vs. Leighton Town Reserves
Spartan South Midlands Division One Tuesday 22ndApril 2025, 7.45pm
Welcome to Hayden Road
Welcome to Hayden Road for tonight'sgameagainstLeighton Town which marks the final fixtureofthe2024/25season.
First of all allow me to extend my sincerest congratulations to Danny Jackson and the boys for securing our step six status for another year and also to Jory Mann to breaking the club’s appearance record against Raunds Town on Saturday.
It is a tough gig for amateur players at this level, being asked to travel long distances often on Tuesday nights so I would like to issue a massive thanks to all the players who have turned out for the club during the course of the season, it hasn’t always been easy but the desire and commitment you have shown has been absolutely top drawer and you should be very proud ofyourselves.
Simon Swingler
Rushden & Higham United FC
Hayden Road
Rushden Northamptonshire
NN10 0HX
Admission:
Adults£6
Concessions£3
Under12s£0
Chairman: Aidy Mann
Manager: Danny Jackson
Secretary: Scott Freeman
Bar: Gina Wrighton
Gate: Helen Whitehead
Committee: Simon Swingler
Committee: Phil Summers
Committee: Jamie Loveday
Committee: Ben Harrison
Many thanks to the following people for permission to use their photos: Shaun Frankham
Phil Passingham
Finbarr Carroll Niki Crook
LeightonTown History
Leighton Town F.C. was formed in 1885 and in their early years were winners of the Leighton and District League on several occasions. They were one of the original members of the South Midlands League in 1922, the same year they changed their name to Leighton United. They were also members of the Spartan League from 1922 to 1952, but their only successes were two Spartan League DivisionTwo titles in 1923–24 and 1927–28.
In 1952, they became founder member of the Hellenic League but after two seasons moved back to the South Midlands League. In 1965–66, Leighton finished bottom of the Premier Division, but won the title the following season. They then returned to the Spartan League once again, followed by a two-year spell in the United Counties League before returning once again to the South Midlands League where they were to remain until 1992.
In the 1991–92 season Leighton won the South Midlands Premier Division title and stepped up to the Isthmian League, initially in Division Three, with promotion to Division Two following in 1996. The 2000–01 season brought relegation but the club bounced back in 2004, winning the title of what was now called Division Two. That same year re-organisation of the pyramid saw them switched to the Southern League.
Craig Wells resigned from the club early into the 2012–13 season – despite a strong end to the previous campaign, however he rejoined the side as manager in June 2013. Due to heavy debt and increasing costs the club made the decision not to pay their players for the 2013–14 season, becoming the only amateur side in the division.
After only one season at the club, Bicknell was sacked as the manager, despite the team reaching their best league position in recent years, and was replaced by former Arlesey Town, Hemel Hempstead Town, Aylesbury United and Aylesbury boss Mark Eaton in June 2015, Eaton was sacked at the end of October 2015 following a poor run of results, however a dispute between the departing manager and the club unfolded in the local paper.
LeightonTown History
Following Leighton Town's relegation from the Southern League Division One Central in 2016, the club parted company with manager Stuart Murray.
Murray was replaced by former Ashford Town manager Paul Burgess in June 2016, as the club prepared for their first season back in the Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division following their relegation. Burgess resigned in November and was replaced with Scott Reynolds as interim manager, with Adam Kirkup and Lee Halling being appointed as his assistants, and Sean Downey continuing in his role as general manager. In May 2018, after a 4th-placed finish in the league, manager Scott Reynolds resigned before being appointed as Aylesbury manager shortly afterwards. On 16 May, former Hemel Hempstead Town manager Danny Nicholls was appointed as his successor. However, in October 2018, Nicholls resigned after just 12 league games due to a poor run of form, with Aylesbury manager Reynolds also resigning just two days later. Joe Sweeney and Paul Copson were appointed as joint managers to replace Nicholls shortly after.
2024/25 Player’s Stats
RaundsTown 1-2The Lankies
On a day that marked Jory Mann’s record breaking 324th appearance for clubThe Lankies treated their fans to fine display at KilnParkdowninglocalrivalsRaundsTownbytwogoalstoone.
From Tuesday’s match against Welwyn youngster Ralph OluwoleShiwoku
was replaced in the backline by the experienced Troy Johnston, Danny Wells dropped to the bench to be replaced by Jory Mann and leading scorer Sven Sartain was replaced by youngsterMohammedKhan.
The Lankies started the game on the front foot with James Lewis running amok and seemingly doing everything but score, lashing shots into the side netting and onto the bar in theopeningfewminutes.
James Lewis, who must be one of the most fouled players in the entiredivisionwasatitagainafewminuteslaterwhenateasingrun was unceremoniously ended by a Shopmates’defender maybe just insidetheboxhowevertherefereewasnotinterested.
In the thirty-first minute, just after I had commented that our centre-backtrioofTroyJohnston,AustinBishopandKianKingwere looking very secure a Raunds forward latched onto what appeared to be a fairly innocuous and speculative looking through ball and slottedhomepastMickyIbbesontoopenthescoring.
