Steve B the Groundhopper

2pm 25 April  2026 North Riding League, Premier Division Fishburn Park 4 Thirsk Falcons 1 (att 52) It took about an hour to drive from Filey to the outskirts of Whitby and Broomfield Park, home of Fishburn Park. It's an unusual set up. It shares facilities with, but appears separate from, the now-closed Eskdale School. Players change at the school, or at least appeared to, and then have a long walk, past a caged 3G, to the pitch. The ground is enclosed, and on three sides it's surrounded by new housing. The development has given the football club an additional  entrance to a new-looking pitch-side car park. The playing area is railed off along the touchlines, with both ends up against the boundary. There's a pair of dugouts on the far side. This was another fixture with little at stake. In effect it settled which of them would finish ninth and tenth in the 12 team division. From the start it looked as if Fishburn Park were keener on ninth place. They opened the scoring with...

11am 25 April  2026 East Riding County League, Premiership Division Filey Town 2 Holme Rovers 5 (att 24) An early start at Filey Playing Fields, to allow the club's development team to stage a home fixture later in the day, was a good reason to head to the North Yorkshire coast. The top division of the East Riding County League - the Premiership - is a direct feeder league into the Humber Premier League. Neither of these two sides are in the running for promotion this season, but even with little at stake this was an enjoyable game. Filey opened the scoring, but Holme Rovers recovered well and had a commanding 4-1 lead by half time. The visitors did benefit from having a stiff breeze behind them in the first half, and that may have been a factor in their second goal, a clearance by their goalkeeper that deceived his opposite number and went in. Holme added a fifth early in the second half, but Filey Town got some consolation for their efforts when they pulled a goal back in the fin...

6.15pm 24 April  2026 Halifax and District League Todmorden 5 Denholme United 1 (att 30) Todmorden was my only remaining ground to recomplete the Halifax and District League, but as the competition is down to a single division of nine teams it's not a big challenge to visit them all. The challenge involved in visiting Todmorden's Woodhouse Road ground is the location. It's tricky to find, and very easy to miss the entrance if you don't know exactly where it is. I was helped by spotting some players walking towards it as I approached. There's no changing rooms, so players prepare elsewhere and then walk or drive to the pitch. Surprisingly, given the low level, the pitch was roped off along most of one side, and part of the opposite touchline has a wooden barrier with a few advertising boards. The setting is scenic as well as remote. On the pitch there was little to play for, although Todmorden's win should ensure they finish third. Denholme will finish one place ...

6.30pm 22 April  2026 Yorkshire Amateur League, Division Two Dewsbury Rangers 0 Bradford Olympic 5 (att 25) Bradford Olympic have a hectic end to the season. Even after this win they still have another seven league fixtures to play, several more than any of their divisional rivals. Their incentive is that, as long as they drop no more than three points, they can reel in the teams above them and finish top. They kept on track for the title with a comfortable win at Dewsbury Rangers. It took them a while before they went in front, although it always looked a matter of when, not if, they would open the scoring. Olympic's lead was just 1-0 at half time, but with Rangers' defence breached the visitors enjoyed a more comfortable second half. The home side are also going well in the league, but despite plenty of effort they never looked likely to get anything out of this game, their penultimate match of the season. Dewsbury Rangers have their own ground on Wakefield Road, between Dews...

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...