The BADGER 2022/23 Issue 18 vs Cogenhoe United

Page 1

THE OFFICIAL MATCH DAY PROGRAMME vs COGENHOEUNITED UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH SATURDAY 8th APRIL 2023 I 3pm KICK OFF ISSUE 18 SEASON 22 23

Bugbrooke St Michaels FC

The Badgers, founded 1929

CLUB COMMITTEE

PRESIDENT - WILLY MARRIOTT

CHAIRMAN - KEVIN GARDNER

VICE-CHAIRMAN - NIGEL THOMAS

CLUB SECRETARY - GRAHAM CONNEW

YOUTH SECRETARY & TREASURER - NICK INWOOD

FIXTURES SECRETARY - DAVE MELLOR

GROUNDSMAN - DANNY POWELL

WELFARE OFFICER - BEN ROBINSON

COMMITTEE – RICHARD GIBBON, STUART WYKES

MANAGEMENT / COACHING TEAM

FIRST TEAM – DALE WALTON

RESERVE TEAM - ROB JONES

‘A’ TEAM – JAMIE JOLLANDS

‘B’ TEAM - ANDY DEMIDOW

LADIES TEAM – STUART WHITE

UNDER 18s (NSYL) - LOUIE GALBRAITH

UNDER 18s (NDYAL) - DEANO GOMES

UNDER 16s - DARREN SMITH

UNDER 15s - MARK LINNELL

UNDER 14s - SIMON WHEELER

UNDER 13s BLACK - CHRIS ASHTON

UNDER 13s BLUE - NICK INWOOD

UNDER 13s WHITE - RYAN NASH

UNDER 11s BLACK - DANIEL BLAND / BEN SMITH

UNDER 11s WHITE - TONY HILL

UNDER 10s BLUE - IAN MARRIOTT

UNDER 10s WHITE – MIKE BRINKLEY

UNDER 8s – ANDREW JACKMAN

From the Chairman …

As Chairman of Bugbrooke St Michael’s Football Club I would like to offer you a warm welcome to The Sett and hope that you have an enjoyable visit.

Here at Bugbrooke St Michaels we are working hard to develop a club with a strong inclusive ethos, offering opportunities for players of all ages and abilities.

We are extremely proud of our youth development programme, supporting players from seven all the way up to eighteen. Many of our young players go on to have success with one of four adult teams, with some players going on to even bigger and better things!

There is a great wealth of local support for the club, everyone that helps does so on a voluntary basis and through everyone’s hard work and dedication we have been able to achieve and maintain FA Accredited status.

Whilst some clubs choose to reinvest their revenue into players wages, here at Bugbrooke we hold a different set of values. All of our profits go into upgrading our equipment and facilities, building a solid future-proof foundation that will be here for future generations to enjoy.

Whilst this can sometimes hold us back from gaining huge success on the pitch, we feel our excellent facilities, youth development programme and ethos on community set us apart from other clubs.

Success and progression starts from the beginnings.

Thank you for your support today, we hope that you enjoy the game, and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

Bugbrooke St Michaels Football Club would like to place on record our thanks to our team of volunteers, our advertisers and sponsors.

Kev

Good afternoon. We’d like to start today’s Programme notes by extending a warm welcome to the players, officials and supporters of Cogenhoe United who are the visitors to the Sett for today’s United Counties Premier Division South fixture.

Today’s opponents are no strangers to the Sett, their management team are all familiar faces, and their playing squad contains several former Badgers.

With the added spice that brings along with the fact that its a local derby, we hope to draw in a good crowd for what should be an entertaining game.

Looking back at last weekend we picked up the points thanks to a 2-1 win in what was a hard-fought game against a Long Buckby side, who under new management proved to be a tough opponent, this despite their lowly league position.

For the second successive week Aidan Webster was the match winner, which was great to see as to be successful at any level it is important that goals are scored from all over the pitch. This is maybe something that was missing from our game earlier in the season; Calvin Green had put us ahead with a trademark free kick.

The win was our sixth in our last seven league outings, 18 points from a possible 21 available which pushes us past the 40-point mark for the season.

