Buxton 2-2 Worksop Town (National League North) It’s been a while since I have been up here, I previously stated that it might even be the highest ground in England, although I have since found out ‘unofficially’ there are 34 football pitches even higher up the hills than Silverlands (which stands apparently 1,027ft above sea level), the Wearhead Ground in Durham at 1,594 feet is home of Wearhead United and said to be the highest of all, a good 567 feet above the hilltop home

Anstey Nomads 3-2 Rushall Olympic (Southern League Central Division) Whisper it quietly, but I’m back at Anstey. After saying I might not be that keen to come back here (in my last blog visit) anytime soon, I return less than 3 weeks from making my Cropston Road debut, this time in search of a better pew. It’s not that it’s a bad ground, it has lots of character and is very likeable on the eye, a bigger plus is that it’s easy for me to get to, but venues lacking side on seats

Boston United 1-2 Southend United (National League) I tried attending this very match in January 2025 (you can read my short blog about it here). It lasted all of seven minutes until the Referee on the night, abandoned proceedings due to thick fog. Prior to that, the last time I watched Southend United in action, Ricky Otto was in the side. It’s been a while. I’ve read on Twitter via Boston’s stats guru Christian James (who you can follow here) that the Pilgrims and the Shrim

Harrogate Town 3-0 Hornchurch (National League) A spa town famed for its water, the home of Bettys Tea Rooms, the heart of Yorkshire, it’s one I’ve passed through on occasion, I may have even stopped off here once, but other than a quick passing by of the Marcy Fitness Stadium on Wetherby Road, it’s a ground I’ve not yet been to, so I’m excited to chalk this one off my list. Last year I watched Harrogate Town in an FA Cup defeat at Mansfield, by then already they looked a sor

Ilkeston Town 0-1 Warrington Rylands (Northern Premier League) It’s been a tricky season for Ilkeston Town. A couple of lads who I have previously worked with in football, Aaron Large and Triss Whitman, got the Robins job in the summer, two young coaches who made the leap from United Counties League side Hucknall Town (in step 5) to the third tier of the non-league game, I always felt it was going to be a tough ask, but they know ball, give them time they’ll get it right, I j

Anstey Nomads 2-2 Alvechurch (Southern League Central Division) As it goes, I know little about either team… Even though I probably should know more, neither is that far from my home in distance, Alvechurch is 64 miles from Nottingham over in the West Midlands, Anstey just a 30-minute drive south of my house, both have played in the local leagues, but both largely at steps 4 & 5 which is why I haven’t perhaps crossed paths until now. I might have even played against Anstey No

Emley 0-4 Spennymoor Town (FA Cup Second Qualifying Round) It’s been fifteen years since I last visited Emley’s Welfare Ground, a then scouting mission to watch Stocksbridge Park Steels in the Sheffield Senior Cup, I remember the game because my report wasn’t needed in the end as the cold wet snap put pay to our following weekends fixture, but I recollect sitting in the old Main Stand looking out towards the Emley Moor tower underneath dark chilly skies hearing the deep thud

Boston United 1-3 Wealdstone (National League) It’s been a while, the last day of last season saw Boston beat Hartlepool United 3-1 and I was at the Jakemans Stadium that spring afternoon in April but haven’t been back since, a ground I have frequented no less than 34 times in the last four or five years (according to my Futbology app) is one that I’m returning to after almost five months away, all of six games into this latest National League campaign. It’s been a tricky tes

Swindon Supermarine 3-1 Winslow United (FA Cup First Qualifying Round Replay) I’ve always been fascinated by the name the Swindon Supermarine. The club originates from a merger between Swindon Athletic and Supermarine FC in 1992, before that the Marine founded their football arm in 1946 as Vickers Armstrong which was a social club associated with the Supermarine Aircraft company which made planes during the second world war, in 1983 the club decided to adopt the name Supermar

Boreham Wood 2-1 Carlisle United (National League) I’ve been looking to chalk off Meadow Park for a while now, not just because I’m yet to visit the home of Boreham Wood, but because their team under Luke Garrard has over the last couple of years became one of the most attractive football teams in the National League to watch. Abdul Abdulmalik was recently sold by the club to Swedish top tier team Djugardens for a non-league record £1.5m which surpasses the £1m Leicester City

