Belstone

Belstone FC is a non-league football club that was formed in 1982 and is located between the villages of Elstree and Radlett over the Hertfordshire border, around fifteen miles north of London.

The club was formed in 1982, starting out life as a Sunday club and playing at the GEC London Sports Ground in Preston Road, near Wembley. The name Belstone is derived from the fact that the players came from the Belmont Circle and Wealdstone areas of North West London.

Belstone joined the Harrow Sunday Challenge Football League, winning three consecutive Premier Division titles before progressing to the Marathon Sunday Football League (MSFL) in 1988. Again, success followed as promotion was won at the first attempt by way of the Division One title. 

The club then went on to win the Premier Division title eight times, as well as lifting silverware in cup competitions. From 1989, the club played its games at Harrow College and the council venue at Headstone Lane. In 1992, Belstone secured a lease on the Medburn Ground, which had originally been a rugby pitch.

A local football team had used it until leaving in 1990. Lord Aldenham, who owned the land, gave the club permission to tidy up the site and use it as their base. In 2003, Belstone returned to play in the Harrow Sunday Challenge Football League after the demise of the MSFL, where they continued to win trophies. 

A youth section also started, along with a veteran’s side. In 2009, the club decided to also play Saturday football for the first time and entered the Herts Senior County League under manager Joe Sheridan, where they joined Division One. The team clinched promotion to the Premier Division after finishing runners-up at the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

After a season of consolidation, Belstone ended as league runners-up in 2013-14 before becoming Premier Division champions in 2014-15. Twelve months later, the side came agonisingly close to retaining their title but had to settle for second place.

Lee Maddison had a spell as manager before the appointment of Aaron Lincoln, as Belstone put together another couple of top six finishes before ending 2018-19 in ninth spot, before the disappointing 2019-20 campaign was ended early owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus. The league title was won in 2021-22, and before finishing as runners-up the following season.

Belstone were not to be denied in 2023-24 as they were crowned Herts Senior County League champions for a third time, and on this occasion, it brought greater rewards. Planning permission was granted for floodlights at Medburn, allowing the team to be promoted to Division One of the Combined Counties League. 

In their debut season, the side reached the playoffs, losing their home semifinal to Westside before being moved to the Spartan South Midlands League for a season, where they lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs to Desborough Town before returning to their previous competition.

Belstone FC will compete in the Combined Counties League Division One in the 2026-27 season.

My visits

Belstone (Sunday) 7 Manor House 2 (Sunday 17th November 2013) FA Sunday Cup Round Two (att: up to 30 but fluctuated throughout the game)

The decision to visit Belstone for my debut national Sunday Cup match was made in the Wetherspoons pub in Stanmore the night before. I had an extra day allotted from my annual leave, and had my pal Gary Griffiths staying with me for a few days, which was also unexpected until Thursday evening.

Anyway, as a real veteran of groundhopping, Gary reckoned that Belstone would be around his eighth-hundredth ground he had seen a game on. Our drinking partner, my Middlesex cricket friend and avid West Ham fan, Tony Foster, thought that we were joking. 

The pair of us had just been to a decent tea-time kick-off between Edgar David's Barnet and Cambridge United at The Hive, while Gary had taken in an under-21 game at Wingate & Finchley earlier in the afternoon.

The weather was quite mild for the time of year as we set off on Sunday morning and caught a bus to Edgware to buy some supplies from Greggs before hopping on the 107 bus to Elstree. We had to do a double-take as we both broke out in laughter as we passed what looked like a pub in the affluent hamlet. 

It was called The Shtiebel. We both thought it said Shitebel. I later researched it and found out it was formerly a pub called The Artichoke, but it was now a Jewish place of prayer. We definitely needed to adjust our goggles!

It was a nice link that the walk to the ground was up Watling Street, as my fellow Scarborough fans had been on the same road a couple of miles further north the day before to watch the Seadogs heavy defeat at Telford. We arrived around twenty minutes later, just as the teams were shaking hands. 

No one was taking admission, and we didn’t see any programmes for sale, although 'grumpydwarf', a poster on the excellent Non League Matters forum, told me that he was mistakenly sold one the day before returning it, so there may have only been a few printed to satisfy the competition requirements. He kindly sent me a copy of the edition he ended up with.

