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Meadows Sports Ground
Countesthorpe
Leicestershire
LE8 5QW
Ground Number: 1548
Saturday 25th April 2026
Magna 73 0-3 Loughborough Students Dev
Leicestershire Senior Premier
MAGNA 73 FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
As the name suggests, the club was established in 1973. The club’s name is often associated with the local Magna Park or the "Great" (Magna) community spirit of the Countesthorpe area. They started in the Leicester & District Mutual League, staying until 1984. They then moved to the Leicester City League, staying until 1993. Records for these two leagues appear to be nonexistent. They gained their first recorded honour after moving to the Leicester & District League, lifting the Division 1 title in their first season, 1993/94. The following season saw them finish as runners-up to Cosby United in the Premier Division. The club continued to finish around the top places, as runners-up behind Thurmaston Town in 1998. Results worsened in the 2000s with consistent bottom-half finishes, the exception being 4th in 2005, although finishes improved towards the end of the decade. Magna remained ever-present in the Premier Division until 2018, their last finish being 5th. They made the decision to step up to the Leicestershire Senior League and finished 4th in their first season. Results over the two pandemic seasons were good enough for promotion to the Premier Division once football resumed. They are now in their fifth season at that level, their best finish of 6th coming last season.
In 2023, the club reached the final of the Leicestershire Senior League Cup but lost 3-2 to Burbage & Huncote in the final at Loughborough Dynamo. Countesthorpe is a large village and civil parish in the Leicestershire district of Blaby, with a population of just over 6,300. It lies to the south of Leicester, and is about 6 miles from the city centre, but only two miles south of the suburb of South Wigston. The name Countesthorpe originates from the 11th century when the area was part of the marriage dowry of the Countess Judith, niece of William the Conqueror. The 'thorpe' part of the name is a variant of the Middle English word thorp, meaning hamlet or small village. The village is twinned with the town of Mennecy in France. Former Leicester City players Harvey Barnes & Ahmed Musa lived in the village whilst playing for the club.
As usual, the FCHD helped out with researching history, but the Leicester & Rutland Football History site filled me in on the Leicester & District League days.
MY VISIT
Once again, I was struggling to find a match to go to on this Saturday. All of the teams that I needed. The top option was Rotherfield v Reigate Priory, which would mean a nice day out in Tunbridge Wells. This would mean buying a railcard, though, to get the best fare, something that I'd probably not use that often. I'd also been hoping to go to Worksop SJR on Friday. However, all my options for a passenger were otherwise engaged. I did consider making an overnight stop and going to two games on the Saturday at Field AFC and Knaresbrough Town Reserves. However, this would mean a 445-mile trip and a £45 hotel. These were costs that I could not justify paying when I could save them for another time. I had spotted good coach fares to Leicester when looking at games a couple of weeks ago. However, most of them dropped off on the edge of Leicester, rather than in town. A fortnight later, I was less fussy. By the time the Football Traveller came out on Wednesday, National Express had raised its prices. Flixbus were still playing a fair game, though, and I was able to book return tickets from Finchley Road to Leicester for £13.98. It allowed me time to get to and from Fosse Park, plus have some time in town for a few pints. It boiled down to a choice of two games - either FC Khalsa GAD v Aylestone Park Reserves or Magna 73 v Loughborough Students Development. I valued social media updates, so it was frustrating that both clubs were second-string sides rather than proper clubs. Although Khalsa was better located, Magna offered better social media updates, so I went for that game.
From Oakley, I drove Colin & I home, dropping him off at 9.10 and getting home ten minutes later. I got my blog up before going to bed, but dropped off later than ideal. I was fine at work the next morning, though, even if it was another hard day. A lot of planning was done on Thursday, sadly my plans after the match took a hit thanks to bus connections and it being too much of a risk to make the coach back in time. Friday brought an unexpected overnight frost. This was a pain as I had no idea where my ice scraper was. I ended up using my clocking-in card from work, which split, rendering it useless. The supervisor who was in was most unhelpful and just barked at me to start work. Thankfully, others were more helpful later in the day, and it was pretty much sorted. I had a couple of drinks in the evening whilst I looked forward to next week's midweek options, but kept it light. A couple of pints of the cider I brought back from Somerset last week and a Bacardi and Irn Bru later, I was in bed around 9.30. Though I awoke at 5.30, it wasn't the night's sleep I'd hoped for. After getting up and getting ready, I left at 8. I drove to Amersham and parked up near the station.
The 08:22 train was taken from Amersham to Finchley Road. It arrived half an hour before my coach departure, so I went in Aldi for a chocolate muffin and some rice crackers. The Flix was on time and filled to capacity, but was clean, comfortable and peaceful. It was around ten minutes early into Leicester too. Stopping at Fosse Park Asda, just off the M1, I had to walk 8 minutes to Sainsbury's for the 50 into the City. This was £6.20 for the ticket, which would get me three buses today. The bus passed through some multicultural areas with an array of interesting-looking takeaways, which made me peckish. However, the first Spoons was more limited in its drink range. So, the High Cross was good for a £1.99 pint of Stowford Press; it did the job without much fanfare. I walked past the strangely named Las Vegas fish bar and the tempting Vietnamese Street Food. Construction works delayed me for Spoons 509 - The Corn Exchange, where I had buffalo burger meal with a pint of Black Dragon for £12.02. Then a few minutes' walk to the excellent Blue Boar, where I had a pint of Hecks Vintage Medium for a fiver, solid value in a great pub. Then less than a minutes walk to the Two Tailed Lion, another great place. Due to time constraints and booze levels, takeout was a wise and reduced-price option. The 87 to Countesthorpe was reliable but very warm. I had a pint of Aspalls at the ground, a fiver to the club in place of free entry.
Magna 73 were 8th in the table and had won ten, drawn seven and lost eleven. They'd not won in six games, drawing 3-3 at Leicester Athletico last time out. Loughborough Students were top of the league and had won 20, drawn 7 and lost 2. They'd won three out of their last four, winning 3-2 at Burbage & Huncote in their last match. The students looked a cut above, opening the scoring on 9 minutes, a rifled shot into the bottom right-hand corner. Then on 16 minutes, a right-sided corner was headed in at the near post to make it 2-0. Magna offered little and it was 3-0 on 24 minutes with a well-worked move. The second half was a bit of a non-event. When the game ended, I had the option of waiting until 5 30 for the bus, or walking for the sake of ten minutes delay. The walk got the vote; it was a long and warm one. But I was at the stop well in time. The coach was sparsely populated on the way back, even with the 'you're in my seat' mob. It was on time for the journey south, too, as I headed back to Finchley Road.
THE GROUND
MEADOWS SPORTS GROUND is a decent railed pitch. It is linked by hourly buses and has a large car park. There was no food, but the bar was pretty decent. It's around a mile into the village, but there is nothing around the ground.
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