Steve B the Groundhopper

1.30pm 25 October  2025 Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League, Division One Mellor 3 Santos 3 (att 20) I last saw Mellor play a home game 20 years ago, at their ground in Wood Lane in Marple. In recent years they've played their first team home games on an artificial pitch at Marple Hall School. It's typical of this type of venue, being floodlit and enclosed by a fence. Although there's no designated spectator area there is plenty of space for those watching to stand inside. The early kick off suited me, and is apparently the standard time for Mellor games at Marple Hall. Once this match was over, groundsharers Richmond Rovers were at home with a 3.30pm start. I decided not to stay for that, but I had plenty of entertainment in the 90 minutes I did watch. Mellor started well and established a 2-0 lead, but Santos kept themselves in the game with a goal back before half time. After the break the home side created plenty of chances to extend their advantage, but wayward fini...

10.15am 25 October  2025 Manchester Saturday Morning League, Division Two Championship FC Oldham 1 Beechfield United Storm 6 (att 15) Newcomers FC Oldham provided my only unvisited ground in the Manchester Saturday Morning League this season, although their home venue has been used by multiple clubs over the years. They play at Clayton Playing Fields, close to Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park stadium. There are half a dozen football pitches, and it was a busy place with the others all staging youth games. The home side began the game winless and bottom of the league, and nothing changed after a comprehensive defeat. The score was harsh on Oldham though, and they suffered through losing their goalkeeper to injury just before half time. FC Oldham had taken an early lead and, although Beechfield United Storm - effectively Beechfield's second team -  soon equalised, the hosts looked more dangerous when attacking. The visitors went ahead just after the home side's keeper left the...

2pm 18 October  2025 Peterborough and District League, Premier Division Uppingham Town 1 Crowland Town 2 (att 70) When asked which team I actually support my answer is Leicester City, the place where I was born and lived for the first 12 months of my life. Most of my support these days is from my armchair, but occasionally I go to games in person. A 7.45pm kick off at home to Portsmouth on a Saturday, while annoying for many, was a good opportunity. It allowed plenty of time for groundhopping earlier in the day, and so I followed my morning game at Kimbolton with a trip to Rutland to see Uppingham Town host league leaders Crowland Town. As well as being an attractive fixture, it was also within easy range of Leicester and, as an added bonus, it was the final ground I needed to complete the top division of the Peterborough and District League. It was a tetchy game that for the most part simmered, before boiling over into a brief fracas following the final whistle. That was just mome...

11am 18 October  2025 Arthur Dunn Cup, First Round Old Kimboltonians 2 Old Cholmeleians 0 (att 28) Old Kimboltonians play their regular Arthurian League homes games on a hired pitch in Hertfordshire. But, by tradition, clubs host Arthur Dunn Cup ties at their schools, so this was in the Cambridgeshire village of Kimbolton. The venue was listed as Kimbolton School, where I was one of several groundhoppers searching in vain for the match. Eventually we learned it was actually being played a few hundred yards away, in the grounds of Kimbolton Preparatory School. The Arthur Dunn Cup has a history going back more than a century, having been set up by public school old boys teams as an alternative to the FA Cup, once they realised professionalism meant they were never again going to be competitive in the latter. On paper this looked likely to be an away win, with Cholmeleians - alumni of Highgate School in North London - in the Arthurian League's top division and so a level higher than t...

7pm 15 October  2025 Premier League Cup, Group E West Bromwich Albion U21 0 Exeter City U21 0 (att 107) For all the hype that surrounds the Premier League, it's cup competition goes under the radar. Unsurprisingly though as it's contested by under 21 sides, and includes some, such as tonight's visitors Exeter City, who you wouldn't associate with the top tier of English football. Not that the Grecians haven't justified their inclusion. This was their third group fixture, and they'd won both their opening two against Brentford and Luton Town. Holding West Bromwich Albion to a draw keeps them well placed for the knock out stages. Exeter started well and had the better of the first half, although the Albion goal was never in real danger. The home side were better in the second period, but it was late in the game before they really pushed for a winner. The closest we came to a goal was a fine save by the Exeter keeper in stoppage time, but I was resigned to seeing a...

3pm 11 October  2025 West Midlands Regional League, Premier Division PS Olympic 0 Saltley Stallions 1 (att 30) I'd been unsure whether I needed to visit PS Olympic,  newly-promoted to the top division of the West Midlands Regional League, as I'd been to their home ground, the Dell Stadium in Brierley Hill, to see Oldswinford in 1989. Oldswinford are long gone, and the stadium pitch is now home to Gornal Colts. PS Olympic play instead on the adjacent 3G pitch, which counts as a different ground by my groundhopping rules. It's a fairly typical 3G set up. The pitch is enclosed by a high fence, it's floodlit, and spectators are accommodated within a barriered area that runs about three-quarters of the length of one side. PS Olympic have made a decent start to life in 'step seven', but were second best against Saltley Stallions. The visitors did most of the attacking, although clear chances were few and far between at either end. I was expecting goalless draw, but wi...

10.30am 11 October  2025 South Manchester and Cheshire Christian League, Division Two Central 2 Ditton Athletic 5 (att 9) It was thanks to an eagle-eyed fellow groundhopper that I learnt, during the week, that Central FC have moved into a football ground that, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't been used for adult Saturday football for at least a couple of decades. The pitch at Jackson's Boat in Sale, adjacent to a pub of the same name and close to Sale Water Park and the River Mersey, has long been a curiosity. I've passed it several times, and wondered why an enclosed and partly-railed off pitch wasn't in more regular use. Central's league campaign only has seven home games, and as this was the second of those I didn't want to wait too long to tick off the ground. Needless to say it's above average for Saturday morning football, with training lights a recent addition, although the pitch-side changing rooms show sad signs of vandalism. Central had lost the...

3pm 4 October  2025 Southern Combination League, Division One Ringmer AFC 0 Godalming Town 1 (att 85) I had hoped the impact of Storm Amy would be diminished by the time I reached the East Sussex village of Ringmer, but this was another game in which the conditions were dominant. Godalming Town, unbeaten league leaders, played into the wind in the first half. While their superior quality was evident, and they were dangerous when they attacked, it was the home side who had more chances. They failed to score though, and then shortly before half time an ugly fracas, which included punches being thrown, resulted in a red card for each team. Five minutes into the second half we had a third sending off. The Ringmer keeper kicked out at a Godalming player as he jumped up to gather an attempted through ball. The visitors scored the penalty that followed but, despite having both a numerical advantage and the stiff breeze behind them, they were unable to add any more goals. Ringmer's nine me...