Steve B the Groundhopper

3pm 17 October  2026 Central Midlands Alliance League, Premier Division North Evo Soccer 1 AFC Bentley 1 (att 32) Evo Soccer FC is the Sheffield arm of an international football academy. They play at Leisure United Graves, a ground I was already very familiar with ahead of this visit. It used be called St George's Park Graves. Three years ago, almost to the day, I saw Beerhouse play a Fair Play League game on pitch two , and back in 2018 I watched Chesterfield's youth team on the venue's grass pitch . Evo use pitch one, which is artificial and the only one with dugouts. As my only remaining ground in the Central Midlands Alliance League's two parallel regionalised premier divisions, I was keen to visit to complete the set. Spectators are accommodated along the far side, which backs onto pitch two. It is possible to watch from elsewhere, but only through the fence that encloses the playing area. Both sides have made mixed starts to the season. Evo are newly-promoted, and...

12 noon 17 October  2026 Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League, Division Two Treeton Terriers 5 AFC Dronfield reserves 0 (att 25) This season Treeton Terriers have switched from Saturday morning football, in Sheffield's Fair Play League, to playing afternoons in the County Senior League. As a compromise, and useful from my groundhopping perspective, all their home games are scheduled to begin at midday. I don't know if the early start was a surprise to some at AFC Dronfield, but they only reached a full complement of players a few minutes ahead of kick off, and missed out on a proper warm up. The lack of preparation showed early on as Treeton, going well in the league, were dominant from the off. They came close to scoring more than once before taking the lead. By half time they were 4-0 ahead. After the break Dronfield were more resilient, although with the game already won there was less of a cutting edge to Treeton's play. The home side added just one more goal,...

3pm 10 October 2026 Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League, Premier Division AFC Stockport 4 Cheat Daze 2 (att 19) Despite the late start at Waterhead, a lack of stoppage time and a very quick half-time break meant that game was over with just enough time for me to drive the three miles or so to AFC Stockport. If the club actually played in Stockport I'd have had no chance, but this season AFC Stockport's first team are playing on a new artificial pitch at Laurus Ryecroft High School in Droylsden. I was just walking up to the pitch as the referee blew his whistle to get the captains together for the coin toss. It's fortunate I wasn't late, as the home side scored from a corner after just a couple of minutes. Cheat Daze - a Manchester-based chain of dessert bars who sponsor the club formerly known as East Manchester Galaxy - have talented players and looked capable of an equaliser. But after 20 minutes or so the home side scored against the run of play to double their le...

1.15pm 10 October  2026 Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League, Division A Waterhead 0 Irlam Steel 5 (att 16) I wouldn't ordinarily dip into the Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League's fifth tier, at least not on a Saturday. But on a day when I needed to stay close to home the club's early kick off opened up the chance of a double. That was the theory, but when I arrived at Hathershaw College in Oldham a girls match was in progress on the artificial pitch. That didn't end until well after my game's scheduled 1pm start time. Luckily Waterhead, Irlam Steel and the match officials wasted little time getting things underway once they had use of the pitch. The standard of football was better than you might expect for a relatively lowly level. The visitors were particularly impressive, and deserved their comfortable win. Irlam Steel scored twice in the first half and added three more after the break. Waterhead kept battling, and had chances, but we were well beaten. The ...

5pm 3 October  2026 Welsh Amateur Trophy, Second Round Llanishen 1 Cwmbran Celtic 4 (att 119) Llanishen's Amateur Trophy clash with Cwmbran Celtic was moved to the unusual time of 5pm to allow for rugby. The club shares an artificial pitch with Llanishen RFC, who also had a home game. Like the hosts in my earlier game, Splott Albion, Llanishen are also newly-promoted into the South Wales Premier League. Unlike Splott Albion, Llanishen were underdogs in their tie. Visitors Cwmbran Celtic were relegated last season, after several years in the second tier of Welsh football. Now in the Ardal League, they went into this game three levels higher than Llanishen. The dominated the opening minutes, and an early goal looked like it might be the first of many. But Llanishen, backed by a good crowd, recovered well and kept the score at 0-1 to half time. By the start of the second half the hosts' had grown in confidence, and they deserved their equaliser which came with just under an hour p...

2pm 3 October  2026 Welsh Amateur Trophy, Second Round Splott Albion 7 Aberystwyth Exiles 1 (att 45) Having gone three weekends without a game - one at a wedding and two on a football-free holiday - I was keen to get to a couple of matches on my return. Once I spotted a 5pm kick off among the FA of Wales Amateur Trophy second round fixtures it made sense to head to South Wales. I chose Splott Albion on the basis that it was a short and easy journey to the later game. Back in 2008 I saw Splott Albion play on one of the many pitches at the Cardiff University sports ground. These days they play at Splott Park, also known, for sponsorship reasons, at the Gate Systems Arena. A railed off pitch in the park has been enclosed by a fence. There's a pair of modern dugouts on one side and an obsolete older pair opposite. Changing rooms are in a building that includes a bar, and in the corner near the entrance there's a snack bar and some picnic tables. I expected Splott Albion, newly-prom...