No admission
No Programme (although they issue regular)
On line edition

Billingham FC v Staithes Athletic (1.30pm ko)
Att.15hc

1-0 (3rd minute) Matthew Murray
Direct free kick from 25 yards
1-1 (9th minute) Ryan Gibson
Left wing corner ‘keeper fumbled cross into the path of Gibson to prod home.
1-2 (18th minute) James Armstrong
Picked up ball in midfield and ran in on goal unchallenged to fire in from the edge of the box.
1-3 (50 minutes) Luke Weed
Ran onto a flicked header for a clear run on goal and good finish.
1-4 (60 minutes) Carl Gray
Latched onto a through ball, hit first time effort from the edge of the area.
1-5 (71 minutes) James Armstrong
Gray picked out Armstrong unmarked on the right, who slid the ball under the ‘keeper.
1-6 (90+1 minutes) Steve Starsmore
Right wing cross headed in from 12 yards

Top Bloke - James Armstrong(Staithes Athletic)

Boreham Wood 2v3 Gateshead

Vanarama National League

Saturday 31st October 2015

Borehamwood within the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood in southern Hertfordshire
(population over 31,000)
Home of the Elstree film studios

Birthplace of former Norwich, Blackburn and Spurs midfielder (and recently sacked Villa manager) Tim Sherwood and also Eastenders actress Shona McGarty.

Boreham Wood FC “The Wood” formed by the merger of local sides Boreham Rovers and Royal Retournez in 1948.

Played in the Mid-Herts League, Spartan League, Athenian League (1966-74) Isthmian League (1974-2004, 2006-2010) Southern League East (2004-2006) Conference South (from 2010 until winning play-offs after finishing league runners-up last season)

Won the Athenian League Division 2 in 1968/69, Isthmian League Division 1 in 1994/95, 2000/01 and the Southern League East in 2005/06.
Herts Senior Challenge Cup winners on 5 occasions.

East Stand opened by Arsene Wenger in in 2014

Main Stand

Meadow Park
Broughinge Road
Borehamwood
Hertfordshire
WD6 5AL
English Non League grounds visited 239, Current National League grounds 23/24
Capacity 4,500 (1,700 seats)
Record attendance - 4,030 v Arsenal(Friendly) 13th July 2001.
Two seated stands on each side with open terracing behind the goals, also used by Arsenal Ladies and Watford Reserves.

Spondoolicks
Admission :Press Pass (otherwise £16)
Programme £3
Pin badge £3.50
Coffee £1.50

Boreham Wood(20th) v Gateshead(11th)
Vanarama National League Matchday 19.
Att.344

0-1 Gus Mufata (2nd minute)
Right foot shot from just inside the box
0-2 Danny Johnson (11th minute)
Latched onto a through ball from Bowman, stayed onside before producing a cool finish from 12 yards.
1-2 Billy Clifford - penalty (25th minute)
After a foul by Buddle on Jeffrey.
2-2 Mauro Vilhete (76 minutes)
Cross from the left by Jeffrey knocked in at the near post.
2-3 George Honeyman (78 minutes)
Ball pulled back from the left wing by Pattison for Honeyman arriving in the box to fire in.
Top Bloke - Gus Mufata (Gateshead)

The Gadabout
260 miles door to door.
Virgin East Coast Trains
Depart Newcastle 0801 to London Kings Cross arriving at 1053(5 minutes early)
Northern tube line for refreshment stops in Camden town and Colindale
Walked to Hendon to catch the 1356 train to Elstree & Borehamwood
Finally arrived in Borehamwood at 1404.

Journey Hyem:
1723 Thameslink service to St Pancras (24 minutes)
Bevvys outside Kings Cross before the 1900 arriving back in Newcastle on time at 2151.
Home at 1020pm.
Throughout the day in the company of … Simon Lowery(Squad#185) Keith Arthur(Squad#194) John(Squad#108) and Neil Robinson, John Young(Squad#51) and the crackerjacks from the Low Fell 80’s Disco Squad.

Bevvy Almanac

Camden
Ice Wharf (Jameston Rd) Green Jack 'Rising Sun' 4.8% **** (Re-sup)
Colindale
Chandos Arms(Colindale Avenue) Cameron's 'Thirst Blood' (4.3%)***
Moon Under Water(Varley Parade) Pivovar Koscovnik(Adnams)'Black Knight' (5%)***+
Elstree & Borehamwood
Hart & Spool(Shenley Rd) Everads 'Stateside Rye' (5%)**** (Re-sup)
Kings Cross Millers Bar(Caledonian Rd) Hobgoblin Gold (4.5%0****+ (Re-sup)

Matchday Web album(26 pictures)

That win was for you Mickey. R.I.P.

