Groundhopping24

When it comes to cup finals, you don't really expect one to take place in the arse end of Hemel Hempstead, situated in a ground that essentially doubles up as a car park. Then again, who wants the expected? In light of pandemic related disruption, a whole host of non-league clubs have effectively had their seasons cut short once again. The stress of starting two unfinished seasons loomed large for so many unfortunate clubs, eleven of whom decided to take matters into their own hands. Those in the Spartans South Midlands League opted to start a cup competition: the Gladwish SSML Spring Cup 2021. A group of six and a group of five contested the first round, with two winners from each group progressing to the semis. From there, things are pretty self-explanatory. Aylesbury Vale Dynamos were well beaten by London Lions 4-0, whereas Colney Heath saw off Shefford Town & Campton 2-0 to reach the final. The SSML Gladwish SSML Spring Cup may not have been top of anyone's list at the...

They say you always remember your first game. But they never say you always remember your first game back after the second or third wave of a pandemic. Nonetheless, that’s also very true, especially if it’s a ten goal thriller. The first game back after last time feels like a lifetime ago, but it was only September 2020 when I’d made that beautiful first step back into a stadium - a 4-2 win for hosts Cockfosters over Stanway Rovers in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round. Before my trip to North London, I’d had to wait six months for another live game, following a 3-1 defeat for my beloved (and hapless) Stevenage in Crewe that I’d learned to appreciate more than I could have imagined at the time. It was to be the last time seeing friends for half a year. Fast forward to that night in Cockfosters, and it seems as if all is back to normal. Seventeen games later, I find myself at another game that feels like a swansong of sorts; Biggleswade United v Harpenden Town. A month of lockdown in No...

It's 11 August 2020. Stevenage are in limbo, stateless, leagueless. The nether zone between League Football and Non-League Football. Anxiously hanging around the departure zone, having picked up a few bargains from duty free (and loaned them out later on), Stevenage were going nowhere. Quite literally. The less said about the 2019-20 season, the better, so I won't say anything more about it, bar the fact some kind of divine intervention meant that Stevenage would be travelling to Bolton rather than Kings Lynn for the 2020-21 season. It seemed genuinely miraculous that a side with only three wins would end up staying in the league. The term 'sh*thousery' springs to mind. But to the detriment of Macclesfield Town, Stevenage remained  a Football League side a decade on from that promotion, and surely  wouldn't take their status for granted now. Despite a rocky 2020 portion of the season with only three wins recorded, Stevenage managed to stay up. The turn of the year g...