Steve B the Groundhopper

2pm 14 March  2026 Aberdeenshire Amateur League, Premier Division Great Western United 0 Echt 4 (att 22) As I was staying overnight in Scotland ahead of a Sunday game it made sense, from a groundhopping perspective at least, to make the most of that by ticking off a ground that's too far from home for a comfortable day trip. Having already completed the Highland and North of Scotland Leagues, that meant turning my attention to the Aberdeenshire Amateur League. I picked this game as a top division fixture that was within range after my earlier game near Dundee. Great Western United's home ground, for this season at least, is the playing field of the independent Albyn School. It's in Milltimber, a village on the very edge of Aberdeen. There's an adequate car park and a pavilion that includes the changing rooms. From the pavilion the main pitch is to the left. It's just a pitch, but a precipitous grass bank runs along the far side, providing a good view as a reward for...

1.30pm 2 November 2024 SJFA, Inter-regional Cup, First Round Westdyke Community Club 1 Maud 6 (att 32) There's no denying that Westhill, near Aberdeen, is a long way to travel to tick off a ground that's little more than a typical 3G set-up. But being a groundhopping completist meant I had to see a Westdyke home game. The club are new to the Scottish Juniors this season, and so I needed to visit their Lawsondale home to recomplete the full set of SJFA North Region grounds. The inter-regional cup was traditionally for sides it the SJFA's North and Tayside regions. These days they're the only junior leagues still operating, with the latter called the Midlands League. The opening round is regionalised, and the visitors were fellow north side Maud, who play a division higher than Westdyke in the premier league. The gap between them showed over 90 minutes. Two goals in quick succession, about mid-way through the opening half, put Maud on the way to victory. After the break t...

2pm 30 March  2024 Aberdeenshire Amateur League, Premier Division Kaimhill United 1 Westdyke 4 (att 20) Having completed all the Scottish Junior and Highland League grounds I turned my attention to the Aberdeenshire Amateur League for a game while in Scotland’s north east. First choice had been a cup semi final at Cove Thistle, but that fell victim to a waterlogged pitch. I feared there might be widespread postponements, but thankfully there were no problems at my plan B. Kaimhill United play, logically, in the Kaimhill area of Aberdeen. It’s basically a playing field behind an Asda supermarket, with two grass pitches and a caged 3G. The home side were promoted last season but are finding the league’s top division a tough challenge. They went into this game winless and pointless, having had the three points gained from draws deducted for some misdemeanour. They started this game well, and if anything it was a little against the run of play when Westdyke opened the scoring. A second...