They say ‘two’s company, three’s a crowd’ but one place challenging that notion is the small town of Biggleswade – which now supports three successful non-league clubs.
The Bedfordshire town has a population of around 17,000 people and has been long served by Biggleswade United and Biggleswade Town – before a new, young upstart was formed in 2016 – Biggleswade FC.
Some may wonder how three teams can co-exist but the new club – formed out of Biggleswade Town’s Under-18s – is performing well and attendances are good.
The newly-formed outfit won the Spartan South Midlands League last season, at the first time of asking, and are competing in the Premier Division this year.Biggleswade FC have also enjoyed a remarkable Buildbase FA Vase run this season – they travel to Thatcham Town in the last 32 on Saturday – and manager Dave Northfield explained why the club is achieving success.
“I was born in Biggleswade and my big thing is youngsters playing football in Biggleswade,” said Northfield.
“With the greatest respects to the two other sides, Town have no players actually from Biggleswade and United have one, our club has ten. I want Biggleswade boys playing.
“So it’s not like we were all fighting for the same group of players, the others have got none, we’re dipping into a different pot and that’s why it works.
“Our support from the local community is very good, I think we’re averaging the best crowds in the league so far.
“Ideally we’d like to get our own ground at some stage, we’ve got a fairly healthy bank balance but we’re not going to use that to give the players money we’re just going to use it to survive year-to-year.
“This Vase run’s been worth about £4,000 to us so far so it’s massive for us.
“We have no bar takings, only takings through the gate and we’ve still got to pay bills, this run means we know we’ll survive next year.”
Northfield used to work as the Under-18s coach at Biggleswade Town and that youth setup benefitted when Stevenage released all their players aged under 16 in 2015 – including Keinan Davis – now of Aston Villa.
Northfield helped those youngsters achieve success, formed Biggleswade FC, and is now looking forward to a history-making Buildbase FA Vase tie this weekend.
“The Vase is massive and there’s sides who’ve been going years and years without getting as far as this,” he added.
“Our history is just one year isn’t it, we’re creating our own history at the moment.
“We’re all getting really excited and really nervous, but you do it for these opportunities don’t you, you do it because you have a chance at glory.”
Buildbase FA Vase History
Last year, Biggleswade’s inaugural season ended in the second round proper with a 5-3 defeat to Peterborough Sports.
Thatcham Town’s best ever performance in the competition was in the 1998-99 season, where they lost 2-0 to Hungerford Town in the quarter-finals.
Did you know?
Biggleswade FC share the 3,000 capacity Carlsberg Stadium with Biggleswade Town.
The prize
The winning side of Saturday’s tie will net £1,875 whilst the loser will gain £625.
