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.
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.
With the end of season fast approaching, I decided to get a game in before some time away, will stop me from watching some football. I headed south, two junctions down the M1 to Pinxton. Pinxton was a ground I had visited before but to watch a Derby Singh Brothers game when they were homeless and playing games there.
This is an ex mining village. You park in the car park of the Pinxton Miners Welfare and walk up the hill to the ground. Considering the pitch is on the side of a hill, it only has a slight slope from end to end and side to side. The surface is grass but a little bumpy. The facilities are unusual. There is a small covered two stepped seated stand that holds roughly 50 people in the corner of one side and built into the hill at the back is a food hut which you climb up to past a small covered standing area.
After a day that was beautiful , clear blue sky with the temperature rising to 18, the evening was cooling quickly with a cold breeze. 126 fans had turned up to see Pinxton play Staveley Miners Welfare with both teams on the edge of the play-off places with only a few games left.
Football Histories
Pinxton FC were started in 1994 and played in the Mansfield Bitter League for their first years, gaining promotions and moving up to the Midlands Regional Alliance League in 1997. Some solid seasons in this league gave them heart to join the Central Midlands League in 2004. They made their way to the highest division and won it in 2024 to be promoted to the United Counties Division One.
Staveley Miners Welfare F.C‘s. current club was formed in 1962 as a Sunday team, known as the Nags Head playing in Barrow Hill. There had been a football team in Staveley since the early 1880’s. They started playing on Saturdays in 1989. In 1991 they joined the Sheffield and Hallamshire County League and two years later moved to the Central Midlands League. They were constant members of that league until 1997 when their second place finish in the highest league gained them entry to The North East Counties League.
Their time in the NCEL wasn’t without ups and downs, semi-finalists in the FA Vase in 2012 masked their off field problems. In 2020 they secured grant money to install an all weather pitch and have continued their facilities development in tandem with community involvement. In 2022 the club took a voluntary demotion by one Division to reset a 5 year sustainability plan. They were moved to the United Counties Division 1
Pinxton FC 2 v Staveley Miners Welfare FC 2
Tuesday 8th April 2025 19.45 pm kick off
United Counties League, Division One, 8th v 5th, The Miners v The Trojans
Wharf Rd, Pinxton, Nottingham NG16 6LG
Pinxton; All Royal Blue shirts and shorts with some white chequered images on the lower front of the shirt. Goalkeeper in light lime green with some yellow stripes on the front of the shirt.
Staveley Miners Welfare; All fluorescence orange kit. Goalkeeper in all light green.
Pinxton were the more dominant team in the first 15 minutes, hitting the crossbar and being foiled by a point blank save by the Trojans keeper. They took the lead on 17 minutes when a ball cleared by the Staveley defence was controlled by Kane Hempshall who volleyed a rocket of a shot just to the right of the goalkeepers hand.
The home side were only ahead for eight minutes when Staveley equalised. A ball swung in from the right went over all those in the penalty area it was kept in out on the left, crossed back, where Dan Grierson outfought a defender at the right hand post and headed it down and over the goal line.
Pinxton returned the pressure and but for some great goalkeeping by xxx and a strong Staveley defence could have gone in ahead at half time.
Pinxton played downhill in the second half and, for the first 15 minutes, looked the most likely to take the lead. The game then settled down, and as it progressed into the last 15 minutes, it was Staveley who looked the most likely to score. With the final whistle approaching it looked like the away side had stolen the win when a long throw was headed on for Jack Deakin to riffle the ball along the ground, through defenders legs and into the net.
The game drifted into added time, and with three minutes added, Pinxton were awarded a corner from the right, which their goalkeeper went forward for. The over hit ball was chipped back in where Josh Wright headed the ball into the goal for a draw. The referee blowing for time only a minute later.
A good competitive game, with a draw being a fair result that leaves both teams with a chance of reaching the playoffs with two games left, although Pinxton’s is a slim one.
Football Food
I was happy to have some chips, but although being hot were a bit limp and some were overcooked. A good quantity and a good taste but a score of only 59.
I journeyed over the river Trent to visit Gainsborough to see the local team play. Researching the town it turned out to have been both the capital of England and Denmark for just 5 weeks in 1013, things seemed to change quicker then than they do today. Gainsborough Trinity’s ground is north of the centre just past the modern Marshals Yard a modern retail/food experience in the old Marshals factory. Marshals were a past major employer in the town when they manufactured Steam engines and rollers, agricultural equipment and later in their existence, tractors. The ground is very easy to find and I couldn’t believe my luck when just six spaces from the turnstile there was a gap to park the car. Everything looks better when the sun is out and there were only a few grey clouds scuttling across a bright blue sky and I felt overdressed in such warm clothes that didn’t reflect the temperature of 14 degrees.
This is a well established stadium having been in use since 1850 when it housed a cricket pitch. Like other cricket grounds, football was introduced for winter sport and eventually took over the whole area. The ground is dominated by a high seated stand in the middle of one side, underneath which the players change. Not many people sat in the seats, which was soon evident in that the leg room was severely restricted. The rest of the ground has covered tiered, standing at one end and one side and tiered open standing at one end. There was a food kiosk in one corner as you go through the turnstile and a queue was building up already. Gainsborough had recently been involved in good cup runs having beaten 4 teams in the F.A. Cup to finally go out away to a league side, Harrogate, by the only goal. One of their wins was the unbelievably exciting 4-5 win at Hednesford that I saw back in November. They had also beaten 4 teams in the F.A. Trophy before coming up against Woking of the National League. These cup game meant that their 13th position in the league could be improved to just off the play off spot if they won their games in hand. Their opponents Mickleover in contrast sat 21st and well entrenched in a relegation battle.
Football Histories
Gainsborough Trinity started life as Trinity Recreationists in 1873, a team set up by a vicar in the Holy Trinity parish. By 1889 they were founder members of the Midland League where they were successful and gained election to the Football league in 1896 where they stayed until they were not re-elected in 1912. Back to the Midland league they often beat league teams in the F.A. Cup but were never able to get re-elected to the Football League. They continued playing in the Midland league which they won on several occasions and regularly appeared in the draw for the round of the F.A. Cup that included League teams.
The Midland League was disbanded in 1960 but re-formed a year later and after winning the league in 1967 were founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968. The club maintained its status when a Premier Division of the Northern Premier League was established in 1987 and moved up a level in 2004 with the formation of the Conference League North. They played at that level until suffering their first ever relegation in their history in 2018. They have stayed in the Northern Premier League, Premier Division ever since and this year resumed their historic exploits in the F.A. Cup.
Mickleover Sports F.C. was founded in 1948 as Mickleover Old Boys and played for 44 years in the Derby & District Senior League. In 1982 the Sports Club decided on a more ambitious regime joining the Central Midland League and planning the move to Station Road which they achieved in 1992.They rose through the Central Midlands League, Northern Counties East and eventually to the Northern Premier league for the 2010/11 season. But in 2011/12 they suffered their first ever relegation only to bounce back by 2015. In 2020 they were renamed Mickleover Football Club. Since then they have been transferred to the Southern League, Premier Division Central and were transferred back to the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League at the start of this season.
Gainsborough Trinity F.C. 0 Mickleover F.C. 0
Saturday 22nd February 2025 15.00 pm kick off. Northern Premier League, Premier Division.
Gainsborough Trinity Football Club Gainsborough Lincolnshire DN21 2QW
Holy Blues v The Sports, 13th v 21st. Attendance 532
Gainsborough; Kit all Royal Blue, goalkeeper all light Blue. Mickleover; All white kit with salmon pink stripe down the sides of shirts and shorts, goalkeeper in all yellow.
Gainsborough entered the pitch with an all blue dolphin mascot. Did they come as far up the Trent? No, the answer from the clubs launch info was ‘Known for intelligence, teamwork, and playfulness, dolphins perfectly represent the essence of our football programme. Trenton will attend matches …….He’ll remind us that whether we win or lose, the game and supporting each other is truly what matters….August 2024.’
The grass pitch sloped slightly side to side and to one corner was heavily sanded and despite heavy recent rain, and standing water in fields in the drive over, was hard. The surface created an unusual bounce that the players couldn’t get a grip of. These conditions could possibly explain what I would say was an underwhelming first half. A Gainsborough forward was booked for simulation when the home crowd thought he had been fouled in the penalty area and a shot that looked to be going well wide took an unusual bounce and turned in to hit the bottom of the post were the highlights.
The second half wasn’t much better although Gainsborough did manage to be more attack minded but never looked likely to bother a resolute Mickleover defence and goalkeeper.
Whether it was the ‘Holy Blues’ having the blues after their magnificent cup antics of the season or that for them they feel that their season has come to an end early I’m not sure. I certainly felt blue in the fact that a club I had looked forward to visiting perhaps served up the worst football of any level I have seen this season. For Mickleover it was a good away point gained in their relegation struggle.
Football Food
I was excited to see a bucket of real potatoes that had been chipped and ready for frying when I ordered my portion. The excitement didn’t last long, the skin on chips, were dry, warm and with little taste. The portion was large but in the end needed some red sauce to make them edible. Even the large portion was off putting. I scored them a 62 for my Chip League but on recollection this should have been in the 50’s but the fact they used fresh real potatoes rather that frozen chips perhaps influenced me.
On a trip to South of the Thames that included no football match, I sneaked in a visit to Hackney Marshes and the Old Spotted Dog. I’ll start with the Old Spotted Dog the oldest senior football ground in London. Having been to the oldest in the world on Tuesday I couldn’t resist the opportunity, even though it was a slight detour.
The Old Spotted Dog
What a welcome, it was difficult to get in with the footpath in the area being upgraded to high spec block work, but by chance one of the committee, they all have equally votes here, let us in and showed us round. What enthusiasm and pride in what they have achieved, it was infectious.
I remember Clapton playing in the Isthmian League against St Albans many moons ago but that team is no more with the last owner falling out with the fan base. A new team was formed, Clapton Community Football Club, and they were able to buy the Old Spotted Dog Ground from Heineken and start to reclaim it from a sorry state. One of their main income sources was from the sale of their away shirts, the design of which resembled the republican movement in Spain and led to 5500 shirts being sold there. The sale of the shirts allowed the club to purchase the ground from Heineken who once owned the building next door which was a brewery.
The Clapton Community club was formed on 27 January 2018 by the disgruntled fans and they have progressed through playing on Hackney Marshes and other venues, through the Middlesex County League and now play in the Southern Counties East Football League Division 1.
The club now run men’s, women’s, youth and development teams all of which are fully inclusive to reflect the ethos of the club and community. The club is run by it’s members, anyone can join, on a democratic basis, where there is equity between women and men. Financial issues are dealt with full transparency by issuing their accounts monthly. The clubs ‘Community’ in the name is matched by their local involvement having for example a hardship fund for those in distress. They also have a philosophy of ‘not pricing anyone out of football’ by allowing you to pay what you can afford, zero if necessary.
I could write for hours about this club but instead have challenged myself to return and watch a game and further write then. I have also joined as a member.
Such is the inclusivity that entering the ground there was an urban fox sat in front of the dugout looking at the pitch. I think he was planning the tactics for the afternoon match which they won. We were told that often the youngsters who play on the pitch can be distracted by the foxes and that the members have to clear fox poo off the pitch before games.
Hackney Marshes
Before I went to Clapton I visited nearby Hackney Marshes, where there are over 80 football pitches and has been a spiritual home to grass roots football in London for many years. It is thought that football has been played on the marshes since the 1880’s but its biggest expansion and use was after 1946 when rubble from the destruction by the Blitz were deposited there and used as the substrate to layout approximately 110 football pitches. Today there are also cricket and rugby pitches, some with artificial surfaces and modern changing rooms. The Marshes are considered the birth place of Sunday League football which has its rivals in other parts of the country but it certainly was at the forefront of this part of the game.
With so many pitches it has a unique atmosphere where many teams and players have come together over a century, where players had a space to belong and achieve at their level.
I myself played here in 1966/67 when I played for Luton Nomads in a South East England Jewish Sunday League. Not being of the faith I was made an honorary member and played in many parts of London but my best memories are from ‘The Marshes’ on a wet windy Sunday afternoon, racing over three pitches to retrieve the ball with the teams on those pitches totally ignoring you as they were concentrating on their own match. It was fantastic on Saturday morning to see people of all ages using the pitches to their best advantages and having the same enjoyment that I had so many years ago.
Football continues to be threaded in our culture at all levels of the game.
The Old Spotted Dog Inn, reputed to be an Hunting Lodge of Henry the eight net door to the football ground which the local community are also attempting to revive.
This picture was displayed on the walls and was photographed by the son of the man who showed us round. It has recently been displayed in the West End of London and will soon be displayed at an exhibition in Paris. Football can join us all together.
