An iconic ‘Game of two halves’.

Each season I like to watch an Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup, the start of the journey to the final at Wembley. Last year, I started with Albion Sports losing at home to Trafford FC. The game was played at Bradford Park Avenues ground whilst they’res at Myra Shay was being updated to League standards

I noticed this year that Albion had been drawn away to Sheffield FC at the same stage of the competition. I drove to Dronfield, Sheffield still playing in Derbyshire, with their plans to finally set up in Sheffield stalled yet again.

Over recent years, the grounds car park has been reduced and a charge has now been introduced. There have also been little done to upgrade the ground although t looked good in the sunshine with the blue skies dotted with white fluffy clouds. The flat grass pitch, heavily sanded, looked in perfect condition after its rest, emphasised by the end to end striping by the cutting. There is still seating behind one goal, an end that also has the club house, changing rooms and food kiosk. One side has terraced standing with half of it covered, and the rest of the ground just has a path around the perimeter.

These two teams play in the same league, Northern Counties East, Premier Division, having played just one league game of the new season. Sheffield started their campaign with an away draw whilst Albion lost.

Albion Sports in their 51st year, started off playing Sunday League football. Steady progress led them to be winners of The Asian Cup and Bradford Senior Cup and League in 2000. That same season and in 2005 they went all the way to the final of The FA Sunday Cup, but were runners up on both occasions. In 2007 Albion moved to playing on Saturdays where they were successful in local leagues and were elected to the Northern Counties East League in 2011 which they won 3 years later and gained promotion to the Premier Division where they play today. An impressive rise in their short History.

Sheffield FC’s history as the worlds oldest team is well documented and their web site provides a good description of their pioneering days and up to date.

Sheffield FC 1 Albion Sports 1

Saturday 2nd August 2025, 15.00 pm kick off, Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup.

The Club v The Lions

Sheffield FC: Red and black quartered shirts, black shorts, Goalkeeper in yellow.

Albion Sports: All white kit with goalkeeper in all Pink.

Before kick off Albion were in a long huddle but it was Sheffield who started the game with the greatest intensity. The Club attacked down both wings with their most success coming from down the right and it was from there that on 13 minutes a cross was met by Nathaniel Crofts, at the far post, who headed the ball into the net. Sheffield were the more composed team and dominated play. Sheffield looked as if their training for the new season was paying off appearing to understand where each other were and where to put the ball. Alex Hardwick was denied by a point blank save by James Aspinall 10 minutes before half time and just before half time his header from a corner tipped the top of the cross bar. As the teams came off at half time Sheffield had looked well in control and the better team.

What a change in the second half with Albion Sports now dominating play, that must have been some team talk at the break. With Sheffield’s goalkeeper screaming for his players to challenge the opponents, Albion executed some neat play around the box to give Nathan Cartman the opportunity to curl a shot across Jim Pollard’s outstretched left hand to nestle in the corner of the net to equalise.

After the goal the referee allowed a drinks break, on the warm day, and also to attend to an injured player. Sheffield needed to regroup, but Albion kept up the pressure playing through a blizzard of dandelion seeds swirling around the pitch. Albion didn’t manage to get the winner and both sides will replay in the week. Certainly a game of two halves and Sheffield must have rued their first half chances and should have gone in at half time well out of sight.

A very good program for £2. It had good info on the clubs, players, and stats.

After just two matches of the new season I have been lucky to have had two portions of good chips. These were golden, crisp, no greasy after taste but not quite as tasty as last weeks at Berwick, a score of 66.

The Berwick Charities Cup Final 2025.

Having watched Berwick Rangers play Cowdenbeath in the afternoon, I made my way to ‘The Stanks’, the area just outside the Elizabethan Castle walls. Berwick Rangers played some of their early games here.

This is the third year I have been to this competition, but the first final I have been able to attend.

Thanks to the community, this cup has been played for over 100 years, raising funds for local charities. Much needed today as it has been in all its years.

The match kicked off early, 18.56, after the teams had been led onto the pitch by a lone piper.

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As normal, it was an amazing sight to see the pitch, restored every year for this competition, enclosed on two sides by castle ramparts, and lined by a narrow local road on the other two. Looking beyond, you can see a beach and the North Sea. A good crowd had gathered. Mainly sitting on the wall or standing pitch side or on the road. A collection was taken for the fund, and a table heaved with the donations for the raffle.

As usual, an ice cream van was in attendance behind the goal.

