Steve B the Groundhopper

6.25pm 21 April  2026 Huddersfield and District League, Division Three Dalton Athletic 3 Honley reserves 5 (att 22) This time of year, when lower league teams play early evening midweek matches to catch up on their fixtures, is known as the 'silly season' among groundhoppers. It's an opportunity to watch even more random games than normal. The fourth tier of the Huddersfield and District League wouldn't ordinarily be on my radar for a match on a Saturday afternoon, but on a Tuesday evening in April it's a different matter. I only realised I needed to visit Dalton Athletic when I was looking for potential games to go to. They had been playing home games at the DRAM Centre , but have now moved a short distance to the Netherhall Learning Campus. It's as basic as a football ground can get. A large school playing field with several pitches. The goalposts were square, rusty and askew. The grass had been cut, but the cuttings littered the pitch, and the white lines wer...

6.30pm 20 April  2026 York League, Division One Rufforth United 3 Thorpe United 3 (att 17) A motorway closure meant it was touch and go whether I'd make it to Rufforth, just outside York, in time for kick off. Luckily I did, just, and was rewarded with a memorable game. Both teams had plenty to play for. Rufforth are battling for promotion while Thorpe went into the game bottom of the division, but with games in hand on the teams above them. A draw will have suited the visitors more than the hosts, but Thorpe will probably see this as two points dropped as they led 3-0 with just 25 minutes left to play. That said, they were hanging on at the end. They took the lead, against the run of play, after 11 minutes, and withstood plenty of Rufforth pressure to hold their advantage into half time. They then had the perfect start to the second period, doubling their lead just seconds into it. A few minutes later Rufforth lost the ball cheaply while trying to play out from the back and it was...

2.30pm 18 April  2026 Lancashire Amateur League, Colin Ackers Trophy, First Round Bolton Wyresdale 3 Old Blackburnians 1 (att 15) A day when I needed to stay relatively close to home was the ideal opportunity to recomplete the Lancashire Amateur League, by visiting Bolton Wyresdale's new home ground. They moved into their new base, on Radcliffe Moor Road, at the start of the season. Their old ground at Inverbeg Drive, which I visited in 2001, is being, or maybe already has been, developed for housing. The new venue offers much better facilities for the club. There are four football pitches, plenty of parking and a well-equipped clubhouse. The clubhouse overlooks the main pitch, which is railed off, from behind the goal. The Lancashire Amateur League tends to runs its cup competition towards the end of season. The Colin Ackers Trophy seems to be for first teams in the league's top two divisions (with a couple of puzzling omissions). The second tier, division one, is already comp...

6.30pm 15 April  2026 West Yorkshire League, Division One Horsforth St Margaret's 2 Rawdon Old Boys 1 (att 27) Four years ago when I watched this fixture both sides were in the West Yorkshire League's Premier Division. These days they're both in Division One, at least for now, and Horsforth have a new ground. Of course the new ground was the reason for my visit this time. In 2022 Horsforth St Margaret's were playing on a school 3G pitch, a temporary arrangement while their new home was being built. They moved in some time ago, and facilities at King George's Fields are excellent. It caters for football and cricket, although the pitches don't overlap, and a nice clubhouse is well-positioned for both. The main football pitch is enclosed with a plastic fence and there's a pair of dugouts, although for some reason only one was in use for this game. On the pitch it had the feel of an end-of-season affair. Horsforth are mid-table with little to play for, while Ra...

2pm 11 April  2026 Southern Combination League, Division Two Upper Beeding 4 Worthing Town 0 (att 46) Upper Beeding recently announced their first team would be leaving their ground in the village to share at nearby Steyning Town, a move that would allow them to be promoted. That put a visit the Upper Beeding Recreation Ground on my 'to do' list for this season. This game was listed for 3pm, but was then brought forward an hour so the club's reserves could play at home after the first team. Usual delays on the M25 meant getting to the Sussex village in time for the earlier start time was a challenge, but I eventually made it with just a few minutes to spare. Although it's a shame when a football club moves away from its base, there's no way the ground in Upper Beeding could ever be enclosed and equipped with the facilities required for higher levels of football. The pitch is railed off on three sides, where it is also bordered by a public footpath. The fourth side, ...

10am 11 April  2026 Arthurian League, Division Three Old Haberdashers 2 Old Chigwellians II 0 (att 8) Three weeks ago I tried to watch this fixture, but arrived at the venue to find it was off. It was later shown on the league website as a home walkover, so I was surprised to see it relisted. It made sense though, as Old Haberdashers needed nothing less than six points from their final two matches to climb out of the relegation places. They got halfway there with a deserved win against Old Chigwellians' second team, and now need another victory at bottom side Old Tonbridgians II next weekend. It won't be easy though, as their opponents can also still avoid the drop. Goals towards the end of each half, after 40 and 86 minutes, settled this game. The home side were mostly on top and should have won more comfortably. As it was, the outcome remained in the balance until their late second strike. Most Old Haberdashers games this season, if the league's Full Time website is accur...

6.30pm 8 April  2026 Craven and District League, Premier Division Burley Trojans 1 Silsden Whitestar reserves 2 (att 36) Three goals in five second half minutes decided a tight game in the top division of the Craven and District League. Until Silsden's opener, scored with just less than 20 minutes to go, I was expecting the match to end goalless. Having gone behind, Burley immediately equalised with the evening's best goal. But the visitors quickly regained their lead, after a corner that was controversially awarded and certainly not taken from anywhere close to the quadrant by the corner flag. Burley Trojans, higher in the league, looked just the better side over the 90 minutes, and deserved at least a draw. They play at Burley in Wharfedale Recreation Ground, where there is an open pitch with, unsurprisingly, no spectator facilities. On a warm evening it was a nice place to watch a game.

8.15pm 7 April  2026 Shropshire County League, Premier Division Wrockwardine Wood 3 Telford Town reserves 2 (att 40) Late season midweek groundhopping usually involves tense post-work journeys through rush hour traffic as I try to reach my chosen match in time for kick-off. But occasionally I can enjoy a more leisurely evening. As well as non-floodlit grounds staging early evening fixtures, April sometimes throws up games at floodlit venues that rarely, if ever, stage midweek games during the rest of the season. The 3G pitch at Telford College is one, and is currently home to Wrockwardine Wood. A prior booking meant this game had the unusually late, but useful for me, start time of 8.15pm. It's not an interesting venue, just a standard artificial pitch surrounded by the usual high fence. There's no specific area for spectators, but there is plenty of space inside the fence for those watching to stand pitch side. A decent crowd turned out to watch what was a local derby. We were...