Latest news with #SouthernLeaguePremier
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
AFC Totton match-winner Taylor 'over the moon' at play-off success
Ethan Taylor pictured after AFC Totton won their Southern League Premier play-off final (Image: Harvey Gerring / AFC Totton) AFC TOTTON match-winner Ethan Taylor insisted promotion to National League South is "thoroughly deserved" after their play-off success. The Stags beat Gloucester City 1-0 in the Southern League Premier division's final in front of a jubilant home crowd thanks to Taylor's late goal. The composed dink from prolific marksman Taylor means AFC Totton will compete in the sixth tier of English football for the first time in their history. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Fans invaded the pitch in celebration at full-time, hoisting the Stags stars above their shoulders as they together sang, 'We are going up.' "I grew up in Woolston so 10 minutes from here, I'm a local lad," said Taylor, speaking to the Daily Echo on the pitch at Snows Stadium. GOAL! ETHAN TAYLOR DINKS THE STAGS AHEAD! 1-0! — Alfie House (@AlfieHouseEcho) May 5, 2025 "It means a lot to me, last year I scored as well but we lost on penalties so to score again and for this time to be the winner means the most to me. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We're all over the moon, last year we thought we should have gone up and missed out but we've made up for it this year with a quality performance. "We could have won the won the league this year but full credit to Merthyr, they played really well and deserved to win it in the end. FULL TIME AFC TOTTON 1-0 GLOUCESTER! STAGS PROMOTED TO NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH! 🔵⚪️👏 — Alfie House (@AlfieHouseEcho) May 5, 2025 "All we could do was make sure we finished second and won these two games and we have done that, so I think we thoroughly deserved to go up. "I have never played at that level before, it's obviously a big challenge but I am looking forward to getting going. This club is only going to keep going up so there are opportunities for more moments like this."
Scottish Sun
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Premier League cult hero, 35, scores last gasp winner in wild seventh tier play-off clash with FOUR stoppage time goals
Striker linked up with his old Saints team-mate in the non-league BLAST FROM THE PAST Premier League cult hero, 35, scores last gasp winner in wild seventh tier play-off clash with FOUR stoppage time goals PREMIER LEAGUE cult hero Charlie Austin scored a last gasp winner to send his seventh tier side AFC Totton into a promotion play-off final. AFC Totton beat Dorchester Town 4-3 in the semi-final of the Southern League Premier play-offs - but only after some incredible theatrics. 2 Premier League cult hero Charlie Austin booked his non-league side a place in a seventh tier play-off final Credit: Ben Sayers / Sayers Sports Photography 2 Austin scored a last-second winner for AFC Totton One of the most insane non-league football matches of all time saw FOUR goals scored in stoppage time. Austin's side were trailing 2-0 in the final minute of normal time and were set to end their season there and then at home. But it was somehow 3-3 by the time the referee's full-time whistle was blown in the 12th minute of injury time. Former Luton Town striker Scott Rendell, 38, scored from the spot to make it 2-1 in the 90th minute. Before Tony Lee hit goals in the seventh and 10th minute of added time to lead 3-2. But Dorchester's Jack Dickson levelled the scores right after Totton went ahead to ensure extra-time. But with penalties looming, former Premier League star Austin stepped up to poke home from close range in the 119th minute. One fan wrote on X: "This was the best end to a game I've ever seen live!" CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Austin was still playing professional football last season for Swindon Town before joining the seventh tier Southampton side in July 2024. The 35-year-old is now at the 15th club of his career, having started in non-league before rising to the glittering heights of the Prem. Charlie Austin goes on furious rant about officials after Southampton's draw with Watford Austin made 111 top-flight appearances across spells at Queens Park Rangers and Southampton. After scoring 18 goals in his debut Prem campaign with QPR, Austin was called up to the England national team by Roy Hodgson in 2015. He teamed up with former Southampton striker at AFC Totton - James Beattie, who is the club's Director of Football. It is the second straight season that AFC Totton have reached the final, after they were beaten by Salisbury in May 2024. They will take on Gloucester City, who eliminated Walton & Hersham via penalties after a 2-2 draw in their semi final, on Wednesday.
The Sun
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Premier League cult hero, 35, scores last gasp winner in wild seventh tier play-off clash with FOUR stoppage time goals
PREMIER LEAGUE cult hero Charlie Austin scored a last gasp winner to send his seventh tier side AFC Totton into a promotion play-off final. AFC Totton beat Dorchester Town 4-3 in the semi-final of the Southern League Premier play-offs - but only after some incredible theatrics. 2 2 One of the most insane non-league football matches of all time saw FOUR goals scored in stoppage time. Austin's side were trailing 2-0 in the final minute of normal time and were set to end their season there and then at home. But it was somehow 3-3 by the time the referee's full-time whistle was blown in the 12th minute of injury time. Former Luton Town striker Scott Rendell, 38, scored from the spot to make it 2-1 in the 90th minute. Before Tony Lee hit goals in the seventh and 10th minute of added time to lead 3-2. But Dorchester's Jack Dickson levelled the scores right after Totton went ahead to ensure extra-time. But with penalties looming, former Premier League star Austin stepped up to poke home from close range in the 119th minute. One fan wrote on X: "This was the best end to a game I've ever seen live!" Austin was still playing professional football last season for Swindon Town before joining the seventh tier Southampton side in July 2024. The 35-year-old is now at the 15th club of his career, having started in non-league before rising to the glittering heights of the Prem. Austin made 111 top-flight appearances across spells at Queens Park Rangers and Southampton. After scoring 18 goals in his debut Prem campaign with QPR, Austin was called up to the England national team by Roy Hodgson in 2015. He teamed up with former Southampton striker at AFC Totton - James Beattie, who is the club's Director of Football. It is the second straight season that AFC Totton have reached the final, after they were beaten by Salisbury in May 2024. They will take on Gloucester City, who eliminated Walton & Hersham via penalties after a 2-2 draw in their semi final, on Wednesday.
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Oliver Twist' club Bedford Town celebrate promotion
It almost feels like a case of anything you can do, we can do Town clinched the Southern League Premier Central title with a 2-0 win over Stourbridge in front of a crowd of 2,186, just days after Real Bedford became Division One Central is the second season in a row that both Bedford clubs have won promotion, having recently abandoned plans to merge for next will now play in National League North or South in 2025-26, the second tier of English non-league football."It wasn't until about 10 minutes before the end of the game that we thought we were going to get the job done," manager Lee Bircham told BBC Three Counties Radio."I think the owners have struck it lucky with what they've spent, to get a championship-winning team - I hope they don't expect more of the same because that's a one-off."There's be a big queue of us lining up outside their door now, it'll be like a scene from Oliver Twist."The Eagles went into the game against Stourbridge with a three-point lead over rivals Kettering Town, but with an inferior goal Blake put them ahead in the first half and Jack Davies added the second after 74 minutes to delight their fans at their The Eyrie ground in Cardington. The achievement was all the more remarkable because Bircham expressed the view in January that a merger was the "right solution" for the club because they could not compete financially at Southern League Premier level."It's a totally unexpected promotion. It was never planned. There's some monster football clubs in that league and genuinely we wanted fifth from bottom, that's what we were aiming for, that was the target," said Bircham. "We lost out on a lot of players (last summer) because we weren't ambitious enough but we got a few wins, changed a few players around and the momentum carried on."Bircham, who has a contract to the end of the 2026-27 season, now doubts how "genuine" the merger proposal was - but believes it worked to the advantage of his part-time team."It didn't disrupt us, if anything it pulled us together, so we thank them for that, it was a masterstroke really," he players are now set for a post-season celebration in Marbella before reviewing the situation as to what will be needed to be competitive next term."We haven't had discussions with players about being National League, we haven't got a clue what we're going to do," Bircham added."We're going to make it up as we go - but we have this year as well. "I'm going to try and enjoy actually getting promoted before I worry about next season. The club has worked so hard to get there and want to stay there, of course they do. They want to give it a go."The National League will confirm later in the summer which division Town - who were originally founded in 1908 - will play that happens, the Eagles will consider themselves at Bircham was speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio's Andy Collins
