Non-League Football 25/26

[purpleronnie]

Coalville blew it, winning right up to the last few minutes, end up losing on pens.

[joeybside]

Belper Town v RC Warwick in the Step 4 Play Off Final. 
 

Warwick winning on penalties. Ex Quorn keeper Tom Allsopp making two penalty saves at the death. 
 

1700 attendance including many already upset Derby fans. Even more so by the end of the game. Ha

[spacemunky]

Let's go Scunny! 

[MC Prussian]

Boreham Wood in the National League playoff final.

[purpleronnie]

9 minutes ago, MC Prussian said:

Boreham Wood in the National League playoff final.

Not sure how far they can go, they barley get 1000 per game.  Much prefer carlisle to come back up...oh well.

[Stuntman_Mike]

On 02/05/2026 at 18:16, purpleronnie said:

Coalville blew it, winning right up to the last few minutes, end up losing on pens.

Was a great day out, attendance was 1,007. 

 

Blew it is harsh seeing as they were 2-0 down to start with, but their penalties were poor.

 

It would have been interesting to see how it played out if Coalville had their first choice keeper playing.

[Tuna]

Delighted to see Grantham Town win promotion in the UCL North playoff final; back at step 4 at the first attempt, massive ask and finally a season to be proud of after consistent decline and struggle from 2018-2025.

[CosbehFox]

Coventry United up to Step 4. Ironically set up as an alternative to Cov City when they started playing in Northampton. 
 

Also Real Cryptoford staying at Step 3 is superb 

[Gary Eatfood]

23 hours ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Was a great day out, attendance was 1,007. 

 

Blew it is harsh seeing as they were 2-0 down to start with, but their penalties were poor.

 

It would have been interesting to see how it played out if Coalville had their first choice keeper playing.

None, I suspect. Coalville are worse at penalties than England.

It was a great play-off final and one of our best performances of the season. Such a pity they couldn’t hold on.

[StanSP]

16 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

Also Real Cryptoford staying at Step 3 is superb

 

Their owner is associated and aligned with Tommy Robinson. Took a lot of satisfaction seeing that scoreline yesterday. 

[filbertway]

1 hour ago, Gary Eatfood said:

None, I suspect. Coalville are worse at penalties than England.

It was a great play-off final and one of our best performances of the season. Such a pity they couldn’t hold on.

First goal was disappointing for any keeper to concede. 3rd one I may be being harsh but he seemed to get down very slow. Don't want to be too harsh on the guy as it takes some stones to jump into a brand new team for a game this big at short notice. I do feel Jake would have made a difference though.

 

As you say though, great performance, it wasn't really until the last 5 of extra time where they put us under any real pressure. It felt like we were well in control for the vast majority of the game. 

 

Hopefully we can use this is a platform now to nail that promotion next season. 

[STEVIE B]

1 hour ago, StanSP said:

 

Their owner is associated and aligned with Tommy Robinson. Took a lot of satisfaction seeing that scoreline yesterday. 

That's interesting. Never knew that.

I was hoping they'd win, purely to give Harborough a fairly local away day !

 

[Gary Eatfood]

1 hour ago, filbertway said:

First goal was disappointing for any keeper to concede. 3rd one I may be being harsh but he seemed to get down very slow. Don't want to be too harsh on the guy as it takes some stones to jump into a brand new team for a game this big at short notice. I do feel Jake would have made a difference though.

 

As you say though, great performance, it wasn't really until the last 5 of extra time where they put us under any real pressure. It felt like we were well in control for the vast majority of the game. 

 

Hopefully we can use this is a platform now to nail that promotion next season. 

Shots close to the legs are always harder than they look, and he took the finish early.

 

The second goal was a great turn and finish. Easy to see why he’s scored 42 goals. Paul got an assist. I bet not many keepers have done that on debut.

 

I’d like to think so. Senior Cup Final first and then a wait to see if we get moved to the MFL.

[filbertway]

25 minutes ago, Gary Eatfood said:

Shots close to the legs are always harder than they look, and he took the finish early.

 

The second goal was a great turn and finish. Easy to see why he’s scored 42 goals. Paul got an assist. I bet not many keepers have done that on debut.

 

I’d like to think so. Senior Cup Final first and then a wait to see if we get moved to the MFL.

Best highlights I've managed to find. I think the most frustrating is being 3v3 at the back at that stage in extra time

 

 

 

 

 

[joeybside]

County Cup Final

Quorn 2 - 0 Loughborough Students

 

Although Holmes Park has lost its sparkle and immaculate playing service, and the old Westerby Cup is no longer the pull for some clubs, it’s always nice to finish with Silverware, the second in two seasons wrapping another hugely successful season. 
 

With a budget of peanuts and everyone’s tip to go down, keeping the squad together for next season will be a challenge. Expect Goodson, Bello & Frizelle to receive good money offers elsewhere. 