Rainworth Miners Welfare 4v2 Pickering Town
North Counties East League Premier Division
Saturday 14th November 2015

Courtesy of Johnstone Press plc

Rainworth is a former mining village between the Newark & Sherwood and the Mansfield districts of Nottinghamshire, 2 miles east of Mansfield town centre (population just under 8,000)

Former home of Ruford Colliery, sunk in 1911 and coal reached in 1913. After producing for 80 years the colliery closed in 1993.

Rainworth Miners Welfare FC “The Wrens” formed in 1922 and play in an all white strip.

Played in the Notts Alliance, Central Midlands League (2003-2007) Northern Counties East League Division One from 2007 ... won promotion to Premier Division 2008-09, followed by promotion to Evo-stik Division One South in 2009-10. Returned to NCEL after relegation last season.

FA Vase Runners-up 1982 (lost to Forest Green Rovers 3-0 in the final at Wembley)
Notts Alliance champions 10 times first in 1971–72 and the last in 1996–97
Notts Alliance Senior Cup winners on 5 occasions and twice winners of the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup

Kirklington Road
Rainworth
Mansfield
NG21 0JY

English Non-League grounds visited 240
Current NCEL grounds 20/44
Capacity 2201 with 211 seats and cover for 400.
Record attendance – 5071 v Barton Rovers, 1982 F.A. Vase semi-final second leg.
Main Stand central on one side with covered hard standing opposite next to the dugouts. Open behind both goals with additional seats added on the banking next to The Wrens T-Bar.

The Gadabout
147 miles door to door
The breadknife dropped me off at Katie’s house in Houghton-le-Spring, then travelled in the Katiemobile with her and Lee down the A1 and along the A614.

Rainworth Miners Welfare(8th) v Pickering Town(10th)
Northern Counties East Premier League Matchday no. 17/18
Weather - Constant piss-istent rain, heavy at times.
Att.95

1-0 Jamie Yorke (2’)
A low right wing cross from Morris picked out Yorke at the near post for an easy finish.
1-1 Callum Ward (12’)
Ward brought down in the box and he stepped up to fire home the resulting spot-kick
2-1 Jamie Yorke (23’)
Initial shot deflected and fell kindly into the path of Yorke who produced a neat finish from the inside left position.
2-2 Lewis Taylor (57’)
Brilliant free kick from 35 yards on the right wing found the far corner of the net.
3-2 Connor Smythe (67’)
Picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, dribbled through the defence and fired in from just inside the box.
4-2 Liam Theakstone (81’)
The substitute ran to the byline, his cross rebounded back off the defender back into his path and he found the back of the net with a cheeky back heal.

Top Bloke - Connor Smythe(Rainworth MW)
Entertainment 9/10 - Considering the conditions, a cracking game with some terrific goals.

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme £1
Golden Goal £1
Pin badge £3
Mug of Coffee £1.10
Cornish Pasty £1.40

Matchday Web Album(23 pictures from a damp Kirklington Road)

Hurlford United 4v1 Falkirk Juniors

ETHXenergy Scottish Junior Cup Round 3

Saturday 21st November 2015

Hurlford - one village two trophies

Hurlford is a village in East Ayrshire, two miles east of Kilmarnock.(Population including Crookedholm of just under 5,000)
Its Gaelic title Àth Cliath meaning “The Ford of the Hurdles" is also the same Gaelic name as the Irish capital Dublin.
Former home of the Eglinton Iron Co. which opened in 1846 and ceased production in the 1970s.

Hurlford United
“The Ford” were established in 1912 and wear red & white striped shirts.
Ayrshire League champions three times in 1972–73, 2007–08, 2009–10
West Region First Division winners in 2012–13
Scottish Junior Cup winners in 2014, beating Glenafton Athletic 3-0 in the final at Rugby Park.
Cup honours include winning the Ayrshire Cup in 1968–69, 1972–73, 1973–74 and the Ayrshire League Cup in 1940–41, 1944–45, 1971–72, 1975–76, 2014-15. The Ford have also lifted the Ayrshire District Cup 3 times, the Kilmarnock & Loudoun Cup on five occasions and the East Ayrshire Cup once.

Blair Park
Blair Road
Hurlford
KA1 5BN
Scottish Grounds Visited 68, Junior grounds 22, Lifetime Scottish Junior Cup Winners 16/27
Capacity 1,500
The ground has three steps of terracing on both sides with a small standing cover next to the home dugouts for about 50 spectators. Clubhouse, snack bar and changing rooms behind the entrance goal.

Spondoolicks
Admission £6
Programme £1.50
Pin badge £2.50
Coffee £1
Killie Pie £1.80
Tea £1

The Gadabout
Milage door-to-door 159m
I drove Lee & Katie and her daughter Jade from Gallowgate View to Hurlford. Left at 9.35, stopped at Gretna Services to check if the match was on and eventually arrived in the village around 12.50pm. The return journey along A71, down M74/M6 and across A69 saw us back home by 7pm.