As the game kicked off, we decided to partake in a pint of Fosters, which was the only beer they had on draught at the time. As it was a pleasant day, we decided to sit outside on the patio at one of the tables. 

As we saw another couple with beer, we presumed it would be OK. However, shortly after, a harassed club official asked us to go inside with them. We were closely followed by the other two chaps, who happened to be former Belstone players.

We had seen one bloke in the small shelter on the halfway line and initially thought he may have been a fellow ‘hopper’. However, he turned out to be an FA official, and he demanded that no beer be taken outdoors under FA competition regulations.

It seemed such an incredibly petty rule. It confirmed that common sense and grassroots football are uneasy bedfellows. Our fellow drinkers were also shaking their heads at the madness of it. The Belstone members couldn't have been more apologetic.

They told us how the club had progressed after one of them, the captain, drove past the Medburn Ground each day on the way to work and saw an unused ground, and how they eventually obtained their lease. They were delighted to have neutral visitors at their pride and joy.

The ground really was something to be proud of. The pitch was in tip-top condition and surrounded by a post and rail fence. The smart brick clubhouse showed Sky TV and also contained the changing rooms. 

There was a hard-standing path down the side to the shelter and behind the near goal. The large car park was to the rear of that end by the entrance. Three sides were surrounded by lovely trees, giving the arena an enclosed feel. There was a small grass bank behind the far goal.

Our friends informed us that the club had just taken over the land behind the dugouts, where a junior game was about to start, and that the Saturday first team were top of their league and would probably look to take promotion into the Spartan South Midlands League.

Although the score was only 1-0 at halftime, Belstone were well on top. The Manor House keeper had an excellent game throughout and saved an early penalty.

The second half was dominated by the home side as the visitors, who hailed from Hainault in Essex, had a defence that parted like the Red Sea. There were some good goals in there as well as an own goal of simplistic quality, which we at first thought had led to a horrific injury to the Belstone centre forward. 

He chased the ball to the byline and crossed it for the defender to poke home before smashing into the railing headfirst. He got up after a few seconds, much to everyone’s relief.

To give Manor House the credit they deserved, they never gave up and were rewarded with two consolations at the end of a good quality game. However, we agreed the final score was about right. We trudged back towards Elstree, as poor Gary’s feet were giving him some real pain following his month around Europe watching football. 

Typically, we saw a 107 bus depart in either direction as we approached, but our luck was in as another service came, so we took it to Elstree & Borehamwood station and returned to Kingsbury via National Rail and bus. All in all, it had been a most enjoyable early afternoon out.

Belstone 2 Amersham Town 1 (Tuesday 4th August 2020) Friendly (att: c50)

My return visit to the Medburn Ground would also see a plethora of regulations surrounding it, this time due to COVID-19. Although reading Twitter and different football forums, you'd think that the FA were the culprits once again. Fans were not being permitted to go to football at the grounds of the top 6 Steps of non-league football, or anything above it in the professional game. 

It was a thoroughly miserable time as a regular attendee, as the government continued to make a hash of a difficult situation. However, there was a glimmer of consolation. Belstone played in Step 7 and therefore didn't come under the jurisdiction, or so everyone thought. In hindsight, it was probably more to do with a lack of communication between the FA and the government department making rules who had no real knowledge of the workings of non-league football.

This was the night after a staggering exchange as I went to the Vale Farm home of Wembley FC to hopefully see a friendly match between Cricklewood Wanderers and Lopes Tavares, just before they changed their title to Newham Athletic. I had walked towards the gates to see if there was any chance of admittance when a Wanderers official asked me what I was doing. 

I told him I was hoping to watch the match. For some reason, he went into a ridiculously defensive mood. He asked me what match and wouldn't accept that I knew that there was a game, even though I told him I saw it advertised on Twitter. To begin with, he even denied that a game was taking place until the arrival of the away side scuppered that line.

Finally, he said it was taking place on an artificial pitch in the sports centre, and nobody was allowed to watch. No problem. I understood, but I reminded him that I was just a football enthusiast, not the police, and I might want to spend money at his club one day. 

Anyway, after a fairly depressing morning shift at work the next day, watching plenty of the usual suspects break C-19 rules to add to their persistent antisocial behaviour on top of the previous evening's attitude, I was cheered by reading on Twitter of a game that would include some exercise.

