Steve B the Groundhopper

2pm  29 December 2018 Suffolk and Ipswich league, Senior Division Achilles 0 Claydon 1 (att 100) The top tier of the Suffolk and Ipswich League was the only one of the 45 step seven leagues in which I'd not been to any of this season's grounds, so I put that right at reigning champions Achilles. They're based at the Pauls Sports and Social Club in Ipswich, a logical place to go before heading home to Manchester after a couple of nights away on the Suffolk coast. It's a decent venue for this level of the game. The single pitch runs lengthways from the modern social club, and on the left hand touchline there are large dugouts, painted in club colours, and a section of railing with advertising boards. The rest of the pitch is roped off. A free programme was a nice surprise, especially as producing one during the Christmas holidays must be an extra challenge. The match didn't go as I'd expected, as Achilles' hopes of retaining their title took a kno...

2pm  22 December 2018 Hampshire Premier League, Senior Division Colden Common 1 Overton United 1 (att 30) Family commitments around Christmas time often present additional challenges to finding games to watch on new grounds, especially if the weather is unkind. I needed a game that was reasonably close to west London and without going too far out of our way on the journey down from Manchester. It also needed to tick the box of providing somewhere for my partner to spend her afternoon while I was at football. Colden Common was the ideal solution, being a manageable detour and just a few miles south of Winchester, which had plenty to occupy my other half while I ticked off a football pitch. The Hampshire Premier League is one of my favourite competitions at this level and, while Colden Common Park is among its more basic venues, they are a club that puts the effort in to make it a decent matchday experience. Programmes are a rarity in the league, but Colden Common's effo...

2pm  15 December 2018 Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League, Rhodes Cup First Round Chorltonians 1 AFC Stockport 1, 7-6 on penalties (att 2) I needed to stay close to home today and in view of the weather I had expected to spend my afternoon standing inside a caged 3G pitch. But the grass pitches at the Hough End Centre were playable, so I braved the horrid conditions to watch an intriguing league cup tie between teams separated by four divisions. AFC Stockport are going well in the Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League's sixth tier, but it was still a major surprise that they took division one Chorltonians to penalties. The feat was even more remarkable as they had a bare 11 players and no substitutes. The weather was a leveller though. Heavy rain blown in by an icy cold wind made watching the action while keeping hold of an umbrella a challenge, and players on both sides did well to provide a decent spectacle in the conditions. Chorltonians played into the wind in ...

2pm  8 December 2018 Humber Premier League, Premier Division Beverley Town 4 Pocklington Town 3 (att 38) I had little opportunity to check matches on Friday night or Saturday morning so I made a late decision to head east. Not only did it seem the best direction in view of the weather, but Hull has plenty of 3G pitches as backups should games on grass fall to the conditions. I didn't need a backup though as the grass pitch at Beverley's Norwood Recreation Ground was in perfect condition, showing the value of drainage work carried out while the club temporarily played elsewhere last season. There are some very basic venues in the Humber's league's top division, which has step seven status from the FA, but Beverley's ground is one of the better ones. The pitch is part of a large sports club, but is enclosed by houses and a squash club building. A combination of railings and rope provides a barriers to keep spectators at bay along both touchlines, and on the...

1.45pm  1 December 2018 Sheffield County Senior League Cup, Third Round Caribbean Sports 3 South Kirkby Colliery 0 (att 4) In some ways this felt a little like a groundhopping throwback to a different time. A cup upset on a very muddy surface at a ground that surprisingly had cover, dugouts and an enclosed pitch. The cover looks ready to collapse, and anyone standing under it would have to take care not to trip over the groundsman's mower. I didn't risk leaning on the the railings too hard, and I assume the rope is left permanently in place as on today's evidence there's little need to keep crowds off the pitch. The Caribbean Sports Ground is a good one to visit though. Players change in a pavilion near the entrance then walk across a cricket pitch before heading down a steep bank to reach the football ground. I arrived just a few minutes before the scheduled kick off, but apparently the home players assumed it was a 2pm start and so weren't ready on time...

11am  1 December 2018 Under 18 Professional Development League Sheffield Wednesday U18 3 Hull City U18 1 (att 45) I visited Wednesday's Middlewood Road training ground in 2002 but recent photos of youth team games suggested their under 18s now play on a different pitch to the one used back then, giving me an excuse to return. The place has had a makeover in the last 16 years, with a new entrance and new facilities. The two grass pitches haven't shifted, but the one used by Sheffield Wednesday's under 19 team years ago has been turned 90 degrees and was staging an under 16s game today. The pitch now used by the under 18s is closest to the club buildings, and the first you encounter on foot from the entrance, although how to reach it isn't immediately obvious when you go in. Once they've found the pitch, spectators can watch from behind the goals, albeit through a fence, or along the far side, where only the area between the dugouts is off limits. I've ...