Welcome to Second Meadow Good evening and welcome to Second Meadow for this evening’s North Beds Charity Cup tie. Tonight we welcome the players, officials and supporters from BARTON ROVERS FOOTBALL CLUB. We also welcome our three match officials and hope that you enjoy your short stay with us. Match Preview by Leon Waite United are thriving in the knockout arena of the English game at the moment and prolonged their positive period of cup form with an emphatic 3-0 triumph at Maccabi London Lions in the Second Round Qualifying of the FA Vase on Saturday. Two goals from star man Dave Parkinson and another for Sam Holmes were the product of a performance that saw United command the contest for long spells and emerge from Rowley Lane deserved winners. They have seen off three clubs below them in the pyramid in recent weeks to progress in the Vase and League Challenge Trophy respectively and now face a different challenge in the shape of step 4 outfit Barton Rovers, who stand in their way of a place in the next round of the North Beds Charity Cup (NBCC). Today’s Visitors: Barton Rovers by Leon Waite The Rovers play in the Southern League Division One Central having placed 20th in the old Division One East last term and in the restructured league they have fared well so far with three wins from five matches propelling them up to 7th in the current standings. Opening the campaign with a 4-1 defeat at Yaxley, Tony Fontenelle’s men overcame Cambridge City 3-1 and knocked Rothwell Corinthians out of the FA Cup before succumbing 1-0 at SSML champions Welwyn Garden City in the league. They recovered to beat North Leigh 2-1 at home but were powerless to resist as Needham Market dominated in a 4-0 victory in the subsequent round of the FA Cup and most recently they were 2-0 winners at Thame United. The Bedfordshire club play at Sharpenhoe Road and it’s almost a year to the day that United visited that ground and secured an impressive 2-0 win in the NBCC, courtesy of a brace from Charlie Black. Up Next Our next fixture sees us venture in to north London for a Premier Division game against Wembley FC on Saturday. Kick Off 3pm. This is followed by the visit of in form Leverstock Green the following Saturday at Second Meadow. Kick Off 3pm
Biggleswade United Football Club was re-formed on the 16th July 1959. However, local history records indicate that there was a Biggleswade United side playing at Second Meadow as early as 1929. Our first season (1959/60) saw us competing in Division Three of the North Herts. League (NHL). After 10 successful years in the NHL the club made the step up to South Midlands League (SML) football. But towards the end of a 15-year association with the SML the club began to struggle and after three years of finishing in the bottom three of Division One we sought fresh fields. The club joined the Herts. Senior but club continued to find the going tough. In 1986 we elected to return to local League football, joining the Bedford and District Football League and began to build again. The appointment of Brian Swords as first team manager in 87/88 proved to be the turning point in the club's fortunes. During the next ten years the club achieved a tremendous amount of success on and off the football pitch. Our record of League and Cup honours speak for themselves but aligned to this a great deal of work went on behind the scenes to match the on-field success. The club now boasts one of the best clubhouse and ground facilities in the Mid-Bedfordshire area. The success of the club has also attracted many new players as well as commanding a great deal of loyalty from those players who helped the club progress from Division Three of the Bedford and District League to County Senior Club status in just 15 years. The 1995/96 season was the most successful in the club's history - winning five major honours; the Beds Intermediate County Cup, Bedford and District League Championship, League Cup Championship and as the League's representatives the club won the Beds. FA Centenary Cup. Having won every major Bedford League honour the club felt it was time to move on and made the decision to make the step up once again and returned to Division One of the SML. In an exceptionally successful first season we celebrated a Division One "double" by winning the Championship and the Division One Cup. We also retained the Beds. FA Intermediate County Cup, only the second club in the competition's history to achieve this feat. To crown our success the club were awarded the SML Special Achievement Trophy in July 1997. In the season 1997/98 we finally achieved Senior status. This was achieved not only through the endeavours of the players on the field but ultimately as a result of an extremely hard working committee. With the help of the Biggleswade Town Council a new stand was erected and perimeter fencing installed. And two seasons later the club erected floodlights and on the evening of 26th October 1999 we played our first-ever floodlit game at Second Meadow, Ryman League side Leighton Town were the visitors in the Bedfordshire Premier Cup.
The next eleven years saw the first team led by Steve "Snowy" Wright and under his management the club continued to enjoy a very high level of League and Cup success ultimately achieving promotion to the Molten Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division and with it the opportunity to compete in the FA Cup. And under Snowy the club made three Beds FA Senior Challenge Cup final appearances, winning two of the three with victories over Stotfold (4-1) and Leighton Town (1-0) but missed out in 2006/07 going down 2-0 to Dunstable Town. Snowy's other cup successes came in the form of the Hunts Premier Cup, North Beds Charity Cup, Hinchingbrooke Cup, the SML Division One Cup and the SML Special Achievement Award once again. The end of the 2006 2007 saw Snowy step down as manager with his assistant, Nick Burton taking over the first team reins. January 5th 2009 saw the club embark on further ambitious ground improvements. With financial backing from Biggleswade Town Council, Mid Beds District Council and the Football Foundation we installed a 260-seater stand, fully enclosed the ground with a double turnstile entrance and players' secure walkway, which raised the ground to Grade E status. After several years of stability in terms of first team managers the next six years saw a regular turnover of first team and reserve team managers with Nick Burton, Dave Elkin and Phil Childs all taking over the first team reins for a time. At the start of the 2013-2014 season we appointed Mick Reardon and Mark Royal as first team managers both of whom had enjoyed success as coaches at the higher levels of football. Their disciplined approach was quickly adhered to and responded to by the players and under their stewardship we achieved the highest Premier Division position in nine years and first silverware in seven years winning the North Beds Charity Cup for the first time in the club’s history. In November 2014 the club took a further positive step to realise our ambitions with the appointment of Sky Sports Presenter and renowned author, Guillem Balague as Biggleswade United’s Director of Football. Following Mick and Mark’s decision to step down at the end 2014 2015, Guillem was quick to act and recruited a new Head Coach in Cristian Colas Beccera. Cristian was assisted by former professional player, Stuart Bimson, and under their guidance the team finished in eighth spot in the Premier Division in 2017 2018 - the highest position in the club’s history. Having built a strong reputation for their outstanding coaching ability and playing philosophy Cristian and Stuart moved up to Step 3 level club, Staines Town, for the start of the 2018 2019 season. Guillem was again in search for a high quality coach and Jimmy Martin came highly recommended by his predecessor, Colas, who worked with Jimmy at Stevenage FC Academy. Jimmy was appointed Manager in May 2018 and will be assisted by a former United playing legend and well respected character in SML football, Dean Bull. Also on the coaching staff is Spanish coach Emilio Gutierrez. The club has certainly come a long way in relatively few years but we could not have done it without the help of a very supportive Town and District Council who clearly understands the benefits of having a community based club in Biggleswade. Our success is also very much down to a very hard working committee who throughout the year - not just the football season continue to volunteer their time and commitment to the club, to help it continue to thrive and be a source of enjoyment for our supporters and the Biggleswade community.
Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. Let me start by saying a warm welcome to the players, officials and supporters of Barton Rovers. A warm welcome also to todays officials. A thankless job and one I couldn’t do and we need to remember that without them we have no football. It is that simple. That still won’t stop me giving them a gentle shout from the sides if we don’t get the decisions (lol) The season is well and truly upon us now and I for one am happy with the way we have started. Performances may not have been great but we need to remember this is a new management team with a new set of lads, learning different ways so it’s going to take a little time before start to click properly. The game against Wormley is a classic example. At times we looked poor, at times our passing and movement when attacking was exceptional. The team dig deep and got the result which is all that matters. Some supporters said to me after that we’d have lost that game last season in extra time so that supports my own belief the team has a good fighting spirit and is moving in the right direction. At the time of writing this we sit 10th with 7 points. 3 games in hand over leaders Tring Athletic which if we win leaps us right up there. It’s an open league and up for grabs and one I know Jimmy and the boys are push hard for in training. The club expects a lot of its players, we train 3 times a week if we don’t have a Tuesday game and Jimmy pushes them hard all the time to improve and better themselves. Exciting times ahead on the field I’m sure. Finally a big thanks to U23s manager Keith Castle Who has decided to leave the club this week. The work he has done with the boys has been fantastic and hopefully we will see some of those lads pushing for a first team spot this season. Wherever Keith ends up next I have no doubt he will be a success Enjoy the game Gareth
Good afternoon and welcome to Second Meadow for this North Beds Charity Cup fixture against Barton Rovers! First of all I would like to thank everyone at the club for the welcome I have received since walking in the door. In particular the chairman Gareth Davies who has been extremely supportive of all my ideas and Tracey James who I pester day and night for confirmation on everything! Moving onto footballing matter, I should start with mine and the clubs disappointment at losing our FA Cup fixture against Wellingborough Town. There is no going away from the fact we should have put that game to bed at our first meeting but it wasn’t to be. The only positive to come out of this was the reaction that I have had from my squad. That result and performance hurt, since then I feel that we have really pulled together and are now stronger. We have an extremely driven, ambitious group of men who have high expectations of themselves which I will endeavor for them to hit. We have since gone onto win 3 games back to back and even though I feel we didn’t play anywhere near our full potential we have come out with a positive result. I am extremely pleased with the squad that we have, either retained from last season or recruited during the summer. The players attitude and work ethic is has been top draw. We ask a lot from our layers in regard to commitment, they train Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and play on a Saturday. I don’t know of too many clubs at our level doing this. Since my first day I have not had less than 20 players attend a senior training session, that to me demonstrates the hunger and happiness of the squad I have and ling may that continue as we will strive for excellence. I would like to personally thank you for the continued support, it is greatly appreciated by everyone at the club. I hope you enjoy the game! Jimmy Martin
Let's start with a number - 36,000. That's the number of people that have watched via twitter the goal scored by David Parkinson against Baldock Town. A brilliant effort and as good a goal as you will see in any standard of football. A superb solo effort that saw him running more than three quarters the length of the pitch, beating and leaving defenders trailing in his wake. I mention it because currently on the social networks we have around 40,000 followers on Twitter a hugely impressive figure for a club of our size. We currently have a total of 63,233 followers on all platforms, comprising Twitter (39,500), YouTube (17,370), Facebook (5229), Instagram (1,134) and this should have increased by a few thousand today (Fri) following a giveaway on our instagram with our main sponsors Top Eleven. And with interest comes profile and the possibility of making us so much more attractive and marketable to potential partners. In truth today football is about so much more than just the match itself but also all the other things that are linked with it. We live in a world where it is not merely about supporters, per se, but also 'followers'. In this day and age there are neither physical, nor geographical boundaries to following a club like Biggleswade United and I know we have people who watch us from as far afield as Spain, the USA and Australia. With the miracle that is technology our home matches can be watched by our followers ,online, anywhere on the planet. The Spanish - as they normally do - have a phrase for it. "The world, is a handkerchief," they say. We would like to find sponsors that can be seen throughout these broadcasts with publicity that can be used in breaks or at half time, or whenever, and we will be doing whatever we can to bring them on board. Watch this space. Obviously our main target market is local businesses but also those further afield that can see the benefits of a slightly 'left field' advertising campaign that supports a lower league side that whatever it may lack in size, more than makes up for it but in ambition. The very welcome financial support we receive by the massive gaming company Top Eleven is a perfect example of this.
Biggleswade United Under 23
Biggleswade United vs Barton Rovers North Beds Charity Cup | Tuesday 18th September 2018
Biggleswade United Ollie Leslie. James Cooper Kane Farrell Ieuan Lewis James Smith Liam Andrews Jaiden Irish © Rafe Goodman Dave Parkinson Josh Howard-Dobson Sam Holmes Charlie Briggs Taz Andrews Joe Gauge George Brinkman Joe Hankins Bill Plumpton Taylor Rhiney Dean Bull
Barton Rovers Dan Gould Harry Bean Luke Warner Eley Steph Bailey Paul Andrews (cpt) Dan Newton Jimmy Hartley Ike Nzuruba Andrew Phillips Victor Osobu James Verney Sam Gibson Charlie Hayford Henry Snee Matt Hall 16) Dan Jarvis Jonny Butler Wilson Ferriera Charlie Jones
Referee: Dean Carney, Assistant: Chloe Ayre, Assistant: Tom Burns