Steve B the Groundhopper

7.10pm 8 November 2024 Chester and Wirral League, Championship Division Fender 3 Whitegate United 0 (att 25) When Bidston reappeared as an amateur football venue this season I thought I'd  already been, having seen a match there in 2018 . But in the years since an additional 3G pitch has been added. It's also had a rebrand, from the Wirral Tennis Centre to Bidston Sports and Activity Centre. The new pitch is beyond the older one, running parallel to Valley Road, and has adjacent car parking. It has a barriered spectator area along one side, although for this game its use was optional, and is typical of such venues. The bonus, from a groundhopping perspective, is that the couple of Chester and Wirral League teams who use the venue for home games are staging those fixtures on Friday nights. Visitors Whitegate have joined this league from Crewe and District League, and went into this game top of the table. They were the better side, and will spend the weekend wondering how they l...

6.30pm 22 April  2024 Chester and Wirral League, Premier Division FC Farndon 1 Chester Nomads III 3 (att 25) Chester Nomads' third team went into their final league game of the season in a relegation position. By winning it they leapt a couple of places and left hosts Farndon possibly facing the drop instead. FC Farndon now need three points from their final two fixtures to climb back above Nomads, with Shaftesbury Youth also likely requiring points to be sure of preserving their top flight status. The away side deserved their win. They took an early lead, and doubled it shortly before half time. It then took them until a couple of minutes from the end before they got a third. Farndon's consolation was a great strike in the final minute.  It was a mostly scrappy encounter, although to be fair to the players they weren't helped by a poor pitch. Apparently it was the first league game Farndon have been able to play at home since last autumn. Their home is at Farndon Community...