Steve B the Groundhopper

11am 21 February  2026 EFL Youth Alliance, North Morecambe U18 3 Shrewsbury Town U18 0 (att 53) After such a turbulent summer for the club I was surprised that Morecambe made the start line for this season's EFL Youth Alliance. On the pitch they've struggled, but have picked up enough points to remain above the foot of the table. They added another three with a win over Shrewsbury that wasn't as easy as the final score might suggest. The visitors dominated first half possession but without any cutting edge up front. Midway through the half Morecambe were gifted a goal when the away keeper made a mess of an attempted clearance outside his area, leaving a grateful opponent with the simplest of chances. The goal was very much against the run of play, and the home side held the lead into the break. Shrewsbury began the second half on the front foot, but Morecambe - growing in confidence - were threatening on the break. Moments after Shrewsbury thought they'd equalised when ...

10.30am 4 October  2025 EFL Youth Alliance, South Sutton United U18 1 Barnet U18 3 (att 33) Sutton United have two regular venues for their youth team matches, Cheam Sports Club, where I saw them earlier in the year , and the David Weir Leisure Centre, named after the wheelchair athlete. I’d wanted to see a game at the latter, and on a weekend when I had to travel to the south east anyway this was a good opportunity. The kick off time changing from the default 11am to 30 minutes earlier meant setting off from home very early. It’s an above average venue for Youth Alliance football. The pitch is enclosed by an athletics track, and the main facility building is alongside it. It has two floors, and the upper level includes a seated stand for spectators. Sadly, though unsurprisingly with Storm Amy passing through, it was a wind-affected game. Barnet’s youngsters had the conditions in their favour for the first half and made the most of it by scoring twice. Their second was just before ...

10.30am 1 March  2025 EFL Youth Alliance, South Division Sutton United U18 2 Northampton Town U18 5 (att 45) Remarkably I failed to see a single EFL Youth Alliance game last season, but with a few grounds still left to complete the full set I made the effort to get to Sutton's academy venue. They play most home games at Cheam Sports Club, which has decent facilities and is close to the club's first team stadium at Gander Green Lane. This fixture was on 'pitch one', directly in front of a two-storey building that includes a clubhouse and changing rooms. A first floor covered balcony provides an elevated view and, at pitch level, there are wooden shelters filled with chairs and tables. One curious feature of the ground is a small open terrace in a corner of the pitch. A plaque says it was relocated there from Gander Green Lane.   Sutton had the better of the first half. They took a deserved lead and will have been frustrated to allow Northampton to equalise soon after. Th...