Captain White sticks ground hopping adventures

a very warm welcome from the magical and historical city of berlin. for one of my many pilgrimages to the land of beer, sausage, and affordable football. the 1st of 4 games in 3 days in germany. offering number one comes from the stadiom litchenfielde, regionalligga north ost action. hertha zelendorf vs rotweis erfert, who hail from the former east germany.  this, the 4th tier of german football.  13th vs 3rd.  to obtain promotion, you have to win the league, and the 6 winners of the various regional leagues play off for 3 promotion spots. eerfert, however, are some way behind the leaders locomotive Leipzig.  7 pm kick off, on a glorious berlin spring evening.  but the biggest question of the weekend, how many bratwurst's can davis manage over the weekend?  i magaged 11 on a trip in 2019. watch this space...   full time   from last night and honours even with a 3 all draw.   an error strewn game lacking in quality with several howlers ...

the sun is shining, the ale is flowing,   the sound of leather on willow is echoing, and all is well   with the world.    welcome to amesbury avenue, for my first cricket of 2025. 1st round waddilove cup action. knock out cup for teams in the aire wharfe league. thackley currently 90 for 3 after 20 of an allotted 45 overs vs skipton.  both teams ply their trade in division 3 of this league.    mid innings break at amesbury lane, and thackley rack up an impressive 347 for 7 off 45 overs. skipton requiring a run rate of 7,5 to chase this one down. thackley were 80 for 3, but that was as good as it got for skiptom, before a 132 run 4th wicket partnership between robbie williams who departed for 51. 100 runs later followed overseas pro from brisbane nick burford, 176 with 22 4s and 9 6s. 3 for 51 best of the bowlers.   skipton already 7 for 1 off 3 overs.  result from amesbury Avenue,  and thackley through to the next round with a resoun...

 at gorse lane, home of grantham cc for day 2 of this minor counties eastern division clash between lincolnshire and northumberland.  lincs are 2nd after 3 games, 16 points behind leaders staffordshire with suffolk a point back in 3rd.  northumberland are struddling and are 2nd from bottom.  i arrive with northumberland on 153 for 6  in reply to lincs 370 for 5 declared, in which jack timby top scored with 124, danniel freeman weighing in with 110.  karl wilson 59 and joseph kendal 41. to give you some background, the minor counties championship has an eastern and western division, both have ten teams, with the winner of each division playing off to decide the championship.  matches are 3 day affairs but 120 overs is bowled, and an innings can only last 90 overs.  phil mustard is donning the gloves for northumberland. each team however only plays 6 games due to the to work conmitments of the players stumps here at gorse lane and its all set for a ...

 at  penpole lane, for w e p l bristol and north somerset division mid table clash between twyford house, 5th vs brizlington, one point above them in 4th.  promotion looks beyond the realms of possibility for both, as run away leaders winterbourne are 23 points clear at the summit.  shire hampton vs nailsea is going on  just across the way, so a chance of a cricket double header today in the bristol sunshine.  twyford batting first. opponents brizlington are celebrating their 150th year in existance this year, and there are many events going on at iron mold lane to to commemorate this fabulous achievement.  somerset have played at briz's ground twice and were featured in a televised john player league sunday game in 1970 vs yorkshire.

 at a bright and breezy bradford road, for this bradford league 2nd division clash between wrenthorpe, 2nd, vs gommersall, 6th.  a mere 24 points separate the top 3 of undercliffe, the hosts, and morley.  wrenthorpe have adjusted well to life in the bradford league following  the competition's restructure 2 years ago which saw the them transfer from the now defunked central yorkshire cricket league, whilst gomersall sit in the classic mid table comfort zone.  home team batting first following a delayed start on a quirky characterful ground close to wakefield.  on a green top, this could be an exciting low scoring and close encounter. at the half way stage here at bragg lane, rather than bradford road, and wrenthorpe close on 199 for 4.  they were 27 for 3, but a tremendous partnership between numbers 4 and 5 who scored 77 and 68 respectively prepelled them to a respectable score .      their innings had a  one and a half hour's brea...

 at Sandhill Lane. Sutton on Derwent, 8 miles east of York. k3 dental cup action. Woodhouse Grange vs Scarborough. this is the combined club knock out comp for teams in the ecb yorkshire premier leagues north and south respectively. home side 4 times national village cup champions. scarborough also one and of the  more successful teams at this level too. a cool and cloudy day. conditions more like mid april rather than Mid June. Yesterday's result from Sandhill Lane. and Scarborough squeak through to the next round of the viking cup by 10 runs. Batting first, they  mustered a seemingly below parr 196 for 7, off a reduced 38 overs.  Top scorers for the Seasiders were Matthew Turnbull, 56, and Clarke Dougney, 55 not out.  The latter rescuing the Seasiders to some degree, with an unbroken 8th wicket partnership of 45 at the end of the innings. Tom Neil, three for 53 being the best of the woodhouse grange bowlers. but when it was their turn to  bat, they slid f...

