Bamber Bridge - Sir Tom Finney Stadium

Bamber Bridge Football Club

The SFC Stadium

Irongate

Bamber Bridge

PRESTON

PR5 6UU

01772 909695

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1523

Saturday 7th March 2026

Bamber Bridge 1-3 Hednesford Town
NPL Premier

BAMBER BRIDGE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Although a team existed in the village in the late 1800s, the current club was established in 1952. They joined the Preston & District League, progressing to the Senior Division. In 1974, they merged with Walton-le-Dale. Bamber Bridge would go on to win four Premier Division titles, the last of these coming in 1990. The same year, they joined the North West Counties League's second tier, and by 1992, they were champions. The following year, Bamber Bridge were runners-up behind Atherton Laburnum Rovers in the top tier. This earned them promotion to the NPL Division 1, and the success continued with a runners-up spot behind Blyth Spartans in 1995 and, with it, promotion to the NPL Premier. Their best-ever league finish came in 1999 as Brig finished 4th in what at the time, was a step 2 league. They were relegated in 2002, before being allocated a place back in the NPL Premier following the establishment of the Conference North in 2004. They would only last a single season before being relegated to the step 4 NPL Division 1 North, where they spent a prolonged period. Failed playoff campaigns in 2014 (where they lost to Ramsbottom United in the final and 2015 (where they lost to Darlington in the final) were put right in 2018 following a 4th place finish. Bamber Bridge beat Tadcaster Albion 2-1 in the semis and Prescot Cables 1-0 in the final earn promotion to the NPL Premier. Since then, the club have been in the NPL Premier. They came close to promotion in 2023 following a 3rd place finish, but despite beating Gainsborough Trinity on penalties in the playoffs, lost 1-0 to Warrington Town in the final.

Bamber Bridge's best FA Cup run came in 1999. They beat Trafford (after a replay), Morpeth Town, Lancaster City (after a replay) & St Albans City before a narrow 1-0 loss at Football League side Cambridge United in the 2nd Round. They've also reached the FA Trophy 2nd Round twice. In their debut season in the FA Vase during the 91/92 season, Bamber Bridge reached the semi-finals. They beat Ashville, Prescot, St Dominics, Liversedge, Flixton, Brigg Town, Newport IOW & Chertsey Town before losing to Wimborne Town over two legs. Local cup wins include the NPL Challenge Cup in 1994, the NPL President's Cup in 2005, the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy in 1995, the Lancashire FA Amateur Shield in 1982 and the Lytham Medal Competition in 1976. They've also won three Lancastrian Brigade Cups and four Preston and District League Guildhall Cups.

From 1974, the club played at King George's Playing Field. In 1983, they purchased a plot of derelict land to build their own ground, with the name Irongate taken from the local area. The first game was played in August 1987. The ground was officially named the Sir Tom Finney Stadium after Finney's death in 2014. The record attendance of 2,300 was set for a friendly match against the Czech Republic national team shortly before Euro 96, as the Czechs were using Irongate as a training ground. The national side won 9-1, but it became one of those rare club v country ties. It was the Czechs' first-ever tournament as a separate country since the split with Slovakia. They went from 66-1 outsiders to nearly beating Germany in the final. The tie only came about after another local side, Preston North End, turned the friendly down. The game itself was sold out. Bunting lined the streets while a brass band played as Bamber Bridge's opponents arrived.

Several Football League players have played for Bamber Bridge. A link with Wycombe Wanderers is Andy Bell. He scored three goals in eleven games during 2004 before a career that brought three years at Bamber Bridge between 2012 & 2015. Bamber Bridge is a large village, 3 miles south-east of Preston. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". People who live in Bamber Bridge are often known locally as Briggers. During the Second World War, Bamber Bridge was home to the 1511 Quartermaster Truck regiment. The unit was racially segregated, and all of the soldiers except the officers were African American. Tensions in the wake of the 1943 Detroit race riot caused a major fight, known as the Battle of Bamber Bridge to break out between white American military police on one side, and black American soldiers and townsfolk on the other. A Black American soldier, Private William Crossland, was killed. In June 2022, a memorial garden commemorating the battle was created opposite the pub where the Battle of Bamber Bridge started. The incident inspired the plot of the 2022 film The Railway Children Return.

