Champions! Quorn FC - Proper Football Awayday

Another Saturday and another Proper Football Awayday, whilst Dan was heading to Redhill for their clash against Jersey Bulls I was making my way to Leicestershire to visit Quorn FC for a clash against Rugby Town, with Quorn already crowned champions of the Northern Premier Midland division, today is the day that they get presented with the trophy, so I couldn’t have picked a better day for a trip to Quorn FC!

For those that don’t know Quorn is a village just south of Loughborough situated just off the A6, arriving at the stadium it is always a first good impression to see plenty of parking, as you enter the ground through the turnstiles situated in the left-hand corner of the ground adjacent to the car park I was pleasantly surprised to see a full length covered terrace behind one goal and a large grass area at the opposite end giving plenty of room for expansion, there was a seated stand running the length on one side which houses 396 seats along with the clubhouse and changing rooms on the opposite side of the 4G pitch with a capacity of 1400, only minor improvements are required for step 3, however, step 2 requires a capacity of 3000 so if successful, Quorn have the space to achieve this, all in all, a very tidy little stadium.

Before the game, I caught up with Andy, who runs the under-18s and volunteers on match days; people like Andy are the lifeblood of this and every non-league club.

The Kit man is always the forgotten hero at football clubs, in this case, Jim Simpson, and in amongst him preparing every detail for the Quorn team, he spared me a few minutes for a chat.

As the players entered the field for Kick Off, the Rugby Town players formed a Guard of Honour for the new champions of the Northern Premier Midland division.

With the game afoot, Quorn started very positively, and you could clearly see why they have dominated this league, they were very fluent and played some silky football and after 13 minutes they took a 1-0 lead, the first half continued with Quorn looking the stronger and probably should have been further ahead at the break.

Coming out for the second half, Rugby Town had clearly held a constructive team talk during the break, and the team fighting for their survival in the league were fired up and battle they did, and in the 79th minute, they got their just desserts with an equalising goal, and thoroughly deserved it! Rugby continued to put the pressure on and was unlucky not to get a penalty when the Quorn goalkeeper got confused with playing rugby. 😀

With the game finishing 1-1, it was a great day for Quorn and a fantastic result for Rugby Town.

Players celebrating along with 88-year-old club chairman Stuart Turner.

I have to mention the Rugby Town fans who brought a good number with them; from the minute they got off their coach and out of their cars, till the minute they left after the game; they didn’t stop singing and getting behind their team; credit to them! When your club is in a relegation battle, the fans can be the 12th man; well done! And good luck for the rest of the season.

Well, all in all, a great day for Quorn football club and in fairness a great result for Rugby Town, it was great seeing all the kids and the families celebrating and seeing how much it means to everyone involved with the club winning the league, we can only wish them all the best for next season in whichever league they end up in.

A massive thank you to Adam Etheredge for the invite and hospitality.

And finally, there is no better way to finish off this article; here's the team lifting the league title trophy!