They`ve Played for Your Club…..Biggleswade Town

Continuing the series on players who have represented the current clubs in the Southern Football League

Biggleswade Town were originally formed as Biggleswade FC in 1874 and began by playing friendlies.

They became one of the founder members of the Biggleswade & District League in 1902/03 and won the championship at the first attempt.

The successful season was climaxed by winning the Bedfordshire Senior Cup - the first of several victories in the competition.

The ‘Waders’, as the club are known, first entered the FA Cup in 1904 and remained in the Biggleswade & District League until 1914/15.

By the outbreak of the First World War, Biggleswade had won the championship of their own District League three times and the Bedford League once.

The club spent one more season in the BDL after competitive football resumed in 1919. The following season, 1920/21, they took the big step of joining the strong Northants League - which is now the United Counties League.

The highest position the club attained was third place in 1935, although in 1929 they finished top of the Northants Alliance, which was a subsidiary competition of the league.

After the Second World War, the ‘Waders’ spent five seasons in the Spartan League, before re-joining the United Counties League in 1951.

In 1955 they joined the Eastern Counties League until 1963 and the club’s only successes in this period came in the Beds Senior Cup and the North Beds Charity Cup.

The ‘Waders’ reverted to the UCL in 1964, where they remained until 1980 when they left the League and joined the South Midlands League.

After a few seasons in Division One, promotion to the Premier Division was finally achieved in 1986/87.

Despite struggling in the first two seasons back in the top-flight, relegation was only narrowly avoided in both seasons - the horizon began to look brighter all through the club with the provision of floodlights at Fairfield in 1989.

Prospects of first-team success came in 1989/90 when the team finished in fifth place, as well as winning the Diamond Jubilee Cup.

1990/91 saw the club mount a serious challenge for the Premier Division title, eventually finishing third and lifting the Premier Division Cup and the club also won the North Beds Charity Cup for the first time in 20 years.

With the seeds of success already sown, 1992/93 provided the club with an amazing run of cup success. They made an appearance in the Beds Premier Cup final, losing narrowly over two legs to Luton Town, but won four other trophies, namely the SML Challenge Trophy, the Hinchingbrooke Cup, the Hunts Premier Cup and the Jesse Piggott Trophy.

Season 1993/94 saw the club finish third in the league and keep a hold on the Hunts Premier Cup, albeit shared.

Cup success continued in 1994/95 when the club won the Hunts Premier Cup for the third successive year and also regained the North Beds Charity Cup and this was followed the next season by the club winning the South Midlands Floodlit Cup for the first time.

The following season saw the merger of the South Midlands and Spartan Leagues and although the Waders won the Hunts Premier Cup, they narrowly failed to retain their Premier Division status.

However, they immediately bounced back into the top division by gaining promotion at the end of the 1998/9 season after only one year in the Senior Division.

Plans were progressing for the club's long intended move to a home of its own, and a suitable site was duly identified. The years of ground sharing on an open space with the cricket club were coming to an end, but the move out of Fairfield Road wasn't to happen for another five years.

The Board appointed Chris Nunn as manager in November 2006 after a poor start to the season saw the team well adrift and heading for certain relegation.

In February 2007 the team had made up a lot of points but were still bottom of the Premier table. The team avoided relegation on the last league day of the season and a new era seemed to sweep in an expectation of better times ahead.

The 2007/08 season saw the squad develop further with new signings and for the first time in 15 years, the club found itself top of the division at one point.

The new ground progressed and was named The Carlsberg Stadium after a sponsor search.

A final position of third was a result of hard work and changes gradually moving the club forward.

As the 2008/09 season beckoned, The Carlsberg Stadium was ready for occupation and the seasons in the 'wilderness of ground sharing' were over. For the first time in the clubs 134-year history, it finally had a home of its very own.

Moving into the new ground certainly created a great feeling at the club and new faces began to appear on the playing side as well as behind the scenes.

As the final whistle blew on the last friendly there was a definite feeling of readiness for the forthcoming season.

However, the first league match of the new campaign saw the Waders travel to much-fancied Harefield United and leave on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline. Results picked up over the coming months and by the start of 2009 the Waders sat in third place, 9 points behind Harefield with a game in hand, many believed at this stage that long-time leaders Harefield were as good as champions.

Away from the league the Waders had progressed through the early stages of the FA Vase and were building a good momentum in the competition. Having seen off Wivenhoe Town in early December the Waders narrowly beat Croydon to set up a Valentine’s Day home tie with Market Drayton Town.

