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Potton United F.C. is an English football club based in Potton, Bedfordshire. The club are currently members of the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division and play at the Hollow.

History
Potton United were, unusually, formed in Wartime 1943. Although only limited football was played at this time, they soon made their mark on the local football scene by winning the Bedfordshire Intermediate Cup in 1944.

When football returned to normality after the war, United joined the South Midlands League and remained there until 1955. The club then applied to join a London-based league but were refused entry, so they were forced to take a break from competitive football for one season.

They spent a short period in the Central Alliance League before finally joining the United Counties League where they remained in the Premier Division until the end of the 2000/2001 season when they were relegated into Division One.

Potton were very successful in the local cup competitions in the 1960’s and 70’s but had to wait until the 1986/87 season to win their first league title. During this season they remained unbeaten on their travels. Two years later this achievement was repeated, and Ray Seekings scored a club-record 56 goals. It is also interesting that those players have retained a keen interest in the club.

The 1989/90 season saw Potton reach the fifth round of the FA Vase, before losing 2-1 away to Billericay in front of a 1000-plus crowd. Potton had a good following that day and many remember the after-match activities.

The 1991/92 season saw a major change within the club when long-serving Manager, Terry King, resigned. His assistant, Andy Lloyd, took over and guided the club to win the Hunts Premier and Hinchingbrooke Cup competitions.

1993/94 was the first season for many years that Potton failed to win any silverware and ended with Andy Lloyd announcing his resignation.

Kenny Davidson took over the reins for four seasons and won a number of cup competitions, but failed to make any real impact in the league. The 1996/7 season was the most impressive with the club participating in six cup finals, winning four of them.
After Kenny left in 1998 the club went through a bad spell on the pitch and were eventually relegated. After a poor season in Division One, it was decided that the club should look for a new manager. Former club captain and fans favourite, Dick Newman returned to the club at the start of the 2002/2003 season. After spending most of the season in second place in the league, a poor run-in at the end of the season cost the club promotion. However, it was good to see such a great team spirit on and off the pitch.

The Reserves had the most successful year in their history in the 2002/03 season. Under the guidance of John ‘Chippy’ Charter, they finished runners-up in the league and County Cup and won the Biggleswade Knockout Cup.

At the start of 2003/4, the club's 60th Anniversary, the club played a Rushden and Diamonds X1 that consisted mainly of their youth side. The match attracted about 450, and this in spite of the wooden stand being burnt down one month earlier.

Dick was well prepared for 2003/4 and expected a lot from the squad. At the start of the season, he had set them a target in the league of 100 goals, 25 goals against, and 80 points. Going into the last game of the season at Olney the first team needed to win to secure the league title, and they did so in style winning 5-0. The league playing record for the season was played 34, won 24, drawn 5, lost 4, goals for 99, goals against 25, points 80—which was extremely close to Dick’s targets. This then secured promotion back to the Premier Division.

The Reserves played in the newly formed Bedfordshire County Reserve League and finished a creditable third.

Having gained promotion, the club was looking to consolidate their position in the league, but November onwards found them challenging for honours. Eventually, they had to settle for runners-up to Cogenhoe. The reason for this was the failure of the floodlights twice when playing Cogenhoe, which led to the match being replayed as the last game of the season when they had to beat Cogenhoe to win the league. They could only manage a 2-2 draw, in front of the largest crowd of the season (325), although they had the majority of the play, they could not just score the winning goal.

The first team won the UCL Knock-Out Cup, for the first time since 1972/3, and also won the Hinchingbrooke Cup and North Beds Charity Cup. The team played 63 matches during the season and won 48, scoring an incredible 163 goals (111 in the league and 52 in cup matches). Joint Managers Dick Newman and Roy Bloxham won three Manager of the Month awards as well as winning Manager of the Season award.

