✓987 Kinsley Timber Stadium

Kinsley Boys 2-3 Athersley Recreation

Pre-Season Friendly

Saturday 11th July 2026

Kinsley is an ex-mining village in the civil parish of Hemsworth and the City of Wakefield.The village is between Wakefield and Pontefract, with its neighbouring villages of Fitzwilliam to the north and Hemsworth to the south-east.

The club was originally a youth team, founded in 1962 as Kinsley Village FC. The club then progressed as a senior side playing in various local leagues, becoming champions of the Doncaster & District Senior League in 2007, then taking the step up to the Central Midlands League.

Central Midlands League 2007 - 2014 and 2024 - 2026

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League 2014-15

Doncaster Senior League 2015-16

Joined the NCEL following their Premier Division North title win last season.

Kinsley Timber Stadium 

Kinsley Street

Wakefield Road,

Kinsley, 

WF9 5HA

Current NCEL grounds visited 34/42

The clubhouse and changing room are behind the goal, with a covered standing enclosure on one side and the team benches opposite. 

Kinsley Boys 2 Athersley Rec 3

Pre-season friendly

2pm ko

Att.80hc

Admission £3

Pin badge £3

Coffee £1(served by a canny lass)

An entertaining first half saw Kinsley take the lead, with the Rec equalising twice. Late pressure from the visitors resulted in a last minute winner. 

1-0 #10 12’

1-1 Kenneth Effah 18’

2-1 #23 45’

2-2 Alex Reed 45+4’

2-3 Leon Osborne 90’ 

#Heedhopper

103 miles door-to-door

0920 Flixbus Newcastle to Leeds, arriving at 1120.

1248 train Leeds - Fitzwilliam, arriving at 1315.

When I arrived in Leeds I stumbled upon a record fair in Kirkgate Market, where I spent so much time vinyl digging, that I didn't have time for a drink before catching the train to Fitzwilliam. 

I did have a pint at the Liquid Spirit in Kinsley before going into the ground, where I met up with Katie & Lee. Also at the match was Groundhopper acquaintance Stuart Long and long lost Heed fans(and now Athersley Rec followers) Nick & Alan Percival. I cancelled my coach home and cadged a lift from Katie back to the north-east. A canny day with one off the 26-27 ‘t’do list’ marked off straight away.

✓986.Moss Heaps

Gateshead Fell CFC 2-3 Washington FC Reserves

Pre-Season Friendly

Saturday 4th July 2026

I can't believe that I'm starting a brand new football season (and actually registering it as a tick) at a ground that's been a general part of my everyday life.

The Moss Heaps are playing fields in between Wrekenton( where I lived for the majority of the first 6 years of my life) and Beacon Lough (where I lived for the next 35 years). 

I've played football on the pitches from being a bairn, and watched plenty of Sunday morning pub football, including when it was the home of The Raven, a long lost boozer on the Beacon Lough East estate. I even walk the dogs over these playing fields every week.

I was delighted to see a new club - Gateshead Fell CFC entering the Wearside League Third Division, a name which indicates they may be playing in my local area, and a team I could lend my support to. The club runs junior boys and girls teams at all age levels, with their senior team now stepping into the non-league pyramid.

According to the Wearside League website, they are listed as playing at the Washington Hub, so disappointing that they aren't playing in the Heed at all, nevermind the Low/High Fell area of Gateshead. Cardinal Hume School is across the road, but the 4G pitch there doesn’t meet league standards and the Moss Heaps is definitely no good, because of the danger to passing traffic(and putting your life in your hands when retrieving the ball)

This was the club's first of five pre-season matches on the Moss Heaps over the coming month, starting with Washington Reserves. The Fell were two goals up and the break, but the visitors were stronger in the second half and took the win with a brace from Milo Bond.

Gateshead Fell 2 Washington Reserves 3

1pm ko 

Att.45hc

2-0 David Kennedy 17’ 32’

2-1 Jason Persee 47’

2-3 Milo Bond 64' 79’

 

✓985 Kings Field

Beeston St Anthony 2-0 Ripon City

West Yorkshire League Premier Division

Saturday 23rd May 2026

Beeston is a suburb in Leeds, located 2 miles south of the city centre. The origins of Beeston can be traced back to the medieval period. It remained a small settlement until the latter part of the Victorian era when it became a primarily residential area for people working in Leeds and surrounding industrial areas. Beeston appears in the Domesday Book, as Bestone. The name seems to come from Old English which translates as -  'estate characterised by bent-grass’(population: over 22,000 which included Holbeck)

 

Beeston St Anthony joined the West Yorkshire League from the Leeds Red Triangle League. The club have been Premier Division champions on four occasions in 2011-12, 2015-16,2020-21,2023-24 and this season they’ve finished league runners-up for a fifth time.

