Steve B the Groundhopper

2.45pm 7 November  2025 Independent Schools FA Bowl, Second Round St Edmund's College 3 Stephen Perse Cambridge 0 (att 7) St Edmund's College, in Hertfordshire, is barely a ten minute drive from where we're staying with family for the weekend, and so near enough for one of my occasional dips into the Independent Schools FA's under 18 competitions. The ISFA Bowl is the lowest of a trio of competitions that fee-charging schools can enter, in addition to the flagship ISFA Cup. The early rounds are regionalised, producing what amounted to a local derby. It was a fairly straightforward win for St Edmund's. They scored once in an evenly-contested first half, then twice more in a second period during which they were much more dominant. The St Edmund's College playing fields are across the road from the main school buildings, with the pitch used for this game quite a hike from the entrance. It was an enjoyable game, and a good way to pass the time on a Friday afternoon.

3.15pm 2 October  2025 Independent Schools FA Bowl, First Round Radley College 2 Shiplake College 2 aet, 5-6 on penalties (att 18) I only occasionally dip into fixtures in the Independent Schools FA's under 18s cup competitions, usually when they fit in well with a journey I'm already making. As I had to drive from the south east back up to Manchester, a detour via Oxford wasn't too far out of my way. The flagship competition is the ISFA Cup, sponsored by high end jewellers Boodles. Schools also have the option of entering one of three other ISFA tournaments, depending on their ranking. The ISFA Bowl is the lowest of those. Radley is a village between Abingdon and Oxford. Looking at Google Maps, the school is about the size of the rest of the village. The playing fields are certainly huge, and on arrival I could only see a swathe of rugby pitches. Eventually I was directed to a sole football pitch, in a far corner of the facility. It may be that association football gets mo...