MY VISIT

Bamber Bridge had long been on my priority list of grounds to visit. This was heightened when, following my visit to Morpeth Town in January, it was the only ground that I had left to do in the NPL Premier. In fact, it was the only ground that I needed for every ground down to step 3 - the top seven levels of English football or the top 248 teams in the country. Something I am quite proud of and that I have had much fun doing. It would not last for long, though, due to Workington's imminent ground move, but they could find themselves at step 4 next season anyway. I remember Bamber Bridge from their friendly against the Czech Republic just before Euro 96. For some reason, I stopped by Bamber Bridge on 30th September 2006 to take pictures of the ground on the way to Accrington Stanley, and I saw an impressive ground. When researching the village, it also seemed an interesting place with lots of history and some decent pubs. It was a rare case of the club being listed on CAMRA for serving real cider. A pint always tastes better when it is going to a worthy cause, so I was looking forward to visiting.

From our game at Bray, we headed back towards the room. Tesco Express was called upon, where I got a couple of Irish ciders and some crisps. We made our second flying visit to the room to drop our stuff before heading out again. I had my can of Devil's Bit on the walk back; it was only a few minutes' wait for the train to Dun Laoghaire. It was fairly quick, and the Forty Foot Wetherspoons was only a few minutes' walk away. I ordered a Strongbow whilst Colin got disappointed at the soft drink range. The service took ages, and I had to go to the bar to chase it up. Colin was his usual charming self, being rude to staff in a matter that was none of his business. Just the one pint, then the train back. Colin fell asleep, and I got someone to wake him up and tell him he was in Malahide at the other end of the line. He didn't see the funny side. We were back at the room just before midnight and I had the bottle of cider as I typed my blog. This was up just before 1 am and within 20 minutes, I was asleep. I awoke around 5.25 and was 20 minutes ahead of my alarm. Even so, it was quite tight for time with Colin's constant questions about random things. We arrived outside our hotel around four minutes before the first bus of the day was scheduled, just as well, as it pulled off as soon as we got on. Everything was quite busy, even at this time of day. A change of bus in Dublin centre was easy and we were at the airport at 7:45.

Security was pretty decent, though not as good as Stansted. Colin discovered that he had lost his bag with power bank and cables in. The selection was fairly mediocre on the other side, so I just had a pint of Orchard Thieves for €7.25. Colin got a tiny breakfast for €14, neither especially great. We were at the gate an hour before kickoff and they started boarding at 9:10. It took a fair while and it was an hour before we got moving. We landed at 11 and got out of the airport very quickly. It was a fair old walk, but it took 15 minutes to walk to the train station where we got the 11:29 to Preston. Mid-journey, Colin decided to go to Lancaster to meet Richard, which was fine with me as I prefer my own company. I started looking at potential lunch places as I wanted to spend time in Bamber Bridge, and found a place that looked decent. The train got in at 12.30, then it was a 15-minute walk to the bus stop. The 125 was a few minutes late, but a £6.50 Central Lancs Day Rider would cover most of my travel today. It got me to my pre-match pub, The Withy Arms. A pleasant place, I had Chinese salt, chilli pepper-loaded fries and a pint of Thatchers Cloudy Lemon. All very tasty and decent value for £11.48 with a drink. It was then around 15 minutes walk to the ground with me getting there at 2. It was a great ground to finish the league on but the bar was a bit disappointing as no real cider was on offer, contrary to what the CAMRA website claimed. The bar was doing a brisk trade, though, so I had a pint of Kopparberg Crisp Apple. The club shop opened at halftime, and I got a few interesting things.

The league table had Hednesford Town chasing the title in 3rd and Bamber Bridge just outside of the playoffs in 8th. Bamber Bridge started the stronger and they took the lead on six minutes. A swinging cross was headed home at the back post by Isaac Abamkwah. Hednesford looked to get back into the game, and it was all square on 20 minutes. A free kick was awarded 25 yards out from goal, and a great effort produced the equaliser from Omari Sterling-James. That sent the considerable Hednesford into raptures. They had even more to cheer about after a close-range finish from Amari Rose put them ahead on the half hour, and again, a Sterling-James free kick did the damage with a good delivery. The second half saw Bamber Bridge have a lot of possession and have the ball cleared off of the line. Hednesford made it 3-1 on 87 minutes. Substitute and former football league player Jake Jervis had all the time in the world to slot past the keeper after a clever break.

