Despite the Season being 5 months into its 8 month calendar we are effectively now at the mid-point of the Season for most of our Clubs due to the large amount of postponements that we have suffered due to adverse weather.
At the time of writing the League has experienced 128 postponements so far this Season due to pitch conditions caused predominantly by waterlogging, with a handful being down to frozen pitch conditions. On top of this we have experienced a further 84 League postponements due to Cup involvement and progression, all of which leads to a total postponement of 212 matches. Putting it another way that represents nearly a quarter of the full Season’s scheduled League games have needed to be rearranged with many of those yet to be played.
Onto the pitch and I will start by congratulating Hykeham Town TRFC, Nettleham FC Sunday, and Ruston United who have all reached the Semi-Final of the Lincolnshire County Football Association Sunday Cup.
In the Quarter-Finals Hykeham Town TRFC overcame the challenge of Market Tavern FC by 4 goals to nil. Nettleham FC Sunday had a 3-2 success from their visit to Winterton Rovers FC, whilst Ruston United also enjoyed a 4-0 victory when they visited the Crown Inn FC.
It is pleasing to see that the League is guaranteed to have at least one of its sides in the final of the Competition. That guaranteed place will go to either Hykeham Town TRFC or Ruston United as the two teams have been drawn against each other in the Semi-Final which will be played at the Memorial Hall ground on Newark Road, North Hykeham next Sunday, 1st March 2026.
Our other remaining team in this Competition, Nettleham FC Sunday, will be hoping to make it an all Lincoln final when they visit Ashby FC from the Scunthorpe League on the same Semi-Final date.
The League extends its very best wishes to each of our 3 teams remaining in this prestigious County Competition. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the final was contested by 2 teams from our League, but that burden falls upon the shoulders of the boys from Nettleham FC Sunday for the right to play either Hykeham Town TRFC or Ruston United in the Final. Good luck to all a week tomorrow.
Staying with the Cup Competitions, all Cups are now well advanced. The Ron Eaglen Challenge Cup, our largest Cup Competition as all Clubs must enter one team, has now reached the Semi- Final stage of the Competition. The Semi-Final games will see a repeat of the LFA County Sunday Cup Semi-Final, the only difference will be a change to home advantage as this time round it is Ruston United who will host their rivals from up the road, namely Hykeham Town TRFC. The other Semi-Final will see Welton Sports & Social FC host Jolly Brewer FC for a place in the coveted Final. Both of these Semi-Final games will be played on Sunday 5th April 2026 with a 10.45am kick-off. With both games featuring all Premier Division players they both promise to be interesting and well watchable fixtures.
The Jock Mitchell Memorial Trophy has also progressed to the Semi-Final stages with those games scheduled to take place on Sunday 29th March 2026. This Competition is for returning teams that compete in Divisions 3 and 4 of the League and this Season the Semi-Final games will be played out between Greenbank FC v Brant Broughton FC, and Anchor FC v Cherry Tree FC.
The Fred Quibell Junior Cup has progressed almost to its Semi-Final stage, but one game remains outstanding from the Quarter-Final round of the Competition as the tie between OAP FC and East Drayton was not played due to East Drayton’s involvement in the Nottinghamshire County Football Association’s Sunday Cup. That Competition takes seniority over domestic Competitions and the progression of East Drayton, assisted by multiple postponements in that Competition due to adverse weather affecting pitch Competitions, are causing the hold up of the completion of the Semi-Final draw of our Cup Competition. What we do know is the other 3 Semi-Finalists are Glebe United, Cherry Tree FC, and Shakespeare United. The draw for the Semi-Final is eagerly awaited, and it is envisaged that the Semi-Final will be played on one of the Sunday dates in March. It is however undesirable for the League to play Semi-Finals on different dates through planning so to that end we are trying to get East Drayton FC’s Quarter-Finals played before being able to confirm Semi-Final dates as they may or may not be involved in one or two Competition Semi-Finals.