A fantastic achievement although as we said last week, we’re not done yet and with 4 games remaining the objective is to finish the season on a high with a top half finish within our grasp

Another positive last week was an appearance for young Johnny Carey; a regular in our Under 18’s Johnny stepped off the bench for his First Team debut. Great experience for a player who has a bright future and further proof to our young players that if they perform then they will get their rewards with opportunities at Step 5.

Before signing off we wanted to take the opportunity to congratulate our players that won the NFA Sunday Cup with Hackleton last weekend, well done to Ports, Calvin, Eddie and the Glennon’s (Will AND Lloyd albeit the latter wasn’t playing!).

As always thank you for your support, enjoy the game and we look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday when Lutterworth Town are the visitors to the Sett for what is our final game under the lights this season.

“The win was our sixth in our last seven league outings, 18 points from a possible 21 available which pushes us past the 40-point mark for the season”
Dale & Daniel BSMFC MANAGERS NOTES
Exceptional Leadership Development Telephone: 0121 651 1200 Email: info@fuellearning.com

BSMFC OUR HISTORY

Formed in 1929, Bugbrooke St. Michael’s Football Club took over from Bugbrooke United who folded in 1928 after being in existence since 1910.

The club, which is named after the local St. Michael’s and All Angels Church, initially took its place in the Northants Central Village League and had immediate success, winning the league title from 1931 to 1937.

The club closed for the Second World War before reforming in 1947 and were once again successful winning the CVL title from 1947 to 1950 and were Northants Lower Junior Cup runners-up in 1949, a feat repeated in 1954.

We finally won the N.F.A. Lower Junior Cup in 1956 and followed this in 1957 by winning the prestigious Daventry Charity Cup.

The club had its most successful years from 1966 to 1972 when we won the Northants Central Combination Premier title and again from 1976 to 1979 with 1977 also seeing us win the N.F.A. Lower Junior Cup again.

The club continued to succeed in the Northants Combination until 1987 when the we took the decision to join the United Counties League.

At this time, we decided to run two teams in the U.C.L. and two teams in the C.N.C. We also began our youth section and have continued this ever since. Today we run 5 adult sides, including a recently formed Ladies team as well as 13 youth teams.

The club has had continued to enjoy success across all age groups over those 30 years, the most notable being N.F.A. Junior Cup winners in 1992, N.F.A Lower Junior Cup in 1993 and U.C.L. Division One winners in 2001.

The reputation for producing successful youth teams has increased over those years and 4 of our youth players (under 16) have been signed by professional league clubs.

The achievements of the club on the field have always been supported by a hardworking committee whose chief officers are recorded on a roll in the clubhouse foyer. They along with supporters of the club have built up the excellent changing rooms and clubhouse since 1980.

We hope that you enjoy the facilities that they have provided over those years, and we look forward to seeing you again in the future

TODAYS VISITORS

COGENHOE UNITED

MANAGER: LAST TIME OUT: SCOTT CARLIN WON 3-2 vs DESBOROUGH TOWN LEAGUE

After playing friendly matches, the club joined the Central Village League and were Division Two champions in 1951–52. However, they folded in the late 1950s or early 1960s, before being re-established in 1967, when they joined Division Two of the Central Northamptonshire Combination.

They were promoted to Division One in the early 1970s, and a fourth-place finish in Division One in 1977–78 saw them promoted to the Premier Division.

A period of success in the early 1980s saw them win the Premier Division title in 1980–81 and finish as runners-up the following season. They went on to win back-to-back titles in 1982–83 and 1983–84.

After finishing third in the Premier Division in 1984–85, Cogenhoe joined Division One of the United Counties League.

After finishing second-from-bottom in their first season in the league and being forced to apply for re-election, the 1986–87 season saw them finish second in Division One, earning promotion to the Premier Division.

They won the Premier Division Knock-Out Cup in 1995–96 and 1999–2000 and finished as Premier Division runners-up in 1999–2000 and 2000–01.

In 2004–05 the club won the Premier Division.

GROUND - The club played on several pitches around the village before settling at the Playing Fields in 1950, with the first match played against Northampton Yeomanry. However, in order to gain promotion to the United Counties League, the club were required to build a new ground.

