Steve B the Groundhopper

10.30am 31 January  2026 West Midlands Christian League Brierley Hill AOG 0 Excel NIS 3 (att 10) With nine wins from nine league games, ahead of this, you'd think reigning champions Excel NIS would be a shoo-in in retain their title. But rivals Charlemont Star also have a 100 per cent record, having played twice more. Both sides kept their perfect records intact, although Excel made harder work of winning at Brierley Hill than should have been necessary. They almost took the lead in the opening moments, but a failure to take the chance set the tone for the first half when they often looked dangerous, but were unable to apply the finish. The home side were unlucky not to go in front themselves, when a shot that looked goal-bound came back off the inside of the post. The opening half ended goalless, but Excel quickly took control after the break. They scored six minutes after the restart, then added a second goal with an hour played. Excel's final goal was on 78 minutes. The host...

2pm 24 January  2026 West of Scotland League, Division Four Giffnock Soccer Centre 1 Irvine Victoria 0 (att 57) It's almost two years since I last went to a Giffnock home game. My return was because in that time they've moved their first team games to a new home ground. GSC Auldhouse isn't far from Eastwood Park, where they played up to the end of last season. That was always a temporary venue, used while they brought the facilities at Auldhouse up to scratch. They've done a good job. There's a pair of floodlit 3G pitches, each with a spectator area running the full length of one side, and a number of grass pitches. A centrally-located clubhouse includes a snack bar as well as changing rooms. There's also ample car parking, which was good because, as well as my West of Scotland League fixture - played on 'pitch one' - Auldhouse was very busy with youth matches. Two years ago I was treated to a 10-goal thriller between Giffnock and East Kilbride Thistle ....

11.15am 24 January  2026 Saturday Morning Amateur League, Division One Wishaw Wycombe Wanderers 8 Dean Park 0 (att 13) It took a Google search to discover why an amateur team based in Lanarkshire shares two-thirds of its name with a club hundreds of miles away in south east England. Apparently one of the co-founders spoke to a youth officer at the Buckinghamshire club in the mid 1990s, and at a time when the 'world wide web' was becoming a thing they decided the initials, WWW, was a neat fit. The Wishaw side has grown into a major community-based amateur set up, with many youth teams as well as it's senior side. Until recently Wishaw Wycombe Wanderers had a Saturday afternoon team. Amateur Saturday afternoon football is in serious decline in Scotland, while morning leagues are expanding, and Wishaw have joined the ranks. They're in the third of the Saturday Morning AFA's four divisions, but appear too good for that division. This easy win maintained their 100 per ce...

2pm 17 January  2026 Gloucestershire County League Ruardean Hill Rangers 1 Hanham Athletic 4 (att 34) I had various options for an afternoon game, but on a day of many postponements I settled on this once the club confirmed, via social media, that their grass pitch was playable. The Gloucestershire County League is one of the better competitions to have 'regional feeder league' status from the FA, and clubs based in the Forest of Dean are always interesting to visit. Ruardean Hill is apparently the highest point in the forest, and there are good views from the the village recreation ground. It caters for football and cricket, and the adjacent Ruardean Hill Sports Club provides changing rooms and clubhouse facilities. The sloping football pitch is beyond the cricket square. It's railed off, and on the far side a pair of dugouts are positioned either side of a small covered area for spectators. A few advertising boards complete a neat football ground. This was a crucial fixtu...

10.30am 17 January  2026 West Midlands Christian League Living Hope Church 0 Dudley Lions 5 (att 5) I'd set off for Bristol with hopes of seeing a couple of games including one at Western League side Avonmouth. But after that was, unsurprisingly, called off early in the morning I moved onto plan B. The West Midlands Christian League is one of the better sources of Saturday morning football. Matches usually have three officials, and the league's Full Time website is kept up to date. Had I spent longer studying the league table I might have given this fixture a miss, not because the home side were bottom but because it turned out this was their first match since early November. They can't all have been weather-related postponements. Whatever issues Living Hope Church have faced so far this season they had a full 11 players, plus substitutes, against Dudley Lions. And they put up a decent effort despite going down to a heavy defeat. Dudley's finishing was the main differen...

3pm 10 January  2026 Southern League, Premier Division South Wimborne Town 1 Basingstoke Town 1 (att 698) Recent visits to Everton and Cambridge City had left Wimborne Town's New Cuthbury as my only unvisited ground in the top eight levels of the English football pyramid. I'd seen them play at 'old' Cuthbury in 1990, for a Wessex League game against Havant Town. The club has progressed since then, both on and off the pitch. New Cuthbury, or the Wyatt Homes Stadium to namecheck its sponsors, is a good venue, although space is a little tight with a few hundred spectators packed inside. There are two seated stands on the clubhouse side, both ends are covered, one with some shallow terracing, while the far side is open standing. There are lots of friendly volunteers, including those who serve decent food and drink options to fans. Wimborne and Basingstoke went into this game locked together in mid-table, so it was no surprise that there was little between them on the pitch....