The evening had cooled from the 20 degrees of the day, except if you were playing. Evergreens were from Chirnside north of Berwick in Scotland and Hadda Mad Dogs from Amble in England. So it looked like the normal borders rivalry and skirmish.

Evergreens 4 Hadda Mad Dogs 2

Saturday 26th July 2025, 18.56 kick off. The Berwick Charities Cup Final, The Stanks, Berwick Castle, Berwick Upon Tweed.

Evergreens, all green with the goalkeeper in all pale blue.

Hadda Mad Dogs, black shirts with lime green shoulders and sleeves, lime green shorts, goalkeeper in yellow top black shorts.

The referee had a lime green shirt and socks with black shorts. There was a lot of confusing green everywhere.

The first 14 minutes were very even with the full backs playing nearest the road, making some fierce tackles.

On 15 minutes, a ball was hit down the left for Evergreens number 6 to run past all defenders and Cross for a forward to score unopposed.

Evergreens didn’t hold the lead for long when 6 minutes later, number
11 sored a similar goal for Hadda, receiving a pass from the left and clipping the ball past the goalkeeper.
Just before half time, the Hadda goalkeeper made a crucial save at the foot of the post to keep it at 1.1 at half time.

Evergreens came out strongly in the second half, and within 25 minutes they had added three more goal to lead 4.1.
First, a header through to 12 who coolly drew the keeper to score. A few minutes later, 11 received the ball on the centre spot and fired home. The fourth was a tap in by 9 who had been left on his own.

Madda did get one back on roughly 40 minutes when their number nine received the ball nearly 30 yards out, turned and smashed it into the top right-hand corner of the net. The best goal of the evening, but too late as Evergreens saw out the rest of the game with ease.

As usual, it is always a joy to watch football in this location, a community event, competitive to the end and in good humour. Please keep it going. We need more things like this.

A great start at Berwick Rangers.

My first League game of the 2026/26 season was a Scottish Lowland League game between Berwick Rangers and Cowdenbeath. It has not been long since both of these teams were playing in the SFL. Dropping out is a big disadvantage because it is so difficult to get back.

Although Berwick Rangers are based in England, they continue playing in the Scottish football system like their nearby neighbours Tweedmouth Rangers FC, who play in the East of Scotland League. Berwick don’t only play in Scottish football rather than English they also play in Tweedmouth rather than Berwick, the river Tweed separating the two. Cowdenbeath have the nickname of ‘The Blue Brazil’, a little irony, I believe. They do play in blue. I have, in previous years, reviewed a book about the fall of the ‘Blue Brazil’.

I started my afternoon with a Haggis and cheese backed potato at the Riverside Café with a short 10-minute walk from there to the ground. The café was also feeding a fan from Aberdeen who had travelled down for the game.

The ground is behind housing with a large area for parking and is shared with Berwick Bandits, the Speedway team. Once through the turnstiles, where they were collecting for new floodlights, the ground looks large with a main seated stand on one side and covered terracing on the other. The pitch was a lovely green looking to have been well prepared for the new season. It had been cut in circles around the centre spot for a pleasing pattern.

Although it was 20 degrees, it seemed chillier in the wind, which was making grey and white clouds scurry past. The big reveal of the match was that Berwick would be wearing their new third kit for the first time.

Berwick Rangers 2 Cowdenbeath 0

Saturday 26th July 2025 Lowland League, 15.00 pm kick off . Shielfield Park, Tweedmouth, Berwick Upon Tweed, TD15 2EF. The Gers v The Blue Brazil, Attendance 541

Berwick Rangers, All black kit with some yellow edging, goalkeeper in blue top and black shorts.

Cowdenbeath, Light blue shirts with white shorts, goalkeeper in all yellow.

The game kicked off, and the first 20 minutes were uneventful as both teams looked to find rhythm and pattern after the break from competitive football. Cowdenbeath scored after 23 minutes, but it was disallowed for off side. the game now stopped while an official walked round the ground to deal with a blue flare that had been thrown onto the edge of the pitch in celebration. Some players took advantage of the stoppage through an unofficial drinks brake.

The game continued in a dull fashion, but on 38 minutes, Berwick took the lead through Mikey Mbewe, who stroked the ball along the grass into the net after a corner from the left and two blocked shots. At half time, I felt that both teams were trying to blow away early season cobwebs.

