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November                   No sun – no moon!                       No morn – no noon –                           No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of […]

Ladies & Gentlemen (Early Days in November 2012)   Thursday 1st November 2012 EUFA Women’s Europa League k.o.:- 2.00pm Arsenal Ladies                   2                            FFC Turbine Potsdam                1 […]

Old Grounds and New at the end of October 2012 On Monday 22nd October, I took in an FA Cup Replay with Chris at Ilkeston Town. Monday 22nd October 2012 FA Cup with Budweiser k.o.:- 7.45pm 4th Qualifying Round Ilkeston Town                       0     […]

Holiday Jinx Decided to take in a week’s holiday in a cottage just outside Colne, Lancashire, at a place a little indelicately named Foulridge. We had rented a cottage called “Toad Hall”, although the only connection with toads was a small stone effigy outside the front door. I had hoped that I might get five […]

Autumn Avalanche After the North Berks hop, you might have thought that the mad football hopping world might wind down from the crazy merry-go-round, into calmer waters. Not a bit of it; it seemed that games far and near continued to fly past with machine gun rapidity. Even so, I fell one short of fifty […]

Hopping Mad in North Berks It rained on Friday evening and it poured down on Sunday, but Saturday 22nd September was bright and warm and sunny! Well over a hundred “Berking” mad hoppers had descended on West Oxfordshire for the second North Berks League “Hop”. Several of us had started on the Friday evening with […]

Between The Hops   It is tiring stuff watching eleven matches in four days! Enjoyable but tiring! The appetite is whetted, however, rather than sated and after a late night back on Bank Holiday Monday, I was off yet again on my travels on Tuesday evening to ……. Roker Park! No, not that Roker Park, […]

The Great Welsh Hop of 2012 OR RAIN, HEAVY RAIN, FINE, HEAVY RAIN Friday 24th – Monday 27th August 2012 Chris had forecast rain, indeed, his quote was “heavy rain – rain – heavy rain – rain” for the four days of the hop. He wasn’t far out, but at least we got a fine […]

Ahhhh! Slowly, slowly, the drug begins to take effect! Meaningless little friendly matches at first, but very early on a new ground to add to the list speedily followed by four more. It is only the silly season really,  still warm, sunny and light in the evenings. Wait till it’s Winter and the gales howl […]

After the Baris Northern Counties East(er) Groundhop, there was barely time to draw breath before it was Bank Holiday Easter Monday and the enticing prospect of three games in a day! Three games in a day used to be pretty easy as teams scattered kick off times like confetti at a white wedding, but of […]