Quorn 2-1 Shepshed Dynamo (FA Cup First Qualifying Round) It’s a Leicestershire derby in the FA Cup first qualifying round on a Friday night for some reason? I’ve checked both SKY & TNT but I don’t think this one’s been moved to be screened on live TV? Martin O’Neill once managed Shepshed Charterhouse who became Dynamo in 1994 thanks to some much needed financial help from another local club, Loughborough Dynamo who’s ground sits between Shepshed’s Dovecote Stadium (located o

Newark Town 2-4 Sherwood Colliery (United Counties Premier Division North) Following Tom Hayes MP’s letter to Andy Burnham I’ve been mumbling about the 3pm TV blackout on my socials and as an avid shouter of lower level and non-league football you might think I’m dead against it, but I’m all for it. Dated, it has been manipulated around for too long and fans are suffering having to watch games on Friday nights and Saturday mornings all because the TV companies can’t cash in a

Leek Town 1-2 Warrington Town (Northern Premier League) It’s been a while as I’ve been busy with county cricket recently but I’ve a few football games this week to get my teeth into and one of them is a long-awaited trip to Harrison Park in Leek, Staffordshire. A market town on the southern edge of the Peak District I’m not entirely sure a lot goes off in Leek? My last visit here was December 2015 when I was a coach at Loughborough Dynamo, we lost 3-1 to a team containing loc

Spalding United 0-0 Macclesfield (National League North) I’m back in the South Lincolnshire town of Spalding, after watching the Tulips in a promotion chasing playoff match here in May, I return to the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field for a National League North game. It’s my first watch of sixth tier competitive football this season. Two games into the new campaign and Spalding have won one and lost one so far, they started their step two era by beating Radcliffe 2-0 but los

Alfreton Town 2-1 Gainsborough Trinity (Northern Premier League) Two teams I have seen a lot of in recent years are facing up against each other in the league for the first time since the 2017/18 season tonight. Gainsborough Trinity were relegated from the National League North finishing three points below Alfreton Town during that struggling sixth-tier campaign all of eight years ago. The Holy Blues winning 2-1 at the Northolme following an earlier season 4-1 thumping at Nor

Alfreton Town 0-1 Rotherham United (Friendly) Spain are world champions, Argentina got what they deserved, and England made bronze, after arguably the game of the tournament v France on Saturday night. I was scratching around for some sport to watch on Monday after the World Cup ended the night before, I eventually I flicked my TV over from the World Matchplay Darts to watch the Premier League Years, the iconic “I would love it” 1995/96 season highlighted on the sad day of a

Hitchin Town 0-2 Dagenham & Redbridge (Friendly) I enjoyed my first visit to Top Field so much last summer, I’m back again tonight, as I head down the M1 to watch Southern League Hitchin face National League South Dagenham & Redbridge in a friendly. On Saturday, the Canaries played out a testimonial for Mr Town himself, Mark Burke, who not only played and managed the club, is now their secretary. He’s been involved for over 40 years in one way or another, having made over 700

Spalding United 1-0 Halesowen Town (Southern League Central Division Playoff Semi Final) Last night I watched the most remarkable game I've seen in some years on the TV as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 5-4 in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg at the boyishly loud and crazily atmospheric Parc des Princes. Today, I've spent it mostly arguing on Twitter (X) with Arsenal and Premier League football fans who are saying the French and German champions only pla

Boston United 3-1 Hartlepool United (National League) The last day of the National League season and the biggest game in arguably the competition's history as leaders York City visit second place Rochdale with a winner takes all tie to secure promotion back to the Football League. York have 107 points and a draw will do for the Minstermen to return to the 92 after 10 years away. Rochdale on 105 points need nothing less than victory to themselves return to League Two after a t

Solihull Moors 0-3 Boston United (National League) Just two rounds remain until the end of the National League season and both Solihull Moors and Boston United have very little to play for, the battle for thirteenth is about as exciting as it gets so I’m looking forward to a hassle free game of little incident ahead of getting back home and attending a friends swanky engagement party later this evening. Solihull have drawn their last two games nil nil but before that they th