On the weekend of the North London derby, we travelled deep into Tottenham territory to visit a North London club who sit in the shadows of their Premier League neighbours. Enfield Town FC might not have the same allure as Spurs who can offer Premier League football, a shiny stadium and self pouring pint machines but they are a very unique club in their own right. They were the country’s first ever fan owned football club after being founded in 2001 following a fall out between trust members and the ownership of Enfield FC at the time. The club now play at the Dave Bryant stadium, formerly known and still often referred to as the Queen Elizabeth II stadium located on Peachtree close in Enfield. The stadium name change was announced in 2024 after founding chairman Dave Bryant, the man who essentially saved the club which has now managed to make its way up into the National League South, sadly passed away.

As you enter through the turnstiles of the Dave Bryant stadium you can soon see and feel the interconnectedness between everybody at the club. As they are fan-owned, this means that everyone who joins the Enfield supporters society owns a £1.00 share in the club and is able to attend meetings about club matters, participate in elections, and after one year of membership can even stand to be elected onto the club board. Talk about democracy! Sustainability is another key aspect of the fan ownership model as all profits are reinvested back into the club. There have been many fan owned success stories since Enfield Town became the first, including AFC Wimbledon who are owned by the Dons trust and after their formation in 2002, managed to reach the football league after 9 years.

As kick off approached, I decided to stand in the terrace where the Peterborough Sports fans were situated behind the goal, being local to Peterborough Sports I have an affiliation with the club having visited PIMS park on several occasions and wanted to be in and amongst the away supporters for this one. As the referee’s warmed up pre-match, Sports fans joked with them by shouting ‘No injury time please, we’ve got a train to catch!’ to which the refs couldn’t help but smile at. A decent sized and vocal support in the away end looked like they would be alone in the terrace until a large horde of home supporters swarmed into the section next to us and even bought a drum with them.

The FA Cup is a special, historical tournament which some fans who don’t follow non-league football may not even realise started on 31st August when the 1st round of qualifying matches kicked off. The tournament presents not only a financial incentive, but also a huge opportunity for non-league football clubs to make a name for themselves. For clubs at step 2 level like Enfield Town and Peterborough Sports, getting into the 1st round proper (Or even as far as the 5th round as Maidstone United miraculously managed last season) would be a massive achievement in itself and would be as good as winning the competition would be for clubs up in the top echelons of the English game.

As the game kicked off, Peterborough Sports controlled much of the first half without creating too many clear cut chances. It was clear to tell that both teams had been struggling for form in their respective leagues recently as neither side looked particularly confident with the ball. Despite this, Sports were still on top which might have been expected considering Enfield were coming off the back of 5 straight losses and were also playing without a recognised striker.

The breakthrough came in the 33rd minute when Peterborough Sports were awarded a penalty after Michael Gyasi who looked lively in the first half, was brought down inside the box. The ever reliable Dan Lawlor stepped up and slotted the penalty home to make it 1-0, sparking jubilant scenes in the away end and some back and forth between the supporters, soon followed by chants of ‘We’re f*cking sh*t’ from the home end. It’s safe to say that Town fans weren’t expecting their side to get back into the game. After the goal Sports remained ontop and pushed for a second but Michael Gash’s header went over the bar just before half time.

At the start of the second half, the home fans who were stood in the same terrace as the Sports fans had all decided to move to the terrace behind the opposite goal where Lawlor had scored his penalty, the same end that Enfield would be attacking in the second half. They did see some chances for their side as goalkeeper Peter Crook made an outstanding save to deny Lennon Peake an equaliser. As Town continued to push for a goal, Sports had to defend several dangerous looking corners but managed to do so resolutely. As the game went into injury time and Town committed more players forward, Sports sprung a quick break with Dion Sembie-Ferris using his pace and dribbling ability to find his way into the box, he had Gyasi for support and as he laid the ball off for him across goal it looked destined for the back of the net. However, his shot was well saved by Rhys Forster who had a fine game. The game ended 1-0 and Sports players came over to the away end to celebrate and thank the supporters.

The stand out players of the match were Dan Lawlor who put in a performance full of grit and determination, not only scoring the winning goal but also making a key tackle in his own box in the second half to prevent the home side a goal scoring opportunity. Youngster Will Van Lier, recently released by Peterborough United also showed his quality with his passing and his ability to hold onto the ball and work in tight spaces.

Peterborough Sports made it into the hat for the 3rd qualifying round and have since been drawn against Royston Town away, a favourable tie against a step 3 opponent and a good chance for them to progress even further.

For Enfield Town the FA Cup dream is over, but it was an enjoyable visit to a special football club who will always be able to say ‘this is our club’, quite literally.