Steve B the Groundhopper

3pm 6 April  2026 Hampshire Premier League, Senior Division Meon Milton 5 Andover Town 1 (att 39) As we were in the South East over the Easter weekend it was an easy journey down to Southsea to visit the home ground of Meon Milton, who play in what was Eastney Barracks. The barracks closed about 30 years ago, and these days the sports ground is the Cockleshell Community Sports Club. The main football pitch is some distance from the changing rooms, and is railed off with a pair of dugouts. There is some cover for spectators, to the front of an adjacent social club, although oddly the club itself has no connection to the football team. Outside the ground, the former officers' mess building looms over the pitch. Andover Town are bottom of the table, although with games in hand on teams above them they still have hope of avoiding relegation. To achieve that they'll have to improve on this performance. There was an even start to the game, but once Meon Milton opened the scoring it s...

4pm 4 April  2026 Essex Alliance League, Senior Division Dagenham United 1 Saint City 5 (att 16) Even in London traffic it was still a relatively comfortable journey from Fairlop Rovers to arrive at Dagenham's Robert Clack Sports Centre in time for a 4pm kick-off. The ground is a typical 3G pitch, with a spectator area that runs about three-quarters of the near side. A basic ground but more than adequate for the league and the level of support. Dagenham United are bottom of the table, and so a heavy home defeat was no surprise. A penalty put Saint City in front after just four minutes, and some excellent goals saw that lead became 4-0 inside the first half-an-hour. The home side scored the game's next goal, and they kept the deficit at 1-4 into the half time break. Early in the second period a Dagenham player worryingly went down off the ball. Eventually, after a lengthy stoppage, he was ok enough to leave the pitch. That set the tone for a disjointed 45 minutes of football tha...

1pm 4 April  2026 Essex Alliance League, Senior Division Fairlop Rovers 2 Haringey Borough reserves 0 (att 5) I don't know why this game was scheduled for 1pm but, with another nearby Essex Alliance League fixture having a similarly unusual kick-off time of 4pm, it allowed for a handy double. Fairlop Rovers have relocated during the season into the Levels Centre of Excellence, also, or formerly, known as the Broadfields Sports Ground. It's accessed directly from the North Circular Road. Since the move most home games have been postponed, and it was easy to see why.  Thankfully drier recent weather meant the pitch was playable, but the surface was very poor and didn't help either team. Unsurprisingly it was a scrappy encounter. Fairlop Rovers, needing points at the wrong end of the table, took an early lead, then doubled it just before half time. After that they were never really in danger. A late red card ended any slim hopes Haringey had of getting back into the match. I u...

11am 3 April  2026 St Piran League, Premier Division East St Mawgan 0 Kilkhampton 1 (att 40) As usual these days the Good Friday fixture list provided limited options for new grounds. I had just two possibles, both in the South West and both morning kick-offs. St Mawgan, close to Newquay, was the furthest of the pair, but news that the club has applied for promotion into step six football moved it up my groundhopping 'to do' list. This defeat was a blow to the club's promotion hopes, as they may need to finish above fellow applicants Torpoint Athletic reserves. It was a sluggish game in which neither side created many clear chances, perhaps not helped by both having also played league games on Wednesday evening. The best moment of quality, a free kick with 12 minutes left, produced the only goal. St Mawgan have been working hard to get their Trevarrian Park up to standard for possible promotion. It's fully enclosed, there's a seated stand, and hard standing extends ...

6.30pm 1 April  2026 Manchester League, Division Two Little Lever Sports Club 0 Heywood St James 4 (att 90) This was pitch-hopping more than groundhopping. I was last at Little Lever Sports club 25 years ago, but they've recently converted their second grass pitch to an artificial surface. As far as I can tell the first team usually still plays on the remaining grass pitch, where I saw them in 2001, unless the weather dictates otherwise. However, the club helpfully confirmed that this early evening kick off would instead be on the adjacent 4G.  The whole ground is much improved since my 2001 visit. A new building behind the goal of the main pitch provides changing rooms, a snack bar, toilets and even some cover for spectators. On a wet night the cover would have been useful, but it was too far from the caged artificial pitch to be of much help. The floodlights were useful though, and were on from the start on a gloomy evening. The pitch has a spectator area in the centre of on...

2pm 28 March  2026 Southern Combination League, Premier Division Guernsey 6 Peacehaven and Telscombe 0 (att 1,553) Some grounds are more challenging to visit than others. Getting to Guernsey isn't difficult, but it is costly and takes some planning to reduce the risk of fixture changes or late postponements. I picked late March hoping that the worst of the winter weather would be over, and that distractions such as the FA Vase or FA Cup wouldn't mean any late rescheduling of matches. Guernsey's Victoria Park only opened a year ago. Unlike its Footes Lane predecessor, which I visited the last time I was on the island in 2011 , it has an artificial surface, which meant the risk of rain was one less thing to worry about. Apart from a brief shower ahead of kick off it was dry on Saturday afternoon, with just a strong and chilly wind to contend with. It rained goals though, and the visitors from Sussex were on the receiving end. Guernsey and Peacehaven are both likely to be in t...