Will it be Britwell or will it be Singh Sabha who follow in the footsteps of Old Windsor and lift the East Berks Football League title on Saturday?
Whichever of the two teams comes out on top in the ‘winner takes all’ clash at the Chicken Ranch, it’ll be a historic moment with both clubs in a position to win the top tier of the EBFL for the first time.
The match is the only, and final fixture in the Premier Division on Saturday and kicks off at 2 pm at Britwell. The curtailed season has seen six teams play out the 2020/21 season with Singh Sabha’s win against Old Windsor last weekend ensuring the defending champions were out of the running.
As it stands, Singh Sabha top the table from Britwell on 21 points, Britwell have 20, meaning a draw is enough for Singh Sabha to take the title while the hosts need to win.
Adding further spice to the mix, Singh Sabha won the previous meeting between the two sides – the first game back after the most recent lockdown – 2-1.
Football in Berkshire has spoken to the managers of both sides, and will be reporting live from the fixture on Saturday – make sure you are following @fiberkshire on Twitter for updates!
John Brennan (Britwell)
How we got here.. Firstly, lots of thanks and plaudits to the lads for putting us in this position. I was worried about player retention with all the stop-start we’ve had, it’s a struggle on a Saturday at the best of times but they’ve kept at it and really stuck at it.
It’s got harder and harder to put a consistent team out in recent years, and especially with Covid I thought we’d lose a few but we’ve kept it together with the group chats and meeting up when we’ve been allowed to.
Previous meeting.. They won the last time we played each other, we’ve got enough players though that sometimes as player/manager I can take a step back and look at the game and it was a really good standard grassroots game of football. I felt we were the better team but as it went on we made a few mistakes. This time round it should be different.
On the Stade de Ranch.. Playing at home for us can be a bit of a poison chalice. You’d get 20 people turning up to watch a casual table tennis match in Britwell so when word gets round there’s a football match on you can end up with 200 round the pitch.
That can affect the game, affect officials and it can work against us at times, but it all serves to get our guys going.
Lookout for.. Ben White is on fire for us, eight goals I think recently. Our captain, Scrapper – Stuart Johnson because he’s always picking up the scraps and our game changer Dan Malloy.
Read more: Getting to know Britwell FC
Zuf Ashgar (Singh Sabha Slough)
How we got here.. We’re in form and we’re scoring goals. 23 in our last four games. We’re full of belief and it’ll only be our own fault if we don’t go on and win the game.
Previous meeting.. We won the earlier game 2-1. It was a good game, it was feisty but our fitness told in that one. They’ll absolutely be hungry this time to beat us and fitter.
On playing at Britwell.. The locals come out to watch, I’ve always enjoyed. It can be hostile, they love their football and it’s a very different atmosphere. It’s not like a ground with stands, you’ve got people all round the pitch and they’ll be vocal! We’ve got enough experience to deal with it but it’ll be a new experience for some of the lads.
Lookout for.. Hasan Mahmoud and Conrad Joseph who are our main scorers. We’ve also got Harry Laflin in – he was playing for our Sunday team and with Ascot finished for the season we asked him to step up.
Read more: Getting to know Singh Sabha Slough FC
Match details
Venue: Stade De Ranch, Long Furlongs Drive, Britwell SL2 2PH
Kick-off: 2 pm
Facilities: Toilets, Fenced off pitch, Car park, Bar, Disabled access