It was hard on Bamber Bridge, but Hednesford and their fans were excellent. They'd brought a good proportion of the declared 555 attendance, although the crowd looked like more. It had been a decent game in a decent atmosphere. Wycombe had been 2-0 up on 88 minutes, but somehow conspired to lose 3-2. I put on our local radio station before my headphones ran out, which happened as soon as the well-timed bus arrived. I read the reaction to the Wycombe game, which was not positive. Colin had been to Lancaster but had to wait until 5.40 to leave. As I was back in Preston before him, I headed to the comfortable surroundings of the Twelve Tellers in Preston, where I had a pint of Black Dragon whilst I typed this blog. It was super busy, but the service was very good considering. Colin was quicker than I expected, and so we headed to the bus stop for the trip to Lytham. The Railway Hotel Wetherspoons was on the bus route that would deposit us right next to our hotel, so it was a good place to spend an hour.

THE GROUND

IRONGATE, THE SFC STADIUM or THE TOM FINNEY STADIUM is a great ground for the level. The main seated stand holds 500 under cover, whilst there is considerable cover at both ends for around 1,200 more. It is only the far side, backed onto houses, that is uncovered. The food is decent in variety and price, and the club shop is a gem if you love old programmes and books. The bar was a bit of a letdown. Plastic glasses, which require you to pay a deposit, but the queues are huge, so I couldn't be bothered. They were just generic too, with no Bamber Bridge logo. The range of drinks was underwhelming, too. That old oak bar with Old Rosie cider must have been in the upstairs bit for directors. The main Bamber Bridge area was around 15 minutes walk away with excellent bus links to Preston. Overall, a positive experience.

Bray Wanderers - Carilsle Grounds

Bray Wanderers FC

Carlisle Grounds

Quinsborough Road
Bray

County Wicklow

Ireland

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1522

Friday 6th March 2026

Bray Wanderers 2-1 Athlone Town

League Of Ireland First Division

BRAY WANDERERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was formed in 1922 by players of St Kevin's Gaelic FC following a dispute. During the early years, they played second fiddle to Bray Unknowns in the town who had already established themselves at Carlisle Grounds. The time during the Second World War was when things started change. Wanderers were reformed in 1942 following some difficult years during the mid-1930s. In 1943, Unknowns were voted out of the League of Ireland following years of poor results. The two clubs would play in the Leinster League for many years, with Wanderers winning the title three seasons in a row between 1958 & 1960. During the 1973/74 season, the two clubs merged and then in 1985, Bray Wanderers were elected to the League of Ireland following its expansion to two divisions.

It was a successful first season for the club as they lifted the First Division title in their debut season. They'd only last a couple of seasons in the Premier Division, being relegated back in 1988. During their spell back in the First Division, they won the FAI Cup in 1990, beating St Francis 3–0 in the first final to be played at Lansdowne Road, the former national stadium. This gave them a chance to compete in Europe, and despite gaining a respectable 1-1 draw against Trabzonspor in the first leg of the European Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying Round, they lost 3-1 on aggregate. They returned to the Premier Division the same year, but again their spell would be short, with them going back down in 1993 and having a couple of lowly First Division finishes. A double of the League of Ireland First Division and the League of Ireland First Division Shield saw Bray return to the Premier Division in 1996. The club continued to alternate between the two tiers, with the turn of the millennium proving a happy time. They won the FAI Cup in 1999, beating Finn Harps 2-1 before a record finish of 4th in the Premier Division in 2000.

That cup win saw the club's second and currently last foray into European football, as they lost 8-0 on aggregate to Grashoppers Zürich. The Swiss side was managed by future England manager Roy Hodgson. Bray continued to flirt with and occasionally succumb to relegation, including a two-season spell in the First Division between 2002 & 2004. They then enjoyed a sustained spell in the Premier Division, although three 6th place finishes were as good as it got for them. Wanderers were relegated back to the First Division in 2018 and have been there ever since. The closest they came to returning was in 2020, when they finished as runners-up to Drogheda United. In 2021, the club merged with, or effectively took over fellow First Division club Cabinteely. The decision was not without controvesy and it led to a drop in attendance for a while.

MY BLOG

It had been a long and frustrating journey in my attempt to see a game in Ireland. Problem upon problem cropped up, mainly related to the obscenely high accommodation prices. That was after I had got over the fact that all games were on Friday night, meaning making a weekend of it, football-wise, was impossible. This was a shame as I'd have liked to take in a Gaelic Football game too, if the times worked out right. It must have been considered around ten times, but each time, it proved to be terrible value for money, and I ended up going elsewhere. But finally, the need to go to Bamber Bridge gave me an idea - fly in from London and out to Manchester and get two great ticks. Unlike fellow hopper Daniel, who talked of Ireland as if it were as good as River Plate v Boca Juniors, I was not willing to sleep on the airport floor like a tramp when I had a full day ahead of me on the Saturday. Maybe in the future, when I can go straight home to bed, but not for the first time. For once, Colin proved to be a help rather than a hindrance by bringing the price of a room down to a sensible level if we shared a twin. It would be in Bray, which would dictate our match choice, but then, their coastal location appealed to me. Just over £56 was decent for Ireland. Flights were another snag, with prices going up and down with baffling regularity. A great price of £17.58 was secured for the Manchester-to-Dublin leg on Saturday, 24th January. A few days later, the flight out was purchased for £33.48. Not ideal, but not outrageous either.

From a busy weekend, I had a few drinks on Sunday evening, before work at 4 am on Monday. It had been an unhealthy weekend, and I did feel a bit sluggish at work. I spent the afternoon and evening researching upcoming trips, including the Bray Wanderers' history for this blog. It was the standard Tuesday off, with the surprise announcement that Colin would be joining me on my Austria - Slovenia - Italy Trip in a couple of weeks. Usually, he gets substantial discounts compared to me, but on this occasion, he paid around £60 extra to book flights because of the delay. The difference would have been greater had I booked at an optimal time, but only by a tenner at most. At least I got a great deal for us on hotels, which will make it a great value trip. In the evening, I made my 40th visit to Watchet Lane to watch Holmer Green v Wembley. Sadly, my local team lost 2-0 in a poor performance. It was my short day at work the next day, but I was still tired. I had the ordeal of dealing with the NHS for my partially deaf Mum when I got home. They have notes on her file telling them to email or text. There is also a message on her voicemail repeating the same information, but people still cannot follow simple instructions. I spent half an hour on hold and still didn't resolve the issue, insisting that they would call back. Around 45 minutes were spent in the end after being called back and put on hold. I'm sick of people who refuse to use modern methods of communication, and only someone with a brain the size of a peanut would use phone calls as a method of communication when they are so inconvenient and time-consuming, especially when the quality of the phone line makes it sound like you are phoning Mars in the 1960s. Thankfully, I sorted it in the end, although her arranged hospital transport was two hours late in the morning, and then only after being chased up by a kind and helpful neighbour.

 

I had my last day at work for five days, and I was feeling pretty jaded at 4 am. I am looking forward to some well-earned time off, although with Colin coming, I'll probably be going back to work for a rest next week!. I came home, put the wash on and checked in with RyanAir. I messaged Colin to do the same. If he ignores the message and ends up paying an airport check-in fee, that's on him. He eventually rang me as he didn't know what nationality he was, and still didn't manage to get checked in. I intensified my planning for this trip, having decided to save central Dublin for another time. Originally, I was planning on going to Swords and Dun Laoghaire, but Dundalk Fan River advised me that I'd be pushing it to do both if I was aiming to get to Bray in good time. It was good to get advice from someone in the know, and it made perfect sense as it was easier to get to the Dart train line from there. The prices for transport in Dublin were a pleasant surprise. Just 8 Euros for 24 hours of travel, as long as I avoid the airport express. A bargain in one of the priciest cities I've seen. I got in the mood in the evening by watching the Saipan movie I'd wanted to see for ages. Official sources were asking for £16 just to RENT the movie, which was taking the absolute piss. They can stick it up their bollocks as Roy Keane might say. Had they charged a fiver, I'd have paid no questions but instead I found an alternative way to watch it for free. It's the same greed that has led to the popularity of dodgy firesticks and the like, and the companies have only themselves to blame. It was a decent movie and very interesting.