Kings Field

Moorhouse Avenue

Beeston Leeds

LS11 8HA

The ground is fully enclosed, railed off with team benches and hard standing on one side. The Hugh Gaitskell pavilion has a refreshment kiosk at the entrance.

Beeston St Anthony 2 Ripon City 0

West Yorkshire League - Premier Division matchday 28

(2nd v 3rd)

1430ko

Att.92hc (mainly made up by loads of desperate Groundhoppers)

As the players entered the pitch there was a guard of honour for two players, who I’m guessing were making their final appearance for the club. Beeston followed up on their midweek League Cup success with another win, scoring twice in the first half but they should have won by a bigger margin. 

1-0 #8 21’

2-0 #9 32’

#Heedhopper

97 miles door-to-door

Flixbus: Newcastle 0820 - arrive Leeds 1015. Return: 1755 -1955.

I squeezed in one last trip, because I always like to complete the season with my grounds total finishing in a five or a zero digit. 

I travelled on the Flexbus for the first time and it was spot on, running on time in both directions. I spent the morning browsing the record shops and stopping off for drinks, before boarding the 24 to Beeston, the bus stopping a short stroll from Kings Field. 

Afterwards I watched the play-off final in the Head of Steam on Park Row (new tick) before the bus back hyem. 

✓984. Winton Park

Ardrossan Winton Rovers 5-1 Gartcairn

West of Scotland FL First Division

Saturday 16th May 2026

 

Ardrossan is a town on the North Ayrshire coast which forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns' (population over 10,000) 

Ardrossan developed during the 18th and 19th centuries, due to its position on the coast, exporting coal and pig iron to Europe and North America. It was also a centre for shipbuilding, with fishing vessels and small cargo boats being the mainstream of the shipyard until the 1950s

Ardrossan Winton Rovers FC formed in 1900 as a Juvenile club before joining the Junior ranks in 1903. The club’s early league honours include winning the Irvine & District League in 1909-10 and 1911-12, followed by the Western League in 1919-20 and 1933-34. The Winton have won an array of cup honours including the Ayrshire Cup four times and lifting the Ayrshire District Cup on five occasions. They won the Ayrshire District League for a second time in 2014–15 and were promoted to the SJFA Super League First Division.They joined the West of Scotland League in 2020, and have now won promotion into the Premier Division. due to the reconstruction of the Lowland League for next season.

Winton Park

Anderson Terrace,

Ardrossan

KA22 8JP

Capacity 3,500

Record Attendance 6,000 v Irvine Meadow, Scottish Junior Cup 1970

Total Scottish grounds visited 131

Current WoSFL grounds visited 15/32

The club bought Winton Park from Lord Eglinton in 1923 for £160. The park originally ran in an East - West direction, before turning to its current North -South direction prior to Bells Nursery selling a strip of land to them for £50. The grandstand was built around 1956, but unfortunately this classic style stand is currently out of bounds to spectators, but has the changing and corporate rooms underneath. Next to is an elevated covered stand which has the refreshment bar and social club behind it. There’s plenty of terracing and covered stands on all sides, as well as sections of benches, plus it now has an all-weather pitch. 

Update for Ardrossan sent via X

We are adding a new roof to the stand which is 70 years old and extending the seating in it to achieve our SFA Club License. Work started on this after our last match of the season v Gartcairn and expected to take 4 weeks

Ardrossan Winton Rovers 5 Gartcairn 1

West of Scotland League First Division matchday 30(

5th v 15th)

2pm ko

Att.107hc

Admission £8

0-1 #10 1’

1-1 Sam McCloskey 5’

2-1 Aidan Ferris 45+3 HT

#11(Gartcairn) Red card 63’

3-1 Aiden Ferris 76’

4-1 Ewan McIver 82’

5-1 Ross McIver87’

Ardrossan hit back after conceding a first minute goal to comfortably finish the campaign with a handsome victory, although the visitors having a player sent off around the hour mark, made it easier, as the final score suggests.

#Heedhopper

164 miles door-to-door

0620 train Newcastle to Glasgow via Edinburgh arrive 0907 - return 1700 - 2003

A very early start was required for my plan to visit a couple of ‘Spoons pubs on the Ayrshire coast, before visiting a ground that's been on my t’do list for quite a while. The plan went like clockwork with all eight trains from Newcastle and back running on time. I spent an hour in both Saltcoats and Largs, where I also had a pint in the Three Reasons. A great day out - I love it when a plan comes together and it was a pleasure to visit Winton Park. It's been a ground I’ve been looking forward to ticking off and you can understand why from my photographs.