Diary of a newfound groundhopper

Langney Wanderers 1 Pagham 0, Southern Combination Football League Premier Division, Saturday 8 th February 2020 We had just turned onto the A23, bound for Roffey vs Seaford Town, when I thought it would be prudent to check something. Although we hadn’t had much rain this week, there was a nagging feeling at the back of my mind. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. My groundhopper sense was tingling. And tingling loudly. You see, I’ve tried to visit Roffey on numerous occasions this season. It’s one of only two grounds in the SCFL Division One that I’m yet to tick off. Each time, though, something has intervened. Usually the weather. In order to make it to the ground in time for the 14:00 kick-off, I’d decided to travel straight there from my Saturday morning coaching commitments. My wife would then take our two sons – both of whom attend the 5Ways Football school where I work – swimming in the nearby Horsham Leisure Centre. It was a sunny, mild, still a...

Merstham 1 Margate 0, Isthmian League Premier Division, Saturday 1 st February 2020 Having been joined by a mini entourage (quite literally) on my visit to Lewes vs East Thurrock United last time out, I was back to ploughing a lone furrow this weekend. Perfect. 90 minutes of relative peace. Or so I thought. We’ll come to that in a bit. With the weather once again threatening non-league fixtures throughout the South-East, I left myself with a couple of match options this weekend. Horley’s visit to Alfold in the SCFL Premier or Merstham v Margate in the Isthmian League Premier Division. When Alfold’s match was switched to Horley ( a ground I’ve already visited this season ) on Friday evening, my decision was made. Barring a late postponement, I’d be heading up the A23/M23 to Merstham in the borough of Reigate. I arrived at Merstham’s Whisky Bible Stadium (possibly my favourite name for any ground I’ve visited thus far – can’t think why?) at 14:30. Having parke...

Lewes 0 East Thurrock United 3, Isthmian League Premier Division, Saturday 25th January 2020 Back when I first decided to start this groundhopping lark roughly 18 months ago, I first needed something that would convince wifey to go along with the idea. Something that would make her think that me heading out for a few hours every Saturday afternoon would somehow be beneficial to her. In short, and to quote the greatest of all philosophical deep-thinkers, Baldrick, I needed a cunning plan. So I came up with one. And, if I may so myself, it was a blooming good one. I told her I'd take our two boys to the games with me. That way, she'd get a totally free afternoon for herself. Time to do whatever she wanted in. She was sold. The first part of my cunning plan had worked. A few weeks later, I was delighted to discover that part two of ‘operation cunning plan’ had also proved successful. As anticipated, by late September, with the weather starting to turn co...

Midhurst and Easebourne 0 Seaford Town 3, Southern Combination Football League Division One, Saturday 12 th January 2020 I took a week off non-league groundhopping last weekend to go to what some will unfairly – and rather disparagingly in my opinion – refer to as a ‘proper match’. For a while now my two boys had been badgering me to go and watch Brighton and Hove Albion – particularly the eldest one, who supports them. A few seasons ago, I used to go to the Amex fairly regularly – around ten times a season. Then they got promoted to the Premier League, prices shot up and the football became increasingly, shall we say, dull. Not being a Brighton fan myself, I wasn’t overly bothered by the outcome of the games, didn’t get much enjoyment from them and ultimately couldn’t justify the expense of going so regularly. So I stopped, started attending non-league matches, and haven’t looked back since. Until last weekend, that is. With prices for both adults and children havi...