 

I went to sleep at a pretty much normal time and woke up around my normal work time. I had plenty of time to kill before it was time to leave at 7. Colin's Dad hadn't been able to work out how to check him in on the app, but he kindly gave us a lift to the station. We were 15 minutes ahead of time, taking the Chiltern, Circle, Thameslink and Tram to Lloyd Park. This was for the Coombe Lodge Wetherspoons, around 15 minutes walk away. It had been reviewed poorly on Google, and in my case reviews were very mixed. My breakfast arrived five minutes after Colin's, maybe due to my penchant for Black Pudding. Annoyingly, you couldn't get a pint until 10 am, an hour later than usual in Spoons. I ordered Strongbow but was pretty sure I got Stowford Press. But I couldn't be arsed to chase it up. From there, walking, tram and train to Gatwick took around 40 minutes. After security, Spoons furnished me with two pints of Stowford Press and some cheesy chips for around £17. We got chatting to some fans who were off to see Deportivo LA Coruna this weekend. There were delays all over the place, thanks to people; we finally started getting airborne 90 minutes after the scheduled departure time. The other end was a bit more efficient, but the mobile data not working properly was a pain. I was trying and trying as the plane landed but was getting nothing. I'd had this problem before in Sweden for some random reason. That time, purchasing an e sim from Saily sorted the issue, and although it took time, it eventually kicked in. It was a slow and frustrating journey in the traffic, so I was thinking that going straight to Bray might be the best option. That turned out to be the case as there were further delays on the Dart train. The utterly dismal service finally pulled in just short of kickoff. It had been a stressful journey; it should have been a comfortable time for two Wetherspoons and a nice look around Bray, but instead, I was going to be late for kickoff. Amazingly, time was made up. With a simple check-in, we jogged, dumped our bags in a lovely room and jogged back just in time for kickoff.

 

Bray Wanderers were in 6th, and were in average form in their three games so far. They had drawn 1-1 with Longford Town, won 1-0 at basement side Treaty United and lost 1-0 at Cork City. Athlone Town were in 2nd place and had won two and drawn one so far. On the opening day, they beat Finn Harps 2-1, won 1-0 at Kerry and drew 2-2 with Wexford. My needs were of the liquid variety, and although you couldn't drink beside the pitch, the fan zone offered a restricted view. It was a first half that saw Bray dominate but not seriously threaten. At half time, it was a visit to the club shop for a scarf and then to the tea bar for Taco Fleek Fries. These took a while due to excess demand, but were superb when they came. Athlone opened the scoring from close range on 66 minutes, Patrick Ferry very much against the run of play. The equaliser, right up the other six minutes later was very much deserved through Tyreik Sammy. Not long after, Alain Kizenga gave them the lead, although we didn't have the best view of the goal seen as it was at the far end. Bray saw out the win to gain a deserved three points. It had been a great evening, and the people were very friendly, a worthy first tick in Ireland.

 

THE GROUND

CARLISLE GROUNDS is a decent venue. The main stand probably holds around 1,500. This is fully covered and appears to be the oldest part of the ground. Save for a few supporting pillars and floodlights, it offered good views and decent legroom. Opposite is uncovered seating for around 1,000. This is the allocated away fans space, although it is soft segregation. Both goals have open flat standing. The facilities are good. The club shop has a decent range, sadly no pennants that I could see. The fan zone offers drinks, and although you have to remain there to drink your pint (6.5 Euros), a reasonable range is on offer. Plastic glasses, sadly, no club logo though. The food is where the ground really excels, with a number of stalls. Burgers and chicken looked good, but I went for some delicious loaded fries, which are as good as I've had. Everything is cooked to order, so it comes out piping hot. Nearby is the Dart station, which is good near Bray but poor near Dublin. There is a pleasant town nearby, which includes a Tesco Express for cans if you are on a budget