Who May We See In The Pitching In Southern Football League in 2023/24? (United Counties League South)

A look at who may become members of the league next season from the feeder leagues.

Obviously, the Football Association’s National League System Committee will have the final say on who goes where in the summer and one or two of the following clubs may not end up in the Southern League.

And in some cases, it also may depend on ground gradings being suitable.

However, these are the team’s best placed to be promoted to the league as it stands today.

United Counties League South

We could finally see the re-emergence of Rugby Town after the Warwickshire outfit had threatened to win promotion back to the Southern League since 2018/19.

Since Carl Adams was appointed as manager at Butlin Road in May 2018, either side of two Covid-affected campaigns, he led Rugby to consecutive third-placed finishes.

Last season they fell 23 points short of champions Harborough Town and 20 behind second-placed Hinckley LR – both of whom were switched to the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands.

That, of course, could be Rugby’s fate if they can make up the four-point gap on current leaders Coventry Sphinx, although Adams` side have a game in hand.

Very well supported and currently averaging just under 300 with an excellent stadium, Rugby have had a mixed history, but when under the banner of VS Rugby they won the FA Vase at Wembley in 1982/83.

Since then, the club has been Rugby United and Rugby Town, coming out of the Southern League Division One Central in 2014/15 and being switched to the Northern Premier League before being relegated to the Midland League in 2017 and then being moved across to the UCL.

Two players currently lead the goalscoring charts with 19. However, in Jordan Wilson’s case, it’s 19 goals from just 19 games after arriving in October 2022 from league rivals Lutterworth Town.

The 24-year-old started the season on fire with Lutterworth leading the UCL Premier South scoring charts with 11 goals in his first 12 games after joining from Bromsgrove Sporting.

An 18-year-old Wilson did have a brief spell with Rugby back in October 2016 signing on a short term deal from Kettering Town who he joined from Shrewsbury Town where he was a youth player.

After his first spell with Rugby, he joined Carlton Town in the NPL Division One where he scored 15 goals in the 2017/18 season before gaining experience with the likes of Loughborough Dynamo, Hinckley AFC and Shepshed Dynamo.

Also on 19 goals is the more experienced David Kolodynski, who is in his fourth spell at Butlin Road.

Now 34, he has been a prolific marksman with Cambridge City, Hinckley United, Leamington, Bedworth United and Kettering Town.

But it is at Butlin Road where he has excelled, with an amazing record of 207 goals in 312 games to date.

Ryan Seal has contributed 14 goals to date from 33 games having re-joined Rugby in June 2022 from Gresley Rovers.

The 32-year-old attacking midfielder scored 20 goals for Gresley last season as they earned promotion from the UCL Premier North.

Seal originally agreed to join Rugby in July 2019 from current NPL Division One Midlands side Stamford and became a fans' favourite, scoring 20 goals and providing 25 assists in his first spell for the club.

He joined Stamford near the start of the 2018/19 season after scoring 18 goals in 23 games for Quorn in the previous campaign.

Before that Seal scored 93 goals in two seasons for Hinckley AFC in Midland League Division One after netting 28 goals for Kirby Muxloe in the MFL Premier in the 2014/15 season.

And to bolster and already powerful attack, manager Adams swooped to bring in vastly experienced 35-year-old striker Michael Taylor for the run-in.

Taylor joins from NPL Division One Midlands side Sutton Coldfield Town who he joined in February from Stratford Town.

He has had a long non-League career and worked under Adams during a successful spell at Stratford from 2016 to 2018.

Taylor also lists the likes of Solihull Moors, Worcester City, Tamworth, Bromsgrove Sporting, Stourbridge, Leamington and Halesowen Town amongst his other former clubs.

Rugby look favourites to win the title as Coventry Sphinx face three of their remaining four league matches away from home, including a local derby against Coventry United.

The club was established in 1946 as a works team for Armstrong Siddeley under the name Armstrong Siddeley Motors Football Club.

In 1960 they were re-named Sphinx FC and were founder members of the Coventry Alliance and remained in the league until moving up to Division Two of the Midland Combination in 1993.

They finished fourth in their first season in the league, earning promotion to Division One and they went on to finish as runners-up in Division One in 1994/95, and were promoted to the Premier Division, at which point they adopted their current name.

Coventry Sphinx were Midland Combination Premier Division runners-up in 1995/96 and again in 2001/02 - a season which also saw them win the League Cup.

They went on to finish as runners-up in consecutive seasons in 2004/05 (also winning the Challenge Cup again) and 2005/06 before winning the Premier Division title in 2006/07, earning promotion to the Midland Alliance.

In 2009/10 the club won the Midland Alliance League Cup, beating Westfields 3–1 in the final.

When the league merged with the Midland Combination in 2014 to form the Midland League in 2014, the club became members of the Premier Division.

At the end of the 2020/21 season Coventry Sphinx were transferred to the Premier Division South of the United Counties League.

The club play at Sphinx Drive, the name of which was adopted in 1995.

In the mid-1990s a new stand was built and opened with a friendly match against a Coventry City team.

The record attendance of 935 was set for a league match against Hereford in 2016.

The stadium was re-branded The Ryona Engineering Supplies Stadium in 2019 and, thanks to the Premier League Stadium Funding, opened new state-of-the-art floodlights at Sphinx Drive recently.

The set up now at Sphinx is excellent.

Sphinx are jointly managed by Shaun Thomas and John Woodward.

Thomas joined the club in November 2019 and scouts for the likes of Chester.

Woodward joined Coventry Sphinx in the summer of 2019 after a promotion-winning spell at Coleshill Town.

Top marksman to date is Callum Stewart, who has notched 32 goals from 40 games.

A talented young striker or attacking midfielder, he joined Sphinx from rivals Rugby Town’s academy in the summer of 2021.

Matt Shipman has 26 goals from 37 matches, while another ex-Rugby academy graduate, Leo Stone, has chipped in with 9.

One of the stand-out players for Sphinx for several years has been midfielder Callum Woodward.

He returned to the club in November 2016 after spells with Coalville Town and Barwell.

He helped Coalville to reach the FA Vase Final at Wembley in 2011 when they were beaten 3-2 by Whitley Bay.