Bedford FC

[Rhodes]

Real Bedford Ladies have parted company with Manager Steve Worrell who had only been in charge since October last year having arrived from Luton Town Ladies where he had been Head Coach:

https://www.realbedford.com/news/statement-on-ladies-first-team-manager-steve-worrell

[Cruz]

Any ideas if Real Bedford will be competing. In the FA Cup this coming season?

[agamemnon3]

Lists of all Clubs accepted by the FA into their four major competitions, (FA Cup, FA Trophy, FA Vase & FA Youth Cup), are due to be released on Friday, June 30th, with draws for the first two rounds of each competition due to be released on the following Friday, July 7th.  

[RallyInRaleigh]

Can't wait. I think last year they dropped the ball on the administration side of the club when it came to cups. Obviously they were kicked out mid cup of one and I think likely could have been in another if they had been on it. Hopefully, that's resolved now and I trust that it will be. Great to have those dates on lock too!

[Rhodes]

Some interesting articles to read about the Club during the boring month of June, the first from Bitcoin Magazine, the second from a US publication called Coinmonks and the third from the BBC website with an interesting, and unrecognisable, photograph of boss Rob Sinclair in action playing for Forest Green Rovers:

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/the-perfect-match:-visiting-real-bedford-f.c.-is-a-bitcoin-soccer-fans-dream

https://medium.com/coinmonks/playing-the-bitcoin-game-real-bedford-v-shefford-campton-6957cb2892fe

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64963416

[Rhodes]

I see that Real Bedford Ladies haven't wasted any time in appointing a new Manager, the best of luck to Dean Perrett:

Dean Perrett Appointed As Real Bedford Ladies FC First Team Manager

Real Bedford Ladies FC is delighted to announce the appointment of Dean Perrett as its new First Team Manager for the 2023/24, with immediate effect.

Perrett, a former professional footballer with Yeovil Town, brings a wealth of management experience from the ladies' game, including a spell at Harlow Town, where he guided them to the FA Women's National League for the first time in their history.

Jill Upton, Chair of Real Bedford Ladies FC commented on the appointment of Dean: "I am pleased by the appointment of Dean Perrett as our First Team Manager. Real Bedford Ladies FC has a rich history of supporting women's and girls football in Bedford. Dean's managerial experience and proven track record make him an asset not just to the team, but to the entire Real Bedford footballing family. We believe his leadership will act as a magnet for new talent and a catalyst for the development of our younger players. This is an exciting time for everyone associated with Real Bedford Ladies FC."

Speaking about the appointment, Real Bedford Chairman Peter McCormack said: "After a mixed season for the ladies, I am delighted that Dean has accepted the role of First Team Manager, Dean understands our ambition for the Club and his experience, standards of excellence and focus on developing players will serve Real Bedford Ladies well as we move forward".

The Club has committed to providing Dean with all the resources he requires to build a competitive squad, develop players and compete for trophies.

The upcoming season will see the Club continue its programme of bringing the ladies and men's teams closer together, the teams will continue to share the same pitch at McMullen Park and work together on shared training resources, infrastructure and football philosophy.

Real Bedford is also committed to paying all staff and player expenses for the ladies' team to ensure there is no cost to them for representing Real Bedford.

On his appointment, Dean Perrett said: "After meeting Peter I like the ambition of the Real Bedford project, the vision for the Club, combined with its history and dedication to supporting women's and girls football, is what attracted me to this role, I can't wait to get started”.

Real Bedford Ladies FC is always looking for fresh talent, if you want to play for the team please get in touch with Dean Perrett at dean@realbedford.com

The club will also be holding trials for new players at Mark Rutherford School 3G on Thursday 15th June, from 8.00pm to 9:30pm and Thursday 22nd June, from 8.00pm to 9:30pm.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Rhodes

[Rhodes]

Here we go folks, enjoy:

[RallyInRaleigh]

On 12/06/2023 at 12:37, Rhodes said:

Some interesting articles to read about the Club during the boring month of June, the first from Bitcoin Magazine, the second from a US publication called Coinmonks and the third from the BBC website with an interesting, and unrecognisable, photograph of boss Rob Sinclair in action playing for Forest Green Rovers:

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/the-perfect-match:-visiting-real-bedford-f.c.-is-a-bitcoin-soccer-fans-dream

https://medium.com/coinmonks/playing-the-bitcoin-game-real-bedford-v-shefford-campton-6957cb2892fe

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64963416

Thank you for gathering these up! Good stuff. I hope to make a match myself this year. 

[RallyInRaleigh]

Pete with some interesting commentary entering the new season on the latest Price of Football podcast. 

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/interview-peter-mccormack-real-bedford-owner/id1482886394?i=1000618035448

[Rhodes]

Real Bedford Ladies have five interesting looking pre-season friendlies ahead of the new 2023/24 campaign:

https://www.realbedford.com/ladies-fixtures

Sunday 9 July - Actonians Ladies - Away (Rectory Park) - kick off 2.00pm

Sunday 16 July - Wycombe Wanderers Ladies - Home - kick off 2.00pm

Thursday 27 July - Cambridge United Ladies - Away (St Neots Town FC) - kick off 7.30pm

Sunday 30 July - AFC Sudbury Ladies - Away - kick off 2.00pm

Sunday 6 August - Milton Keynes Dons Development Ladies - Home - kick off 2.00pm

[Rhodes]

On 23/06/2023 at 15:19, RallyInRaleigh said:

Pete with some interesting commentary entering the new season on the latest Price of Football podcast. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/interview-peter-mccormack-real-bedford-owner/id1482886394?i=1000618035448

RaleighInRaleigh - Thanks for posting that, another really interesting interview with Mr McCormack, he is described as 'evangelical' which says it all about him really.

