Steve B the Groundhopper

2pm 30 August  2025 East Lancashire League, Division One Great Harwood Rovers 5 Rimington reserves 1 (att 70) Great Harwood Rovers have made a welcome return to senior football this season, apparently thanks to last season's Blackburn Combination champions Rishton Town taking on the name and moving into their ground. They made a good start to life in the East Lancashire League with a comfortable win against Rimington's reserve side. The home side scored early, then doubled their lead shortly before half time. The away side had hope when they converted a penalty, controversially awarded for a handball that no one other than the referee appeared to see, but the hope was fleeting. Great Harwood's protests over the spot kick led to one player being sin-binned for 10 minutes, but while a man down his teammates scored to re-establish their two goal advantage. Two more Great Harwood goals rounded off the afternoon, and showed that Rovers are likely to be a strong addition to the E...

11am 30 August  2025 Under 18 Professional Development League Wigan Athletic U18 0 Watford U18 0 (att 40) The was pitch hopping rather than groundhopping. I was last at Christopher Park in 1997, before it became Wigan Athletic's training ground, to see West Lancashire League side Wigan College. The pitch used that day is still there, and was marked out this morning, but Athletic use a different pitch for their under 18 and under 21 games. There's a pair dugouts on the far side, opposite an area that's designated for spectators and that runs to just beyond the halfway line. Beyond that is a separate area reserved for scouts. This looked a good contest on paper. Watford headed the southern section with three wins from three games, having scored 15 goals, while Wigan were unbeaten and top of the north division. Both sides hit the crossbar, Watford in the first half and Wigan in the second, and both had other good chances to score. The best opportunity fell to a visiting player...

6.15pm 28 August  2025 Huddersfield and District League, Division Four Fenton United 1 Fothergill and Whittles 3 (att 24) A year ago, almost to the day, I saw this same fixture. Twelve months on and both the venue and the division may have changed, but the outcome was the same. Last year, in division five,  Fothergill and Whittles won 6-0.  This time, following promotion for both teams, they had to settle for a narrower winning margin, although they were still comfortable victors. Fenton might feel they deserved something out of the game, but the visitors' sharper finishing was the difference. Two first half goals put them in control, and they added a third after the break. The home side got a late consolation. Last year's game was at Huddersfield's Reinwood Recreation Ground, but Fenton United have now relocated to an artificial pitch at Huddersfield rugby union club's Lockwood ground. It's fairly typical of its type, being floodlit and enclosed by a fence. But it ...

6.30pm 27 August  2025 Craven and District League, Division One Oakworth 0 Worth Valley 0 (att 120) A local derby on a warm and sunny evening brought a large crowd to Oakworth's Bronte Playing Fields. They saw a competitive and entertaining match, but no goals. The home side had the edge, and always looked the more likely to break the deadlock, but with neither side able to take their chances a draw was a fair outcome. Oakworth are a club that focuses mostly on junior football, and the ground was busy with youngsters being put through their paces as well as those there to watch the senior team. They have a good facility, with car parking, a pavilion housing changing rooms and several pitches. The senior pitch is overlooked on one side by a steep grass bank, providing a fine view of the surrounding countryside.

8.05pm 26 August  2025 York League, Premier Division Howden 1 Poppleton 2 (att 41) A late evening kick off, making the most of the floodlights at Howden's home venue, gave me the relative luxury of missing the worst of the rush hour and enjoying a stress-free journey to East Yorkshire. Howden's ground is a 3G pitch at The Snaith School, the village of Snaith being a few miles from Howden. I understand that there are plans for a new football facility in Howden itself. The current school pitch is typical of such venues, and has a spectator area that runs about two-thirds of the length of one side. The unusual official start time, five minutes past the hour, was due to the 3G being in use until 8pm. The game itself took a while to get going. The first half was evenly-contested with few clear chances for either side. It was a contest that needed a goal, and it got one just four minutes into the second period. Poppleton broke the deadlock, and set up what then became an excellent ma...

3pm 25 August  2025 Midland Football League, Division Three Arden Forest Sporting 2 Diamond Academy 0 (att 12) Shortly before the start of the season the club which had been called Solihull Sporting morphed into Arden Forest Sporting, and with a name change came a change of home ground. It's more a change of pitch really. The artificial pitch at Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst, where I saw Sporting in 2024 , no longer meets league requirements due to a lack of dugouts, so has been swapped for a nearby grass pitch. They played a couple of home games elsewhere while the new pitch was being prepared. I'd expected this fixture to be staged there as well, but when I contacted the club to check the venue they confirmed they were back at Kingshurst. Like many grass pitches, the recent lack of rain has left the surface hard, uneven and dusty. It was a challenge for the players, and no doubt a frustrating one with the unused 3G just yards away. Still, at least the subs and coaches had d...

2pm 24 August  2025 Welsh Cup, Second Qualifying Round Rhydyfelin 2 Garden Village 9 (att 160) Rhydyfelin are one of a handful of district league teams that entered this season's Welsh Cup. To progress against Garden Village, who play three levels higher, would have been a major upset. A giant-killing looked possible when the home side took a second minute lead after a long throw into the box, and they held a goal advantage until the half-hour. The visitors may have been to slow to get going, but once they equalised there was no stopping them. In the 15 minutes up to half time they scored four more. All but one of their five first half goals was netted by their number 10 Harrison Davies. He added another after the break, although hopes of a double hat trick were dashed when he was substituted. Garden Village remained dominant though, extending their lead to 7-1 before briefly switching off and allowing Rhydyfelin a second. There was still time for the visitors two score two more, o...

2pm 23 August  2025 Humber Premier League Hessle Sporting Club 4 Hedon Rangers 3 (att 56) Hessle Sporting Club had won their two opening Humber Premier League matches, and looked well on their way to extending their perfect start after two early goals, the first a penalty. But Hedon Rangers, playing their first fixture after two postponements, hit back with two goals of their own, including the game's second spot kick. Just before the end of a breathless first half Hessle scored again, to take a 3-2 lead into the break. The visitors levelled again early in the second period, but the home side were soon back in front. This time they held onto the lead, despite having to withstand plenty of Hedon pressure. It was an excellent game for the neutral and, ultimately, for Hessle Sporting Club's supporters. The venue was a roped off pitch at the King George V Playing Fields in Hessle, a suburb of Hull. In effect it's a public park, but the football club have a smart pavilion that h...