Steve B the Groundhopper

1pm 22 June  2025 Bradford Summer Cup, Group A at Idle Cricket Club, Bradford Clayton Albion 5 Halifax Amateurs 1 (att 38) The final game of my 2024/25 football season was a second match of the day in the Bradford Summer Cup. Idle Cricket Club, just a short drive from the day's earlier fixture at Peel Park, is an interesting venue.  As far as I can tell Idle Cricket Club no longer exists, or at least if it does it no longer plays at the ground. Although it is unmistakably still a cricket ground, it now appears to be solely used for football, and is the the home of Bradford Sunday Alliance side Prospect FC. What was once the cricket outfield has a steep gradient up towards the pavilion and changing rooms, providing an elevated area from which to watch the action. This tie pitted Sunday Alliance Clayton Albion against Halifax Amateurs, who in the season just finished played on Saturdays in the Halifax and District League. It can be hard to judge sides based on summer football, b...

11am 22 June  2025 Bradford Summer Cup, Group B at Peel Park, Bradford Southfield 6 Oxenhope Recreation development 4 (att 25) In recent years the Bradford Summer Cup has become an established part of the local footballing calendar, providing competitive games for Saturday and Sunday sides. It's also a useful source of new venues for groundhoppers. The grounds serve as neutral venues, with three locations all staging two matches each today, at 11am and 1pm. As I needed two of the three I headed to Bradford to conclude my 2024/25 season. Peel Park is a large park not far from the city centre. There are various facilities including a handful of football pitches accessed from Cliffe Road. Although it's just a pitch, it's neatly enclosed by trees on one side and a grass bank opposite. The year's Bradford Summer Cup began last weekend. Southfield won their opener, while Oxenhope's newly-formed development team drew. For most of this game it was plain sailing for Southfie...

7pm 19 June  2025 Catforth and District Summer League Fylde Coast 1 Ribchester Rovers 2 (att 19) This year's Catforth Summer League is a single division of eight teams, and with a fixture list that involves playing each other just the once this was the final league match for both sides. Ribchester had already secured the title, but went into this game needing a win to complete the short summer season with a 100% winning record. They achieved that, but it wasn't easy. A scrappy first half ended goalless, with few if any shots on target. Ribchester began the second period positively, breaking the deadlock just moments after the restart. They quickly added a well-worked second goal, but Fylde Coast recovered and continued to match the champions in terms of effort if not skill. The home side were rewarded for their performance with a late consolation goal. Fylde Coast staged their opening home Catforth League match at Fleetwood Town's Poolfoot Farm complex. But their two subseq...

2.30pm 15 June  2025 Mayo League, League Two Achill Rovers 1 Glenhest Rovers B 0 (att 55) Achill Rovers had a perfect league record going into this game, and knew that a 12th victory in their 12th fixture would be enough to win the Mayo League’s fourth tier. They got the result they needed, but made hard work of it. I’d expected them to have no problems against Glenhest’s second team, but a single goal seven minutes before half time was the slim margin of their victory. The hosts always looked more likely to score again than to concede, but despite coming close once or twice they failed to do do. Glenhest worked hard and had their moments, but an equaliser was never likely. Achill Rovers represent Achill Island, and were formed in the 1980s when two local clubs merged. Their ground, Father O'Brien Park, has a very rural setting, with sheep grazing round the perimeter. The playing area is enclosed by a combination of wall and mesh fence, there are dugouts, advertising boards and por...

11am 15 June  2025 Mayo League, League One Partry Athletic 3 Snugboro United 3 (att 13) The Mayo League fixture list provided a choice of Sunday morning games. I headed to Partry after first calling in at nearby Ballyheane, only to find the ‘back pitch’ I saw them play on last summer in use again, and that it’s had the recent addition of a stand. Partry’s ground, just off the main road, is more basic but pleasant enough. There is ample car parking, the pitch is fenced off on three sides, and has dugouts and advertising boards. From a pre-match glance at the league table, via the FA of Ireland’s excellent Connect app, I expected Snugboro to win this. However, they suffered a frustrating morning. Partry took a 17th minute lead against the run of play. It took the visitors a while to recover, but they did and deservedly equalised with half-an-hour played. But having got level they gifted the hosts a second goal just five minutes later. The away side equalised for a second time soon a...

6.30pm 14 June  2025 Mayo Premier League Iorras Aontaithe 2 Crossmolina 0 (att 36) Groundhopping was only part of the reason for heading to Ireland’s west coast for a long weekend, but the Mayo League’s summer season does make it an attractive destination when competitive football is thin on the ground elsewhere. It’s not the sole attraction though. The drive to Belmullet from our Westport base was wonderfully scenic, and the views from Iorras Aontaithe’s Carne Nash ground aren’t bad either. It’s a few miles outside Belmullet, and very much off the beaten track. If it hadn’t been for useful road signs I might have doubted my satnav as it took me down a series of narrow lanes. On arrival you find a decent ground. The main pitch is enclosed, has plenty of advertising boards, a pair of imaginatively-decorated dugouts and a large stand. My previous Mayo League matches have been in its top flight ‘super league’, but this was a second tier premier league game. Both sides were mid-table, ...