Steve B the Groundhopper

10am 11 April  2026 Arthurian League, Division Three Old Haberdashers 2 Old Chigwellians II 0 (att 8) Three weeks ago I tried to watch this fixture, but arrived at the venue to find it was off. It was later shown on the league website as a home walkover, so I was surprised to see it relisted. It made sense though, as Old Haberdashers needed nothing less than six points from their final two matches to climb out of the relegation places. They got halfway there with a deserved win against Old Chigwellians' second team, and now need another victory at bottom side Old Tonbridgians II next weekend. It won't be easy though, as their opponents can also still avoid the drop. Goals towards the end of each half, after 40 and 86 minutes, settled this game. The home side were mostly on top and should have won more comfortably. As it was, the outcome remained in the balance until their late second strike. Most Old Haberdashers games this season, if the league's Full Time website is accur...

10am 21 March  2026 Arthurian League, Division Two Old Albanians 2 Old Cholmeleians II 2 (att 3) Old Albanians have moved in the two years since I last saw them play at home . They've swapped a school 3G for a grass pitch at the impressive Woollam Playing Fields complex. Rugby is the dominant sport, as the ground is home to Old Albanians RUFC, who play in the fourth tier of rugby union, and is used as a training base by Saracens. But there's also space for association football, including the pitch used by alumni of St Albans School. The visitors, Old Cholmeleians' second team, were playing their final game of the season. Already certain to finish bottom, they had only pride to play for. D espite that they started well, scoring after eight minutes. They doubled their lead after 20 minutes, an excellent goal scored from distance. Old Albanians were creating chances, but were let down by wayward finishing. Eventually, just before half time, the home side got a goal back - dire...

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...

10.20am 8 November  2025 Arthurian League, Division Three Old Sennockians 5 Kings College School Old Boys II 1 (att 8) I usually try to arrive at matches around 30 minutes ahead of a scheduled kick off time as, particularly at lower levels where spectators aren't a concern, it's not unusual for the action to get underway early. This game was listed as a 10.45 kick off, but as I walked from the car park to the pitch the action was already underway. It seemed I'd missed about two minutes, and also a very early home goal. Sennockians dominated the opening minutes and it looked like just a matter of time before they extended their lead. But they failed to take their chances and Kings College recovered from their bad start and grew into the game. The score remained 1-0 at half time, and the away side equalised early in the second period. That sparked Sennockians back into live and they quickly regained the lead. Kings College only had 11 players, and with no substitutes they wil...

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...

12.15pm 6 September  2025 Arthurian League, Premier Division Old Bradfieldians 6 Old Johnians 1 (att 7) Old Bradfieldians are one of three Arthurian League sides who currently use Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub as a home ground for league games, with 12.15 being a regular start time. There are two adjacent 3G pitches, as well as a large grass playing field. This was played on ‘pitch one’, which has a spectator area running the length of one side, and is slightly nearer the pavilion and car park. Old Johnians, former pupils of St John’s School in Leatherhead, has lost their opening fixture 4-0, so were looking to get off the mark against Old Bradfieldians, who were beginning their competitive season. The home side were on top from the start, and went ahead after 18 minutes. Johnians set out to defend and hit their hosts on the break, and they did just that to equalise five minutes before half time. Early in the second half Bradfieldians scored three times in quick succession. There was...

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...

12 noon 14 September 2024 Arthurian League, Division Three Old Epsomians 2 Old Brentwoods III 5 (att 1) I extended a work trip to London long enough to allow me to visit family and to watch football in the capital, which meant I was on public transport for the day. Finding a pair of games on new grounds easily accessible without a car was more of a challenge than I'd expected, but two midday games at the King's House Sports Ground in Chiswick were my starting point. I was last at the venue, formerly the Civil Service sports ground, in 2019 for an Arthurian League game at what was then the sole 3G pitch . In the years since a second artificial pitch has been added, so with two fixtures scheduled I knew one would be a groundhopping 'tick'. Unlike the original, '3G pitch two' is primarily for rugby, with football pitch markings secondary. Another difference is that it's equipped with a spectator area the length of one side. Old Brentwoods, who were having somet...