Matt Coughlan

Another Harrogate Railway game. Another 3-0 win. Could get used to that.

Yes, it’s nice to get updates about how my nephews are getting on playing football, but I can’t really post the clips and dissect the defending they were up against to promote the book on here. His sighting of the book in Liverpool Waterstones on the other hand…

Most notable things from Clapton’s surprise defeat to Basildon were not missing anything going to the bar during a stoppage (for one of many fouls), and the visiting GK deploying clearances out of that Bryan’s Gunn compilation late on. Atmosphere made the trip worth it as always.

Couldn’t get away early enough to play cricket, but did catch the opening league game for Harrogate Railway, who won by a cricket score. More specifically one of my cricket scores. 3-0 and a good start to the season.

Took my son out on his 🚲 at lunchtime. When I asked why he wasn’t using an easier gear to get up a hill, his reply could’ve been a motivational quote from an old school #TdF rider: ‘If I can get up there in this gear, I know I can get up there in all the others.’ Now checking his room for Pot Belge

Today’s big sporting drama was returning a racing pigeon. It got lost on a short training run near Whitby. As far as debuts go that’s like Woodgate’s Madrid debut and then getting lost in the tunnel and ending up at a chicken coop in Siguenza

I do like it when a cricket club has a bar in the pavilion that welcomes members of the public. Enjoyed a couple of pints watching Harrogate’s midweek league game, mixed with umpiring my kids playing in the nets. I’ve now had to look up the rules around sledging.

YouTube video by Beau Miles Using YouTube to plant a forest

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As much as I’m looking forward to the new football season I can’t bring myself to be excited about friendlies. Not when I can cycle to a couple of village cricket matches and a vineyard.

Always liked to answer Q&As in a matchday programme as if I was a player, and here I have that opportunity as a writer (only without having to give the seemingly obligatory answer that Phil Collins was my favourite musician).

Which grounds are you looking to get to this season? For me it’s…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Ayr/Morton/QoS
🐇 Northern League Hop
🏺Several rounds of the FA Vase
🏡 More Railway games
🏟️ Great Yarmouth
🥀Avro/Bacup/Colne
🔙 Clapton

#groundhopping

Took a southerner to their first rugby league match. Rhinos laid on plenty of points and we got to sing along to Marching on Together without supporting the football team. Success.

YouTube video by The Velo Pages Cycling Documentary: "The Lost Merckx" The Ultimate Cycling Barnfind.

Lovely little documentary this 👇🏻

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YouTube video by Topliss at the Turnstiles What I Saw at 30+ Sunday League Games This Season...

Catching up on various football content on YouTube and to paraphrase Barry Davies, I have to say this is magnificent…

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Football Writing Blog: Come and get me plea! One of the questions I frequently get asked as a writer is ‘what’s next?’ Usually, I have a couple of ideas on the go, but after Groundhopper I didn’t. I’ve had a vague idea to develop my cricket b…

A new blog that’s a mish mash of musings on a new writing project, a come and get me plea to magazine/website editors, and repository of photos I had left over.

mattcoughlanbooks.com/2025/06/06/f...

I’m up to 132 grounds now, so perhaps I’ll have to think of some sort of follow up 🤔

Just the one error that’s bothered me since recording this. When asked about a favourite anecdote I didn’t use the one with the rhubarb and casual sexism.

Enjoyed other episodes in the back catalogue too, which are a treasure trove for #groundhoppers.

Dropping Sunday 🎙️

@mattcoughlan.bsky.social joins me to discuss his second book, all about #groundhopping

Here's a snippet where we discuss the world's oldest football ground, @hallamfc1860.bsky.social 🏟️

Sub/catch up wherever you get your podcasts...

Most European football seasons are over, but the podcast keeps coming over the summer, including:

🏟️ #Groundhopping w/ @mattcoughlan.bsky.social
⚽ Football and Colonialism w/ Ronny Blaschke
🏆 Copa Libertadores w/ Luciano Wernicke
🇺🇾 Uruguayan identity
🇮🇪 Bohemians
📣 South American fan culture

YouTube video by BBC Archive 1976: BIG JIM's Big BOOZY Bike Trip to Braemar | Nationwide | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive

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This might just contain the secret to me getting out on my bike more this summer

👀

Groundhopping Blog: Full time The football season has come to an end and for those of us who like to groundhop it’s given us the chance to make a series of discoveries. The first half of my season was covered here and this blog…

Getting ahead of the curve for end of season reviews with a summary of my season in #groundhopping

mattcoughlanbooks.com/2025/05/10/g...

A write up of last weekend’s #groundhopping trip abroad, featuring my worst game of the season and a rogue tambourine.

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With my football season over these are 4 of my favourite new #groundhopping ticks, at Everton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Raith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, STVV 🇧🇪, and Bathgate 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. What are some of yours?

In addition to all the usual football podcasts on the way home, really enjoyed this one about a lesser known UK cycle race…

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Some groundspotting while in Brussels, with not so much a magic door, as wide open gates, trim trail, and invitation to wander all around. Only someone practicing javelin deterred me from getting on the pitch

🇧🇪STVV v Beerschot - Rounded off my groundhopping weekend with a 2-1 win for STVV that could go a long way to keeping them up. Both sets of fans were pretty impressive and I liked the old south stand. Game showed why they are in the relegation playoffs.

🇧🇪OHL v KVM - Chris Coleman’s Leuven lost 2-1 in the conference league playoff group partly due to some atrocious refereeing and partly due to not containing Mechelen’s wide players. Game also notable for a spell with a missing corner flag, and drumming.

🇳🇱MVV v Jong Ajax - A last min winner for MVV preserved my 120+ games since a 0-0 after one of the worst games I’ve ever seen. A dead rubber. An argument against B teams. An atmosphere like a dismal T20. The MVV fans even started singing ‘You’re f-ing shit’. Nice night out mind

Groundhopping Blog: The Tube to Wembley The phrase ‘road to Wembley’ conjures up memories of TV montages used in the build up to the FA Cup final, and footage of the team’s coach journeys to the stadium. I have never driven to Wembley an…

Thursday’s trip to Wembley FC warranted a blog with a few more pics of the ground, so here it is…

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