Get The Badge In

Stotfold  0  Chesham United  3

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Admission / Programme - £10 / No

Stotfold Football Club have got a bloody brilliant badge!

I’d never noticed it before, but it was when I was admiring the frontage of the impressive clubhouse and dressing room facilities that it kind of jumped out at me.

You can judge from yourselves from the photo’s contained within, but for someone like me who has something of a penchant for the colours yellow and black, likes all things German, and who’s favourite continental club is Borussia Dortmund, the Stotfold badge was all of those things contained.

The badge, in yellow and black of course, depicts an eagle on a crest with the letters SFC picked out in ornate fashion on a shield, it’s pure Teutonic, and if you have been fortunate to visit Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund on a match day (I have, five times, gloat gloat!), then some of the supporters club emblems are not dissimilar. Oh, stood at the New Roker Park in Stotfold on a July afternoon, I was crying out for a stein of pilsner and a bratwurst!

Ok, so lets move swiftly back to reality and chat a little about why I was in a village in Bedfordshire in the midst of thunderstorms that were engulfing the country.

To start with, back in the 2004-05 season I actually went to the original Roker Park home of Stotfold which was in the centre of the village, and that was for a United Counties League game. At the time I was working my way through the grounds and had left some of the further ones until last, namely Stotfold and Potton United. They drew 1-1 with Woodford United, and from a memory point of view, I do recall it being a nice setting with a decent little bar insitu.

Things changed though, yes, I’ve always kept on top of the UCL, but as the boundaries shifted and the league worked it’s way North, some, in fact many of the clubs South of Northampton found their way into the Spartan South Midlands League, and so, kind of fell off my radar.

In February 2020 the club moved into their new home on the Arlesey Road, right on the edges of the village, but until last season when they won promotion to the Southern League thanks to a 2-0 win at Dereham Town in the Inter-Step Play-Off, this after finishing runners up to Leighton Town, I’d not really paid much attention to them.

Southern League now, back on the radar, on the list, some pre-season friendlies advertised nice and early, let’s make my first Saturday outing of the campaign a trip to Stotfold.

It’s very rare these days that I venture into Bedfordshire for football, so when I exited the M1 at Milton Keynes South and made my way through Ampthill, it did bring back memories of the times back in the period 2003-2007 when I was watching a lot of football in this part of the World, quite a bit of it to be fair was also in midweek. The road took me out towards Shefford, over the raised bit that looks down on Arlesey, and then into the village with the ground appearing on the left hand side.

They’ve done a cracking job of it. A large car park welcomes you while the turnstiles sit in the corner behind the goal. Immediately to your right is the clubhouse which was smart and spacious, while also contained within the building are of course the dressing rooms. Further down from the dressing rooms is a seated stand that offers good elevation and consequently good views of proceedings, while on the opposite side, sat back between the two dugouts is a covered standing area. Other than that it’s open behind both goals but the footprint is spacious enough for more development if it’s needed.

I’ve kind of told part of the Stotfold story, but to fill the gaps, here goes.

The club were founded in 1946 and joined the South Midlands League in 1952, working their way through two divisions to reach the top flight in 1954, where they had a twelve year spell in which they were runners-up six times, and never finished lower than sixth, but, they never won it!

That elusive first title came in 1980-81 season, but then for the start of the 1984-85 season they were transferred to the United Counties League. The title was won in 2007-08 and then runners up was gained the following season, but elevation to the Southern League never came, although a shift back to the now Spartan South Midlands League did of course happen in 2010.

At the end of the 2018-19 season they found themselves relegated from the Premier Division to the First Division, but they bounced back in the first full season post Covid, and then of course the following season (last season), they made it two consecutive promotions.

They’ve never won the FA Cup, the FA Trophy or the FA Vase, so we shan’t dwell on that, but they have won some Bedfordshire related competitions it appears.

They are now managed by Brett Donnelly, and when I read his name it immediately rang bells with me. I knew the name from somewhere and following a quick Google it started to come back to me. I would have seen him playing (and indeed scoring) for Arlesey Town, Hitchin Town and possibly even Stotfold themselves. His goalscoring record over a twenty year period was hugely impressive, and let’s be honest, he’s not made a bad start to management either!

As for the game, well Step 3 Chesham United (and a very good team at that) took the lead in virtually the first minute, and over the course of the ninety minutes they were the better team, scoring twice more to seal a comfortable victory. Stotfold showed plenty of endeavour but against a quality opponent, they didn’t pose a huge threat. But this is pre-season, it’s about fitness, it’s about minutes under the belt, it’s about confidence and sharpness, and in the case of Stotfold, it’s about being as prepared as they can be for life at a higher level. Brett Donnelly knows all about that higher level, he’ll know exactly what is needed to survive and indeed thrive at Step 4.

But I’ll tell you what, that badge….