 at lords, the undisputed home of english cricket, for the last ever domestic 50 over competition at this ground.  where last year's defending champions, hampshire take on those perennial 2nd placed finishers from somerset.  hants will be aiming to defend their title they won against kent last season, and disposed of lancashire in the semi finals, whilst the cidermen their a convincing win over notts.  i'm in a stand full of supporters from the west country, and the cider is already flowing, and its just after 11 am.  so an entertaining day in the offing.  somerset at full strength, but hants missing james vince and liam dawson who have been called up to the england world cup squad.  nevertheless, hants still slight favourites due to their strong batting line up.  always a special feeling when one comes to the home of cricket. what ever the ocasion. all over at lords, and and somerset finally win their first long awaited trophy since 2005 with a 6...

 at valley parade, for football league division 4 play off semi final  action.   bradford city vs carlisle united.  this is 5th vs 4th upon final league standings.  the resurgent bantoms under the stewardship of mark huhes are attempting to to climb back to the 3rd tirr from where they were relegated in 2018, whilst paul simpson's cumbrians are having their best season since 2014.  winners to play stockport or salford in the wembley show piece at the end of the month. 21000 tickets already sold.  a very european style 7 pm sunday evening kick off for this one. ft from valley parade and the hoasts take a slender 1 nil lead into next saturday's 2nd leg tie.  first half goal from andy walker, in a half devoid of chances.  but the ofger the game went on, the more carlisle grew into the game, and always looked threatening on the break. a draw would have been a fair result in truth. crend,crowd a suped^bsuperb 20571

 at town street, Here in the rhubarb triangle, between leeds and wakefield. but Bradford Cricket league Division one of the second teams competition. With Homeside, carlton, 2 wins from 2 and top, take on bradford and bingley, bottom and having lost both encounters thus far. carlton batting first and currently 39 for 1 off 7 overs. part of a sporting double header today. at town street, for 2nd match in saturday sporting double header. football, step 7. west yorkss prem div.  carlton town, 4th, vs knaresborough town reserves, 10th. 3 games to go in! regular season.  the all conquering beeston st anthonys have already won the league yet again.  2 30 pm kick off. carlton have just taken the lead after 6 minutes. f t from yesterday's football action. and a cracking end to end encounter finishes 3 apiece. carlton took the lead with goals on 5 and 30 mins, but knaresborough always looked dangerous on the break and had the majority of possession.  they were rewarded w...

Listen to my ground hopping Podcasts covering a multitude of sports here.   https://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep-3-ci-cricket-season-preview-interview--59445414 Search for Captain White sticks ground hopping crewe on facebook.  on twitter its @Captwhitestick

 at ewen fieles, home of hyde united for manchester premier cup final, fc united of manchester, 14th in conference north vs trafford, just outside play offs in step 4 northern league division 1 north.  fc won this conpetition on a barmy evening last may at oldham's boundary park, and with them having secured safety last week will be hoping to retain their crown.  trafford will be hoping to spring a cup upset.  but the weather is far from barmy here in east manchester this evening. late drama at ewen fields.  ft 2 each.  trafford better side in first half, much more cohetion, and appeared to watt it more.  2 each at ht, with fc coming behind both times.  traford man sent off in 2nd half which gave fc momentum but they could not make the extra man count.  game went to penalties.  this sparked panic amongst some  fans, some of whom hurried to the car park which closed at ten pm and aiming to avoid their car being empounded before the c...

 and a very warm welcome along to the land of sausage, beer, fabulous trains and affordable football.  game one of ny now annual trip to Germany starts in Bavaria, for 2nd division action between Nurnberg,  11th, vs Paderborn, 9th. Both teams are set for a mid table finish.  Nurnberg  have mostly plied their trade in the 2nd tier in recent years, with generally fleeting, but never long lasting appearances in the top flight, with their most recent successful period being in 2007 when they had a good uefa cup campaign.  Whilst Paderborn were in the top flight roughly 3 years ago, but again have flitted between divisions 2 and 3 in recent times. 6 30 pm kick off at 50000 capacity max morlock stadion, with the  home side   averaging 37000  this year. average crowd for 2nd tier being 28000, with padderborn's average home crowd around 13000.

   its chalenge rugby league cup action for me today.  at crusaders park in the suberb of saint helens known as clockface for 4th round tie between thatto heath crusaders, in the 2nd tier  of ametur  rugby league and level 5 on the rugby league pyramid,  vs dewsbury rams, mid table championship.  the rams disposed of west hull in the last round.  heath are expecting a record crowd for this one and they have beeen given special dispensation from the rfl to stage this match on home turf.  737 saw their 3rd round victory over rochdale mayfield.  the bbc camras are in town for this one and is being screened live on the bbc website. apologies, thatto heath are actually at the 4th level on the rugby league pyramid and they disposed of north wales crusaders in the last round.  a crowd  of over 1000 expected today, swelled by a couple of coaches who have come across from gewsbury.  lets hope their fans have better luck than t...

