REVEALED: West Lancs 'groundhop' hosts unveiled

Nine league games will be played over the August Bank Holiday weekend (Friday August 22-Monday August 25) in the 2025/26 season.

Clubs were asked by West Lancs committee member Martin Benson – himself a ‘hopper’ – to indicate whether they were willing to host a match in 2025/26, defer to 2026/27, act as an away club or not be involved.

Host clubs are likely to see a significant rise in their matchday attendance but accommodating hundreds more spectators will be a new experience for many with additional logistical challenges.

It can now be announced which teams will act as hosts for the first West Lancs groundhop, minimising travel between matches so clubs can make the most of the experience.

Martin said: “This is both a brilliant opportunity for clubs to add funds to the coffers but also quite daunting in terms of arrangement and delivery of the games.

“I must admit to being overjoyed at the number of clubs that responded and even those with concerns we hope to work with to alleviate their worries.

“The August Bank Holiday Groundhop is one of the highlights of the groundhopping year and for the West Lancashire League, particularly as a Step 7 league, to be awarded it is a massive compliment to us.

“On a personal level I can’t wait to show off the quality of the clubs in this league as I think this may surprise a large number of hoppers.”

Chris Berezai, of GroundhopUK said: “We are delighted to be working with the West Lancashire League to stage what I believe will be an amazing weekend.

"GroundhopUK started with an event in Wales at August Bank Holiday in 2002, and it has always been our flagship weekend.

"I’m pleased that we can once again go “hopping” at August Bank Holiday, and I’m sure that the West Lancashire League will admirably fill some very big shoes!

"I’m very excited about the event and looking forward to what the League can bring us”.

Groundhop UK began in 2002 and organisers estimate members have injected £1.2m into local non-league football based on a conservative estimate of £7 spent by each ‘hopper’ at each match.
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FRIDAY AUGUST 22
Game One - Blackpool Wren Rovers

Martin said: “The Friday night hosts had to meet certain criteria in our minds. It had to be easy to reach due to the timing, had to have really good facilities and be a well-established West Lancashire League club.

"Wrens meets all of those criteria mentioned but just as importantly they have been on the radars of many hoppers for a long time.

“Luckily we were able to nip this in the bud and have them be our trailblazer club.”
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SATURDAY AUGUST 23
Game Two - Ulverston Rangers
Game Three - Dalton United
Game Four - Askam United

Martin said: “I think it’s important to remember that the idea of a Groundhop day is to get a number of games into the day. This leads to time and travel considerations and as such you have to start to look at regionalising games, this is a pattern you will see as we move on.

“The beauty of the West Lancashire League is the large geographical area we cover and so whilst a lot of clubs will be disappointed not to host this year we are really confident that all areas will get covered during the period of the agreement.

“We knew one of the days would be a Cumbria-based event purely based upon logistics, the South Lakes/Furness area is not the easiest to get to from a lot of the country, so it’s a no-brainer.

“I think the three clubs involved present a variety of settings and also an opportunity to include clubs outside of the Premier Division.”
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SUNDAY AUGUST 24
Game Five - Croston Sports
Game Six - Hesketh Bank
Game Seven - Burscough Richmond

Martin said: “We felt that after a day in the north we should move a little further south and as a result a West Lancashire day was chosen, silly as it sounds it will be nice to actually show we do have clubs in the area the league is named for!

“For me as a hopper I think this will again present a day of mixed venues and mixed divisions with some well-established clubs able to promote themselves.”

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MONDAY AUGUST 25
Game Eight - CMB
Game Nine - Tempest United

Martin said: “The final day sees the hoppers set off for the various corners of the country where they live and so it was decided that in Year 1 we would go to the Bolton area for ease of travel.

“The fates have fallen in our favour and it allow this year’s champions, and possibly the runners up for the past two years, the opportunity to close off the event.

“When the hosts were chosen this wasn’t the case but, as I say, the fates fell kindly and I think it is a great way to end a weekend.”
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QUESTION AND ANSWER

Which clubs were not considered?

GroundhopUK rules say those who groundshare or are not the primary tenant at the ground are excluded.

Also excluded are reserve sides, both at home and away, and clubs that have appeared in previous ‘hops’ while in other leagues.

This ruled out Whitehaven who hosted a Northern League hop game, Mill Hill who at the time of asking were ground sharing at Darwen, and the reserve sides at Euxton Villa, Thornton Cleveleys, Charnock Richard, Bamber Bridge, Holker Old Boys and Garstang, as well as ruling out both Reserve Divisions.

What about Fulwood Amateurs – their location suggests it would be perfect as a ‘hop’ host?

As I mentioned when talking about the choice of Wrens, Fulwood have applied to go into the North West Counties League and if they finished in the top five could well be promoted, which is something they have now achieved.

That means they likely won’t be in our league next year and GroundhopUK can look at them for a North West Counties ‘hop’ in the future.

When will the ‘away’ clubs be decided?

Away clubs have not yet been decided but what we intend to do is have clubs who play as an away side in the first hop host in either Year 2 or Year 3.

As we have already discussed this is because of being able to organise regional days, the restrictions of divisional, general club movement and the ask on clubs to travel for unusual game days and times.

It is hoped away clubs will be confirmed and informed soon after the AGM in June when the make-up of the divisions is confirmed.

Fixtures secretary Andy Hosker will confirm those as soon as possible to allow clubs time to prepare.

What if a club refuses to be an away club or kick off at a different time than normal?

We’re sure that won’t be the case as the response so far has been fantastic, and the clubs understand that they all have to help each other out to make this a success. Putting yourself out for a club in one year can mean that another club will put themselves out for you.

There are big areas not included like Lancaster, Ribble Valley and east Lancashire?

It was unfortunately inevitable with only nine hosts available this year, not everyone could be a host in Year 1. The geographical consideration also came into play with some clubs, but this is a minimum three-year deal with GroundhopUK so these areas will get their turn, we promise!

Do clubs involved in the groundhop matches have to provide an assistant referee?

No.

Each match will have three appointed match officials assigned to them by Dave Hesketh, a referee and two assistants, even if it is a Division One or Division Two game.

It will be a great occasion for everyone involved hopefully and that goes for our match officials, too.

Home clubs will be responsible for covering their fees as is the norm, however we are extremely confident that the additional revenue brought in on the day will outweigh those costs.