PDFL 24/25 season in Review

By Jamie Scaife

South Lincs Steelers Walking Football Club have completed their 2024/25 PDFL season, and what a season it turned out to be. No trophies to show, this time but the best season so far for the club’s 3 teams in their respective divisions.

Whites went close to a 2nd place finish in the mainly over 60’s Division 3, but a last gasp equaliser conceded in their final game meant they had to settle for 3rd, which is still a fine achievement. The team were certainly bolstered by the addition of Blues and Club captain Mike Wells, playing for Whites when the schedule allowed. Injuries throughout the season denied Whites of goal scorer Barry Lyon early on, and then later the club’s favorite player, June Bond. Treasurer John Short was mainly missing in action due to his heavy schedule of holidays, but that’s something we have learnt to deal with. Newly appointed captain Pete Paget marshalled his troops in fine style throughout the campaign, a big thanks to Pete and the entire main squad that participated;

Vinnie Matchett, Paul Campling, Phil Cooper, James Collins, Tony Bean, Barrie Skinner, John Short, June Bond, Barry Lyon, Pete Paget & Mike Wells.

Reds were in Division 2 and they took the league by storm early on, looking like potential winners. It didn’t pan out that way due to the amount of squad juggling we had to do throughout the season, but they also picked up a 3rd placed finish which was again, is a fine achievement. Captain Steve Earth found the back of the net on more than 1 occasion, likely with his right peg as his left is never anywhere to be seen. Scoring more goals than receiving Blue cards goes down as a positive. We knew the newly over 50 Andy Goodley would make a big difference, but none of us quite imagined how much of a difference he would make. Within 12 seconds of game 1, he took down an opponent with a fierce headshot. Ah, this isn’t boxing though and she thankfully recovered well from his first shot. His powerful strikes with either foot steered Reds to goals 13 goals plus another 9 for blues, and there’s definitely a lot more of that to come in any division. The wonderfully graceful footballer that is Mike Bracegirdle worked excellently in tandem with the whole team, scoring 12 of the goals himself. New Reds player David Szydlowski is another fine footballer, but his season was cut short by injury. With no recognised keeper, Lee Nolan took the gloves on many occasions and did the team proud. Phil Galley is a great asset to the club and always steps up to the plate, whether on the pitch or on the sidelines. So thanks to all that contributed to a fine season.

And so to Blues, back playing in Division 1 after winning Division 2 easily last season. Division 1 has always proved a tough task, finishing 2nd bottom or bottom in their previous endeavours. It couldn’t have started any more difficult either, playing reigning champions Sleaford A in game 1. Myself and Mike Wells had discussed back in September, the idea of playing a defensive 3 at the back to try and contain the better opponents we were going to face. It worked well, a hell of a lot of defending done but we came out with a 1-1 draw. That was the basis to continue with the same formation throughout the season, and a very respectable 3rd placed finish was achieved. As always, Chris Briston, one of the best keepers in the division, kept us in many a game. Mike Wells and Steve Hammond’s understanding playing together pilfered enough goals to claim the points and victories to sit pretty in mid table throughout the season. Mark Allen and Alan Wells got plenty of playing time, albeit not in their preferred positions, and contributed massively to the 3rd place finish. Due to a broken ankle sustained just before the start of the season, Jason Putterill was unavailable until the last 2 rounds, but finished Sunday with a goal and celebrated like Istanbul 2005!

Having watched and supported all of our teams over the past 5 years or so, I was very happy to get some minutes on the pitch and do my best.

Thanks to Dan Smith, Rob Taylor, Tony Fry, Rob Marsden and Tony Butler for their contributions.

Thanks to Mike Gray for his photography.

Thanks to June, Jason and Barry for their support when not playing due to injury.

Thanks to the league and referees for making the games possible.