Page 4 - Deal Round Up August 2021

The Groundhopper
By
The Editor

I was thinking about what to write in this months Round Up and thought that many of you
may not be aware of a strange breed of football supporter, called Groundhoppers. Basically
these soccer nuts visit as many different football grounds as they can. Usually the criteria
is that the club visited must produce a match day programme. They also take photos of the
ground and together with the programme this forms an interesting diary of their visits.
I think it originated when a few supporters decided to visit every Football League ground,
known as the 92 Club. Once these were ticked off they then widened their trips to include the
hundreds of non-league grounds up and down the country.
This article is about one such Groundhopper called Jon, based in Ipswich, who has been vis-
iting different grounds since 2011. In fact he has visited 311 English grounds, 20 in Scotland,
4 in Wales, 4 in Denmark, 3 in Germany, 2 in France, 2 in Spain, 2 in Sweden, 2 in the USA
and 1 in Iceland. Included in the 311 English trips there have been many to grounds in the
non league pyramid. Here are three visits that he made to clubs in the Southern Counties East
League, although Beckenham have now joined the Combined Counties League.
Beckenham Town - Eden Park Avenue
Date: 21st August 2019
“My forty-fourth new stadium of 2019 was on
Wednesday 21st August 2019 at Eden Park Av-
enue in Beckenham, London. The match was
Beckenham Town vs. Glebe in the Southern
Counties East League Premier Division.”
“Eden Park Avenue is in a residential area with
housing flanking its eastern and northern sides.
The western edges up to a second full-size pitch
while the southern end is adjacent to the Char-
ing Cross to Hayes rail line. The latter results in
the stadium being a few hundred yards from
Eden Park railway station. The venue has been home to the club since 1980 when they depart-
ed Stanhope Grove where they had played previously.”
Result: Beckenham Town 1-3 Glebe
Division: Southern Counties East League Premier Division
Attendance: 195
Erith & Belvedere - Park View Road
Date: 25th April 2011
“My thirtieth new ground of 2011 was on Monday 25th April at Park View Road in Welling,
London. The match was Erith & Belvedere vs. Greenwich Borough in the Kent League Pre-
mier Division.”
“The second game of the day was the 3pm kick off at Erith & Belvedere. I left Colliers Wood
United just before the end of that game and travelled up to Waterloo before changing onto the
train heading for Welling. The railway station is 1 mile from the Park View Road venue which
backs onto Welling High Street, and I arrived at the ground as the sides were kicking off.”
Park View Road was built in the mid-1920s with various occupants playing at the venue since
this time. Erith & Belvedere have groundshared with Conference South side Welling United
since 1999 when the main stand in Erith & Belvedere’s ground burnt down. Erith & Belvedere

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