A site was leased from the Marquis of Northampton, on which Compton Park was established. The first competitive match played at Compton Park was the club's final match in the Northamptonshire Central Combination before moving up to the United Counties League, with Cogenhoe beating ourselves 1–0.

An official opening match was arranged with Manchester United.

Floodlights were installed in 1992. The ground currently has a capacity of 5,000, of which 100 is seated and 200 covered.

POS: FORM GUIDE: 12th – P30 W8 D7 L15 Pts 31 L W L L W

BSMFC LEAGUE TABLE

PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH

NEXT UP 11/04 vs Lutterworth Town (Home) 15/04 vs Rothwell Corinthians (Away) 22/04 vs Easington Sports (Home)
as at 05/04/23
FORM GUIDE W L W W W
POS P W D L GD PTS 1 Coventry Sphinx 30 24 2 4 69 74 2 Rugby Town 29 22 4 3 58 70 3 Wellingborough Town 30 20 4 6 29 64 4 Newport Pagnell Town 27 17 7 3 37 58 5 Milton Keynes Irish 29 16 7 6 22 55 6 Histon 29 16 3 10 20 51 7 Coventry United 29 15 2 12 6 47 8 March Town United 30 12 7 11 10 43 9 Desborough Town 30 11 7 12 -9 40 10 Bugbrooke St.Michaels 30 12 4 14 -15 40 11 Easington Sports 30 10 5 15 -7 35 12 Cogenhoe United 30 8 7 15 -8 31 13 Eynesbury Rovers 29 8 3 18 -23 27 14 G.N.G Oadby Town 29 8 3 18 -30 27 15 Godmanchester Rovers 27 6 8 13 -20 26 16 Lutterworth Town 30 7 4 19 -46 25 17 Rothwell Corinthians 29 5 5 19 -32 20 18 Long Buckby AFC 29 3 4 22 -61 13

BSMFC 2022/23 RESULTS & APPEARANCES

DATE OPPOSITION VENUE RESULT SCORE STARTINGLINE-UP 12.07.22 KetteringTown(NFACup) Home Lost 2-3 REEVE NASH SIMMONS 1 SMYTH GLENNON WALTON 30.07.22 MarchTownUnited Home Lost 0-4 REEVE WHALER SHEHI HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 02.08.22 CogenhoeUnited Away Won 1-0 REEVE MPAMBI SHEHI 1 HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 06.08.22 LongBuckbyAFC-FACup Home Won 3-0 REEVE WHALER SHEHI HALLMARK GLENNON 2 WALTON 13.08.22 RugbyTown Away Lost 0-2 REEVE MPAMBI SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON LEON 20.08.22 LichfieldCity-FACup Away Lost 0-2 REEVE NASH SIMMONS SHEHI GLENNON LEON 23.08.22 GNGOadbyTown Home Won 4-2 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON LEON 27.08.22 WellingboroughTown-FAVase Away Lost 1-2 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON LEON 03.09.22 GodmanchesterRovers Home Lost 0-3 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 13.09.22 DesboroughTown Away Draw 1-1 REEVE NASH MPAMBI HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 17.09.22 NewportPagnellTown Away Won 2-1 REEVE NASH SHEHI HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 24.09.22 EasingtonSports Away Lost 0-1 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 27.09.22 MiltonKeynesIrish Home Draw 2-2 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON 2 WALTON 01.10.22 HistonFC Home Lost 1-2 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 08.10.22 HeatherSt.Johns-UCLCup Home Won 4-2 REEVE MPAMBI SIMMONS SMYTH GLENNON 3 WALTON 15.10.22 CoventryUnited Home Lost 1-3 REEVE NASH SHEHI HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 22.10.22 EynesburyRovers Away Won 4-3 REEVE SPENCER SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON 1 WALTON 29.10.22 MarchTownUnited-UCLCup Away Lost 1-3 REEVE NASH SIMMONS J.WEBSTER GLENNON WALTON 05.11.22 CoventrySphinx Home Lost 0-4 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 19.11.22 LongBuckbyAFC Away Won 4-0 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON 2 WALTON 26.11.22 MiltonKeynesIrish Away Lost 1-2 REEVE NASH SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON 1 WALTON 03.12.22 WellingboroughTown Home Draw 0-0 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON SMYTH 07.01.23 DesboroughTown Home Draw 1-1 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS SMYTH GLENNON WALTON 18.01.23 CoventryUnited Away Lost 1-2 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS SMYTH GLENNON WALTON 28.01.23 MarchTownUnited Away Won 3-1 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON 3 WALTON 31.01.23 CoventrySphinx Away Lost 0-3 REEVE SPENCER SIMMONS SMYTH GLENNON WALTON 04.02.23 HistonFC Away Lost 0-3 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS SMYTH GLENNON WALTON 11.02.23 RugbyTown Home Lost 2-6 REEVE GARWOOD SHEHI SPENCER GLENNON WALTON 18.02.23 NewportPagnellTown Home Lost 0-3 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 25.02.23 RothwellCorinthians Home Won 2-1 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS 1 HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 28.02.23 GodmanchesterRovers Away Won 3-0 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS SMYTH GLENNON 1 WALTON 04.03.23 EynesburyRovers Home Won 3-2 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS SMYTH GLENNON 2 WALTON 11.03.23 LutterworthTown Away Lost 0-2 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS HALLMARK GLENNON WALTON 18.03.23 WellingboroughTown Away Won 1-0 REEVE GARWOOD 1 SIMMONS SMYTH GLENNON WALTON 25.03.23 G.N.GOadbyTown Away Won 1-0 REEVE GARWOOD SIMMONS SMYTH HALLMARK WALTON 01.04.23 LongBuckbyAFC Home Won 2-1 REEVE GARWOOD SHEHI SMYTH HALLMARK WALTON 08.04.22 CogenhoeUnited Home 11.04.23 LutterworthTown Home 15.04.23 RothwellCorinthians Away 22.04.22 EasingtonSports Home