Hurlford United v Falkirk Juniors
Scottish Junior Cup 3rd Round
1.45 k.o.
(6th in West Super League Premier v 7th East Premier League)
Weather:Clear sky, quiet cold.
Att.199hc

1-0 Stewart Kean (34’)
Picked up the ball on the edge of the box played a quick one-two, before firing home from 12 yards.
2-0 Stewart Kean (44’)
A low right wing cross from Robertson found Kean at the near post, his initial flicked effort rebounded back off his leg and trickled over the line.
3-0 Ross Robertson (48’)
A ball played in from the left by Ryan Borris found Robertson who stabbed the ball in from close range.
3-1 James McAteer (81’)
Substitute Alan Sneddon was tripped in the box and McAteer calmly fired in the resulting spot-kick.
4-1 Ryan Donnelly (90’)
Substitute Donnelly picked up the ball on the edge of the box, he beat a defender to make himself space to produce a hard low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

Top Bloke - Stewart Kean(Hurlford United)
Entertainment 8/10 Plenty of chances throughout and a special mention to Falkirk 'keeper Steven McGlynn who pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the score to a minimum.

Matchday Web album (30 pictures from Blair Park)

Footnote
My visit to Hurlford United will be Chapter 16 in the book I'm currently writing (which will hopefully be published) on the winners of the Scottish Junior Cup over the last 50 years.

Rossvale Juniors 3v1 Dunipace Juniors
West Central District First Division
Saturday 28th November 2015

Rossvale Juniors F.C. originally formed in 1976 as Woodhill Boys Club and are based at Huntershill in Bishopbriggs. The club joined the Junior set up in 2011, joining the Central District Second Division, becoming league champions in 2014-15. The team wear a red & yellow Partick Thistle style kit.

Petershill Park

28-30 Adamswell Street

Springburn

Glasgow

G21 4DD

Scottish grounds visited 69, Junior grounds 23.

The club currently ground share at the home of Petershill FC which was opened in 2007.

The main stand has a mix of red flip seats and benches, with standing room at the back. On the opposite side there’s a few terraced steps behind the team dugouts. The pitch has a 3G surface with 6 sets of floodlights.

Capacity 2,000 (562 seats)

The ground is also used by Glasgow City Ladies and Rangers Ladies.

The Gadabout
Travelled up in the jamjar with the breadknife to Glasgow on Friday evening for a weekend on the lash. Meant to go to either Blantyre Vics or Arthurlie for the next chapter of my book, however torrential rain meant a backup of the all-weather pitch at Petershill Park.
156 miles door to door.

Train from Glasgow Queen Street to Barnhill
dept.1306 - arr.1316 - 5 minute walk to the ground
Returned to Queen Street on the 1550 - 1601.

Bevvy Almanac
Over the weekend we supped in ... The Crystal Palace, The Horse Shoe Bar, MacSloreys, Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Drum & Monkey, Laurieston, Blackfriars, Babbity Bowster and The Two Hieded Man.
Best Bevvy - Laurieston (Bridge Street) Fyne ‘Hurricane Jack’ (4.4%)****+

Rossvale Juniors(1st) v Dunipace Juniors(13th)
West Central District First Division matchday 8/9
Weather:Rain including heavy downpours in the first 30 minutes.
Att.62hc

1-0 Irving (17’)
Ball slipped into the inside right position, he let the ball bounce before hitting a volley into the far corner.
1-1 Mark Flyn (31’)
Ran onto a through ball and hit a first time effort from just inside the box.
2-1 Hepburn (45+1’)
Shot by Irving on the edge of the box was deflected past the ‘keeper from close range.
3-1 Irving (65’)
Deep cross from the left flank found Irving lurking at the far post to fire in.
Penalty (90+1’)
After the #17 was tripped in the box Irving had the chance to complete his hat-trick but his spot-kick came back off the post.

Top Bloke - Corey Irvine (Rossvale)
Entertainment 7/10

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Cappuccino £1.20(from machine)

Matchday Web Album (22 pictures from Petershill Park)

My Matchday - 474 Borough Briggs

Rutland Groundhop 2015 - Part One

Rutland Groundhop 2015 - Part 2

My Matchday - 444 Somervell Park

My Matchday - 482 New Western Park

My Matchday - NCEL Hop 2015 (Good Friday)

Pic of the Week Cup - Round 4

Revisiting Millfield

Around The Alliance - part fifteen

My Matchday - 486 Rakesmoor Lane

My Matchday - 487 Plumpton Park

My Matchday - 488 Keanie Park

Pic of the Week Cup - Round 5

My Non-Match Holiday

Blogger Blogging Off Blog

✔489 - Northfield School & Sports College

✔490 - Meadow Park

✔491 - Kirklington Road

✔492 - Blair Park

✓493 - Petershill Park