Harlington Juniors - New Grounds Playing Fields

Harlington Juniors FC

New Grounds Playing Fields

Sundon Road

Harlington

Dunstable

Befordshire

LU5 6LS

Official Website

FA Full Time

Instagram

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.

Magna 73 - Meadows Sports Ground

Magna 73 FC

Meadows Sports Ground

Countesthorpe

Leicestershire

LE8 5QW

Facebook

Twitter

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 a 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. 

AFC Oakley - Oakley Sports & Social Club

AFC Oakley

Oakley Sports & Social Club

Church Lane

Oakley

Bedford 

Bedfordshire

MK43 7RJ

AFC Oakley Website

Sports & Social Club Website

Facebook

Twitter

Ground Number: 1547

Wednesday 22nd April 2026

AFC Oakley 5-2 Elstow Abbey
Beds County Premier

AFC OAKLEY - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1972 and has grown into providing football for over 500 players from Under 6's to Veterans sides, over thirty teams in all. They played at various venues before moving into the Oakley Sports & Social Club in 1981, a couple of years after that venue was established. They have been known under various other guises at points during their history, such as Oakley Sports and  AFC Oakley Sports M&DH (believed to be shorthand for Miller and Derry Hill). I was unable to find any tables pre 2002, but they have been a constant presence in the Bedfordshire County League Premier Division ever since then. They have had a lot of success in the last fifteen years, winning the title in 2014, 2016 & 2025. They have also finished as runners-up to Caldecote in 2013. Additionally, they have won the Britannia Cup in 2016 and the Jubilee Challenge Cup in 2025.

The club is based in the village of Oakley, which is about four miles northwest of Bedford along the River Great Ouse. It has a population of just under 2,500. In 1349, the Black Death struck the village, and three vicars died that year: D. Walter, John Marshall and Robert Fox. The disease had a fatality rate of some 50% and was caused by disease-carrying fleas living on the Black Rat. The medieval cottages provided ample accommodation for rats in the walls, the thatch, and beneath the earth floors. When rats died of the disease, the fleas attacked the human occupants. In addition to football, Oakley has a cricket club, Pilgrims Oakley Cricket Club. The Club has three Saturday teams, including a junior development team; all three play in the Bedford Invitational Saturday Cricket League.

MY VISIT

This game was only planned on Sunday, although it was always my intention to see some games from the step 7 leagues in midweek. I was one ground away from completing both the Thames Valley and Hertfordshire Leagues and had made decent inroads into the Bedfordshire League last year. A few years ago, I only really wanted to see games at grounds with a minimum of rail around the pitch. Now, thanks mainly to Futbology adding step 7 leagues, it was a case of anything goes. Now my midweeks were chosen by visiting the nearest unticked ground, and Saturdays were picked based on a good day out. The latter had been proving problematic lately, which is mad on a Saturday with thousands of games on offer. I was still undecided for the coming weekend, as I'd be on my own, with all of my hopping pals otherwise engaged.

From Chard, I drove Colin & I home. We stopped at ASDA in Yeovil for petrol before heading east. It was a decent journey home, aside from a ten-minute delay on the M25. I dropped Colin off at 8.10 and got home myself 15 minutes later. I had a lot to catch up on, and I had a couple of pints of the cider I'd purchased earlier whilst I typed my blog and sorted photos. I didn't get to sleep until just before 11, so I was a bit tired the next morning with a 3.50 am alarm. It was an OK day at work, but I was hoping for a decent night's sleep on Monday. I got it, kind of, around nine hours. It was my usual walk to town and back on my Tuesday off work. In the evening, it was Holmer Green once again for the fifth midweek in a row. They twice came from behind to beat Langley 4-2 in the Quarter Final of the Esoteric Recordings Division 1 Cup. Despite the short day on Wednesday, it was a real grueller, and I was glad when 11.00 came. I spent a few hours at home before leaving at 3.40. I got to Colin in good time, he got in the car, had a conversation with his Dad on the phone and slept for the rest of the journey. The traffic was dreadful, meaning we had to forego the pre-match Spoons in Bedford and head to a takeaway. I spotted a Chinese takeaway. Of course, they only took cash, something that seems an unwritten rule. It was more by luck than judgment that I had some on me. Colin didn't, and so was rude to the lady on the counter as he thinks the world should adapt to his whims, a not uncommon thing, sadly. My chicken curry and rice were tasty and good value for £8. I ate it before we drove to the ground, arriving at the impressive setup at 6.

AFC Oakley were in 3rd and had won 18, drawn 4 and lost 3. They had won their last twelve league games, although one of them was a walkover. In their last game, they beat Shefford Town & Campton Reserves 3-1. Elstow Abbey were 9th, having won 8, drawn 5 and lost 14.  They were in disappointing form and had lost 2-1 at Harlington Juniors in their last game. Elstow Abbey were by far the better side and had several chances before they took the lead from a penalty awarded for a trip on 15 minutes. On 21 minutes, it was all square.

In the midst of a good spell, AFC Oakley put in a great corner from the left, and Ovenell headed firmly home. On 24 minutes, Elstow Abbey retook the lead with a quick break and a low shot by Bunday from just inside the area. Right before half-time, it was 2-2 after the Elstow keeper palmed the header out, and Dallas followed up. After an hour, Oakley took the lead, a well-worked move and a low shot into the corner from out wide. On 75 minutes, it was 4-2, similar to the third home goal; this time, Daniels was the scorer. The fifth came as a header from a corner, right near full time. This was credited as an own goal. There was still time for Oakley to create another chance, but it was blasted over with only the keeper to beat.

 

THE GROUND 

OAKLEY SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB is an excellent setup for step 7. The pitch is railed along the sides, and there is a smart clubhouse with a good range of drinks, plus food at certain times. Parking is plentiful, but I'm not sure about public transport links. There was a bus stop right outside, though.