Saturday 26th July 2025 ko 14:45

United Counties League Division One

FCV GRACE DIEU 3 (Olajide-Oriowu 67 Halliday 75 Farouk 88)

Hallaci penalty saved 48

SHIREBROOK TOWN 0

Att 286

Entry £5

Programme £2

So there I was sat on the GroundhopUK coach with little idea where we were! I knew we were going to be watching Grace Dieu but it was only when we reached Thringstone that the penny droppped.

Thringstone is the village in Leicestershire where Ingles FC play in the Midland League, but Grace Dieu actually play at Grace Dieu Manor a mile or two outside. It is a place of real history despite the rumour linking it with occultist Aleister Crowley being bunkum. In fact the history is the exact opposite the Manor is named after the Grace Dieu Priory next door!

The Manor was the seat of the Beaumont baronets then the March Phillipps de Lisle family but when their cheese making business folded in 1972, they firstly rented then sold the Manor for it to become the Grace Dieu Manor School, but that in turn closed in 2020 and the Grade II listed site has been FCV Grace Dieu’s home since 2023.

The clue has who who the club are lies in the FCV prefix. It stands for Football Curriculum Vitae, in short an educational charity aiming to improve lives via football and education. What makes them different, if not unique is that they are both international and can offer residential learning. In terms of adult male football they finished as runners-up in the Notts Senior League in their first season, won it last season, and with it were promoted to the UCL for this.

So we were there to see the club’s first game at Step 6 and with my groundhopper hat on that meant that while clubs based around education seldom attract big followings it did mean that the game would attract hoppers. That Step 6 level is a major cut-off point for so many.

It did create a few issues, the main one being that the players tunnel is in the same place as the turnstiles, so those who’d opted to eat back at the Manor House and tried to gain egress to the ground near to kick off time got caught up in a human log-jam! Elsewhere it was clear that while the ground does tick the boxes for the UCL, nevertheless it is still a work in progress.

But that should be expected, noone should expect the ground to be the finished article on their first game! Where Grace Dieu did look good was on the pitch. Although it took them time to get going, once the first goal went in there was little doubt as to the result.