However, shortly after the win over Croydon the bad weather set in forcing a number of fixtures to be postponed which further added to the backlog of games caused by success in the Vase.

The Market Drayton Town tie provided the toughest test for the Waders so far, with a lack of match practise it was a big test for the team, but they managed to find the determination to win and ran out 4-2 winners setting up a quarter-final tie at Whitley Bay a fortnight later.

Away games in the Vase do not come much tougher than a trip to the Bay and the bookies' favourites took a comfortable 4-0 half-time lead that as good as sealed the victory.

The Waders fought back bravely in the second half and clinched a couple of goals but ended up losing 5-2 to Whitley Bay who would eventually lift the FA Vase in May.

Out of the Vase, given an outside chance of winning the league, the Waders now faced the prospect of three games a week to catch up on the Vase and weather-related league postponements.

Three days after the Vase exit the Waders entertained bottom-of-the-league side Holmer Green but no one had expected that Holmer Green would pick up the most unexpected three points of their season.

Following this shock to the system the Waders went into a run of form which gradually closed the gap on long-time leaders Harefield United and indeed beat the Hares 3-0 at the Carlsberg Stadium in the process.

Easter Monday proved to be the turning point when the Waders beat local rivals Biggleswade United to take the top spot in the league, by two goals goal difference. With two Saturdays left the Spartan South Midlands League was about to see the closest end to the season that it had ever seen.

The penultimate games saw the Waders and the Hares win 1-0 and maintain the status quo so it was all heading for a final day showdown with the Waders at home to third-placed Chalfont St Peter and Harefield away to fourth-placed Broxbourne Borough.

At home, Waders had a league attendance record of 365 spectators at the Carlsberg Stadium which included a delegation from the Spartan South Midlands League who had brought the league trophy to Biggleswade but had planned for a dash to Broxbourne should results go against the Waders.

By half-time, the Waders were 2-0 up and Harefield were 1-0 up so the Waders had moved to a plus 3 goal difference.

Fifteen minutes into the second half and both games were at 2-1 and the tension and mobile phone bills were growing.

The Waders took a 3-1 lead on 70 minutes only to be pulled back to 3-2 just 7 minutes later which set up the tensest 15 minutes imaginable, then news came through that Harefield had scored a last-minute penalty and their match was now finished at 3-1, The Waders game continued for another five minutes which seemed like an eternity but as the sound of the final whistle rang around the Stadium it signalled that the Waders had won the league by one goal on goal difference.

The Wader’s first season in the Southern League Division One Midlands proved a tough start but gradually the team strengthened and finished in a comfortable twelfth place with the team taking points off every side that season except Bury Town and Hitchin Town, who finished first and second respectively.

The Waders established themselves at Step 4 and were play-off semi-final losers in 2010/11.

However, two seasons later, they made amends by beating Rugby Town 3-1 in the play-off final to make it to the Southern Premier Division.

They finished seventh in 2016/17 and 2018/19 but the global pandemic has halted any more progress.

Liam Folds was a strong defender who started his career with Bedford Town in the Southern League.

He spent several years with the Eagles before being signed by Conference North side Kettering Town by his former Bedford boss Kevin Wilson in 2004.

But in November 2004, he joined Aylesbury United, then in the Southern League, after being released by the Poppies.

He scored his first Ducks goal in February 2005 with a 25-yard screamer at Hitchin Town in a 4-1 win.

Ironically, Hitchin was to be his next port of call in 2005.

He moved the relatively short distance to Biggleswade in 2008 and stayed at Langford Road for four seasons.

In more recent times, centre-back Curtis Ujah played for the Waders during the majority of the 2018/19 season.

Now 32, he was still turning out – pre-lockdown – for Isthmian League South Central Division side Marlow.

Much-travelled, he came through the Reading youth system, and went on to feature for Slough Town, Tamworth, Yeovil Town, Crawley Town, Weston-super-Mare, Halesowen Town, Hednesford Town, Boreham Wood, Tonbridge Angels, Hayes & Yeading United, St Albans City, Bishop`s Stortford, Maidenhead United, Enfield Town and Chesham United.

He signed for Marlow in late August 2019 from Cheshunt, for whom he had signed earlier in the summer from Harlow Town, where he had been since January 2019 when arriving from Egham Town.

He made 20 appearances in the 2017/18 season at Harrow Borough before joining Biggleswade.

Doug Beach was a full back who began with Sheffield Wednesday as an amateur, joining then-Southern League Colchester United after the Second World War had ended.

Spotted by Luton Town manager George Martin, while partnering another future Hatter Billy Cooke in an army representative match, Beach was a regular full-back at Kenilworth Road during the last war-time season as well as the first peacetime campaign.

A tough full back who could play on either flank, he was transferred to Southend United in July 1947 after making 23 League appearances for the Hatters.

He made a further 41 appearances for the Shrimpers and then returned to Colchester for the 1949/50 season – their last as a Southern League club.

After refusing a contract with the U`s he moved to Southern League rivals Chelmsford City and then finished his career with a couple of seasons with Biggleswade

After leaving the game, Watford-born Beach became a private gardener at Bricket Wood and on retiring in 1985 settled in Cornwall before passing away in 2006, aged 86.

Energetic, hard-working midfielder Aaran Cavill started his career with Northampton Town.

Whilst he was on the Cobblers books, he had loan spells with Southern League Bedford Town as well as Aylesbury United and Kettering Town.

Following his release by Northampton he had a short spell with the Poppies and then joined Hitchin Town.

After two seasons with the Canaries, he joined newly promoted Bedford Town for a second spell, this time on a more permanent basis.

He moved to Hemel Hempstead Town before re-joining the Eagles and then signing for Biggleswade in 2009.

Spells back at Bedford Town and with SSML neighbours Bedford FC followed before he hung up his boots in 2014.

Gary Branch was an impressive, left-footed centre-back who played his early football in the United Counties League with Potton United.

He moved on to have spells with Spartan South Midlands side Sandy Albion and then Biggleswade, where he enjoyed a decent spell in the SSML.

He moved to Bedford Town in 1995, only a few seasons after re-forming, and helped them to promotion from the Isthmian League Division Two three years later.

He later played for Blunham in the Bedfordshire League.

Attacking midfielder Bobby Dance began his career as a youngster with Watford.

After being unable to obtain a contract with the Hornets, he began his non-League spell with Berkhamsted Town and then joined Biggleswade for the first time in 2005 in the Spartan South Midlands League.

A return to Berko and a season with Stotfold preceded a second stint with the Waders in 2008 where he helped them to win the SSML title and promotion to the Southern League in 2009/10.

He moved into the Southern League, but with Arlesey Town before returning to the SSML with Royston Town and then back at Stotfold.

A return to the Southern League came when he signed for Barton Rovers, where he enjoyed a good three-year spell, scoring over 30 goals.

Bobby, the son of the former Stevenage Borough striker Danny Dance, who scored 46 goals in 84 outings for Boro in the 1980s, went on to play for Welwyn Garden City, Codicote and Harpenden Town.

Midfielder Mitchell Cole was very sadly taken from us in 2012 at the early age of 27.

Unable to make the breakthrough at either Norwich City or West Ham United, he was snapped up by Mark Stimson for Grays Athletic in 2004 and helped the Essex outfit to promotion from the Conference South to the Premier and also played a starring role as Grays won the 2005 FA Trophy at Villa Park on penalties – a performance that didn`t go unnoticed.

Earlier, he had made his England C debut against the Netherlands in February 2005 at the age of just 17.

The following summer he signed for Essex neighbours Southend United for an undisclosed fee and helped the Shrimpers achieve promotion to the Championship.

He made 33 appearances, scoring just the once, as well as having an 8-game loan spell with Northampton Town, but decided to join then-Conference National side Stevenage Borough for a five-figure fee in January 2007.

During his time with Boro, Cole was part of the FA Trophy winning side of 2007 which beat Kidderminster Harriers 3-2 in the first competitive match at the new Wembley Stadium - a game in which Cole scored.

He made more than 140 appearances for Boro, scoring over 20 times.

After leaving the U’s, he had brief spells at Spartan South Midlands side Stotfold, Southern League Premier Division Hitchin Town, where he made 15 appearances scoring 3 goals, and then Biggleswade, where his stay was brief but deserving of mention.

His final club was Arlesey Town in January 2012, but he gave up the game after seeing Bolton Wanderers player Fabrice Muamba’s on-pitch collapse through his heart condition – the same illness that caused Cole`s death.

Playing as an amateur for St Albans City, Ronnie Burke earned his first professional contract with Manchester United in August 1946, aged 25.

