The semi-final is played over a single leg and a result must be completed on Wednesday. It will therefore be extra time and penalties should the scores be level at 90 and 120 minutes.

When is the playoff final and who will the winners play?

The playoff final will take place on Monday 6th May, at 3pm. The winner of Corby vs the Eagles must wait to see the outcome of the other semi-final between Bromsgrove Sporting and Sutton Coldfield before we can finalise details. If Bromsgrove win, then Corby/Bedford will travel to Worcestershire on Monday. Should Sutton Coldfield win at the Victoria ground on Wednesday, they will travel to either Steel Park or The Bright Management Eyrie on Monday.

What is the admission cost?

Adults are £10, concessions are £6 and under 16s are £2.

Travel arrangements?

Unfortunately, due to logistics of times to leave Bedford and the short distance to Corby, the Supporters Club are not running a coach to this fixture. We encourage anyone who wishes to go to the fixture to travel with other Eagles. If you want a lift, or are willing to give lifts to other fans who might not be able to make it, please comment on social media to say what you require or are able to offer. For those of you who wish to, you can also travel direct from Bedford to Corby via train.

Kit colours:

Due to Corby’s home kit being black and white, we will be playing in our home kit of all blue, with the goalkeeper in away orange.

I can’t make the fixture, how can I keep track of the game?

Don’t worry. The Eagles social media team will be able to keep you fully updated on what’s going on. We’ll be live on twitter, footballwebpages.co.uk and Instagram with up to the minute news and summaries throughout the evening on Facebook.

Statement:

Everyone at the football club is aware of the situation with regards the playoffs, and the unfortunate predicament we find ourselves in due to the points per game scenario required to gain promotion to step three this season. This is something that the club have been aware of since last summer, and along with several other clubs at this level, have stated our disappointment to both the Football Association and Southern League. For those who are not aware, this season sees twelve vacant spaces for clubs to be promoted to step three from seven leagues at step four. Seven of these spaces have already been taken up with the winners of step four leagues, leaving the five playoff winners with the best points per game record to be promoted. We go into this playoff semi-final with the knowledge that we do not have a strong enough points per game record to be promoted, regardless of whatever happens over the next week.

There have been a number of comments around social media about why the club are bothering to play this fixture, knowing that we have no chance of promotion. The club would like to state that we understand the fans frustration with regards the situation, especially from those who have only just found out about this in the last few days or weeks. The Eagles would like to also put on record our thanks to other clubs and fans from around the country who have given their support to the situation we find ourselves in (or the two playoff winners who do not get promotion). However, despite this, Jon, the management team and players are committed to the playoffs and intend to give our all to achieve a positive result against a difficult Corby side.

Last summer, the then Management Committee, including Jon, sat down and discussed that our target for the season should be a playoff spot. We have achieved that, despite some disappointing results and largely inconsistent form since Christmas. Everyone at the football club has given their all to see us finish in fourth and achieve that target. We would be disrespecting ourselves, Corby and the Non League game as a whole, if we didn’t continue to achieve the goal set out at the start of the season. The Eagles last reached the playoffs thirteen years ago. It is not something that comes around every season, and the team are ready to compete in our first playoff game in over a decade.

In addition to this, we are also unsure about a number of situations surrounding the pyramid as things stand. The football world has already seen North Ferriby United and Thamesmead disappear this season, and uncertainty surrounds many clubs up and down the leagues including Bolton and Bury. The FA stated earlier in the season that there would be no reprieves for clubs who drop down levels, and this opens up the possibility for a sixth or seventh playoff winner to be promoted, should the vacancy become available. The club do not wish to through away the hard work completed in the previous thirty-eight games, to then find out that taking the playoffs seriously would have resulted in promotion later in the summer.

Back in 2004, the club qualified for the end of season playoffs when the Conference South/North was formed. That season, Basingstoke Town lost out in the semi-finals of the playoffs and thought their hopes of promotion were over. However, Hendon then declined promotion to the new set up and Basingstoke took their place. Again, we do not wish to be in this situation, should any kind of a vacancy arise due to another club’s misfortune, request for demotion or failure to meet promotion requirements.

As previously mentioned, we also have great respect for our friends and other clubs at step four across the country. We are aware that teams in other leagues will be looking for us to do our best to win either playoff, in order to stand them in with a greater chance of promotion (by knocking out Corby/Bromsgrove with a high points per game ratio). It would be of great disrespect to ignore this and is another reason why we will be putting effort and priority into Wednesday night’s fixture. The FA have requested that we continue to uphold the integrity of the competition, and we will do that, despite the integrity being taken away with circumstances outside any clubs control.

Any chance of promotion obviously all relies on us winning on Wednesday night, and again on Monday. Everyone at the Bright Management Eyrie is more than aware of the difficult task that lies ahead of us against a strong and experienced Corby side in the semi-final. The Executive Committee of the Club would like to encourage our superb fan base to travel in numbers and support Jon and the lads in trying to extend our season by another fixture. The word might be online that it is a pointless fixture, but your support could prove vital in finishing our most successful season for a number of years on a high.