Steve B the Groundhopper

2pm 26 October 2024 Amateur FA Senior Cup, First Round Honourable Artillery Company 4 Fitzwilliam Old Boys 0 (att 52) A first round cup tie between two teams from the Amateur Football Combination wouldn't ordinarily be my choice for a Saturday afternoon game. But this match was at no ordinary venue. The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) play most home games on a hired pitch at a sports ground in west London, but now and then they're able to play at their 'spiritual home', Armoury House close to the centre of London. It's just a pitch, roped off and with a path along one side. There's a cricket square behind one goal, and a rugby pitch runs parallel. But the setting is what makes it special. It's hemmed by a mix of the HAC's historic buildings and tall city offices. And not many, if any, sports grounds have a line of field guns along the perimeter. Unsurprisingly for a military location you can't just walk in. Luckily HAC's social media accounts,

10.30am 26 October 2024 Arthur Dunn Cup, First Round Old Cholmeleians 3 Old Merchant Taylors 2 (att 23) Old Cholmeleians have their own sports ground, which I visited for a game four years ago , but by tradition clubs play Arthur Dunn Cup fixtures at their alma mater, meaning this tie was at Highgate School. The School was founded in the 16th century by Sir Roger Cholmeley, and to this day former pupils are Old Cholmeleians. Needless to say, as a prestigious fee-paying school, the sports facilities are very good. Old Cholmeleians are decent on the pitch as well at the moment, with their first team in the top division of the Arthurian League. I expected a comfortable win against Old Merchant Taylors, who play two levels lower, but they made hard work of it. After an even start it was the away side who scored first, with around 20 minutes played. Their advantage lasted no more than a couple of minutes though, and Cholmeleians scored again to lead before half time. A third home goal after

7.45pm 22 October 2024 North West Counties League Cup, First Round Shawbury United 1 Allscott Heath 6 (att 102) This cup tie had been postponed at the start of the month, which was handy for me as I had a choice of games that night, whereas the rearranged date filled a gap on what would otherwise have been a blank midweek. Both these sides are new to the North West Counties League this season, having transferred across from the Midland Football League. As a local derby, and with the teams not far apart in the league table, I was expecting a close game. It turned out to be anything but. Allscott Heath were ahead early, and soon turned a 1-0 lead into 2-0. A cracking strike from distance got Shawbury United back into the game, but only briefly. Three more away goals, in the minutes leading up to half time, effectively ended any contest. The second period was quieter, and a little more successful for Shawbury as they only conceded one more. As far as I'm aware this season is the first

2pm 19 October 2024 Denmark, 2 Division BK Frem 1 Nykøbing 2 (att 1,224) My second game during a weekend in Copenhagen was south of the city centre in Valby, home to Boldklubben Frem 1886, a club with a long history. These days they're in the third tier of Danish football, and hopes of quickly climbing higher suffered a surprising blow as they were beaten by bottom side Nykøbing. Expecting a low key afternoon I made the schoolboy groundhopping error of arriving ticketless and with no cash. Thankfully a helpful steward guided through the swift process of buying a ticket online with my phone. A well-taken goal put Frem in front after 15 minutes. I thought that would set them up for a comfortable win, especially as Nykøbing hadn't even managed to score an away league goal previously this season. But 10 minutes after going behind they ended their drought with a fantastic strike from distance. Then before half time they scored again, doubling their entire tally of league goals, home

7pm 18 October 2024 Denmark, Superliga FC København 3 Vejle 1 (att 27,799) Not since before the pandemic had I last managed to inch closer towards my long-term goal of seeing a match in every UEFA nation, but a weekend break in Copenhagen was an opportunity to tick another one off the list. It's a lovely city, and for most visitors football comes well down the list of things to see and do. But taking in a match, or two, does give an insight into local culture that in some ways beats any museum. FC Copenhagen would only appear in a modern history section of a city museum, as the club was formed as recently as 1992. It was created as a new professional team, effectively a merger of long-established sides KB and B1903. Their home ground, which doubles as the national stadium, has a similar vintage. It also dates from 1992, and was built on the site of the former national stadium. It's functional rather than thrilling. Unsurprisingly since their formation FCK, as they're known,

2pm 13 October 2024 Hutchings Cup, First Round Bradworthy United 4 Hartland reserves 0 (att 40) I never saw a match in the Kinglsey League, but since its demise a few years ago I've seen several fixtures in its cups. The two cup competitions, the Hutchings Cup and the Pickard Cup, continue as tournaments for local teams. Handily from groundhopping perspective, most ties are played on Sundays. Both these sides are in the third, and lowest, tier of the North Devon League. It was Bradworthy's second game of the weekend, while Hartland's reserves had a break the previous day. The home side, reformed this season after dropping out of senior men's football for a year, got their second cup win in 24 hours. They were the better side, but having scored a first half goal they made hard work of seeing off Hartland. It took them until the 82nd minute to double their lead, and finally end any likelihood of Hartland getting back into the game. With the visitors beaten, the home side

2.30pm 12 October 2024 St Piran League, Premier Division West Perranwell 1 St Just 0 (att 15) I last saw a Perranwell home game pre-blog in 2010, when they played in the village. Apparently the pitch there isn't deemed flat enough to stage top division St Piran League football, so their first team games at now in nearby Carnon Downs. It's a shame they've had to move, and it was noticeable how few people were watching this game compared to my last visit. It's a decent facility though, with a pitch that's railed off and equipped with dugouts and a small seated stand. The stand bears the name of Truro City, as their reserve side played here before the completion of their new stadium. Last season that was in the South West Peninsula League, making this surely the most basic 'step six' ground in the country, with no floodlights, limited hard standing and a trek from the changing rooms to the pitch. It's more the adequate for the St Piran League though, and Pe