Diary of a newfound groundhopper

Hartley Wintney 1 Merthyr Town 1, Southern Premier League, 29 th September 2018 Okay, so I’m well aware that last week’s blog post may not have painted me in the greatest of lights. That I came across as something of a hopeless unromantic oaf. I know this due to the admonishing looks and angry shakes of the head that I’ve received from some of my wives’ friends in the school playground during pick-up time this week. Yet fear not. This weekend I made amends for the errors of last week. For on Friday night I took my wife for a romantic night away to watch a show. Kid free! Not that this meant there was to be no groundhopping this weekend. Oh no! On the other half’s suggestion – yes, really – we decided that on the way home on Saturday afternoon we would stop off and visit a ground that I wouldn’t usually be able to get to due to travel logistics. Now I like to think that this offer was one born out of her undying love for me, yet I strongly suspect it was more likely a

Bexhill United 3 Southwick 0, SCFL Division 1, 26 th September 2018 “I can’t make squash this week, mate. I’m injured.” And with these words, spoken by my regular (well, since the start of August) Wednesday night squash partner, the seeds for an extra – bonus – groundhopping adventure were sown. “Ohh,” I replied. “I think Bexhill are playing Southwick on Wednesday night. Fancy that instead?” A moment’s pause. He may have been contemplating my offer. He may have been weighing up quite why I knew that Bexhill were due to be playing Southwick on a random Wednesday evening. Who knows? Anyway, after a little consideration he decided that he did indeed fancy a trip to the football. So, this Wednesday evening, at a time when we should have been charging (well, probably not charging, more... ambling) around a squash court trying to burn off some unwanted calories, we were instead sharing a couple of pints in Southwick’s clubhouse. Oh well. Best laid intentions and all that.

Bognor Regis Town 1 AFC Sudbury 1, FA Cup 2 nd Qualifying Round, 22 nd September 2018 With the greatest of respects to Bognor Regis, the town probably isn’t considered one of the world’s great romantic locales. Paris? Yes. Rome? Yes? Bognor Regis? Erm… not so much. Yet, today, on the day of my twelfth wedding anniversary, it is in the famous old British seaside resort where I  have ultimately decided to spend my afternoon. Or, to be more specific, it is at Bognor Regis Town FC’s Nyewood Lane where I have decided to spend my afternoon. For it is the fourth FA Cup weekend of the season (yes, already) and having attended a match in the previous three rounds I was desperate to keep the run going. Thankfully, I have an understanding wife. Now I’m not totally unromantic. My heart is not made of stone. I have brought my other-half to Bognor with me. Okay, so she has decided to go shopping rather than to attend the football, but we still travelled to Bognor together. That

Steyning Town 1 Punjab United 1 AET (Steyning win 9-8 on penalties), FA Vase 2 nd Qualifying Round, 15 th September 2018 One of the main reasons that I decided to embark on my groundhopping adventure this season was to sizably increase the number of non-league grounds that I’ve visited. So here’s a confession. For the second time already this season, I have chosen to visit a ground that I’ve previously been to (last month’s visit to Saltdean United’s Hill Park being the other). Yet while Saturday’s visit to Steyning Town’s Shooting Field Stadium was my second visit to the ground, it was my first time as a spectator. My previous visit occurred around a year ago when I played in a Vets game for Withdean against the Steyning over 35s. That match finished in a 1-1 draw and I happened to score our goal (this last fact has no relevance whatsoever to the rest of this post, but was a fact still worth mentioning, in my opinion). Having missed out on attending an FA Vase match a

Horsham YMCA 1 Tooting and Mitcham United 2, FA Cup First Qualifying Round, 8 th September 2018 Having missed out on attending an FA Vase match last week , there was simply no way that I was going to miss out on the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup this week. Not that this would be the first FA Cup match that I’ve attended in the fledgling 2018/19 season. In fact, it would be the third. The first two matches formed part of the Extra Preliminary and Preliminary Rounds. Now quite what this actually means I’m not altogether sure. Why they couldn’t have just been Qualifying Rounds 1 and 2, and then today be Qualifying Round 3, I have simply no idea. I suppose a quick Google search would soon offer a reasonable explanation to this query but, as noted in a previous post on this blog, research isn’t my strong point. I didn’t like doing it when I was studying for my GCSEs or A-Levels, so I see no reason why I should start doing it as I draw ever closer to the big 4 0! Anyway

Tonbridge Angels 2 Wingate and Finchley 1, Bostik League Premier Division, 1 st September 2018 Initially, I had expected my first groundhopping game of September to take me to an FA Vase match. A few weeks ago, I had started to scan the draw, searching for a tasty tie or two to possibly attend, only to be swiftly informed by the missus that if I was to have use of the car that afternoon then I would need to ferry her to and from Tunbridge Wells. It turns she had been invited for afternoon tea to celebrate a baby shower for one of her friends. Two things here. Firstly, when did baby showers become a ‘thing’ here in England? Surely this is just another example of the type of Americanisation that is blighting the shores of blighty. Secondly, when did it become acceptable for a group of thirty-something females to take afternoon tea? Pretty sure the last time I checked (I’ve never actually checked, in fairness) afternoon tea was the preserve of middle-aged, middle-class women w