Hoppers Do It Together
Football Blackout With the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, September 8th, 2022, the footballing governing bodies throughout the UK decided to cancel all fixtures. Not just Premier League, nor even the top leagues, but every league right down to grassroots and children’s football. While we may all have differing opinions on the…
A Hard Act to Follow After last week’s fabulous trip to Pittodrie, we knew that the next hop would have a hard act to follow. We need not have worried! We chose to head to Stark’s Park, home to Raith Rovers and affectionately known by their supporters as the San Starko. This is the club…
A Pitt Stop The thing about time is that it respects nothing and no one, not even iconic football grounds. When I heard that Aberdeen Football Club were making plans for a new stadium, I knew I would have to go and pay homage to one of the iconic grounds of British football – Pittodrie!…
Another Disrupted Weekend Another weekend, another day of strikes by the train workers. Now we also have the Felixstowe port workers, barristers, and postal workers joining in on the ‘fun’. It does feel like we could well be heading towards the first General Strike in the UK since 3rd May 1926. Let’s hope we can…
Non-League Heroes Our next game was at West Auckland’s Darlington Road ground, or the Wanted Stadium. It was here that I was reminded of the heroes that keep non-league football club’s running with their behind-the-scenes dedication and passion. Step forward Dave Bussey, the man who does so much for the club… and all on a…
Public Transport – A National Embarrassment With no train strikes affecting our plans, we set off for Doncaster hoping for a smooth journey… The train before ours had been cancelled due to ‘trespassers on the line’, between Edinburgh and Newcastle. This meant that all seat reservations were cancelled and there was standing room only as…
Train Strikes Again Yet again, the railway strikes put paid to our original hopping plans. Instead of making our way up to Larbert for the Stenhousemuir v Albion Rovers game, we had to look for a more local venue. Bishop Auckland is a market town lying about 12 miles to the southwest of Durham. It…
When Two Become One For this weekend we had two cracking games lined up. Starting with this one at Middlesbrough‘s Riverside Stadium against a good Marseille team who finished second in last season’s Ligue 1 campaign. The plan was to follow this up with a trip to Firhill, home of Scottish Championship side, Partick Thistle….
Take Me Back Home Our third trip of the new season saw us once again crossing the border into Scotland. This time, our destination was Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. This is our favourite city we have visited in the UK so far, so when I read that FC Edinburgh were returning back to their home…
Second Game of 2022/23 Season Our second trip of the new season saw us once again across the border and into Scotland. This time to visit New Central Park to see a club that is on the rise and with the financial backing that could see them rise even higher. Sooner, rather than later. Their…