Village-side Sporting Club Inkberrow qualify for step five playoffs with local core


Village-side Sporting Club Inkberrow qualify for step five playoffs with local core

Achieving promotion would be quite the feat for the village club, who could see themselves playing at the same level where local sides Worcester City, Malvern Town and Evesham United currently reside.

It was the team's first season in the Hellenic Premier League - the level in which Worcester Raiders and Pershore Town currently compete - having attained promotion from step five in the 2023/24 season.

The side have achieved such great success in a unique and unorthodox fashion - beginning life as an under-fives team and building the core of their current side around players actually from the village.

"I started with the kids when they were under-fives," said Neil Guy - part of the management team with the side. "I have followed that team right through to where we are now. Some of them walked in when they first started playing football and they are still in the team now.

"We pride ourselves in being a community club, we want people from the village. Half of the team either lived or live in the village so it is quite incredible really what we have achieved with that core."

Guy, along with Carl Stenton and Tom Harris founded Sporting Club Inkberrow as a senior side in 2018. Since then Tom Nicholls has come in as a goalkeeper coach and Umit Eminoglu joined as the team's head coach last season.

Guy is optimistic of his side's chances in the playoffs. At this point the likely opposition look to be Mangotsfield United, Roman Glass St George and Highworth Town.

"We are optimistic but not overconfident," he said. "We have played Mangotsfield twice - beat them away and beat them at home.

"Roman Glass, we played away and drew with them and Highworth, we have beaten them twice.

"The is no reason why we should be fearful. The only thing I would say is that some teams have changed quite a lot.

"The three teams around us, we haven't lost to them. But every game is different isn't it? The pressure of the playoffs, you don't know how people will react at that time."

Tomorrow (Saturday, March 15), the side will get a chance to size up one playoff-bound side, as they host Roman Glass.

READ MORE: Clinical Inkberrow hand Worcester Raiders first loss of 2025

READ MORE: Playoff race heating up as Worcester City host Coventry Sphinx

Should the side be successful in stepping up to step four competition, they hope to become sustainable at the level - while sticking to the core principles that have got them this far.

"It is a step up financially," admitted Guy. "I know what some teams pay in that league, their budgets are probably five times ours. But we would stick to our core principles of local lads and see how we get on - we really want to keep that at the core of what we do.

"We try to make sure we get good players into the under-18s Floodlit League, but we are also focussing on the younger age groups.

"We have focussed this year on the five-12-year-old age bracket. We set up a performance coaching program.

"From that, we are going to put teams into the Midlands Junior Premier League this year at various age groups. The idea of that is we make the club sustainable and get a flow of players coming through the club and into our first team.

"We are trying to do it differently and make it sustainable, just a little twist, but keeping our principles."

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