Belstone were advertising that all were welcome to their friendly against Amersham Town, from a division higher. I had a brief siesta, a bite to eat, and set off on my way with renewed enthusiasm.

The 107 bus dropped me at the top end of Elstree before I retraced my footsteps from last time, arriving a few minutes after the 6.45pm kick-off to find a busy car park and a reasonable crowd in attendance.

Admission was free, and I was asked to put down my details on a form for track and tracing purposes. Amazingly, little Belstone FC seemed to be ahead of the government in that department. Plentiful bottles of hand sanitiser were available, and everyone adhered to social distancing. It was bliss.

I must have been in a good mood, as I bought a bottle of Budweiser. The clubhouse was closed, but the staff had a couple of large buckets full of cold bottled drinks and snacks on offer. Everyone I encountered was friendly, and fans were delighted to have such luxuries. What a difference from twenty-four hours earlier.

Players were required to arrive in kit or change in the car park. The dressing rooms were open, so everyone could use the toilet facilities. The ground looked like an absolute picture on a lovely early evening and was about as perfect as could be managed under the circumstances. 

Going to non-league is always more about having a walk or travel, chatting, laughing, learning, and broadening the mind to me. With respect, you only understand if you are a regular attendee rather than a TV fan.

I sat there with my ice-cold Bud, and even that beer tasted beautiful. I know how the gang must have felt on the drinks break from tarring the roof at Shawshank. Decent football people, all enjoying themselves in safe surroundings. Out on the pitch, we were treated to a match of reasonable standard. The hosts went close with a couple of efforts, one from number 4 going narrowly past the far post. 

They took the lead when a low free kick was cleverly flicked on to number 11, who controlled the ball and smashed home from just inside the box. Number 7 missed a gilt-edged chance to double the lead as I had a wander and bumped into Dulwich Hamlet, Peckham Town and Surrey CCC supporter Duncan, whom I'd got to know from bumping into him at various football and cricket games.

The visiting Magpies put some attacks together without really worrying the home side custodian, though a jinking run by 11 in the red of Belstone could easily have been rewarded with a penalty, as I thought he was brought down. Amersham's number 14 should have restored parity when shooting wide after being teed up by number 20 as the half drew to a close. 

That offered the opportunity to give my flask a try-out at a match for the first time in the new season. It would soon be apparent that squad numbers would be the order of the season in non-league, so players kept the same shirt to minimise the risk of spreading Coronavirus, but the introduction of an Amersham sub wearing number 83 did make me laugh.

Both sides probed in the second half before the visitors equalised. Some dogged work latched onto a goalkeeping error from a back pass to square to number 41, who rolled the ball into an empty net. A brilliant last-ditch tackle from a Magpies number 6 denied Belstone's number 16, who, not for the first time, dallied slightly. 

However, the forward did the business when scoring at the second attempt after the keeper made a fine initial stop with his feet. The game became slightly feisty towards the end, but was well refereed. I reflected that Step 6 might be as good as it would get for some time if I wanted to watch live football, but so be it if it was similar to this experience.

After the game, I walked all the way through Elstree, forgoing The Waggon & Horses on Watling Street, who were showing the play-off final between Fulham and Brentford. I was enjoying the exercise and my MH was brightened considerably. And then I got home and got into bed. I thought I'd check Twitter before turning in to see if there was any breaking news or reports from the game I'd been to. My mood dipped in an instant.

The FA had announced that no fans could attend any football, regardless of the standard. I was beyond the point of being shocked anymore. I honestly thought that this government were the most clueless administration in my lifetime, but the FA seemed to be giving them a good run for their money.

I had come into contact with far more people on my way to work before 6.15 am than I did going to a football game. But there was no chance of shutting down work or transport, though, as those in power required minions to create productivity. 

The pubs had been busy last night with people scoffing themselves daft on cheap meal offers under the government's 'Eat Out To Help Out' hare-brained scheme, which would help in a further rise in infections. 

I could go to a busy pub or supermarket the next evening instead of a Step 7 pre-season friendly in an open field while improving my own physical and mental health in the process. I was half expecting someone to chop my limbs off next or install hammocks at work so we can stay here full-time and not mix with people in transit. 