1 KING SHEHI SPENCER WEATHERLY HALLMARK DALTON

A.WEBSTER SPENCER WEATHERLY J.WEBSTER SHEHI COULSON MPAMBI DOHERTY HYNAM DALTON

A.WEBSTER SPENCER JONES 2 E.PANTER J.WEBSTER COULSON SHEHI WEATHERLY DOHERTY

A.WEBSTER COULSON JONES WEATHERLY J.WEBSTER PORTER MPAMBI KING GARWOOD SMYTH

A.WEBSTER PORTER JONES

A.WEBSTER OAKES 1 JONES J.WEBSTER BINDER WEATHERLY COULSON HALLMARK SPENCER BONIFAS A.WEBSTER OAKES JONES J.WEBSTER KING SPENCER MPAMBI LEON BUCKINGHAM DOHERTY A.WEBSTER OAKES JONES J.WEBSTER KING SPENCER COULSON LEON HARRISON TICHAWONA A.WEBSTER OAKES JONES 1 SPENCER KING E.PANTER MPAMBI LEON COULSON HARRISON A.WEBSTER OAKES JONES SHEHI KING SPENCER COULSON NASH HALL TICHAWONA A.WEBSTER OAKES JONES COULSON KING SPENCER E.PANTER TRKULJA MPAMBI WALTON A.WEBSTER OAKES 1 JONES 3 E.PANTER SHEHI SPENCER COULSON KING MPAMBI WALTON COULSON OAKES JONES 1 E.PANTER SHEHI SPENCER MPAMBI KING - WALTON A.WEBSTER OAKES JONES E.PANTER SPENCER SHEHI COULSON KING MPAMBI DALTON SMYTH OAKES WEATHERLY SPENCER KING COULSON 1 BAZELEY TRKULJA BONIFAS DOHERTY SMYTH OAKES JONES E.PANTER A.WEBSTER SPENCER COULSON LASALIRE 1 MPAMBI BINDER SMYTH OAKES WEATHERLY E.PANTER A.WEBSTER SPENCER COULSON LASALIRE MPAMBI J.WEBSTER LEON OAKES JONES E.PANTER A.WEBSTER SPENCER SHEHI KING COULSON J.WEBSTER LEON OAKES JONES E.PANTER 1 SPENCER COULSON
COULSON OAKES
E.PANTER
A.WEBSTER
SMYTH COULSON
E.PANTER
SMYTH
E.PANTER
J.WEBSTER
A.WEBSTER
SMYTH KING MPAMBI SHEHI
JONES
1 KING SHEHI SPENCER
HALLMARK NASH
JONES
1 A.WEBSTER OAKES SPENCER KING SIMMONS MPAMBI
OAKES JONES 1
2 A.WEBSTER NASH COULSON
KING SHEHI
OAKES COULSON E.PANTER
E.PANTER J.WEBSTER WEATHERLY SPENCER NASH COULSON OAKES A.WEBSTER PORTER JONES E.PANTER GREEN 1 OAKES MPAMBI J.WEBSTER COULSON SHEHI A.WEBSTER OAKES JONES E.PANTER GREEN 1 SHEHI J.WEBSTER HALLMARK GIBBON POWELL A.WEBSTER OAKES JONES E.PANTER GREEN SHEHI J.WEBSTER SMYTH POWELL A.WEBSTER J.WEBSTER SHEHI E.PANTER GREEN DIMOND BAZELEY DOHERTY GIBBON A.WEBSTER OAKES KING J.WEBSTER GREEN SHEHI SPENCER BINDER POWELL A.WEBSTER J.WEBSTER KING 1 PORTER GREEN 1 AMIDI SMYTH