 at the wkk stadium in central bavaria for last game of my tour of germany and the netherlands.  for bundes leaga division 1, mid table augsburg vs mainz 1905, 15th and with it 4th bottom.  away team desperately need a win.

 at the continental stadium, for german 2nd division, regensberg, 4th vs st pauli, 16th.  home team enjoying best period in their history having earned back to back  promotions,  and now in with a very outside chance of 3rd place and promotion play off with 3rd bottom of bundes division 1. st pauli are right in the mire, and need points for the opposite reasons.  they are the left wing alternative team from hamburg who pride themselves on conmunity engagement and being socially inclusive.  ft regensberg 3 st pauli 1.  an easy victory which sees the continuation of the regensberg fairytail.  they raced into a 3 nil lead before half time.  st pauli got one back in 2nd half but their wows were conpounded even fvrther by having a man sent off on 75 mins.  regensberg are within 2 points of 3rd in a rediculously topsy turvey and close league.

 as i sit on my long train  journey to germany for the next part of my adventure, a couple of observations about dutch football.  the fans are noisy and passionate, but the magic is lost somewhat, as most clubs seem to have relocated to identicate out of town venues within the last 20 years or so.   food at venues is rather obscure.  for example, a cheese and croquette sandwich.  3. its rather fun to listen to dutch fans as some of their chants sound like bizarre mis interpreted english phrases.  my 3 favourites.  1.  if you speak a lot of oldham clap your hands. 2.  hello, hello, we are the bedside boys.  3.  liaise with your hum bugs.  very excited about heading to the land of noisy fans, beer and sausage now. at sportrhond park, in northern bavaria, 4 miles outside nurunburg for german 2nd division greuthr furth, 14th vs bochum, 6th.  as a passionate and excited lover of trains, as i know many of you all are too, t...

 at the galgenwaard about 50 km south of amsterdam, for dutch 1st division fc utrecht, 5th vs fc groningen, 7th.  these are 2 relatively recently formed clubs being created in 1970 and 1971 respectively.  utrecht have never been relegated from the dutch top flight thus far, .  as for groningen, , to be frank, i can't think of anything particularly interesting to tell you about.  ft honours even and a one all draw in a typical end of season game in which both teams looked as if they were already on the beach.  home side took lead on 15 and one nil up half time.  penalty for gronigen 60 mins roughly.  home side looked better in last 3rd but gronigen had more possession.  my tramsport back to the central station  was a bus full to bursting point  blareing out very loud techno beats whilst whizzing round corners at break neck speed.  a bit like a modern day planet earth in leeds on wheels, although not nearly as sweaty.  and t...

 game number 2 of my ground hopping tour, takes me to a to a sun drenched victory stadium, for a z Alkmaar, 3rd vs vitesse arnhem, 7th in dutch first division.  the cheesemen from alkmaar hoping to cement 3rd place ahead of feyenord in 4th. great drama in the city of cheese sees ft alkmaar 4 vitesse 3.  the cheeseheads rather than the cheesemen as i earlier said, stormed into a 2 nil lead on 12 mins, but fatally sat back allowing arnhem to pull back to 2 apiece before exquissit chip on half time restored their lead.  2nd half carried on at same relentless pace, 4 2 to cheese heads on 55 mins, then 4 3 aprox 20 to go.  subsequent chances at both ends but alkmaar held on.

 a very warn welcome from enschede, in the east of the netherlands, for game one of my ground hopping tour of holland and germany for eire divissie dutch top flight, fc twente, rock bottom vs near neighbours pec zwolle, aprox 50 miles apart.  steeve mclaren famously guided twente to the  most glorious passage in their history to date by by winning the dutch championship in 2010, and going on to have success in europe thereafter.  he also rather infamously tried to effect a ludicrous attempt at a dutch accent whilst here during a legendary press conference in 2008.  worth a check out on youtube if you get the chance.  tonight's opponents all to play for as in 6th and battling for european qualification next term.  more like cricket weather than football, 20 degrees and glorious sunshine.  i will be on the hunt for some cricket action whilst here too. ft from last night's action. and a 2 nil win for twente. they made a barnstorming start and raced i...

at kay lane.  for huddersfield premier cricket league action.  almoddbury weslians vs shepley. 10th vs 9th. a win for either will guarantee premier division survival for next term, with teams being 6 and 7 points above the trap door positions, currently occupied by gulcar and armitage bridge. 2 go down in a 14 team league.   delfh and dobcross already relegated, and the all conquering hoylandswaine, champions yet again. 2 games to go including today.  loser of today's match may still have work to do to avoid the drop, depending upon other results.  shepley batting first on a warm and cloudy  day.   'result from kay lane, and shepley ensure premier league survival with a 111 run win over almondbury. batting first, they found it tough and slow going and were 82 for 3 off 28 overs before the acceleration commenced.  77 run partnership for 4th wicket took them to 130 for 4, but they then  subsided to 194 for 7, before a 34 run unbroken 8th w...