Harlington Juniors - New Grounds Playing Fields

Harlington Juniors FC

New Grounds Playing Fields

Sundon Road

Harlington

Dunstable

Befordshire

LU5 6LS

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Ground Number: 1549

Tuesday 28th April 2026

Harlington Juniors 3-5 Wootton Blue Cross

Beds County Premier

HARLINGTON JUNIORS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Primarily a youth setup, the club was established in 1984, although football in the village has been played as far back as World War 2. The adult side joined the Bedfordshire County League in 2020 and were Division 2 champions in their first season. For whatever reason, they were not promoted and finished 6th in 2022. The following season saw them crowned Division 2 champions for the second time and this time, they went up to Division 1. They finished 5th in the 2023/24 season before winning the title last season. They made it a double too, winning the Bedfordshire County League Senior Cup by beating Stopsley United in the final. The two sides had been vying for the league title and it was slim margins again as the final was won on penalties. Both sides now compete in the Premier Division and are going well.

Harlington is a village located in Bedfordshire, near the M1 motorway. The nearest town is Flitwick, about 3 miles to the north. It has a population of around 2.300. Harlington has a railway station in the west of the village. It was built by the Midland Railway in 1868 on its extension to St Pancras. The station is served by Thameslink route trains. From Harlington station, you can travel north to Flitwick and Bedford, or south to Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, Harpenden, St Albans, Central London, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Brighton. There are several churches, including the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Harlington Methodist Church and Life Church (part of the Pioneer network of churches). There is a small parade of shops consisting of a general store with a post office counter, a dry cleaner, an estate agent and a cafe.

MY VISIT

As has been the case with midweeks recently, there has been a wealth of options. Burbage & Huncote, Corby Pegasus and Hemmingford United were all considered for this Tuesday. However, by virtue of it being closest, the winner was Harlington Juniors v Wootton Blue Cross. Two things I was slightly concerned about - the lack of any Twitter presence, although Harlington did have an Instagram account which confimed the game and venue. The other was a lack of any food places around the ground, but I solved that by being sure to take my own food.

It was a good Flixbus home from Leicester, a double seat to myself and a good drop off point at Finchley Road. I did have to wait 15 minutes for the train to Amersham, but that was set to get back just before 10. That was about right, and after a drive home, I was back around 10.25. There was time for a can before bed, in the end, I got off just after 11.30 before a 3.50 alarm. I was fine the next morning and indeed went through a very busy Sunday at work. It was only towards the late afternoon that the short sleep caught up with me. As a result, I was in bed and asleep shortly after. Monday was slightly easier at work, but I was still looking forward to my day off on Tuesday.

I had another decent night's sleep on Monday, getting a couple of hours extra compared to usual. It took me a while to get up and get ready, and it was 8.45 by the time I set off for my walk to Wycombe & back. Lidl was visited for some rolls and chicken drumsticks for tonight's game, amongst some other things. I was back around 12.30 and spent the afternoon at home resting. I left at 4.10 to meet Colin. Google Maps avoided the traffic but took us a right crappy route down terrible roads, but we were there at 5.40. Parking was in the village hall, and the entrance to the ground was just at the end of that. We had brought our own food, and I had some chicken and a cheese pretzel roll while we waited for kickoff. It kicked off at 6.25, ten minutes late. It was nice to be in the company of Dave for the match, who had come over from Luton.

Harlington Juniors were 7th in the league and had won twelve, drawn six and lost eight. They were in mixed form and had drawn 2-2 against Marston Shelton Rovers in their last game. Wootton Blue Cross were in 8th place. They had won twelve, drawn three and lost eleven. They had only won one of their last five games, and last time out had lost 3-1 to Cranfield United Reserves. The hosts were ahead within 90 seconds, a quick attack catching the visitors by surprise. On six minutes, it was all square, a beautiful strike from the #5 which curled into the top corner from the edge of the area. On ten minutes, Wootton took the lead, a great long ball out to the left, the winger controlled it well and crossed it into the centre for the striker to finish. Harlington pushed for an equaliser, having several chances. They equalised on 29 minutes, an attack down the left and #7 finished from a tight angle. A ball over the top found #12 on 38 minutes, and he blasted over the keeper to make it 3-2. The second half saw Wootton equalise, a good ball into the area found the #5, who got his second and his team's equaliser by blasting into the net from around the penalty spot. Shortly after the Harlington #8 was sent off after being sin-binned for dissent, but continued his tirade to the referee who sent him off. That turned out to be a frenetic couple of minutes as #5 curled home to complete his hat trick. It was then 5-3 on 64 minutes, a quick goal on the break. The sending off had hampered the hosts, but they still forced a good save out of the keeper with around fifteen minutes to go. No scorer details were available at the time of publishing this blog, but it had been a great game.

THE GROUND 

NEW GROUNDS PLAYING FIELDS is a basic but decent setup. There is plenty of club signage and a club building, although the facilities are for players rather than fans. The pitch itself is roped off, though there are no proper dugouts. There is a small car park at the village hall. The village has a train station and a couple of pubs, but I'm not sure about food.