It's fair to say that I was absolutely gutted and seething in equal measure. And that was a shame because everything I'd experienced at Belstone FC had been wonderful. A young groundhopper filmed the game and edited it for YouTube, and it can be seen here.

Egham Town

Egham Town FC is a non-league football club based on the edge of the Surrey town of the same name, which is located twenty miles southwest of central London.

The current club were formed in 1963, but football in the town goes back much further. Runnymeade Rovers were formed back in 1877, before being reformed as Egham FC in 1905. The club had spells in the Surrey Senior League and then the Spartan League, before disbanding upon the outbreak of World War Two.

It took until the 60s before a public meeting decided to form a new club, with the local council offering land for a new ground off Tempest Road. After a season in the Parthenon League and then a couple in the Surrey Senior League, ‘The Sarnies’ secured a place in the Spartan League.

The 1971-72 campaign saw Egham crowned as league champions, which led to a place in the Athenian League for 1974-75. Town came close to another crown, ending as runners-up in 1975-76. In 1977-79, the club became a member of Division Two of the Isthmian League. 

Over the years, the Runnymeade Stadium was developed into a fine venue as Egham plied their trade in the lower divisions of the Isthmian League, being relegated to Division Three in 1997-98. The goals of  Clayton Whittle helped the side reach a position so that they were allocated a place in Division One South of the Isthmian League for the 2002-03 season.

Following the reorganisation of non-league football, the club were placed in the Western Division of the Southern League for 2004-05. This move was soon reversed after just one season. Unfortunately, the Sarnies were relegated to the Combined Counties League in their first season back. 

Former player Steve Baker took over as manager from Jack McKinlay in 2008-09, with fourth place being achieved in 2009-10 thanks to the goals of John Pomroy, with the performance repeated in 2011-12 after the appointment of John Hansher as manager, with Dale Marvell leading the scoring. 

The Sarnies pipped Guernsey to the championship in 2012-13, winning promotion back to the Southern League, where they were placed in Division One Central after Lee Passmore was appointed as manager in September 2012. He departed in October 2014, with team captain Luke Muldowney replacing him. He was replaced before the end of the season by Koo Dumbuya.

Coach Trevor Norris and Dumbuya switched roles before Gary Meakin was given the job. In 2015-16, Egham reached the playoffs, losing their semifinal tie with St Ives Town on penalties in a season in which the prolific Brandan Matthew excelled. Chris Moore and Wayne Carter took charge during the 2017-18 season after Meakin departed for Beaconsfield Town.

Towards the end of the campaign, Simon Lane arrived as the new manager before the club was transferred to Division One South Central of the Isthmian League in 2018-19, with Lane departing early in the piece. Assistant Ashley Smith took up the reins before being replaced by Dickson Gill, whose disastrous spell led to the appointment of Carl Palmer.

He couldn't save the team, with the Sarnies relegated in 2019-20 to resume life in the Combined Counties League after two abandoned seasons owing to the pandemic. As a Premier Division North side, Egham brought in Tony Choules before the club suffered a major setback when vandals burned out a stand and the changing rooms.

Fans raised the cash for replacements before Choules resigned to be replaced by Jordan Berry, another former Sarnies player.  The team finished third in 2021-22 and then runners-up in 2022-23, going on to lose their inter-step playoff to Merstham. The duo of Manny Williams and Jay Gasson replaced the departing Berry for 2023-24.

They were soon replaced by Harrison Williams, who was succeeded by Ben Peden and Adam Humphries before Berry returned from a spell at Harrow Borough to lead the side. The Sarnies won their league title in 2024-25 to go up to the South Central Division of the Isthmian League.

Egham Town FC will play in the Isthmian League South Central Division in the 2026-27 season.

My visits

Tuesday 6th September 2006

My day of groundhopping was nearly complete on a pleasant late summer’s day. I had walked plenty of miles and was starting to tire. After calling at Chertsey Town, I alighted from my train at Egham station and walked a further mile onwards under the M25 to Tempest Road.

I had no idea what to expect, so the Runnymede Stadium came as a pleasant surprise. Although the gates were locked, I managed to get some decent views to take photos.

The Main Stand was a low-seated affair on the near halfway line. Opposite was a long, low terraced cover. The Clubhouse End was similar, while a small cover stood behind the far goal. The rest of the ground consisted of open hard standing.