In 2005 Ian Donnelly took over the role of Manager following Dicks close season resignation. At the start of the season, many would have settled for a mid-table finish but when we went top in October and remained there for the rest of the season, with the exception of one week, it seemed that we would be in for a chance of beating the previous season's runners up spot. Unfortunately, fate was to strike again, and Woodford pipped us to the league title, this time goal difference was the deciding factor. In the cups, they went out of the FA Cup and FA Vase early on but retained the North Beds Charity Cup, beating Wootton 3-1.

The Reserves finished mid-table under new manager Martin Beech, and they also made early exits from the local cup competitions.

Following Ian Donnelly’s resignation towards the end of last season due to business commitments, Roy Bloxham was appointed as first team manager. Roy moved quickly to bring Dick Newman back to the club as his assistant.

In season 2006-07, we finished a creditable fourth in the league and reached the Fourth Round of the FA Vase before losing 2-1 to eventual finalists AFC Totton. We did not win any silverware but reached the final of the North Beds Charity Cup and UCL knock-out cup.
The Reserves finished mid-table in the Bedfordshire County Reserve League, which was disbanded, and therefore in 2007-08 the Reserves will be playing in UCL Reserve Division Two.

Roy Bloxham announced that he would not be able to continue as Manager, for personal and business reasons, and the club appointed 32-year-old Dean Chapman as Manager. Unfortunately, most of the previous three season’s squad left the club so Dean had the job of rebuilding the side with his cousin Adam Chapman and Kelvin Ash helping him. Graeme Endersby was appointed Manager for the Reserve team with the aim of recruiting local players and encouraging Potton Colts players to move into the Reserves.

Unfortunately, things did not work out with the running of the reserve team and Graeme left the club in January. Committee member John Menzies took over for the remainder of the season and brought a number of Colts players into the side. Unfortunately, due to the numerous changes in players, this unsettled the side and they finished bottom of the league.

The first team also had a very unsettled side and just escaped relegation by finishing third from bottom. They faired slightly better in cup competitions reaching four semi-finals and one final. Just before the end of the season, Dean Chapman announced he would be stepping down as manager at the end of the season which left the club the task of appointing a new manager for the fourth consecutive season.

Former Potton goalkeeper and Eynesbury Manager Dean Shipp was given the job and brings an experienced backroom team with him. Former Potton Colts Under 17 Management team of Howard Moore, Clive Munns, and Richard Gilbert will be running the reserve side which will include many of last year's under 17 team.

Last season was a very disappointing one as the club finished second from bottom and were relegated into Division One. It was particularly disappointing that we were relegated due to not passing the required ground grading and Rothwell Corinthians, who finished bottom, stayed up in the Premier Division. The Reserve team had a very difficult season as a number of the young players found the transition to senior football too difficult so in January, we had to make the difficult decision to fold the reserves.

Three weeks before the commencement of the 2009/10 season Dean Shipp announced his resignation which left the club with a big problem, trying to fill the gap so close to the season. We have appointed Tom Galvin and Declan Shilton as joint managers whilst Tom’s father, former Spurs and Republic of Ireland International player, Tony Galvin takes the role of Head Coach. In this season we finished in the bottom half of Division One and were losing finalists in the Bedfordshire Senior Trophy.

In September 2010 Tom Galvin wanted to concentrate on playing so Darren Staniforth and Glen Clark were appointed joint Managers. They had a difficult season which finished in 16th place in the league.

They have worked hard over the summer to bring in new players for the new season and we have also reformed a reserve side which will be playing in Bedfordshire League Division 2 and managed by Kieran Dempsey and Duncan Field. The season ended with the 1st team finishing 15th in the UCL and the reserves finishing 8th. Over the close season, Nicky Stocks has been appointed as assistant manager to the 1st team.

After an eight-year absence, they were promoted back to the Premier Division after finishing in second position in the 2017–18 United Counties League Division One.
For 2023/24 Potton United compete in the Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division.

