Steve B the Groundhopper

2.40p m 25 June 2023 England Deaf Football, League Championship Final at St George's Park Farsley Celtic Deaf 0 St John's Deaf 3 (att 400) I watched last year's deaf football championship final on TV, and made a mental note to try to get a ticket this year. Partly because it was a decent game, and also a chance to tick off the indoor pitch at St George's Park. The rules of deaf football are no different to to 'normal' 11-a-side football. Players have to remove hearing aids or implants, and the referee uses hand signals rather than a whistle, but otherwise it's just the same. This year's final featured the same two sides as in 2022, and was part of the FA's 'Disability Cup' weekend which also featured finals of blind, partially sighted, amputee, cerebral palsey and wheelchair competitions. Farsley Celtic and London-based St John's had come through regionalised leagues and semi-finals to make it to the showdown at the FA's National Foot...

1.15p m 17 June 2023 Uist and Barra League Eriskay 0 Barra 2 (att 60) I don't have a groundhopping bucket list but if I did it'd include Eriskay, probably along with Boca Juniors and any ground in Greenland. The Scottish island is the easiest of those to get to, but two previous visits to see a game have been thwarted. In 2019 a cup tie was moved to another venue, then last summer a league fixture was postponed just a few hours before kick off. Thankfully it was third time lucky, as Barra safely made the ferry crossing in time for a lunchtime start. Both sides have made good starts to the season, which in the Western Isles runs through the summer months. The standard of football seemed better than the previous evening's game at Benbecula, no mean feat given the Eriskay's pitch. The Cnoc Na Monadh ground, and Eriskay FC, gained fame a few years ago when FIFA included it among eight 'unique places' to play football. Apparently it's featured in the FIFA museum....

6.30p m 16 June 2023 Uist and Barra League Benbecula 5 Southend 2 (att 80) I rarely blog about revisits to grounds, but trying to complete the leagues in the Western Isles is often a case of two steps forward, one step back. The Friday night game of this long weekend was to have been North Uist United v Iochdar Saints, but during the week it was announced that fixture had been reversed and brought forward a day. That left Benbecula versus Southend, from South Uist, as the evening's only fixture. As it was being played on the Dark Island pitch, just behind the Dark Island Hotel where we were staying, it was an easy decision to watch it, despite having seen a game there in pre-blog 2009. Benbecula, along with Iochdar Saints, play home games in the village of Liniclate, either on this pitch or a few yards away at the local school. It's a scenic spot, between the hotel and the beach, and a wind turbine provides a photogenic backdrop. That the Uist and Barra League continues, albeit...

7.45p m 9 June 2023 League of Ireland, Division One Kerry 0 Athlone Town 1 (att 750) New grounds to visit in the League of Ireland don't happen that often, and when they have in recent years it's usually involved a trip to Dublin, Limerick or Galway. So the addition of team from Kerry was a welcome one. Never having visited that part of Ireland before it was an ideal opportunity to make a weekend end of it. Kerry FC play most home games on Friday nights, and flights from Manchester heading out on a Friday morning and back on a Monday were perfect. Kerry are a newly-formed team, in a county where Gaelic sports seem to dominate. Their introduction to the League of Ireland has been a tough one, which just a single win from 19 matches after this defeat. They'd have entertained Athlone with high hopes, having secured their sole victory in the reverse fixture a few weeks ago. Athlone were in no mood to lose to the newcomers again though, and a neatly-taken first half goal was eno...

2p m 3 June 2023 Perthshire AFA, Birks Cup Final Breadalbane 6 Ballinluig 0 (att 90) The demise of junior football and shrinking of amateur leagues means the days of early June providing a choice of matches in Scotland seem to be over. A trip to Aberfeldy, north of Perth, was my only option for a new ground. It was within easy reach of my morning game in Glasgow though, and worth the trek north as Breadalbane's Home Street ground has the feel of a proper football venue. That might be why it hosted this cup final, even though it meant home advantage for one of the competing teams. As far as I can tell the Birks Cup is for north Perthshire clubs. The Perthshire AFA website shows just a pair of semi-finals ahead of this tie, one of which was a walkover for Breadalbane. In the final the home side, who play in division one of the Perthshire Amateur League, were comfortable winners against division two Ballinluig. It was 2-0 by half time, and a third goal soon after the break ended Balli...

10am  3 June 2023 Strathclyde Evangelical Churches League, Premier Division Craighalbert 3 Tollcross 5 (att 44) My first game in this league, and what better way to start than with a title decider. It was only going to determine the title if Tollcross won, but they did so despite a late scare. It was the visitors' final game of the season, and they knew that three points would give them an unassailable lead at the top of the division. It took them a while to hit their stride, but after a gift of an opening goal they quickly took control. Craighalbert, one place off the bottom and with nothing to play for, put up a decent effort, but by half time Tollcross had a 4-0 lead. They added a fifth goal after a hour, and the game seemed over as a contest. The league trophy even appeared on the sidelines as Tollcross, with the support of almost all the crowd, prepared to celebrate. Perhaps the sight of silverware put them off, or more likely they eased off with the game seemingly won, but Cr...

7p m 31 May 2023 Catforth and District Summer League, Division One JD Blackpool South 6 Broughton Amateurs 1 (att 19) There was a time when the Catforth Summer League was the preserve of rural teams playing on village sports grounds or even farmers’ fields. These days it’s more likely to feature regular winter clubs keeping fit during the close season. I think JD Blackpool South play Sunday football, while Broughton Amateurs play on Saturdays in the Mid Lancashire League. I saw JD play a home summer league game last year, on a school pitch in Lytham St Annes , which is at least south of Blackpool. This year they've relocated, for Catforth fixtures at least, to Poolfoot Farm in Thornton Cleveleys. Given the location they could have renamed themselves JD Blackpool North. Poolfoot Farm is Fleetwood Town's training ground and academy venue. It's an excellent facility, and a great example of how a professional club can combine a training ground with a community asset. This game ...