After taking my photos, I went on my way. Fortunately, a bus at nearby Pooley Green took me to Staines, which saved another long walk. I was not upset by this!

Egham Town 1 Rugby Town 1 (Tuesday 3rd December 2013) Southern League Division One Central (att: 82)

After finishing my set of nights at work, I wanted a decent game but also to get back relatively quickly for a beer. After studying the fixtures, the game between Egham and Rugby fitted the bill. The home side were finding life tough at their new level, whereas the visitors from Warwickshire came into the game in second place.

I had previously got lost between the bus and train stations in Staines, so I did extra planning before setting off. This time, there were no mistakes. I found the correct bus, which dropped me at Pooley Green for a reasonable £1.70. 

A quick walk over the park took me to Pond Road and then Wards Place through the large car park to the turnstiles. Admission was a very reasonable £7, which included a decent enough programme. It was a cold evening, but I resisted the tea bar, which was just opening next to the seated stand. 

The teams emerged from either side, and I took up a position under the cover on the opposite halfway line. The stadium remained unaltered since my previous visit. An Egham coach was standing nearby, cajoling his players from behind the barrier. 

The standard of play was good, and there were plenty of crunching challenges going in from both sides. The referee was excellent as he spoke to the players like adults and generally helped them through the game.

It was nip and tuck for the first thirty minutes. The Sarnies were holding their own, despite Rugby creating a couple of half-chances. Just before the interval, Rugby’s Alex Gudger tripped home forward Ryan O’Toole as he was going away from goal. 

The ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. O’Toole dusted himself down and smashed home from twelve yards. At the break, I treated myself to a beer and a whisky for medicinal reasons in the cosy clubhouse. 

On my return, it was time for some food. My hot dog and a Bovril set me back £3.50. The older visiting fans stood down the side and gave the linesman some real stick over some decisions. Their bench also joined in, but the ref defused the situation expertly.

The excellent O’Toole had an effort superbly pushed onto the crossbar by visiting custodian Niall Cooper, before coming close with a thirty-yard lob. The Sarnies' defence was snuffing out the previously potent visiting attack.

I departed with a couple of minutes to go, as seeing out full-time would necessitate a long wait for a later bus. Instead, I ran across the park and caught the 9.39 service. As luck would have it, I missed the Rugby equaliser, which was apparently turned into his own net by Arran Taylor-Ives.

Meanwhile, I managed to catch the train towards London, but instead of staying on until Waterloo, I managed a master stroke and jumped out at Richmond to catch the London Overground round to Brondesbury. It saved me some good time, and I was back in the pub in Kingsbury by 11.10.

Burgess Hill Town

Burgess Hill Town FC is a non-league football club from the Sussex town of the same name, which is located around forty miles south of central London. The club was formed in 1882 as Burgess Hill FC, starting out its competitive life in the Mid Sussex Football League. 

The 'Hillians’ also won the Sussex Senior Cup three years in succession, for which they were awarded the cup to keep. The club progressed to the Sussex County League for the 1958-59 season

It wasn’t until a decade later, when they awarded the suffix ‘Town’ to their name, that they really came to prominence. The club amalgamated with World's End FC and negotiated a move to a new ground at Leylands Park with the help of the local council.

The 1975-76 season saw Town crowned as Sussex League champions the year after being promoted in pole position. The next twenty years were unremarkable, but all that was to change under the managerial reigns of Alan Pook. He led the club to three further league titles in successive campaigns from 1997 to 1999.

Gary Croydon joined the club to take over as team manager, which would be many spells, as Hill clinched further championships in 2001-02 and 2002-03, which led to promotion to the Southern League.

After just one season, non-league football was restructured, with Burgess Hill being placed in the Isthmian League. In 2007-08, the club was deducted eight points, with a penalty of three points coming from their tally in 2011-12 as Croydon set about trying to progress a move to a new ground near the Triangle Leisure Centre in his role as Chief Executive.

Simon Rowland took on the role of team manager, with John Rattle replacing him at the end of the 2011-12 campaign as relegation was narrowly avoided. After many seasons playing in yellow and black, Hillians reverted to their old kit of green and black stripes for the 2012-13 campaign.