The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire, and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League and consists of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier Division, Division One and Division Two), and two for reserve teams (Reserve Division One and Reserve Division Two).
The Premier Division is at step 5 (or level 9) and Division One is at step 6 (level 10) of the National League System (NLS) respectively. Division Two, at level 11, and the reserve divisions are not part of the NLS.

The league was formed in 1997 by the merger of the Spartan League and the South Midlands League. It is also known as the Molten Spartan South Midlands Football League after its sponsors.

17/10/23 League Milton Keynes Irish 8 Potton United 0
07/10/23 League Crawley Green 0 Potton United 1
30/09/23 League Potton United 4 Crawley Green 0
22/09/23 The Isuzu FA Vase Q1 Cannons Wood 1 Potton United 2
16/09/23 League Potton United 4 Leverstock Green 1
12/09/23 League Harpenden Town 2 Potton United 1

The Royals are currently in 13th place in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier. They have 15 points from 10 games – 5 wins and 5 defeats (sort of all or nothing!) They have a -3 goal difference. At home, The Royals are unbeaten with 4 straight wins.

Nathan Amaning
Benjamin Ansah
Jamal Batchilly
Cole Butler
Richard Chadwick
Mattia D'Angelo
Elliot Duffy
Samuel Ekoja
Michael Evans
Jaiden Fitzpatrick
Harry Forde
Shane Fox
James Hoskins
Joshua Howard-Dobson
Aaron Hudson
Michael King
Deshon Lewis-Burgess
Lewis Lynn
Ryan Minott
Nathan Mullings
Taylor Newman
Louis Octave
Victor Osobu
Jordan Packi
Fadil Padori
James Smith
John Sonuga
Lewis Strafford
Jack Thomas
Lucca Ugarte-Edwards
Marley Ugarte-Edwards

Victor Osubu, who has scored 7 goals this season, and Shane Fox who has scored 6. If they play, they may be the danger men, or maybe not! That’s Victor in the middle (at least I think it is!)

The FA Vase first-round proper consists of 102 ties scheduled for Saturday 21 October 2023. Winning clubs will get £825 from the competition prize fund with £250 for the losing team. We are match 43! The full draw is shown below:

THE ISUZU FA VASE
FIRST ROUND PROPER SATURDAY 21 OCTOBER 2023
WINNING CLUB TO RECEIVE £825
LOSING CLUB TO RECEIVE £250

1 Charnock Richard v Burscough
2 Abbey Hey v Runcorn Town
3 Redcar Athletic v Silsden
4 Stockport Georgians v Droylsden
5 Northallerton Town v Irlam
6 Blyth Town v Crook Town
7 Ashville v Glasshoughton Welfare
8 Atherton LR v Parkgate
9 Ryton & Crawcrook Albion v Cheadle Town
10 West Auckland Town v Newcastle University
11 Squires Gate v South Liverpool
12 Heaton Stannington v Darwen
13 Emley v Guisborough Town
14 Seaham Red Star v Knaresborough Town
15 Pilkington v Ramsbottom United
16 Carlisle City v Longridge Town
17 Whitley Bay v Bottesford Town
18 Albion Sports v West Allotment Celtic
19 Bishop Auckland v Northwich Victoria
20 Ashton Town v Whickham
21 Gedling MW v Loughborough Students
22 Brocton v Aylestone Park
23 Hinckley v Stone Old Alleynians
24 Ingles v Boston Town
25 Pershore Town v Shirebrook Town
26 Hallam v Coventry United
27 Lutterworth Athletic v Ardley United
28 Lincoln United v Bugbrooke St Michaels
29 Kimberley Miners Welfare v Highgate United
30 Lichfield City v Romulus
31 Newark & Sherwood United v Wellingborough Town
32 Wolverhampton Casuals v Whittlesey Athletic
33 Heanor Town v Hereford Pegasus
34 Dudley Town v Darlaston Town (1874)
35 Cogenhoe United v Eastwood Community
36 Ashby Ivanhoe v Belper United
37 Stourport Swifts v Sherwood Colliery
38 Whitchurch Alport v Worcester Raiders
39 Worcester City v Sleaford Town
40 Wisbech Town v Tividale
41 Saffron Walden Town v Long Melford
42 Norwich United v May & Baker Eastbrook Community
(walkover for May & Baker Eastbrook Community – Norwich United withdrawn)
43 Potton United v Hullbridge Sports
44 Sawbridgeworth Town v Tilbury
45 Arlesey Town v Eynesbury Rovers
46 Mildenhall Town v Sheringham
47 White Ensign v Wormley Rovers
48 Halstead Town v Stanway Pegasus
49 Barkingside v Framlingham Town
50 Dunstable Town v Woodford Town
51 Fakenham Town v Cockfosters
52 Downham Town v Coggeshall Town
53 Shefford Town & Campton v Crawley Green
54 Lakenheath v Walsham Le Willows
55 St Neots Town v Great Wakering Rovers
56 St Panteleimon v Heacham
57 Frenford v London Lions
58 Milton Keynes Irish v Real Bedford
59 Bedfont Sports Club v Hassocks
60 Burnham v AFC Croydon Athletic
61 Little Common v Tunbridge Wells
62 Haywards Heath Town v Eastbourne Town
63 Athletic Newham v Staplehurst Monarchs
64 Holmesdale v Corinthian
65 Newhaven v Sporting Bengal United
66 Larkfield & New Hythe v Glebe
67 Snodland Town v Stansfeld
68 Fleet Town v Amersham Town
69 Punjab United v Lydd Town
70 Virginia Water v Woodley United
71 Roffey v Lordswood
72 Steyning Town Community v Reading City
73 Sutton Athletic v Holyport
74 Greenways v Lingfield
75 Fisher v Wembley
76 North Greenford United v Hollands & Blair
77 Farnham Town v Rising Ballers Kensington
78 Hilltop v Knaphill
79 Faversham Town or Loxwood v Eversley & California
80 Cobham v Edgware & Kingsbury
81 Eastbourne United v Bearsted
82 Crawley Down Gatwick v Midhurst & Easebourne
83 Torpoint Athletic v Portland United
84 Royal Wootton Bassett Town v Elburton Villa
85 Blackfield & Langley v Tuffley Rovers
86 Barnstaple Town v Okehampton Argyle
87 Wantage Town v Hamble Club
88 Fairford Town v Roman Glass St George
89 Fareham Town v Falmouth Town
90 AFC St Austell v Torrington
91 Hamworthy Recreation v Bovey Tracey
92 Nailsea & Tickenham v Mangotsfield United
93 Laverstock & Ford v Wells City
94 Highworth Town v Shaftesbury
95 Saltash United v Portishead Town
96 Cowes Sports v Totton & Eling
97 Newquay v Baffins Milton Rovers
98 Downton v New Milton Town
99 Tadley Calleva v Moneyfields
100 Brimscombe & Thrupp v Cheltenham Saracens
101 Longwell Green Sports v Dobwalls
102 Helston Athletic v Longlevens

Into the unknown against opponents from another land, well up north ‘Ish anyway. Both teams are from step 5 so that may mean we’re at a similar level but that’s not guaranteed as levels are pretty vague in non-league as you know. Would be nice to win the 825 quid though, would be nice to take a step on the road to Wembley, would be nice if the sun shone but it probably won’t. If you can, support the lads in their latest adventure, there’s even a coach going – see Gareth’s message below to book.

There remains just one thing left to say….

This is a proper away day, there’s even a coach, and Google Maps will take you via the M11 and Cambridge in 1 hour 43 minutes for the 71.9 miles. Alternatively, you can do the M25/A1(M) route if you want an extra 5 minutes at the wheel or option 3, via A127 and another 5 minutes. The final option (how many do you need?) is to take a ride on Gareth’s Jolly Boys outing bus, I think there's still space – details below: