For older followers of the Berkshire grassroots game, one of the big rivalries was between Bracknell Town and Wokingham Town.
Although the sides didn’t meet regularly – occupying as they did, different ends of the Isthmian League – it was the players and managers passing back and forth between the two that was most obvious with current Crystal Palace CEO Phil Alexander being one of those to represent both clubs.
In the 80s, the closest the clubs got to league parity was 1986/87 when the Sumas finished 16th in the Isthmian Premier Division while Bracknell narrowly missed out on promotion from Division One by one point – Leytonstone Ilford and Leyton Wingate pipping them to the promotion slots.
Games started to become more frequent between the two from 1998 onward when they would have clashed in Division Two and subsequently through the 00s and early 2010s as both clubs found themselves at step 5 of the English Football Pyramid, Wokingham becoming Wokingham & Emmbrook in the process.
The clubs will now meet again in a pre-season friendly on Monday 2nd August at Wokingham’s Lowther Road ground after answering a call from the Sumas for opposition.
Listen to Football in Berkshire’s podcast chat with Phil Alexander below:
