Pitching In Isthmian League side Marlow have landed a pre-season away day that will rival any locally in terms of distance, and arguably profile.
The Buckinghamshire side – who are in the same division as Binfield, Bracknell Town and Thatcham Town next season – will head to Scotland to face a Livingston XI – on Saturday 24th July.
The news was announced that the club would make the nearly 400-mile journey north in a tweet by the club on Monday night: “Marlow are heading to Scotland! We are pleased to announce we are heading north to Scotland to play a Livingston XI on Saturday 24th July! It’s official, our Pre Season fixture list is now complete.”
Livingston, who last season finished fourth in the Scottish Premier Division, play at the brilliantly named (for sponsorship reasons) Tony Macaroni Arena – known locally as the Spaghettihad.
What’s the link though? Why are Marlow from Buckinghamshire travelling all the way to Scotland for a pre-season game? Well, it undoubtedly comes down to long-serving manager Mark Bartley and his brother Marvin who since 2019 has played for the Lions.
The 34-year-old midfielder has played for the likes of Burnham, Hayes and Hampton & Richmond Borough before embarking on an EFL career that has taken in spells with Burnley, AFC Bournemouth and Leyton Orient, the latter he left in 2015 to join Hibernian where he stayed for four seasons before the move to Livi.
As well as being on the playing staff, Bartley is the assistant manager to David Martindale.
Slightly closer to home, Marlow have a number of pre-season friendlies in Berkshire including at Reading City on Saturday 10th July. A full list of all the fixtures is here.
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