The perpetual motion of James Lewis
RaundsTown 1-2The Lankies
On the stroke of halftime James Lewis collected the reward that his endeavourdeservedwhenhefinishedfromcloserangeafterlatching ontoaJackBloodworthcross.
Inthe57thminuteTheLankiesthoughttheyhadtakentheleadwhen Mo Kahn bundled Jory Mann’s freekick past Matthew Biggs in the Raunds goal however the linesman did not hesitate to raise his flag tocutthecelebrationsshort.
Jack Culwick Grabbed The Winner
Five minutes later The Lankies were onegoaltothegood . Mason Jackson was released down the left hand side, his centre was partially parried by the Raunds goalkeeper howeverJackCulwickwasonhandto plunderhisfifthgoaloftheseason.
Thecontestatthispointbecamequite fragmented with both sides making a plethoraofsubstitutions.
The hosts thought that they had grabbed a point at the death, however thelinesman’s flagcurtailedtheircelebrations.
THE LANKIES:
Mickey Ibbeson, Dennis Palmer, Mason Jackson, Troy Johnston (Ben Peaks), Kian King, Austin Bishop, Jack Culwick (1) (Johnny Carey), Jack Bloodworth (Jack Edison), Mo Khan (Danny Wells), JoryMann(SvenSartain),JamesLewis(1).
RaundsTown 1-2The Lankies
Man of the Match: JamesLewis(sponsoredbyAPLewis,Electrical Contractor)
Fixtures
LeagueTable
GuestArticle
When you think about the great Italian champions of the past, you think of Juventus, Internazionale, Milan. Those of a nostalgic persuasion may think of Diego Maradona’s Napoli or Francesco Totti’s Roma. Some - especially if you have been reading me for a while - might be able to pluck the name Pro Vercelli, a pub quiz answer if ever there was one, but a pub quiz answer with seven titles (as many as Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina combined). But not many people would have been able to name regional minnows Casale, in the small Piedmont town of Casale Monferrato.
The Victorious Team of 1914
Now nestled in the regional amateur leagues in Serie D, Casale doesn’t immediately leap out as a team that would have once found success.
But it was one borne out of rivalry, as are so many great achievements. With so many competing Duchies in Italy, often
militarised powers, it’s unsurprising that there are many deep and lasting injustices that are carried now into calcio. In the case of Casale, they broke free of their own Duchy to try to go it alone, and thrived for nearly two decades before a combined force of nearby rivals burned the city to the ground. Among that force was an army from Vercelli. And 700 years later, when Pro Vercelli won their first Scudetto, an answer had to be given.
Casale were founded in 1909, the year after that first Vercelli win. The town was in
GuestArticle
fertile footballing land, located right in the middle of the burgeoning calcio scene between Vercelli, Genoa, Turin and Milan, where the powerhouses of the early game resided. An abortive attempt to found a team floundered, lasting two years from 1904 to 1906, but after Vercelli found success a more concerted effort was made, and Casale started life in the lower regional leagues in Piedmont. They didn’t intend to be there for long.
Casale’s current modest Serie D Ground
Under the auspices of Raffaele Jaffa, a local professor who had been entranced when watching his first football match, and club legend Luigi Barbesino, they quickly secured promotions into high divisions. Within two years, they were invited to play with the big boys, and joined Serie A. But momentum, once found, is hard to stop.
They weren’t content with merely making up the numbers.
The Prima Categoria, as the top flight was called at the time, was very different to today’s Serie A. It was still regionalised, and Casale found themselves in the Piedmont-Ligura division with teams still plying their trade in Italy’s lower leagues; Savona, Alessandria (with whom they now have a heated rivalry), Andrea Doria. But also powerhouses like Genoa,Torino, and of course the hated Vercelli.
In 1913, Casale gave a little hint of what was to come.The bastion of football was
GuestArticle
the UK, and England and Scotland in particular.The year before the First World War broke out, the visitors were Reading, and while they showcased their talent dispatching Italian teams with ease, Casale broke the mould. Beating them 2-1, they became the first ever Italian side to defeat an English one. It augered well for the season ahead.
It shocked the calcio world, then, when Casale managed to win a tight contest with Genoa to progress to the second stage of the competition. Even better for Casale fans, favourites Vercelli failed to qualify.
Acombined northern group followed, with only one qualification place.As in the previous round, they kept a 100% record at home. Defeats to Juventus and Vicenza weren’t enough to stop them pipping Genoa to top spot.
Aunifying final against Lazio, turned into a farcical formality. Casale continued their dominant home form and dispatched the Romans 7-1 in the first leg, before finishing the job with a 2-0 win in the capital. It was Casale’s first title.
Fate, however, has a habit of intervention. Casale secured their title on the 12th July, 1914.They hoped to carry that momentum into the following season, but less than three weeks later, the world erupted into war.Alongside the millions dead and injured, there was another, largely insignificant casualty. Casale never found that kind of form again. But when you look at the list of Italian champions, there they are, proudly on the trophy.
Enjoy the game.