[RallyInRaleigh]

On 24/06/2023 at 09:29, Rhodes said:

RaleighInRaleigh - Thanks for posting that, another really interesting interview with Mr McCormack, he is described as 'evangelical' which says it all about him really.

Fascinating to hear his expectations in difficulty with step 3 being significantly more difficult than steps 4-6. Makes sense that it would get progressively more difficult but he seems confident he can continue to build winning rosters for now. I can't wait to see who laces up their boots for the first friendly in a couple of weeks. 

On 24/06/2023 at 09:22, Rhodes said:

Real Bedford Ladies have five interesting looking pre-season friendlies ahead of the new 2023/24 campaign:

https://www.realbedford.com/ladies-fixtures

Sunday 9 July - Actonians Ladies - Away (Rectory Park) - kick off 2.00pm

Sunday 16 July - Wycombe Wanderers Ladies - Home - kick off 2.00pm

Thursday 27 July - Cambridge United Ladies - Away (St Neots Town FC) - kick off 7.30pm

Sunday 30 July - AFC Sudbury Ladies - Away - kick off 2.00pm

Sunday 6 August - Milton Keynes Dons Development Ladies - Home - kick off 2.00pm

Can you take me to school on the ladies pyramid in England? I intend to follow the scores and the table and assume winning the league means promotion too. However, I have no idea how far down the pyramid they are and how competitive the leagues are. Would love to see Bedford build a winning side there too. Games won't be streamed but I wouldn't be surprised if they threw in one if promotion or a cup run was on the line. 

[Rhodes]

This is very interesting, one of Peter McCormack's 'What Bitcoin Did' interviews and, 'from the horses mouth', Mr McCormack states, amongst other things, that Real Bedford have applied to enter the FA Cup this coming season and is expecting to be accepted by the FA, it will be dissappointing if they're not:

[LondonEagle]

1 hour ago, Rhodes said:

This is very interesting, one of Peter McCormack's 'What Bitcoin Did' interviews and, 'from the horses mouth', Mr McCormack states, amongst other things, that Real Bedford have applied to enter the FA Cup this coming season and is expecting to be accepted by the FA, it will be dissappointing if they're not:

Still banging on about fans defecting from Bedford Town. Embarrassing.     

[RallyInRaleigh]

Match attendance for Real Bedford was up 256% last year. Maybe it's 100% people that simply never watched football locally before but I imagine there are some non diehards that went to Town before but dipped in for a game or two. Either way, they are doing what they need to do to build up attendance and they'll draw interest as they continue to win and further integrate into the local community. I think the ladies team and youth teams will really help with local adoption. 

[RallyInRaleigh]

First new signing announced for the club. Peter mentioned there were 8 new signings on a recent podcast. Will be interesting to see how many of last years stars return. 

https://www.realbedford.com/news/lee-watkins-becomes-real-bedfords-first-signing-of-the-season

Edited June 28, 2023 by RallyInRaleigh

[LondonEagle]

37 minutes ago, RallyInRaleigh said:

Match attendance for Real Bedford was up 256% last year. Maybe it's 100% people that simply never watched football locally before but I imagine there are some non diehards that went to Town before but dipped in for a game or two. Either way, they are doing what they need to do to build up attendance and they'll draw interest as they continue to win and further integrate into the local community. I think the ladies team and youth teams will really help with local adoption. 

Fair enough but using the word defecting implies sropping supporting one team and starter supporting another. Like switching from Arsenal to Spurs, City to United..  or Liverpool to Tottenham!

My Dad has supported Bedford Town for 75 years. He's not suddenly going to change allegiance and defect to Real Bedford, however well they do.  

[Rhodes]

22 hours ago, LondonEagle said:

Still banging on about fans defecting from Bedford Town. Embarrassing.     

LondonEagle - Again that is sounding like sour grapes, surely you are regretting, just a little, not grabbing Peter McCormack's arm out of its socket when he came calling at the Eyrie in December 2021. Fair play the Club did very well to get promotion that 2021/22 campaign however they would have still been a Step 3 Club now, possibly even Step 2, had Rob Sinclair come in to replace Gary Setchell very early on last season rather than waiting until late November to dispense with Setchell's services.

[LondonEagle]

21 minutes ago, Rhodes said:

LondonEagle - Again that is sounding like sour grapes, surely you are regretting, just a little, not grabbing Peter McCormack's arm out of its socket when he came calling at the Eyrie in December 2021. Fair play the Club did very well to get promotion that 2021/22 campaign however they would have still been a Step 3 Club now, possibly even Step 2, had Rob Sinclair come in to replace Gary Setchell very early on last season rather than waiting until late November to dispense with Setchell's services.

 

Peter will probably come back and try and buy Bedford Town at some point when he can't find anywhere in Bedford to build a new ground to match his ambitions for Real Bedford.  December 2021 Jon Taylor the Bedford Town owner wanted to get promotion in memory of his late Father, who was the owner until he sadly passed away in 2019. It would have been unfinished business for him then and too much to entrust the club to someone else.  

Town have got facilities way in excess of anything Real Bedford are likely to have until they can build a new ground, somewhere in one of the most built-up towns in the UK. At some point I would guess Peter will come back to try and buy them or at least suggest a merger of some sort,     

Edited June 29, 2023 by LondonEagle

[Cruz]

Many years ago a merger between Bedford Town and Bedford United was proposed and never materialised. I for one hope that this proposal would bite the dust a second time.