Next up – Biggleswade Town
Saturday, 8th August at Langford Road, Biggleswade, Beds. SG18 9JT
Pitching in Southern League, Divison One (Central); kick off 3pm.
This is the 21st meeting between the two clubs including one pre-season friendly. More significantly it will be Ware’s 5,500th game in all since our founding in 1892.
Admission
Adults £12, concessions £10.
Our opponents
Tracing their origin back to 1874 the Waders have done the reverse of Ware and changed from being named plain Biggleswade to adding “Town” a few years into the post war period. By then they were in the Spartan League but moved on to the Eastern Counties, United Counties and South Midlands leagues before promotion to Step 4 in the Southern League of 2009/10. Ten of their seasons since then have been spent in the premier division but relegation two seasons ago has brought them back to Step 4. They have made one appearance in the competition proper of the FACup, losing to Stourbridge in 2013/4’s first round.
Form guide
The Waders finished fourth in last season’s table but went out in the play-off semi-final at Biggleswade FC. They have taken steps to strengthen their side in the close season, the most significant addition being Taylor Rhiney. He has been a thorn in our side for Barton Rovers and his form for them attracted the attention of Hitchin Town last season. Now he is at Biggleswade Town, a sign that new manager Brett Donnelly is building a team to challenge for promotion.
Ware’s squad looks much like last season’s with the addition of two from the youth team plus Myles John who joins from Woodford Town and Anthony Wordsworth most notably of Colchester United and Ipswich Town fame. Can this squad move on from last season’s seventh place?
Previous Meetings
Our first meetings with Biggleswade (no “Town” at that time) were in the 1946/7 Spartan League season. We won one and lost six of eight meetings all in the second half of each season before they left the league. The next time our paths crossed it was thanks to the East Anglian Cup with us winning three of four ties. After a pre-season meeting an FA Cup away win was next before four league games. The last of those came on the final day of their championship winning season in 2024. Theo Ofori gave us the lead which raised hopes across the county at title contenders Bedford Town but second half goals saw us go down 4-1. With the Waders back in our division last season honours were even with home wins for both. The away game was memorable for the horrendous second half downpour. Oh for some rain now.
Commentary
If you can’t get to the match Pete Hill and Symon Allemandy will be there to provide an on-line commentary. Broadcast will start at 2.55pm on https://90minuteslivefootball.mixlr.com/events/5180582
Match officials
This match will be refereed by Harry Demo who ran the line in two of our matches last season, those at home to Stotfold and away to Welwyn Garden City. We wish him well on what appears to be his first game in the centre at Step 4. The Assistants are Terence Dawkins and Daniel Statham.
