Tonight FC Entertain Burnham

After the hard fought draw at Biggleswade on Saturday FC return to the Affinity Investments Stadium this evening where they entertain league leaders Burnham. who have 68 points from 30 games and in a rich vein of form having thrashed Leighton at the weekend and with 8 victories from their past 10 games.

One to Warch: Ryan Bird - Leading Evostik Goalscorer

Commenting before the game, Moles manager Craig Faulconbridge said "After a disappointing week we returned Saturday with a much more pleasing performance against promotion chasing Biggleswade Town FC. We started slowly with the hosts taking the lead midway through the first half with a bit of a soft goal. Both myself and Wally were a little frustrated by half time as we had played much the same way we had against the previous 2 teams at home. Questions were asked of the players ability to play without fear and, as we had seen earlier in the season we fought to get a foothold in the game. We scored a fantastic equaliser from Leon Osei and probably should have secured all 3 points with most of the play being in their half and only the odd break threatening a much more secured performance.

It amazes me the pressure players put on themselves with no need!!

We see the visit of Burnham tomorrow night in what promises to once again be a tough test for the boys. They sit at the summit of the league, boasting the top scorer and one of the meanest defences in the league, but as I will always remind anyone, defeat is a state of mind, so is winning.

I ask for 2 things from a game, one is desire to win, the other is to trust each other, 2 things I EXPECT every game, especially tomorrow..

I hope everyone enjoys the game"

Burnham History
The club was founded in 1878, Burnham FC is the second oldest club Buckinghamshire. The club spent its first years in various local leagues, and then joined the Great Western Combination league in 1948. 16 years later they moved to the Wycombe Combination in 1964 and then spent one year in the Reading Combination for the 1970-71 season.[2]

The team first joined a senior league in 1971 when they entered the Hellenic Football League Division One A, finishing as runners-up in their first season, followed by a runners-up position in Division One which saw them promoted to the Premier Division. In 1975–76 they were Premier Division champions. In 1977 they switched to the Athenian League, where they achieved two runners-up finishes, and also reached the semi-finals of the FA Vase.

In 1984 Burnham switched leagues to the London Spartan League, where they were champions at the first attempt. The following year the club merged with Hillingdon Borough to form Burnham & Hillingdon F.C., taking over Hillingdon's place in the Southern League.[3][4] In 1987 the club's name reverted simply to Burnham F.C. but performances on the pitch declined and the 1994–95 season saw the club relegated back to the Hellenic League. In four seasons back at this level the club never finished out of the top 5, resulting in promotion back to the Southern League in 1999, where they remain to this day, although due to the renaming and restructuring of divisions they have technically played in three different divisions without ever being relegated or promoted.

Burnham have had modest success in cup competitions. Their best run in the FA Vase came in the 1982–83 season where they lost to Halesowen Town in a two legged semi-final (the home match being the clubs highest recorded attendance). In 1999–2000 they reached the 4th Round of the FA Trophy where they drew Scarborough, then residing in the Conference (they had also recently been relegated from the Football League). Burnham managed a very creditable 1–1 draw at home before losing 6–0 in the replay. In the 2005–06 season Dave Mudge's Burnham side achieved their best run in the FA Cup, losing 3–1 at home to Aldershot Town in the 1st Round Proper. The game was watched by one of the biggest crowds at Burnham in recent years and even saw Burnham appear briefly on Match of the Day.

Burnham completed one of their best seasons in recent memory when they finished 3rd in the Southern League Division One South & West in 2006–07. Due to this league position they entered the promotion playoffs but lost at home in the semi-final 1–2 to eventual playoff winners Swindon Supermarine. This misfortunate was mirrored three seasons later, when, under the managerial guidance of Jamie Jarvis, the Blues again lost out in the semi-final of the play-offs, this time to Chesham United.

With the financial climate of football ever-changing, Burnham saw fit to apply to the Southern Football League to lay a new third generation (3G) playing surface at The Gore, which was eventually sanctioned in January 2011.

Updated 12:26 - 6 Sep 2019 by Mike Farquharson