Steve B the Groundhopper

5.15pm  28 July 2019 United Counties League, Division One Whittlesey Athletic 1 Huntingdon Town 2 (att 340) A crowd of 340 is a decent achievement to mark Whittlesey's first game back at step six after promotion from the Peterborough and District League, but it's mainly explained by the fixture being part of the weekend's organised 'groundhop'. That said, there seemed to be plenty of locals as well as the groundhoppers, most of whom were watching their third game of the day and their eighth of a busy weekend. It was a shame the weather wasn't better, I arrived about an hour ahead of kick off and retreated to my car to shelter from the wind and rain. Luckily the conditions improved by the time the game began, but good football was still a challenge with a strong breeze to contend with, especially at a venue that, as a work in progress, feels exposed to the elements. All three goals came in the final quarter of the match. Huntingdon went ahead but only ...

2.30pm  27 July 2019 East of Scotland League, Division One Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 4 Glenrothes 3 (att 82) Last season was Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts' debut in senior football, and the influx of former junior clubs to the East of Scotland League meant it was a tough baptism. They look to have a strong side now though, and began the new campaign by beating one of the latest clubs to switch from the junior ranks. I'd expected Glenrothes, in their first competitive match as a senior club, to get off to a winning start against their Fife rivals. They took an early lead, but were soon pegged back and not long after that  fell 2-1 behind. The home side were excellent, and it was no surprise when they extended their lead to 3-1. They spurned chances for a fourth, and paid for it when slack defending allowed Glenrothes to score two quick goals to make it 3-3. All that before half time. The second half couldn't match the first for goals, but the football contin...

7.30pm  26 July 2019 SJFA West Region, Sectional League Cup Group 7 Renfrew 6 St Anthony's 0 (att 180) Nice to get back to regular season competitive football after the lean summer weeks, and one of the opening matches in Scottish junior football's usual west region curtain raiser, the Sectional League Cup. The groups are organised geographically, which gives smaller clubs fixtures against their bigger local rivals but doesn't necessarily make for truly competitive contests. Renfrew will be two levels higher than St Anthony's once the league season begins, and it showed as they won this with ease. The home side, relegated from the top flight of west region junior football least season, looked impressive as they scored three in each half. St Anthony's had occasional moments, but after conceding the opening goal they were never really in it. Renfrew FC moved into New Western Park about four years ago and, while it inevitably lacks the charm of older and mor...

6pm  20 July 2019 Pre-season friendly FC Lorient Bretagne Sud 1 Stade Lavallois Mayenne 0 (att 500) at Ploërmel FC My second pre-season game on a ground that stages Brittany League football. I chose this fixture as it was the nearest I could find to our holiday base in Dinan, Ploërmel is about an hour's drive to the south. It's on the way to Lorient, whose Ligue 2 side were playing a final warm-up match before their competitive season begins next week. They had too much for Laval, who are preparing for their season a division lower. The only goal came early, after which the remaining 78 minutes or so were enjoyable despite few clear chances for either team. The game lacked the competitive edge that the week's earlier friendly at Plédran had. Ploërmel FC play at the Stade Municipal Patrick Caillaud, a fine example of the type of stadium that every town and village in France seems to have. It's close to the town centre and dominated by a large seated stand, th...

6pm  16 July 2019 Pre-season friendly En Avant Guingamp 2 SO Cholet 1 (att 1,200) at CS Plédrannais Pre-season games in England are too often tepid affairs played in front of small crowds who care little about the outcome, but in France they take a different approach that makes them more of an occasion. Fixtures are mostly played on the grounds of local amateur clubs, and for CS Plédrannais, relegated last season to the third tier of the Brittany leagues, this friendly was a big deal. They pulled out all the stops, as did second division Guingamp for whom this was a great PR exercise. The crowd was the equivalent of about one in five of the population of Plédran, and plenty were wearing shirts and scarves of their local 'big' team. It was a lively game for a friendly. Cholet play a division lower than Guingamp, and threatened to upset the Plédran party when they they took an early lead. Handball in the box resulted in a penalty and although the spot kick wa...

3pm  13 July 2019 Pre-season friendly Badshot Lea 1 Farnborough 0 (att 160) I'm not a big fan of friendly matches and wouldn't go far out of my way to see one. Badshot Lea's new ground is more than 220 miles from home, but it was only a short detour en route to the south coast for a cross-Channel ferry. The visit of local rivals Farnborough at least promised a reasonable game, as the third in a trio of pre-season games against decent opposition by which Badshot Lea have opened their new facility. The Westfield Lane ground isn't in Badshot Lea itself but in nearby Wrecclesham, although as the club have been nomadic for years just having a home to call their own, and one that's up to the requirements for the level they play at, is good news. It's a decent ground, fully enclosed with hard standing all around the pitch and a seated stand. There's also a covered standing area behind the goal, although it's set back from the pitch and is likely to be...

3pm  6 July 2019 East of Scotland FA (City) Cup Final at Heriot-Watt University FC Edinburgh City 5 East Kilbride 2 (att 200) Early July means the start of a new football season for me, but I kicked off my 2019/20 season by watching a cup final held over from 2017/18. The East of Scotland FA Cup Final (better known as the City Cup) is low on the priority list for the four competing clubs. The FA's two Scottish League clubs get a free pass into the tournament, and join the finalists of the arguably more prestigious East of Scotland Qualifying Cup. The 2017/18 semi finals were held over to the 2018/19 season, but even though they'd both been played by the middle of September it seems finalists Edinburgh City and East Kilbride couldn't squeeze in the final until now. Still, as I'm not a fan of pre-season friendlies it at least gave me a competitive fixture to watch in early July. Both teams were treating it as part of their pre-season build ups of course, but th...