groundhopper

July 10 Agreed to drive the eldest son to Sussex to collect a car and the only easily accessible ground was Elmbridge Eagles who are at present unable to use their own ground. That is a very long story which was explained to be by the father of one player. What a club they are, being based just outside London in Esher but as a club having existed for over 30 years and I assume the longest running amateur team in the South East. Trying to confirm the fixture, I found they has three youth teams away at different venues and on arrival discovered a girls match, possibly under 16. Only c

Glad to see others posting and hopefully a few others will even if only visiting local clubs. For myself a very local derby with two sides less than a mile apart. I think it is accepted the North East shows real potential and after the success of the Hurricanes last year, a second team has started in Hartlepool. For those that don’t know the town is the hotbed of RU a in the North East, West Hartlepool were in the Premiership when the game went professional and a lack of funds to compete with those with huge backers caused then to first struggle, then sell the ground and now com

June 26 Hull Bilton Bears 0 Hull Dockers A 80 It’s good to be watching up north again. There is just a difference in the nature of the game when played by those brought up on it. I was late in discovering the local league in Hull and have only seen a few at home with wonderful venues like the Graveyard and Orchard Park surrounded by flats and wish I had seen more the now not used pitches. The Hull and District League appears to have folded and the Yorkshire Men’s has had the sense to put most Hull teams together in Div 5 East. That may result in some mismatches but it is better

June 19 2021 Wales Aber Valley 10 Bridgend Blue Bulls 26 This is a five team league this year with Torfaen have returned to the league at least temporarily from the Southern Conference and all five are well established clubs. This may in fact be a problem as there are no enough clubs for 2 divisions and this being arguably the highest standard of the southern regional leagues, there is no room for recreational players. New teams join but often have a short shelf life. The main town in the valley is Senghenydd infamous for the worst mining disaster in British hist

Eastern Rhinos 28 Bedford Tigers 22 You can usually tell who are the established teams in the south by the nicknames, those who have been around longest took theirs from the top sides, newer once’s take something more local. indeed Eastern Rhinos go back through Ipswich Rhinos and Felixstowe back to at least 1992 and Bedford although replacing a previous team called Swift’s to a similar date. Both started off as winter teams Rhinos play in Colchester now and are members of the Southern Conference. Unlike some places visited this year, clubs in this are very much clubs not just a

June 5 Bath Gladiators 28 Reading 32 Looking for a fixture foir yesterday and fancied going South West before the summer traffic makes it difficult and the choice is amazing. The previous post relates to Droitwich/ Worcester and further south All Golds made their Bristol debut and beyond that there was Devon at Newton Abbot and Tarka Storm at South Molton, a small market town in North Devon. Three hours in Bath is always appealing and was the choice although the club do not paly in the city. There has been a reasonable RL history in the city, originally in the 80's in the winte

May 29 Tameside Knights 62 Blackpool Stanley A 40 There have been teams on and off in Tameside for some time including in I think the Pennine League but considering the proximity to Oldham, surprisingly little. The difference is not one of geography but schools where Union is strong in Tameside and Ashton RU where the game took place, one of at least three RU teams. Tameside play in the merit league and could probably play higher but they are pretty much a combination of Ashton's two RU teams and can only play until training begins for the other code. Blackpool Stanle

May 22 Headed south today for my fix It is always to see new teams start and whilst many fall by the wayside, others continue to develop. Today was the first game for Canvey Knights who use the RU facilities. I cannot recollect any other RL game taking place on an island in Great Britain. Travelling there there is however little feeling of being on an island, just a muddy creak to cross. Canvey is part industrial, oil refinery, scrapyard and partly 20th century suburbia but the area to the ground gives an indication of what it must have looked like years ago, the groun

Technically it’s not the Hull League but Yorkshire Men’s 5 east There are 8 teams, Dockers and West Hull a teams, Three Tuns, Cottingham, Scarborough, Lambwath Lions ( Sutton Trust), Kingswood Knights and Bilton. The best place to find info, fixtures for the next week and particularly Venues is the Hull refs site

In many ways I would like to post this in the main forum as the aim is to get people who only follow Super League to know what is on there doorstep For the next few weeks I will post about the match visited and hope others will do the same May 15 Kinsley Hotel Raiders 10 Sheffield Hawks 42 This year the Yorkshire Mens has sensibly regionalised division 5 into four leagues. The hosts played at Vale Head Park when I previously saw them. on a wet day, which it was when I visited, that can only be described as bleak/ The now play in the centre of the village. They have no

Gateshead are not in the same league as London in all their guises for grounds but apart from the International Stadium and Kingston Park, I have seen then at Darlington and South Shields FC and they appear to have also used Blaydon RU, Percy Park and one in Gateshead. Including Monkton stadium that's 7 at least That may pit them about level with Oldham but way behind Sheffield. I can think of twelve for them and suspect there are more. This includes Woodlands Road Athletics stadium where only half of one side was available and St Marys College which had no cover and Dewsbury needed to

Think I might be the person Hopping Mad referred to I have added up a total of 121 grounds for top level League but including amateurs I have a total of 488 This is primarily due to the southern sides constantly moving so it includes 6 venues for Birmingham, 8 for Leicester7, 5 for Valley Cougars As for one offs, Dorbrevice in Czech republic for an international although I think South Birmingham may have only hosted one fixture at Edwardians RU

This was touched on the Sheffield Eagles thread below The majority of people on here probable know Martin, as he gets to all Eagles games, many others from Finals to championship 1 and is well known throughout the amateur game. More importantly he appears to be liked by all. I have spoken twice, since my post on the other thread to Martin. He suffered a fall and has damage to his hip He advises he is likely to be in hospital for at least four weeks. He is however doing well and is being cared for excellently by the NHS. As those who know him would expect, he has set himself a

I have been speaking to Martin by phone almost weekly Next time I speak I will check he has seen the club message although it is almost certain he has and ask if he wants to update or if I can send a message on his behalf He does have an account on here but has not posted for sometime

SA 16 BDH 20 2005 Cov 24 SA 36 2005 Bramley appears to have been 23 July source St Albans v Sheffield Hawks prog 2005 SA 6 LS 26 SA 4 Hemel 2 source prog v CC 26/2/2006 which was played as a one off at St Albans RU. Source prog for that game. I have the teams listed in the prog but not the actual teams