The second half started much brighter with Cowdenbeath’s attacks coming from mainly down the left, and both teams had more chances in that period than the whole of the first half. The more competitive game was ended with 20 minutes left when Rangers, number 8, Stuart Mair, controlled a strong pass, turned and from 20 yards hit the ball sweetly into the top right hand corner of the net. With less than 10 minutes left a heavy tackle by a Cowdenbeath defender caused some reaction, and the resulting ruck was reviewed by the referee and his linesman with only one yellow card being issued.

Cowdenbeath scored with 2 minutes left but were again denied by the linesman’s offside ruling.

Berwick fans seemed happy with the result and felt that the team would do better than a relegation battle this season. They deserved to win, but Cowdenbeath need to go back to review how they can be more effective and proactive upfront.

The chips were a great start for this seasons chip league with a healthy score of 70. They were golden, crisp, tasty, no taste of fat, soft inside, if anything a bit dry. I decided against a Scotch Pie as I was not in Scotland but then foolishly bought a Bovril at half because, as I revealed in a recent blog, it was invented in Scotland. I made a mistake there.

Great to visit a friendly ground and hope that either of these teams can challenge this season to return to the SFL.

The start of my 2025/26 football season?

After such a long wait for the new football season, I started my pre- season training at one of my favourite venues.

On Tuesday, 22nd of July, I was lucky enough to see the final of the Crammond Cup at ‘The Stanks’ just next to the walls of Berwick Castle. The Crammond Cup is for those teams knocked out in the early rounds of the Berwick Charities Cup, a competition held for over 100 years to raise money for local good works.

The final should have been played on the previous Saturday, but the constant down poor made it unplayable. Both teams, Prior Wolfs and Murder on Zidancefloor were without players who could have made the Satuday match but this didn’t matter to them two teams on the pitch and the well over 150 fans who turned up to watch. A rough count had it at 16 on the ramparts, 24 at the Ice Cream Van end with the rest on the road and wall side. There were behind one end with 16 young boys having their own final. Great noise and celebrations after each goal.

This is a family fun competition run by a small band of dedicated people who epitomises grass roots, football, and community. I have been proud to have supported it for the last 3 years.

This years pitch had been prepared to a lush green grass cover that was pot marked by some bald patches made by mole hills that had been dealt with earlier.

There were grey building clouds, getting darker, which made it seem more like autumn than the outstanding summer we have had so far. The wind was blowing right to left and kept the temperature down, and prompted the need for a jumper.

Berwick Castle Wall Tuesday 22nd July 2025. 7 pm kick off.

Murder on Zidancefloor. White shorts, white shirts that graduated down to blue at the waist. Goal keeper, lime green top, black shorts.

Prior Wolfs, red tops with short navy sleeves, with blue shorts. Goal keeper in an orange top and black shorts.

Prior put on most of the pressure in the first 10 minutes and after a further 10 minutes a quick break from defence to the left saw the ball crossed to the head of number 9 in centre of goal, his attempt looped over the goalkeeper to give them the lead.

Murder on Zidancefloor responded with some attacking zeal. They were the better team right up until half time with their diminutive number 12, the stand-out player of the first half.

After a quick five minute turn round at half time ‘Murder’ continued to be on top for the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Their efforts, though, were in vain when with 17 minutes of the half gone, Prior Wolfs swung in a corner from the right that was headed home, like a bullet, by their unmarked number 7.
Just a few minutes later it was all over when a frree kick from the left was not dealt with by the defence and the goalkeeper managed to palm a shot onto the upright for after a further blocked shot it was rifflef in for 3 nil.

There was no coming back now, although Murder on Zidancefloor did not give up.

On 19 minutes, another inswinger, this time from the right, was met by 9 who headed down and in.
On 21 minutes, it was 5 nil after a tap in to left of goal. The 6th, perhaps the best of the night, when from outside box number 7 controlled a pass swivelled and smashed it into net. As the game concluded, a corner from the right was met by a stooping header that squeezed into the inside of the pot.

A well-deserved wi for Prior Wolfs, but their opponents provided a good test which served up a great final. The winners were also the organisers and the community of fans that enjoyed their night out.

Non-League Club Directory

This time of year, I usually advertise the new seasons Non-League Club Directory. Unfortunately this year I have recieved the email below that gives the sad news that the 2024/25 edition was the last one and after 47 publications there will be no more. Thank you for those many seasons of joy when thumbing through the many pages of tables and results of teams I had never heard of and aspired to visit in the future. In the early years it was invaluable for addresses to grounds now so easily found via Google Maps.