Storm Bert ruined my plans but I was lucky to take up a Community ticket offered by Chesterfield FC through a local school.
The continual rain and wind battered me as I walked down a hill from where I had parked, but at least it had removed all of the snow. I still had to wrap up despite the temperature changing from freezing the day before to 13 degrees.
I have to own up to this being my favourite modern stadium. Despite all of the quirks and history of the old Saltergate ground, which was iconic, I still prefer the newer incarnation. I bought a program from a couple who stand there in all weathers and hurried into the North Stand. My cheap ticket was brilliant, last row, at the back, next to an aisle. It also meant that the sweeping rain lashing across the pitch didn’t touch me in this all seater stadium.
Chesterfield and Barrow, their opponents, both seem to have found their feet in League 2 and I hope neither drop back into the National League in the near future. Chesterfield sat 11th and Barrow 12th after 16 matches with 22 points each.
Chesterfield formed in 1866 claim to be the 4th oldest league club still in existence. A chequered history of league status and liquidation led to their reincarnation when they re-joined the football league in 1921. They have been up and down the leagues in their history but reached a low point in 2018 being relegated to the National League. Off the field problems were resolved by a take over in 2020 by a Community Trust who with great local support have steered the club to a new era of major ownership by local Paul and Ashley Kirk. Now back in the EFL they look to rise up the leagues again.
Barrow Fc were founded in 1901 playing in local Lancashire Leagues where they stayed until the First World War. Restarting after hostilities they won the Lancashire League and were welcomed into the football League’s Third Division North where they were mainly in the bottom half up to the Second World War. They struggled again and were placed in the newly formed Fourth Division in 1954 but in 1967 they finished a magnificent third and gained promotion to Division three. But this rise only lasted two years and by 1972 had to seek re-election to stay in the EFL. They were beaten by Hereford in the ballot with many complaining that the logistics of travelling to the outpost that is Barrow being the main reason for their defeat.
Initially playing in the Northern Premier League they were able to be accepted into the newly formed equivalent to todays National league in 1979 but only a few years later they were back in the Northern Premier League. From 1983 to 2020 they went up and down the Northern Premier and the National Leagues until in 2020 via the play offs they finally made it back into the Football League system, finally writing the wrong of 50 years previous being voted out. During their years in the Non-League system they did find cup glory when in 1990 and 2010 they won the F.A. Trophy at Wembley.
Chesterfield 1 Barrow 0
English Football League Two, Saturday November 23rd 2024, 15.00 pm kick off.
Chesterfield; Royal blue shirts white shorts… Barrow; Yellow and Black vertical stripes to front of shirts with black backs and shorts. Spireites v Bluebirds
Mr Blue Sky blared out as teams came on to the pitch, which seemed like a joke considering the conditions, but that is their normal entry music.
The rain just kept pouring down and after Chesterfield’s initial spurt it was Barrow who were on top. In fact on 33 minutes a long ball by Farman, the Barrow keeper was flicked on by Dallas past the home defence and goalkeeper Ryan Boot to somehow only hit the post and roll along the goal line as everyone seemed to stand still. Finally a Chesterfield player regained their composure and cleared. That was the only real chance of the half where effort and skill were being tested by the conditions.
The second half not only saw the teams change round but also the sway of the game as Chesterfield started to dominate. Early on the Barrow keeper tipped a well hit shot onto the bar and over. The rain stopped and started throughout the game but Chesterfield kept up the pressure and from their second corner in a row, this one from the left, Jamie Grimes, the club captain, soared above everyone to head the ball into the centre of the goal and the net with 88 minutes on the clock.
The 263 Barrow fans who had made the long journey in terrible conditions looked desolate and must have felt miserable on the way home having being so close to earning an away point. The remaining 7438 saw Chesterfield creep into the last play off spot and create dreams for the future.
One thing that does disappoint me at Chesterfield is that there are no chips!
I set out to see Stapleford Town, play at home, so following Google maps I reached their ground with 25 minutes to spare. But driving round all I could find was the building of a new sports and community centre. So having circled where I expected the ground to be I checked the Internet to find that they are playing home games at Radfords facility. I knew that luckily Sandiacre Town were at home and that was only 2.2 miles away. So a quick readjustment and I found myself parked in the road and entering the clubhouse with 10 minutes to spare.
