Bedford Town ‘misfits’ have conquered all

By Jon Couch

A third straight promotion and talk of a rapid rise to the Premier League – you’d think that Real Bedford’s fairytale story would be more than enough to whet the appetites of the local fans this season.

But, according to Lee Bircham, manager of higher-profile neighbours Bedford Town, the “greatest story in Non-League football” has already been written elsewhere – just a stone’s throw away, in fact!

Bircham led the Eagles to promotion through the Southern Division One Central playoffs 12 months ago with one solitary aim this season – to finish fourth from bottom in the Premier Central table and secure their Step 3 status.

With a budget more in keeping with the level below, the former Leighton Town boss set about plotting his survival mission, beset by a series of off-the-field problems which made his task all the more challenging.

TASTE OF SUCCESS: Bedford Town’s players celebrate their most unlikely of title victories in Southern League Premier Central
PICTURE: Mike Capps

Miraculous

“The club would be the first to admit that the playing budget we were given was horrendous,” Bircham told The NLP.

“That wasn’t without reason as the owners had spent £1 million on a new 3G pitch out of their own pockets, but it hadn’t made life easy in what was already a tough league.

“They asked me if there was any hope that we could finish fourth from bottom and I was honest with the players and told them what our aims and targets were.

“Just to stay up would have been miraculous with what he had.

“All of our kits were delayed, the tracksuits, and we had nowhere to train.

“We were like a travelling circus all over pre-season.

“Our pitch wasn’t ready until late October to early November, so all of our games up until then were away.

“We only trained once a week and kept having to move about everywhere as we never had a settled ground to use.

“It was chaos.

“Then, we had the tragic news of Leon Lobjoit’s baby dying at just ten days old, which ripped through the whole squad, before all the merger talk with Real Bedford in the New Year.

“It was like a season out of Dream Team, it was crazy.”

Misfits FC

Under the radar of their rivals, Bircham’s Bedford battled on and with a close bond built among a tight-knit squad, the New Eyrie crew gradually began to surpass all expectations.

“Everyone took their eye off us a bit,” the 48-year-old boss added.

“The big boys were battling each other and, very quietly, we just kept going about our business, winning games, and before we knew it, we were right in amongst it.

“We had four or five lads from last year that kept the squad together, but the rest of the squad were made up of players not wanted elsewhere, so we kind of made a theme of it.

“People labelled us Misfits FC – and we even called ourselves that!

“Sometimes these things can bring you closer together as a group and your name’s on it, and that’s what happened.”

CROWD PLEASERS: Bedford Town pair Ryan Blake, left, and Jack Davies celebrate scoring crucial goals in the run-in

Derail

Talks of a merger with Real Bedford came at just the wrong time for the Eagles, who were by now soaring to all new heights with the club flirting with the promotion hopefuls.

The rumours threatened to derail their unlikely title bid, but with the future of the club and its individual looking bleak, Bircham believes it actually brought the squad closer together.

“Three weeks ago, we were all out of the door,” he revealed.

“All of us, myself and the players, were looking for new clubs.

“But, in a strange way, it actually worked in our favour.

“The pressure was off us, we were all playing for ourselves and playing together.

“It could have ripped through us and disrupted our season, but it actually brought us together, and in our last 13 games, we won 11 and drew the other two.

“It was phenomenal.”

Gravitas

As big guns Kettering Town and AFC Telford United slipped up, Bedford found themselves on top of the table and last Saturday they sealed the title with a 2-0 home win over Stourbridge.

Bircham was left astounded as anyone.

“It’s an incredible story, probably the greatest ever.

“I don’t think people realise the gravitas of what we’ve achieved,” he added.

“We’ve probably broken every rule there is to break this year.

“You’re supposed to have a settled squad and not use too many players, but we’ve used 66 this season – a Southern Central record – and that includes no fewer than SEVEN goalkeepers.

“These last few days, I’ve been trying to pick my brain to think of a bigger upset in Non-League football and I really can’t think of one.

“Biggleswade Town won our league, at Step 4, last year, while we came up via the play-offs.

“They finished bottom with 28 points and we won the league with 82!

“That’s unheard of.”

Gunfight

For now, Bircham can enjoy some well-deserved time off to reflect, but the Eagles boss has warned that lessons must be learned from last if the club are to compete in National League North next year.

“I have a lot to discuss with the owners and it needs to be done sooner rather than later,” he added.

“We need to be sensible and grown up and I need to see how we are going to attack this because it’s no good doing what we did last summer and go into a gunfight using sticks.

“We’ve got to adjust and give ourselves a chance to stay up, otherwise it’s not fair on all those who have worked so hard to get us to this stage.

“At the minute though, we are just enjoying what we have done, but once I know where the club’s ambitions lie, and I know what I’m doing, then we can sit down and start making plans for next season.”

READ MORE: Bedford Town 2-0 Stourbridge: ‘We proved all the doubters wrong’