Diary of a newfound groundhopper

Peacehaven and Telscombe 2 Newhaven 3, Southern Combination Football League Premier Division, Thursday 26 th December 2019 I love Christmas Day. The food. The drink. The presents. The ever-so-slightly disappointing TV schedule… Everything about it. But… let’s face it… it can be somewhat waring. Especially for those of us with young children. After a day stuck inside with two already-excited youngsters, only hyped up further by chocolate, chocolate and a bit more chocolate, by early evening you can find yourself going a bit stir crazy. Thank goodness, then, for Boxing Day football. A chance to escape the madness for a couple of hours. Having spent the day with family last year, there was no chance of me getting to a game. With a free schedule this year, though, wifey had somewhat surprisingly agreed that I could go to a game. There was, however, a small caveat. A small but rather annoying one. The kids would have to come with me. ‘They need the fresh air,” she reaso...

Whyteleafe 1 Sevenoaks Town 1, Isthmian League South East Division, Saturday 14 th December 2019 Not for the first time this season, I woke up on Saturday morning still unclear about where I would be heading later that afternoon. With the wet weather still playing absolute havoc with non-league fixture lists up and down the country, picking games ahead of time has proved to be a complete and utter waste of time in recent weeks. So why bother! Thankfully, with my Saturday morning coaching commitments having now ceased until the New Year, making a late decision on where to attend a match is slightly easier for the next few weeks. It also means that I can get further afield than I can on a typical ‘working’ Saturday if needed. Slightly easier, maybe. Easy, no. By 12 o’clock the first three matches that I’d provisionally selected using the recently rather confusingly renamed Groundhopper App (it’s now called Futbology for reasons that remain unclear to me) had all been ...

Chipstead 2 FC Romania 1, Isthmian League South Central Division, Saturday 7 th December 2019 I’m starting to feel like I’m not destined to visit SCFL Division 1 side Roffey this season. Having planned visits to their ground a few times over the past couple of months, only for said plans to be ruined by the weather, I woke up on Saturday morning fairly convinced this would be the weekend where I'd finally get to see the SCFL’s newest senior side in action. In truth, Roffey’s scheduled match against Littlehampton Town hadn’t been my first choice of fixture. Ideally, I would have gone to Sutton to watch the last remaining Sussex side left in the FA Vase, Lancing, take on Sutton Common Rovers in a replay. Alas, with my Saturday morning work commitments making reaching Sutton in time for kick-off highly debatable, I begrudgingly had to shelve this particular idea. Even the last-ditch efforts of the Lancing goalkeeper, Matt Evans, to convince my boss to give me the m...

Mile Oak 1 Worthing United 3, Southern Combination Football League Division One, Saturday 30 th November 2019 It’s stopped raining! Finally. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s still been plenty of rain about during the week. There’s still been a few games postponed in and around the southern counties this weekend as pitches have failed to recover from the deluge that they’ve been subject to for the past few weeks. But… Friday was dry. And so was Saturday. At last! So, after choosing to miss a game last weekend, there was no question that I'd be at a game this weekend. Having had to cancel recent planned visits to Mile Oak and Roffey, both of whom play in Division One of the SCFL, due to weather-related postponements, I’d decided earlier in the week that I’d definitely be visiting one of these two teams come Saturday. With both grounds within easy travelling distance from my house, even when accounting for my Saturday morning coaching commitments, I merely d...