Martyn Green, The Untold Game
Find more at TheUntoldGame.co.uk or on social media @TheUntoldGame
WelcomeToTwo Very Special Guests
Many moons ago, before I had a mortgage and children I used to spendmostofweekendsinLondonsupportingArsenalandlocalnon leagueclubWingate&FinchleyoftheIsthmianLeague,thoseofyou who have been around The Lankies for a few years may recall Wingate & Finchley kindly bringing up a side one preseason to play at Hayden Road, to thank Phil and I for our support down in North London. Sincere thanks must be bestowed upon Wingate chairman AronSharpeformakingthearrangementsandforprovidinguswitha
Yours truly with some of the Finchley lads including Tom & Hot Legs!
prestigious pre season friendly despite the complaints of former West Ham United and Northern Ireland fullback Keith Rowland who was Wingate manager a the time, apparently Keith didn’t want to travel outside the M25 duringpre-season!
I don’t get to see the lads much anymore so I am delighted to welcome Paul “Hot Legs” Favell and Tom Salinger to Hayden Road tonight as my guests and to beabletoshowthemthe club that I have fallen in love with since returning to Northamptonshire.
Enjoy the game lads and have a safe journey home once you “Get Back On That Motorway!” as Wingate stalwart Del Boy used to shout at referees every home game back in those heady days at SummersLaneinFinchley.
The History ofThe Lankies
HIGHAM TOWN
The earliest recorded mention of Higham Town Football Club occurred in 1876 when the club was formed following a meeting held at the Griffin Public House in Higham Ferrers. The club initially competed in the Northamptonshire League during the latter part of the nineteenth century.
The Lankies’golden age was undoubtedly in the 1920s, when they were reformed following the conclusion of the First World War. By this time competing in the Wellingborough & District League, they won the NFA Junior Cup also gaining admittance to the Northants League which they won in their maiden season along with the Northants Senior Cup.
The league title was retained a year later as well as Northamptonshire’s premier trophy, The Maunsell Cup. The same season (1921/22) the Lankies enjoyed a long run in the FA Cup culminating with a tie against Football League Chesterfield. More than matching our professional opponents we secured a 4-4 draw at Saltergate before succumbing by a single goal to nil in the replay. The Lankies were also the highest scorers in the FA Cup that season.
The History ofThe Lankies
In the 1923-24 and 1926-27 seasons the club were league runners up and in 1931 and 1933 they were also Northants Senior Cup runners cup. In 1936 the Maunsell Cup was once again secured withThe Lankies defeating NorthamptonTown in the final.
On resumption of the football calendar following the end of the Second World War The Lankies competed in the Rushden & District League where they remained before joining the United Counties League. During the period between 1950-1997 The Lankies finished runners up in the league on no less than seven different occasions.
In 1997 The Lankies finally secured the United Counties League Division One title which was the club’s first league title in seventy five years.
RUSHDEN RANGERS
Rushden Rangers were formed as a youth football side in 1978 by Steve Cavender who was inspired by watching local lads playing a jumpers for goalposts game in Melloway Park, Rushden. Steve would hold the position of Rushden Rangers’secretary until 1990.
In the club’s heyday it boasted numerous youth sides and two senior sides going on to secure the NFALower Junior Cup and the Northants Combination League title.
In 1994 Neil Gant offered the Hayden Road facility to Rushden Rangers which now lay vacant following Rushden Town’s merger with Irthlingborough Diamonds and subsequent move to Nene Park.
The History ofThe Lankies
MERGER
In 2007 the decision was made to merge Higham Town and Rushden Rangers, with the new club playing at Hayden Road in order to preserve their United Counties League status. With assistance from the Stadia Improvement fund the Hayden Road facility was brought up to the required standard.
THE MODERN ERA
Since the merger Rushden & Higham United has plied their trade at Step Six, initially in the United Counties League and more recently the Spartan South Midlands Division following a lateral move in 2021.
The club’s most famous day since the merger in 2007 came in 2013 when the NFAJunior Cup was secured with victory over Cogenhoe at NorthamptonTown’s Sixfields Stadium.
Rushden &
Higham
Utd Leighton Town Reserves
Mickey IBBESON
Mason JACKSON
Kian KING
Jack BLOODWORTH
Mitchell SHARPE
Austin BISHOP
Dennis PALMER
James LEWIS
Ralph OLUWOLE-SHIWOKU
Ben PEAKS
Jory MANN
Sven SARTAIN
Redha ZEKRI
Danny WELLS
Mohammed KHAN
Jack CULWICK
Tomas OLIVEIRA
Troy JOHNSTON
Jack EDISON
Johnny CAREY
Julian ATAT
Chris BOATENG
Lewis FINDLAY
Harvey HEEPS
William HORNE
Keir LANGFORD
Dan GREEN
Owen McCONNELL
Taylor ROBINSON
Fabio SILVESTRI
Marco SILVESTRI
Reuben WILLIAMS
Carter DONCASTER
Freddie HEEPS
Louie HOWARTH
Enaan HUSSAIN
Emanuel IGWILO
Lewis PHIPPARD