I will cherish all 47 editions that sit on my shelves and once again thank you and wish you well in your continued support for the game at this level.

Email from The Non-League Club Directory

Thank You…

You may or may not have heard that unfortunately last year’s edition of the Directory was in fact the last one.

Between myself and James Wright we tried our best to keep it going, for another season at least, but for a number of reasons it has not been possible to continue.

As some of you will know the above was where it all started 47 editions ago. Football has changed for the better, and worse but the one thing that remained the same throughout, the passion of real non-League followers and your support of the Directory, as well as our other publications such as Team Talk magazine.

Whether you bought just one edition or have the complete set (you must have a very strong book case!) thank you so much.

Good luck to you and your club for the season ahead.

All the best

Mike & Tony WilliamsCopyright © 2025 Mike Williams Publishing, All rights reserved.

The Football Season just gets a little nearer

July 4th, was an exciting day for many football fans with the draws for the FA Cup Extra Preliminary round, the first round of the FA Vase, the FA Trophy and the FA Youth Cup being made.

I was also privileged to attend Two Football Podcasts in Sheffield as part of the Crossed Wires Podcast Festival. In its second year in Sheffield, and this year being sponsored by BBC Sounds.

Crossed Wires adds to the many festivals held in the city, e.g. ‘Off the Shelf’, ‘DocFest’ and the music festival, ‘Tramlines’. I have seen some good football related talks at the first two.

My first Podcast was John Murray and Ian Dennis, BBC radios senior football commentators, chatting about their experiences in covering football all over the world. Working from a script, the Podcast was to a live audience and recorded for later transmission this summer, ‘The Football Daily – Commentator’s View’ took their usual chatty style although without their normal third compatriot Ali Bruce-Ball.

It was unbelievably relaxed and flowed often without their script. Putting faces to voices was unusual, although I was able to recognise both of their voices. What I took away from the hour was the amount of research they put in to each team, season and game with Ian Dennis showing his red book that he produces for each season and updates each day.

Ian Dennis is the usual commentator for the Saturday 3 pm kick off game and it was great to hear how proud he was to welcome the many millions of listeners each week when the ‘World Service’ hand over to his commentary.

Later in the day I was back to hear an hour Podcast by the BBC Sheffield Football team who cover the six senior teams in the area with commentary, phone ins, interviews and updates regularly. The Podcast was called after one of their shows, ‘Football Heaven’ but this had a strap line of ‘Access all area’ with them being able to air their own views as it was not to be broadcast.

Rob Staton, Andy Giddings, and Adam Oxley were able to tell of their most difficult match, interviews, phone in, club, journey and much more. These three have had very interesting careers so far, surviving a few scrapes on the way. Great to hear peoples true and frank views on all aspects of covering local football in a mostly humorous way.

As well as two informative and happy hours of football chat they were performed in the old Cole Bothers building which is slowly being cleared and brought back to life after John Lewis abandoned the City, something locals will never forgive them for.

Nutmeg Lifts the Spirits

From the Nutmeg tree seed, a spice is produced, and from its shell, a spice named mace is made.

Both these spices are used for flavouring both sweet and savoury dishes. Used in excess quantities, you can experience hallucinations.

These feelings I am getting now as I dream of a new football season. Unfortunately, there is yet any normality as we still await the Non-League fixtures of 2025/26 to be published. The upper leagues have already published theirs for maximum exposure, and we are enduring the FIFA, Club World Cup, but surely some reality is needed.

For this, I have turned to the latest quarterly Scottish football magazine ‘NUTMEG’, which, as usual with its exemplary, engrossing written style, is sustaining me and lifting my spirits.

Thank you Nutmeg.

I have also been sustaining myself in readiness for the new seasons ‘Chip League’ and recently was lucky to have some chips that, if served up at a football ground, would have been winners. Great chips at ‘The Daffodil Tea Rooms ‘ in Eakring.

No Pie, No Priest

No Pie, No Priest – A journey through the folk sports of Britain

Written by Harry Pearson

Published by Simon & Schuster 2023

With no football to watch live, I saw this book by Harry Pearson, who wrote two of the most interesting and well written books about all types of football games, The Far Corner and he Farther Corner.

I thought I might find within the covers of this book a new sport to watch in these dull days until the start of the new football season.

