BADSHOT Lea have been fast-tracked into senior football and will play their first Cherry Red Records Hellenic League match next Saturday (Aug 16) when they make the journey to Wantage.
'Lea had been resigned to another year in the Surrey Intermediate League, where they finished third in Premier Division One last season, having been turned down by the Combined Counties League because cricket at the Green means a delay in home matches being played.
As secretary Mark Broad explained, the club switched their sights to the respected Hellenic League, only to have those plans scuppered by the FA who would not sanction a jump from level 5 to level 3 in the non-league football pyramid.
But Badshot Lea refused to give up and, after a two-month fight, their perseverance was rewarded when the decision was overturned at Soho Square on Monday.
'Lea will compete in Division One (East) where they will be doing battle with clubs of high repute such as Maidenhead, Finchampstead, Eton Wick, Drayton Wanderers, Hounslow Borough, RS Basingstoke and Bisley Sports.
Their travels will take them outside Surrey into Middlesex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
"We are set up for this move," said Broad. "We have a young squad, with two or three newcomers from last season, and a good structure at the club. And we have a good manager in Mo Gregory who has played at senior level."
The club fields three adult sides and has a thriving youth section, with no less that 27 teams.
The Hellenic fixture-list gives them a local derby at Bisley on Bank Holiday Monday (Aug 25) and they will visit Englefield Green at Christmas.
The Wantage match will certainly give 'Lea a taste of senior football. Relegated Wantage have floodlights and a stand.