[los dedos]

1 hour ago, joeybside said:

County Cup Final

Quorn 2 - 0 Loughborough Students

 

Although Holmes Park has lost its sparkle and immaculate playing service, and the old Westerby Cup is no longer the pull for some clubs, it’s always nice to finish with Silverware, the second in two seasons wrapping another hugely successful season. 
 

With a budget of peanuts and everyone’s tip to go down, keeping the squad together for next season will be a challenge. Expect Goodson, Bello & Frizelle to receive good money offers elsewhere. 

My daughter played there the other week, couldn't believe how bad the pitch was . Seen better surfaces on council pitches 🤷‍♂️

[filbertway]

11 hours ago, joeybside said:

County Cup Final

Quorn 2 - 0 Loughborough Students

 

Although Holmes Park has lost its sparkle and immaculate playing service, and the old Westerby Cup is no longer the pull for some clubs, it’s always nice to finish with Silverware, the second in two seasons wrapping another hugely successful season. 
 

With a budget of peanuts and everyone’s tip to go down, keeping the squad together for next season will be a challenge. Expect Goodson, Bello & Frizelle to receive good money offers elsewhere. 

Used to love county cup finals down there, but the county cup honestly just feels more of a hinderance than a bonus these days.

 

Most teams are already in a league cup and at least 1 if not 2 FA cups. Add to that the postponements that naturally happen over Dec-March. It just builds up a load of unnecessary fixtures at the end of the season if you have a couple of good cup runs.

 

I wonder if it'd be an idea to run the county cups in July, a bit similar to how the Scottish leagues have the group stage of their league cup which basically acts as a pre season.

 

Yeah it'll be interesting to see how it goes for you, it doesn't take long for the vultures to circle when players are standing out regularly. Some players don't want the hassle of extra travel though, so if they're fairly local to Quorn and don't want to be driving 40+ miles 2 or 3 times a week for training and matches then that could play to your advantage.

[SemperEadem]

11 hours ago, joeybside said:

County Cup Final

Quorn 2 - 0 Loughborough Students

 

Although Holmes Park has lost its sparkle and immaculate playing service, and the old Westerby Cup is no longer the pull for some clubs, it’s always nice to finish with Silverware, the second in two seasons wrapping another hugely successful season. 
 

With a budget of peanuts and everyone’s tip to go down, keeping the squad together for next season will be a challenge. Expect Goodson, Bello & Frizelle to receive good money offers elsewhere. 

How come the surface has gone to shit, lack of work on it?

[Lionator]

14 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

How come the surface has gone to shit, lack of work on it?

Last I heard county FA got screwed over by LCFC but that was a couple of years back. 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, filbertway said:

Used to love county cup finals down there, but the county cup honestly just feels more of a hinderance than a bonus these days.

 

Most teams are already in a league cup and at least 1 if not 2 FA cups. Add to that the postponements that naturally happen over Dec-March. It just builds up a load of unnecessary fixtures at the end of the season if you have a couple of good cup runs.

 

I wonder if it'd be an idea to run the county cups in July, a bit similar to how the Scottish leagues have the group stage of their league cup which basically acts as a pre season.

 

Yeah it'll be interesting to see how it goes for you, it doesn't take long for the vultures to circle when players are standing out regularly. Some players don't want the hassle of extra travel though, so if they're fairly local to Quorn and don't want to be driving 40+ miles 2 or 3 times a week for training and matches then that could play to your advantage.

Yep totally this - whilst also getting onto LCFC to field an U21s side. 

 

The Birmingham FA Senior Cup for example has all of the West Mids clubs entering U21s times. 

[filbertway]

25 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Yep totally this - whilst also getting onto LCFC to field an U21s side. 

 

The Birmingham FA Senior Cup for example has all of the West Mids clubs entering U21s times. 

Yeah that sounds good. It's not much effort on the club's part and dangles a nice carrot for the other non league teams.

 

Slightly different point, but one of my favourite memories as a Coalville fan was seeing us play at Leicester's ground against a Leicester XI as well.

[CosbehFox]

4 hours ago, filbertway said:

Yeah that sounds good. It's not much effort on the club's part and dangles a nice carrot for the other non league teams.

 

Slightly different point, but one of my favourite memories as a Coalville fan was seeing us play at Leicester's ground against a Leicester XI as well.

Gets the crowds in for what is normally a poorly attended fixture but other counties do prioritise it as a pre season tournament because it’s the same sort of opposition they’d play regardless 

Edited 7 May by CosbehFox

[CosbehFox]

 

Really interesting this 

[CosbehFox]

 

Mad and very sad for the victims, this bloke has been hoover up attention in the non league scene down south 

[HowardsBulletHeader]

On 07/05/2026 at 23:20, CosbehFox said:

 

Really interesting this 

Basically the English love beer, beer, more beer and food, got it. Who'd have thought!