SIMMONS BONIFAS MALKIN SMYTH SPENCER SHEHI AMIDI GREEN JONES J.WEBSTER PEARSON GIBBON MALKIN A.WEBSTER SPENCER JONES DRINKWATER GREEN SHEHI J.WEBSTER SMYTH MALKIN 1 MALKIN SHEHI 1 JONES 1 E.PANTER GREEN SPENCER J.WEBSTER PORTER DRINKWATER HALLMARK MALKIN SHEHI JONES E.PANTER GREEN 1 SPENCER J.WEBSTER HALLMARK C.OAKES A.WEBSTER MALKIN SPENCER JONES PORTER GREEN A.WEBSTER J.WEBSTER SMYTH DOHERTY POWELL A.WEBSTER J.WEBSTER JONES DRINKWATER GREEN SPENCER MALKIN REZA SURACE HALLMARK A.WEBSTER 1 J.WEBSTER JONES DRINKWATER GREEN SPENCER MALKIN SHEHI POWELL A.WEBSTER 1 SPENCER JONES E.PANTER GREEN 1 CAREY J.WEBSTER REZA POWELL SUBS
Proud sponsors of Bugbrooke St Michaels Under 13s Blue - DOMESTIC – COMMERCIAL – CONTRACT MAINTENANCE TEL: 01604 832285 MOB: 07766 404604 www.adlandscapesmaintenance.co.uk 11 Georges Close, Bugbrooke, Northampton, NN7 3PR

BSMFC TODAYS FIXTURES

PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH

Bugbrooke St.Michaels Vs Cogenhoe United

Desborough Town Vs Newport Pagnell Town

Easington Sports Vs Coventry Sphinx

Eynesbury Rovers Vs Godmanchester Rovers

G.N.G Oadby Town Vs March Town United

Histon Vs Coventry United

Long Buckby AFC Vs Lutterworth Town

Rothwell Corinthians Vs Rugby Town

Wellingborough Town Vs Milton Keynes Irish

RESERVE DIVISION

Cogenhoe United Reserves Vs G.N.G Oadby Town Reserves

Daventry Town Reserves Vs Wellingborough Town Reserves

Godmanchester Rovers Reserves Vs Raunds Town Reserves

Bourne Town Reserves Vs Rothwell Corinthians Reserves

Kempston Rovers Reserves Vs Bugbrooke St.Michaels Reserves

Milton Keynes Irish Reserves Vs Harborough Town Reserves

Newport Pagnell Town Reserves Vs Northampton ON Chenecks Reserves

Wellingborough Whitworth Reserves Vs Desborough Town Reserves

BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS FC proudly sponsored by SATURDAY 1st April Home SATURDAY 8th April Home TUESDAY 11th April Home April
BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS #BADGERS
15th April Away
22nd April Home
Fixtures
SATURDAY
SATURDAY

‘LOVE FOOTBALL. PROTECT THE GAME.’

