Steve B the Groundhopper

10.30am 13 December  2025 Arthur Dunn Cup, Second Round Old Foresters 1 Old Reptonians 2 aet (att 42) Walthamstow-based Forest School had an important role in the creation of association football and is, at least according to Wikipedia, the only school team to have played in the FA Cup. They took part in the 1870s, and twice competed alongside the school's old boys team, Old Foresters. Like many public school alumni clubs from that era, Old Foresters these days compete in the Arthurian League and the Arthur Dunn Cup. Fixtures in the latter are usually played at the school grounds, and as Foresters play league matches elsewhere this was a rare chance to see a senior game at The Park, Forest School's playing field. It meant an early start to reach north east London in time for a morning kick off, and to secure one of the few parking places and then navigate a lengthy and muddy walk to the pitch. With Foresters top of the Arthurian League's second tier, and Reptonians in the l...

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...

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...