The Kelly Read Cup, a Competition for village-based teams playing from a village location, is at the Quarter-Final stage and 3 of the Semi-Finalists will be known after the matches played in the Quarter-Finals on Sunday 22nd February 2026. Those matches involve AFC Saxilby v Ruskington AFC, Metheringham FC v Welton Sports & Social FC, and Nettleham FC Sunday v Witham FC. The remaining tie between East Drayton FC v Scothern FC has been postponed on this date as East Drayton FC play Awsworth Villa FC in the Nottinghamshire County Football Association Sunday Cup on this date. Similarly, as with the Fred Quibell Junior Cup Competition, it is envisaged that the Semi-Final of the Kelly Read Cup will take place on a date in March 2026.
Should the situation involving East Drayton FC’s heavy Cup commitments continue to hold up the progress of 2 of our Cup Competitions then the League may need to re-think its plans on when those Cup Semi-Finals are played but these are the immediate plans at this stage.
Moving onto League matters it really is all to play for as some of our teams have not yet reached the half-way playing point of their Season due to the way that the fixtures have fallen with the disruption already covered in this summary. Looking at the League by Division, this is what we know so far:
PREMIER DIVISION:
With a considerably shortened division caused by 4 team withdrawals prior to the start of the Season, the 6 competing teams deserve much credit for adopting the emergency plan for the division to be competitive and worthwhile, with each team playing their opposition on 2 home occasions and 2 away occasions. Whilst not ideal this has ensured that all games are against Premier division players and the feedback has been positive so well done to all for making this temporary solution work.
On the pitch the League table makes interesting reading. I am sure that the boys at AFC Saxilby will forgive me for excluding them from the potential to win the division as they have not managed to win a League game this Season in 11 attempts resulting in them currently rooted to the foot of the table. Sitting one place above them are Hykeham Town TRFC who somewhat unusually find themselves at the opposite end of the table to where they are used to occupying over recent Seasons, but having played only 9 of their allotted 20 games, they still have the ability to turn the table on its head by the end of the Season.
Jolly Brewer FC head the current League table with 7 wins from their opening 10 games. They are 6 points clear of second place Nettleham FC Sunday, but Nettleham have 2 games in hand on the current leaders. Welton Sports & Social FC currently sit in third place, level on points with Nettleham, but having played 4 games more. Fourth place is currently occupied by Ruston United who have 14 points, but Rustons have played only 8 games, 2 fewer than the leaders whilst being 8 points behind. All teams have to play each other on multiple occasions before completing their fixtures so everything can, and doubtless will, change between now and the end of the Season.
There are many cliches in football, none more so than “tables count for nothing until the Season finishes”. I suspect that this is a very appropriate quote to make right now in this division. It would appear as though 5 of the 6 teams could run out winners in the end but perhaps 4 of the 6 look in a potentially stronger position to do so but time will tell.
DIVISION ONE:
As things currently stand this is developing as a division of two halves, with the top 6 looking like splitting away from the bottom half of the table. There are just 3 points separating the top 3 teams. Leading the way are Shakespeare United who have notched up 8 wins from their opening 10 games amassing 24 points along the way. Morning Star FC are close on Shakey’s heels, just 2 points behind with the same games played. OAP sit third on 21 points, again with 10 games played. Scothern FC are fourth in the table almost ‘lurking’ in that position as they have only played 7 games due mainly to Cup disruption and unwanted postponements. Scothern FC are the only team in this division to remain unbeaten so it would not be a surprise to see them pick up healthy points from their 3 games in hand, plus a full second half of the Season still to play. I have a suspicion that Scothern may well be there or thereabouts at the end of the Season but Shakey, Star, and OAP will have plenty to say about that for certain.