A message from Bugbrooke St Michaels Football Club about antisocial and criminal behaviour

As we commence the new season we want to make you aware of new measures being taken across all of football, and the NLS, to ensure everyone can have a safe and enjoyable experience.

We are supporting strong action from the FA, and across the NLS to tackle antisocial and criminal behaviours that put all of us at risk.

Please remember the following activities are illegal, dangerous, have serious consequences and have no place in our game:

Carrying or using smoke bombs or pyros

Invading the pitch or entering the pitch without permission

Throwing objects onto the pitch

Drug use within the football ground

Discriminatory behaviour

For everyone’s safety, we will report anyone carrying out these offences to the police, which can result in a criminal record.

Anyone who enters the pitch without permission and those carrying or using smoke bombs or pyros will now receive an automatic club ban. These measures could also now apply to the parents or guardians of children involved in these activities.

This reflects the seriousness of the risks to fans and staff – pyros can burn at 2000 degrees Celsius and cause life changing injuries, while entering the pitch endangers players, managers and match officials. It also impacts the hard working volunteers, who ensure that our special part of the game continues to run.

We know those who commit these illegal acts do not represent the majority of supporters. Please work with us to call out the risks.

#LoveFootball #ProtectTheGame

BSMFC RESERVE TEAM

RESERVE DIVISION

FORM GUIDE W W W L L

NEXT UP 08/04 vs Kempston Rovers (Away) 15/04 vs MK Irish (Home)

- 11 GOALS

as at
05/04/23
GOALSCORER
AKRAM LASALIRE
POS P W D L GD PTS 1 Harborough Town Reserves 25 21 2 2 83 65 2 Bugbrooke St.Michaels Reserves 27 18 4 5 33 58 3 Newport Pagnell Town Reserves 24 17 2 5 46 53 4 Northampton ON Chenecks Reserves 27 14 8 5 41 50 5 Milton Keynes Irish Reserves 25 15 2 8 55 47 6 Desborough Town Reserves 25 11 7 7 6 40 7 Wellingborough Whitworth Reserves 27 11 5 11 -23 38 8 Kempston Rovers Reserves 23 11 3 9 19 36 9 Wellingborough Town Reserves 25 10 5 10 -14 35 10 Daventry Town Reserves 25 10 3 12 -19 33 11 Cogenhoe United Reserves 23 7 6 10 0 27 12 Bourne Town Reserves 25 6 6 13 -14 24 13 G.N.G Oadby Town Reserves 26 6 4 16 -37 22 14 Rothwell Corinthians Reserves 27 6 3 18 -63 21 15 Godmanchester Rovers Reserves 23 5 2 16 -42 15 * 16 Raunds Town Reserves 25 0 4 21 -71 1 *
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The Death of East German Football”

Union Berlin’s recent achievements should not be underestimated. After making it to the Bundesliga, the community club have consolidated their position and this season, made an unexpected title bid before falling away from Bayern and Dortmund. It is increasingly likely, however, that they will be in the Champions League next season. It is a far cry from their near demise, begging supporters to come and build their stadium for them. And it is a long-awaited return to competitiveness for East German football, which was swept away with communism when the Berlin Wall fell.

The collapse of the wall changed the lives of millions in Germany, and billions around the world, signaling the beginning of the end of the Cold War. It was a year earlier, however, that East Germany had opened its borders to its Western brothers. It was a victory for democracy and started the process of reunification that had been desired by so many for so long. But it also allowed the heart of East German football to be ripped out, and realistically, Union aside, it has never recovered. RB Leipzig, the Red Bull commercial project, formed less than two decades ago, are not representative of the former DDR.