Former Brighton defender Ian Chapman led the side to promotion in 2014-15 as Burgess Hill became a Premier Division club as crowds rose. It proved to be a tough battle at their new status. Simon Wormull replaced Chapman during the 2018-19 campaign, but his side was relegated.

Back in Division One South East, the club immediately faced two abandoned seasons owing to the pandemic before returning to action and finishing seventh in 2021-22 with Jay Lovett as manager. Matt Longhurst enjoyed a short spell at the helm in the back half of the 2022-23 season.

New owners arrived in the summer of 2023 and invested in the team and facilities, with Dean Cox made manager. He lasted until December, when he and many players departed, with Gary Mansell taking over to steady the ship, later being joined by the returning Lovett. 

The playoffs were reached in 2024-25, resulting in away wins against Margate and then Sittingbourne as the Hillians returned to the Premier Division. Mansell again resumed sole charge from April 2026.

Burgess Hill Town FC will compete in the Isthmian League Premier Division in the 2026-27 season.

My visit

Burgess Hill Town 2 Eastbourne Town 0 (Friday 23rd August 2013) Isthmian League Division One South (att: 303)

It was the first of my set of early shifts at work, so I was more than happy to see The Hillians were at home, so I could tick off another new venue. After doing plenty of admin work for my own club, I was pushing it a bit fine to reach Victoria and buy my ticket on time. 

Why is it that there's always a queue consisting of people who don't know what they're doing waiting to use the ticket machines when you're in a rush? Anyway, I was on board just in time on a beautiful evening. Once I'd changed at Haywards Heath, it was just a few minutes longer to my destination of Wivelsfield.  

Less than ten minutes later, I was handing over £8 to get inside Leylands Park. I bought a decent enough programme for another £2 and entered the clubhouse. Kick-off was at 7.30 as a long-term dispute with neighbours meant that the floodlights had to be off by 9.30pm.

I was delighted to see a hand pump dispensing Horsham Brewers WJ King's Summer Ale. I had a pint, and my conclusion was that it was the best advert for winter I'd ever tasted. Not my cup of Earl Grey. I even left some. However, I do recommend it as a dietary supplement for future users. 

I took my drink out onto the newly installed smart decking outside the clubhouse to take a proper look at the ground. There was a smart seated stand down the housing side. The changing rooms and clubhouse were behind the goal at the entrance's end, with the rest of the ground consisting of flat open hard standing and grass. 

All paintwork was in the club colour of green, which helped it blend it in with the ample trees and hedges around the venue. I was slightly surprised that there was no area for covered standing. Perhaps this will be next on the list?

Once the teams had come out, I had a little wander and patronised the new 'Back of the Net' refreshment hut. The cheeseburger with onions for £2.70 was well worth the money. I washed it down with a cup of tea, as much as to rinse away the taste of the beer. As I had missed eating earlier, I went overboard and also sampled a hot dog, but this wasn't up to my previous selection.  

The pitch was hard and already threadbare, which was a bit of a worry so early in the season. I'm not sure if this was totally responsible for the way both sides gave the ball away at will. It was frenetic, but poor fare.  

Hillians took the lead through Max Miller after about fifteen minutes when he broke through and slotted past the Eastbourne custodian.  That was about it, really. Eastbourne, on the back of a midweek mauling, never really looked like scoring. 

I undertook my usual lap of the ground and was swamped with insects down the side by the dugouts. They were everywhere. I returned to the clubhouse at the interval to watch a bit of the once-unlikely League fixture of Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crawley Town.

The second half was just as scrappy, with tackles of varying standards breaking up play. The ref was decent, and although he cracked down on one piece of awful swearing at loud volume, there was still a bit too much for my liking - although admittedly not as much as at Littlehampton the previous weekend. 

The visiting keeper made one decent save in the second half, but that was about all the goalmouth action on evidence. I missed the last few minutes to catch the 9.18 from Wivelsfield back to the metropolis.

In doing so, I'm led to believe that I missed Hillians keeper Alan Mansfield making a fine save to keep his side ahead. From the resulting corner, Eastbourne's number one went up trying to assist his team in grabbing a draw. However, the set piece was headed clear to Miller, who struck the ball into the empty net from his own half.

I was home and in bed by 11pm after a good night out. The football was poor on the whole, but I liked the set-up at Burgess Hill, no doubt aided by the excellent attendance, creating an atmosphere.