Match Information
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Rugby Borough 5-0 Arlesey Town
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When: Wednesday 22nd March 2023
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Kick-off: 7.45pm
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Where: Kilsby Lane, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 4PN
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Competition: Spartan South Midlands Football League Gladwish Challenge Trophy Quarter-Final
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Attendance: 99
The eastern Warwickshire market town of Rugby has a population of 78,000 and is world famous as the birthplace of Rugby Union.
Legend has it trailblazer William Webb Ellis suddenly picked up the ball before unprecedentedly running with it during football practice at Rugby School back in 1823.
Personally, I had previously travelled to Rugby twice in the past to attend football matches. The first occasion was on Saturday 26th March 1983 when VS Rugby FC defeated Great Yarmouth Town 2-1 in the FA Vase Semi-Final First Leg at Butlin Road (attendance 1,777).
I subsequently returned 18 years later on Wednesday 21st February 2001 to watch a Midland Combination Division Two fixture where Rugby Town FC drew 0-0 versus Lichfield Enots.
The attendance that evening was 89 and I recall how it mainly consisted of groundhoppers who were attracted by the fact this game was being staged at an unusual venue – the Webb Ellis Road rugby ground.
Bringing matters up to date, Rugby Borough FC won the Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division last season and thereby gained promotion to the Spartan South Midlands Football League Division One at Step 6 of the national Non-League Pyramid.
So I wanted to pay the latest Rugby-based club a visit and I accordingly set off for my 140 mile midweek round trip via the M1 motorway.
Ground Description
On passing through the entry gates of the expansive 35 acre Kilsby Lane location, there is still a quarter mile journey to reach the large car park and main facilities. It seemed like a real hive of activity as numerous youth football training sessions were taking place.
The club cater for boys and girls ranging from four years old upwards plus the adults and veterans to encompass some 60 teams.
I spotted numerous grass pitches of various sizes and two 3G artificial pitches. The nearest of these has been developed to reach Step 6 ground grading standards.
Two grandstands were installed – one alongside the pitch and the other behind one goal - providing covered seating benefitting 100 spectators in total.
Additionally, I was amazed to see a state of the art electronic scoreboard which is very unusual at this level of Non-League football.
Another impressive feature on site is the Rugby Borough Academy hosting their BTEC football education syllabus on behalf of students aged between 16 and 19 years old.
Programme Details
A thoroughly unique aspect concerned the match programmes. They seemed to be made available on demand which I have never experienced before.
When I asked helpful Rugby Borough official Brian Dainty at the turnstiles about purchasing a copy, he said: “I’ll just go and print one out for you.”
He swiftly proceeded to the clubhouse and emerged a few minutes later brandishing my individually tailored programme.
An excellent bespoke service and definitely worth the £1 fee incorporating 20 pages of interesting reading material.
Brian then spent the game dashing around taking photographs for the club’s nicely presented social media channels
The Match
Rugby Borough are doing really well in the SSML Division One promotion stakes so this was a good league cup test against Arlesey Town from the division above.
I can remember Arlesey winning the 1994/95 FA Vase Final when they beat Oxford City 2-1 on Wembley Stadium’s hallowed turf.
Unfortunately, a huge deluge of rain arrived half an hour prior to kick-off at Rugby and I am sure my match would have been postponed but for the perfectly draining 3G surface. Thankfully I was therefore spared a wasted journey.
Continuing my countdown to 2,500 football ground visits
— Tony Incenzo - my 50th football season (@TonyIncenzo) March 22, 2023
Result of my @SpartanSMFL Cup match tonight@Rugbyboroughfc 5@ArleseyTownFC 0
Attendance 99, programme £1. Football grounds visited - 2,499@NonLeaguePaper @NonLeagueCrowd @fcbusiness @RbfcM @SSMLFixtures pic.twitter.com/aSoqAZMqmz
It turned out the home side were too strong overall and racked up five goals by Jefferson Woodward (19 minutes), Sean Castleton (30 mins), Alex Webb two (35, 41 mins) and Adam Creaney (81 mins) to deservedly reach the Semi-Finals.
All in all, an eye-catching team performance. With ambitious manager Dan Carter in charge, I will be closely following Rugby Borough’s future progress because I am sure the club are going to climb even higher up the Non-League ranks.
*Credit for photos in this article belongs to @TonyIncenzo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 9th April 2023