When the wall came down, West German football fans flocked east, on a footballing pilgrimage to stadia that had previously been off limits. What they found was a footballing infrastructure that mirrored the collapsing society. Dilapidated, wooden firetraps and crumbling stands. DDR clubs and fans had, unsurprisingly, found more important uses for their time and investment than football through such a difficult time. And while West German fans lamented and commiserated the decline, West German owners saw an opportunity.

Reiner Calmund, the ambitious sporting director for Bayer Leverkusen, was the first to make a move. He headed east with a bag of cash and a bag of toys, with one specific target in mind. Bayer already had a history with former DDR players, having signed Falko Gotz and Dirk Schegel, who had fled the bitter reprisals of East German socialism almost a decade before. And to them, Calmund was determined to add Andreas Thom.

Thom was the best player, and leading goal scorer, of BFC Dynamo. Who had so dominated East German football in the 1980s that they had won ten titles in a row. At only 24 when the borders opened, he was in his prime and had a young family to support, something that was growing increasingly difficult even for the most beloved and famous in the DDR. His children were bribed with the bag of toys Calmund brought with him from the west, and Thom was suitably impressed by the numbers he talked about. Calmund went on to make a bid of 3.6 million German marks to BFC Dynamo, a record at the time. Cash starved and facing extinction, the East German club gratefully accepted, and Thom took his family west to their new home.

Thom was the first, but there was no shortage of exceptional talent in the east that saw the riches on offer. Thomas Doll, Ulf Kirsten and Matthias Sammer followed in the summer of 1990. BFC Dynamo, newly monied but for the first time without the support of repressive security services (Dynamo, in a German context, usually means they were linked to the police and the Stasi), replaced Thom with Heiko Schulz, who left Lok Leipzig for the East German champions for a record fee within the former DDR, 1 million marks.

Calmund took him to Leverkusen as well, a couple of years later. Hansa Rostock would win the final East German title before reunification in 1991, after a season marred by violence.

Hansa were duly placed in the Bundesliga when the two countries’ footballing setups were merged, and established themselves. They were the only ones to do so. FC Berlin, formerly BFC Dynamo, suffered financial collapse and were eventually expelled from the Bundesliga (the top two divisions) altogether, settling in the third tier. The former Lok Leipzig played a single disastrous season in the top flight before sinking through five divisions and never returning. FSV Zwickau, FC Magdeburg, and Sachsen Leipzig, all powerhouses before reunification, went out of business. Zwickau and Magdeburg have since reformed.

In many ways, East German football continues to mirror the former DDR. Despite efforts over the last three decades to bring society up to the level of for former West, it lags behind in most metrics. And East German football, similarly, has never fully recovered. At least in Union Berlin, there is finally something to celebrate.

Enjoy the game!

The Untold Game

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BSMFC Bugbrooke St Michaels Youth @BadgersUCL @BSMFCYouth SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOW THE BADGER

BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS

Manager:

Dale Walton

Colours: White / Black / Black

FROM:

Luke Reeve

William Glennon

Brandon Hallmark

Ben Garwood

Tom Simmons

Tom Smyth

Tom Walton

Tom Binder

Trent Oakes

Kieran Spencer

Aidan Webster

Jake Webster

Will Jones

Eddie Panter

Kevin Shehi

Dan Porter

Calvin Green

Joe Malkin

Finley Amidi

Ben Drinkwater

Shad Reza

COGENHOE UNITED

Manager:

Scott Carlin

Colours: Blue / Blue / Blue

FROM:

Joshua Adams

Pharrell Anderson

Louie Barrett

Ashley Bodycote

Kodi Briggs

Patryk Cichosz

Ethan Lack

Jessi Obeng

Alexander Parkes

Luca Purse

Bruce Tsinonis

Jamie Hall

Josh Jones

Keiron Mobbs

Harry Waple-Moors

Ben Gough

Perry Ronayne

Bailey Weatherly

Dalton Leon

MATCH OFFICIALS

Scott Hanna – Steve Edwards – Gary Halliday

Bugbrooke St Michaels FC The Badgers, founded 1929 Birds Close, Gayton Road, Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire NN7 3PH Tel: 01604 830707 Website: bugbrookesmfc.co.uk BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS FC proudly sponsored by

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