Saturday 20th September 2025 ko 14:00

Witney & District League Premier Division

RAF BRIZE NORTON 1 (Castle 41)

Henderson sent off 90 (violent conduct)

Fletcher sent off 90 (violent conduct)

CHARLBURY TOWN 2 (McCallum 32 Eley 87)

Hornblow sent off 90 (violent conduct)

Att 15 at Belfast Square, RAF Brize Norton

Free Entry

I must admit, I do like a military game, and particular one actually behind the security barrier at a base. That fact indirectly led to two games behind security on GroundhopUK events, at RAF Benson and DA Watchfield. I’ve also seen games at MOD Lyneham and at RAF Brize Norton under my own steam so you may wonder why I wanted to head back to the base at Brize?

The answer was nuanced, firstly my wife Robyn had never seen a game at a base, and I do like to support the Witney League- I think anyone who knows me knows how they supported me during the years of the Witney Hops.

The procedure for entry to military bases does vary but tends to involve being on a prebooked list, and bringing photo ID. That is checked at the guardroom, then a pass is issued for each person and another for each vehicle.

You must carry your pass at all times, and surrender it when leaving the base. For this game I contacted the league, who passed Robyn and I’s details on to the football club who in turn organised the passes with the base. You do not attend a match like this on a whim! I was also very aware that members of a proscribed group had broken into the base in the weeks before and caused damage to two aircraft. Security was not to be taken lightly.

On arrival the passes were issued efficiently, and I was immediately struck how large the base is- the largest in the UK. 5,800 people live and work here, the size of a small town, while I was surprised that Belfast Square is a clear half-mile from the pitch I’d visited all those years before, I really shouldn’t have been! After all how many times have you visited more than one ground in a town? Now all I have to do is convince the folks at Futbology- they’ve got only Belfast Square.

If you’re the type of groundhopper that thinks anything below Step 6 is “Just Fields” then you’ll be very pleasantly surprised here. There’s a stand, and a well-appointed clubhouse, and the free DIY teas at half-time were very much appreciated. In fact most of the time the feel was very much of a small ground in an estate- well until an large aircraft took off from the runway a couple of hundred yards to the south- that was deafening!

It was, once you forgot how you got there, a completely normal afternoon at the football, watching a game between two friendly clubs. That is though, until the final minute when a poor challenge caused a bench-clearing brawl with 3 red cards issued and I’m sure the referee would have welcomed a Veo camera for help, it certainly took a little sorting out before calm was quickly restored.

It was a shame that we weren’t able to accept an invite to join the clubs for a post-match drink, Robyn and I were promised elsewhere. Not withstanding that though we’d like to thank all at the league and RAF Brize Norton FC for their help in both allowing and getting us to this game. All the very best.