Harry Pearson journeys through Britain to view and critique local sports that are still played but have been in place from Medieval, through Victorian times to today. Most have not managed to get a national foothold and have shrunk into small local or regional areas.

From cheese rolling, Highland Games, Tap and Slap, Shin kicking, Bowls, Local Rules Wrestling, and many more. I felt he was most fascinated by Stoolball, a team game, now played only in small clusters that first surfaced around 1480. The rules of 1881, updated between 2018-20, put together in Sussex,, are still in use today, but it has not washed over Britain. It is a game similar to cricket played by ladies’ teams, mixed teams, and at schools.

There is a review of some of the ball games that pre dated football, but all in all, Harry has not convinced me to take up or follow one of them. His writing style, with much humour and picture painting of the sports, competitions, areas, and journeys, keeps you engaged and enjoying the book. Thank you for the book, I’m hoping there may be a follow-up up to ‘The Farther Corner’.

Let’s not forget Bovril.

The thick, warming Bovril at Clay Cross FC one evening game to help see off the cold made me wonder where Bovril started to become an iconic football drink.

Bovril is a drink that is associated with football. Many cups and mugs of it have been drunk at matches, particularly on cold winter days on wet and windy terraces, and huddled up to food kiosks. Sometimes, it was brought in by the supporters, in ‘Thermos Flasks’ but usually dispensed by a willing helper often in a freezing hut or warm and welcoming club house. Surprisingly, this British beverage originated in Canada, where a Canadian based Scottish butcher named John Lawson Johnson developed his business after years of running a very successful butcher in Edinburgh, where his beef stock was very popular.

The products big chance came when Napoleon III ordered tinned beef for his army, but Johnston suggested a canned beef extract, and Johnston’s fluid beef was born. A return to London in 1886 saw him promote his product, which he now called Bovril. Scott and Shackleton took it to the Antarctic, and their use to stem the cold and fortify them was noted.

Johnston’s promotional and advertising skills were exceptional, and one advert showed Pope Leo XIII with a steaming mug of Bovril with the heading “Two infallible powers. The Pope and Bovril. ” Within a few years of launch, Bovril was being sold in over 3000 grocers, pubs, and chemists.

Reproduction advertising material from Bovril’s early days.

It is Scottish football that seems to claim Bovril as its own with an archived ‘Glasgow Evening Post’ from the Friday 23rd September 1892 edition showing an advert for a ‘Grand Football Match’ at Ibrox with a strap line of ‘Bovril Served Hot’. In the same week, the club linked Bovril with pies. Before the start of the ‘Great War’, one stand at Ibrox was known by fans as The Bovril Stand due to a large advert on it. The rest is history as it spread as the preferred drink of fans all over Britain.

Its popularity has waned in recent years with the rise of all types football food, coffee, and alcohol taking over the tradition of a pie and Bovril.

Bovril as a product now comes in stock cubes, jars, and granules, making it easy to make a cup. Even a vegan version, based on beets, was launched in 2020 in conjunction with Forest Green Rovers but this seems to have fallen by the wayside along with a Chicken based version where a group of devotees are trying to get the company to resurrect the product.

Bovril will, I’m sure, be with us for many more years.

This Is How It Feels, An English Football Miracle

This Is How It Feels, An English Football Miracle

Written by Mike Keegan, Published by Reach Sport 2021

I don’t usually read autobiographies or biographies but I picked this book up and found that it was not either of these, but a brilliantly written book by Mike Keegan, a long term fan of Oldham Athletic about the arrival of Joe Royale at the club on a lorry and the fairy tale journey of a team that was down and out financially and on the pitch, to slowly rise to the top division in England and appearances at Wembley.

It is not just a football book but a social commentary of the despair of northern towns/cities fighting against the industrial ravages of the 80s and 90s. The town had lost much of its faith in the football club too, but Joe Royale, his team and the overall management team ignite their passion in the club and lift the spirits of the town in general.

I had forgotten this story with other personal things taking over my world at the time. Joe Royale, who was an exceptional player, put his whole heart and soul into this journey despite lucrative offers to move elsewhere. If you want a warm feel-good book, this is it.

I have been to Oldham Athletic for a meal cooked by MasterChef winner Simon Wood but never to see a football match, this I will remedy in the new season.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a lift, whether a football fan or not.

N.B. On 1st June 2025, Oldham won the National League Playoff final at Wembley and will play in League 2 of the EFL in the new season.