One of many players to have lost peak years to the Second World War, Burke played for Luton Town in the wartime games before moving to Old Trafford.

He quickly made his mark on the united first team when netting 16 goals in just 28 appearances.

But he was transferred to Huddersfield Town in June 1949 and added another 6 goals in 27 starts.

Moving across Yorkshire to Rotherham United in March 1953, his impressive goalscoring record continued as he found the back of the net on 56 occasions in only 73 starts.

He scored 4 goals in one game for the Millers in a 4-2 home win over Bury in March 1955.

In June 1955, Burke signed for Exeter City for a fee of £1,300, by then aged 33, and he made his first start for the Grecians on the opening day of the season in a goalless draw at St James’ Park against Colchester United.

Burke moved home from Exeter to Watford, where his parents lived, in March 1957, but continued to travel to Exeter for matches.

He had two seasons with the Grecians, totalling 42 games and 14 goals and then signed for Southern League side Tunbridge Wells Rangers in the summer of 1957.

He moved on to then-Eastern Counties League side Biggleswade in July 1958.

He had two seasons with the Waders before hanging up his boots.

He died in December 2003, aged 82.

A former player with an `interesting` career was Dave Fisher.

Known now as Dave D`Mello as a dance music DJ and record producer, he had what`s best described as a `chequered` footballing career.

Having played as a youth for Gillingham, he was given a trial period at West Ham United where his discipline let him down, being sent-off in a friendly!

He went on to play for Rainham Town, Purfleet, Egham Town, Erith & Belvedere, Torrevieja in the Spanish fourth tier, Erith again, Sittingbourne and then St Leonards, who he joined halfway through the 2001/02 season.

He moved onto Maidstone United in November 2002 and subsequently acted as player-manager for Kent County Leaguers Thames Poly before re-signing for Southern League St Leonards in August 2003 after short spells with Clapton and then Purfleet.

However, later that year, Fisher received a Sine-Die ban from the game from the Sussex County FA for an incident against Egham Town.

But in August 2005, after serving two years, Fisher was released from the ban by the Sussex FA and returned to football by signing for Kent League side Erith & Belvedere/

He then joined Spartan South Midlands League outfit Biggleswade and made his debut against Broxbourne Borough and helped them to their first point of the season in a 3-3 away draw.

For someone who received around 100 bookings in his career and multiple red cards, it seems a little strange that he is now a UEFA B coach who runs the Football First Academy and scouts for various professional football clubs!

Forward Kieran Bishop is still playing (well, he was before lockdown) and his lengthy non-League career began at Biggleswade in the Spartan South Midlands League.

Bishop joined Isthmian League North side Hullbridge Sports in early January 2020.

He now possesses a wealth of experience and was with Grays Athletic, where he scored 47 goals in 94 games, across three seasons before joining Walthamstow in March 2019 - he was also voted as Grays` supporters’ player of the year for 2017/18.

He began that season at Coggeshall Town, and has scored goals everywhere he’s been, but really came to the fore during the 2015/16 season when he scored 31 goals in 45 games for Ware.

He has also featured for Redbridge, Broxbourne Borough, AFC Hornchurch, Harlow Town and Hemel Hempstead Town.

The Waders haven`t had many former international players wearing their colours.

However, going back in time, Viv Woodward, who played once for Wales during the Second World War, did finish his career with the club, who were then members of the Eastern Counties League.

An inside forward, Woodward played for home-town club Troed-y-rhiw as a youth and moved to Southern League side Folkestone in 1933 and was with the Kent side for two and a quarter seasons and scored over 100 goals when signed by Fulham in January 1936 for a `comparatively large` fee.

His one wartime cap for Wales came against England during 1940/41.

After playing just under 100 games for Fulham, scoring 26 times, he signed for Millwall in February 1947, for whom he played 42 games and netted 13 goals.

A move to Brentford followed in July 1948 and to Aldershot in February 1950.

However, at the age of 37, Woodward joined Southern League Bedford Town, where he played just over 150 times and scored 62 goals.

He became player/assistant manager at the Eyrie and at the same time, coached in mid-week for Biggleswade and Potton United.

He eventually moved to Biggleswade as a player in early 1955 in part exchange for Percy Duggan.

By 1959/60, Woodward was on Fulham's coaching staff. looking after their `A` team in Metropolitan League.

Biggleswade Town Web Site