Diary of a newfound groundhopper

Guildford City 3 Tooting Bec 2, FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round, Saturday 10 th August 2019 One thing I realised during my inaugural season of groundhopping last year, was that the magic of the FA Cup is still very much alive and kicking for non-league clubs. Some of my favourite matches in the early stages of the last campaign came in the tournament’s qualifying rounds. Not only do semi-pro players clearly relish the opportunity to participate in a competition which, over the years, has featured many of the world’s best players, but the chance for the clubs to earn some much-needed extra pennies means that all teams take these rounds extremely seriously. There are no managers fielding reserve squads or youth-team players getting minutes under their belts at this level. The FA Cup is serious stuff. While the prize money on offer in the early stages may be a drop in the ocean for many professional teams (although I’m sure neither Bury or Bolton would turn their noses up a...

Redhill 1 Colliers Wood United 3, Combined Counties Premier Division, Tuesday 6 th August 2019 And so, here we are again. The start of a brand-new football season. My second as a non-league groundhopper. Just as the players have spent the past few weeks getting match-fit (or at least something approaching semi-fit) ahead of the coming nine months of gruelling action, I too have been honing my watching skills ready for the admittedly less-arduous months of spectating that lie ahead. And, after seven pre-season matches (including one at West Ham on Saturday, meaning I was unable to attend a non-league match on the new season curtain raiser – damn that Hammers supporting youngest of mine! – I feel like I’m ready for the real thing to begin. With my eldest son’s Tuesday night football training not due to start until early September, midweek games are on the agenda for the next month or so. With plenty of matches to choose from on this warm Tuesday evening, I eventually ...

I’ve been asked numerous times (well, three) over the past couple of weeks who I think will win the Southern Combination Football League Premier Division this season. So, on the eve of the 2019/20 campaign, I thought I’d write a little blog post giving my league predictions for the coming campaign. Now, before I do this, I need to point out two things. Firstly, I have absolutely no bias towards any team. These predictions are based solely on what I saw with my own two eyes last season and from what I’ve managed to garner with regards to new signings/departures through the wonders of Twitter and Instagram over the summer. Bearing in mind some clubs are far more active on these streams than others, the picture I have may not be a wholly accurate one. Secondly, I’m hopeless at making predictions. Honestly, I’m terrible. Before the last World Cup, me, my wife and our two kids all put a pound on who we thought would win the tournament (hey big spender…). Between them, they plumped ...

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Horsham YMCA 2 Langney Wanderers 1, SCFL Premier Division, Saturday 27 th April 2019 And so, after 48 games watched and 173 goals seen, my inaugural season as a groundhopper ends as it started. With a single goal victory for Horsham YMCA. On a baking hot afternoon back in August, I witnessed YMCAbeat a plucky Uckfield side 4-3 in a real opening day thriller. It’s hard to believe that nearly nine months have passed since that goal-filled afternoon and, even as I type this, I’m already wondering how I’ll be filling my Saturday afternoons for the next few months. No doubt my wife will have it all planned out. Can’t wait! In a way, having visited 46 different grounds in a row, it’s a shame that my last two visits of the season were to grounds I had already visited during the past nine months. However, while my reasons for revisiting Eastbourne United’s The Oval on Easter Monday were explained in my previous blog post, my real reasons for returning to Horsham YMCA’s G...

Eastbourne United 1 Eastbourne Town 3, SCFL Premier Division, Monday 22nd April 2019 Confession time. While my visit to Pagham’s Nyetimber Lane ground on Saturday did indeed mean that I've now visited every ground in the SCFL Premier division this season, there was a slight caveat to this achievement (if that’s what it can be called). You see, two (well, not that's not right, one... let's call it one and a half) of those visits were not to watch teams in the league. Let me explain. Back in October I visited Priory Lane to watch the tenants, National South side Eastbourne Borough, take on Dulwich Hamlet in an FA Cup qualifier. Ground ticked off. However, Priory Lane is also home to Langney Wanderers, so while I have indeed visited their ground, I haven't actually seen them play at home. Likewise, I visited Eastbourne United's The Oval in November. But not to watch United. Instead it was their lodgers (and league rivals) Little Commo...