The clubhouse is outside the ground so I ordered chips and a coffee and walked towards the entrance. I didn’t realise I was in the players and officials way onto the ground, so I passed the 3 officials with the referee asking for a chip. Luckily a barrier was moved for me and it was back to normality and standing with chips in hand to watch the players walk out.
This ground is in a housing area on the way out of the centre. There is a small car park but plenty of on street parking
It was a beautiful autumn day at 17 degrees, blue skies with a few white clouds, with a light breeze. Three sides of the stadium are lined with trees and the fourth has the clubhouse in the corner with a children’s play area and basketball hoop. The clubhouse is to a good spec, sells drink and snacks and the players changing room. The toilets were outside the clubhouse in a container/portakabin.
Sandiacre town was only started in 1978 as youth teams with a senior team starting in the Central Alliance League the following year. A clubhouse was added to the pitch in 1984 with railings and seated stand before floodlights in 1995. Today there are 39 all ages and sexes teams, run by the club, some games being played at Friesland School’s 4G pitch that they have jointly developed.
Sandiacre Town progressed as inaugural members of the Central Midlands League in 1983 but ground grading saw them drop back. They were back in the Central Midlands League in 1992 after the merger with Lace Web United. They joined the United Counties League Division One in 2023.
Southwell City were formed in 1893 but early records are sketchy with the club believed to have played in the Newark area. The team was devastated through casualties in the Great War and although football was played in Southwell it wasn’t until its reformation in 1955 that the current club truly emerged. They joined the Notts Football Alliance in 1957 where they stayed until the end of the 2002/03 season, when a move to the Central Midlands League was completed. On their journey the football club merged with Southwell United Youth Football and Southwell Amateurs and have created a Community Charter club that caters for all grades of the game. This has been achieved through developing their old and new grounds. Winning the Notts Senior League in 2022/23 gained them promotion to the United Counties Division One.
Sandiacre Town 2 Southwell City FC 3
United Counties League Division One, Saturday 14th September 2024, kick off 15.00 pm.
St Giles Park, Station Road, Sandiacre, Nottingham, Derbyshire, NG10 5DD.
19th (Last) v 10th Saints v Bramleys City
Sandiacre, Red Shirts, light navy shorts; Southwell, Black and white vertical striped shirts, black shorts:
The teams walked out onto a thick carpet of grass, the pitch sloping down to each end from the centre.
Neither team looked settled in the early play but it was the home side who took the lead on 6 minutes when Tom Slade received the ball on the edge of the goal area, turned, and hit it with his right foot into the roof of the net. Sandiacre now dominated being more physical, bigger and stronger, yet it was Southwell who hit the bar with 32 minutes gone. The game continued in this fashion until half time and as they walked off I thought what a poor game.
Within 5 minutes of the restart Southwell were down to 10 men as Haiba Soueyeh was sent off for two yellow cards that looked like persistent arguing with the referee. Southwell now had it all to do.
The introduction of Akand Gangotra was however a turning point as his speed and ability to lose players started to create chances and they equalised through him on 67 minutes when his cut back shot went into the net. Chaos reigned as the home sides centre back argued and pushed a Southwell player on the ground and then walked over and pushed another player in the back who fell to the ground. Sandiacre players now restrained him and the referee gave two yellow cards and a red, why not a straight red I couldn’t understand. The player refused to walk to the club house and after some arguing and encouragement he finally left the field.
So now back to equal, with 10 men each the game became open with gaps everywhere and it was Southwell who took advantage taking the lead on 77 minutes when Akrand Gangotra scored again. He tapped the ball in at the near post after a precise cut back along the ground from the right.
With the 90 minutes up there was more drama when a Sandiacre shot was spilled by Southwell’s goalkeeper and Darnell Smith charged through to score. That should have been it but with 5 minutes of added time on the clock Sandiacre were attacking for the winner. This was not to be as a long clearance was not dealt with by the home defender and Joe Aitkin received a pass that enabled him to loop it over the keeper for Southwell to take the win.
That was it and although this was an interesting and exciting second 45 minutes my reflection was that I had watched two poor teams on the day.
Sandiacre should have won this game but for mistakes and madness and they remain bottom of the table with no points out of 8 games.
The chips, served on a plastic returnable plate, were hot, limp, freshly cooked, tasty with a greasy taste that lingered, a score of 56.
As a footnote, Sandiacre Town’s 1st Team Manager, Nick Labbate resigned shortly after the match.
payonthegate 