Match Preview

Match preview courtesy of Adrian Lynn.

Biggleswade Town, who the Fenmen entertain in the FA Cup Preliminary Round on Saturday, began their league season with a comprehensive 3-0 win at Kempston Rovers last weekend. They followed this with a home 2-3 loss on Tuesday against Hertford Town.

The Waders, not to be confused with Biggleswade Utd and Biggleswade FC, the other two senior clubs in the town, play at Step 4 in the Southern League Division One Central.
They just missed out on the play-offs last season, finishing seventh, but are ambitious and looking to return to Step 3 with new manager Danny Payne, who stepped up from his position as assistant manager at the end of the season.
Payne has assembled a new-look team with returning players and new signings with experience of playing at a higher level, but has retained the services of Jon Clements, who was the league’s golden boot winner with 34 goals last season.

Club history
The club were established in 1874 as Biggleswade, later known as Biggleswade & District. In 1920 they joined the Northamptonshire League, which became the United Counties League in 1934.
After the Second World War the club adopted its current name and joined the Spartan League. They returned to the UCL in 1951 before switching to the Eastern Counties League in 1955. They set the record for biggest away win with a 12–0 victory over Newmarket Town.
The club then featured in the United Counties, South Midlands and Spartan Leagues until 2009 when they were promoted as champions to the Southern League. In 2013 they achieved promotion to step 3 through the play-offs, where they remained until 2021/22 when they were relegated.
Their best FA Cup run was in 2014/15 when they reached the first round, losing to Stourbridge 4-1.