Hoppers do it Anywhere
Crowd Hopping This week, we will revisit the Scotswood Sports Centre, also known as the KD Stadium, home of Newcastle Blue Star. The game against Carlisle City will be a part of the weekend’s Northern League Hop, which started on April 2nd with West Auckland Town v Thornaby – FT 4-0. Full Weekend Itinerary: Friday…
Chester-Field-Trip This Saturday we are travelling south, to North Derbyshire for the game between Chesterfield and Barrow AFC. The game is part of the restart of the Football League, with both League One and League Two kicking off their seasons. Unfortunately, I never got to visit Chesterfield’s old ground, Saltergate, and I really wish I…
Bring Me Sunshine Morecambe and Wise were a comedic duo that I grew up with, and John Eric Bartholomew hailed from this week’s destination. Born in Morecambe on May 14th 1926, Bartholomew changed his name to that of his hometown on the northwest coast of England, to form one of the UK’s best-loved comedy duos,…
After the Storm Today would see me heading to Whitby, a town I have wanted to visit for many years. The great British seaside is often overlooked, with holidaymakers understandably, preferring the sunnier climes abroad. However, there are nuggets scattered around the United Kingdom’s coastline, and Whitby is one of them. Steeped in history, with…
Landlords versus Tenants Both Sunderland West End and Chester-Le-Street United, currently call the Ford Hub Complex home. I have visited the complex before but neglected to do a blog review at the time. So, with both of today’s teams calling the ground home, it was a perfect opportunity to rectify that prior neglect. With Stoke…
By Hook or by Crook Last weekend, despite severe weather warnings for much of the country, I was determined to keep my FA Vase run going, with a game at Crook Town. Unfortunately, the weather, with Storm Darragh as its champion, won the battle – with the Millfields pitch waterlogged. So I did what every…
The Return of ‘Er Indoors This weekend sees us travelling across the country for a trip into the Lake District for a game between Penrith AFC and Shildon AFC. Saturday also sees the return of Mrs Hopper, my trusty navigator and speaker of sense. She will be with me for next week’s game too, so…
Kendal? That’s Mint! The new season began for us on a nice summery July day in Kendal, and let’s face it, those kinds of days have been pretty rare so far. This year will bring a new experience for the club we were visiting, as they have been sidestepped into a new division for the…
A United City The city of Carlisle is home to two football clubs. Everyone knows about Carlisle United and we had a great day out when we visited Brunton Park back in January 2023 – Hopper Tales #53. However, like Manchester, Carlisle has a United and a City Football Club and today we will be…
Strike Chaos Birtley Town may have been our final destination this weekend but it didn’t happen without hitches. First off, we had initially planned a trip to Wigan Athletic for their home game with Portsmouth. Train strikes put paid to that particular trip, so alternative plans needed to be made. I selected four local games…