Sadly, Plough Sturton FC have resigned from the League since the Season started so they will finish in bottom position in accordance with Rule as they had not played 75% of their fixtures. Witham FC have struggled at the wrong end of this division in the last couple of Seasons, they sit one place off the bottom with just one win and 4 points gathered in their opening 10 games of the Season. Metheringham FC are occupying a surprisingly low current position with just one win from their first 8 games returning just 5 points, but they have the potential to put their foot down and accelerate further up the division and I would be surprised if they do not do so. Ivy Tavern FC started well this Season but have tailed off somewhat recording just 2 wins from their opening 13 games. Above Ivy Tavern, and in ascending order, are Eslaforde Rangers, Saxilby Athletic, and finally Newtoft United. Newtoft are in 5th position with 4 wins from 8 games, Newtoft being 11 points behind the leaders with 2 games in hand. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top of this division at the end of the Season with the title looking most likely to come from one of the current top 4 teams.
DIVISION TWO:
Returning team Bassingham Bugle Horn FC have settled nicely back in the League and they head this division with an unbeaten record. They have recorded 11 wins from 13 games with the other 2 games notching 2 draws. A very impressive haul of 35 points out of a possible 39 points is throwing the gauntlet down to their challengers, but they may yet see a challenge from the team currently sitting in sixth place, that team being East Drayton FC. East Drayton have played just 7 games returning with 6 wins and a draw. Their League games have been heavily disjointed due to their own Cup commitments and postponements, many of which have occurred from their own progression in their Nottinghamshire County Football Association exploits. When they are able to get caught up with their own League fixtures, expect them to be amongst the leaders at that stage. Brant Rangers sit second with a gulf of 12 points between them and the leaders with the same games played. AFC West End progress somewhat under the radar as they occupy third place with 22 points from their opening 10 games. Again, with games in hand, they can seriously close the gap on the leaders once games are caught up.
At the other end of the table Sleaford United are seriously embedded at the bottom having won just one and lost 15 of their opening 16 games of the Season. Witham United and Ruskington AFC are keeping Sleaford company at the wrong end of the table, with Witham United in tenth spot, and Ruskington AFC sitting in ninth spot with only a point separating those 2 teams with Ruskington having played 1 game less than Witham United.
DIVISION THREE:
This division has seen a healthier number of League matches played with all bar Waddington United having played more than half their games. The leaders are FC Lincs Reserves with 29 points from their first 13 games. Cherry Tree FC, a team doing well in 2 Cup Competitions, sit just 1 point behind the leaders having played 1 game fewer. HBW United Reserves are in third place, 2 points behind the leaders but have played 3 games more.
At the other end of the table FVA Jerusalem Reserves have recorded just 1 point from their 15 games with the ‘defeats’ column seeing 14 entries unfortunately for them. Brant Broughton FC are second bottom on the same games played, but Brant Broughton has 10 more points than the bottom team. Metheringham FC B are third bottom on 14 points, and they have only 5 League games remaining so they may be troubled with a bottom 2 finish unless they can gain some much needed momentum in their remaining 5 games.
DIVISION FOUR:
New boys North Kyme FC lead the way in this division having gained 34 points from their 14 games. They have a healthy 7 points advantage, and much better goal difference, over the second and third placed teams in the form of Greenbank FC (in second) and Cranwell Rovers FC (in third). A maximum haul from the 3 games in hand by either Greenbank or Cranwell Rovers, or both, would see the current leaders overhauled but with all the remaining games it is still anyone’s title to win. Also in the mix for consideration must be fourth placed Glebe United who have surprised many this Season with their exploits in the Fred Quibell Junior Cup Competition.
At the wrong end of the table the League is being propped up by BFC West End who are one of the few teams in all divisions who are yet to win a game. The West End boys have gained just 2 points from 2 draws from their 14 games played so far. Hykeham Tigers sit 11th in the table some 7 points more than the basement team with 9 points from 15 games. As things stand it would appear more likely than not that one of these 2 teams are likely to end the Season with the unwanted title of being the team that collected the wooden spoon.
The League campaign is due to conclude at the end of April, but with the difficulties experienced due to the unfavourable weather on so many occasions, it remains an unwanted possibility that a Season extension into May in order to get all of the games played may soon become unavoidable.
Enjoy the rest of the Season and best wishes are extended to all our teams in their remaining games.
League Secretary & Media Officer.
