TLFG: 18-25 August 2025

Greetings everyone and welcome to TLFG.

Apologies for the late publication and its reduced form - the last few days has seen me swamped with work, job applications, Non-League Day prep and my voluntary commitments with Actonians including a trip to Norwich City on media duty and the launch of the new podcast. 

The week ahead is also bursting at the seams - I need to finish the match programme for the A's game against Fulham on Sunday, try and record another podcast and somehow celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary!

As a result, it's just match maps at this stage - they go through until the Bank Holiday next Monday as there are loads of extra games to keep you entertained on what will hopefully be a day off for you.

Going back to the trip to Norfolk on Sunday, it was the first time I'd travelled on the team bus with the players and coaching staff.

Meeting at 845am at the club's Gunnersbury HQ, we set off shortly after.

With the coaches at the front, physios and media team behind and the players at the back - the 100-odd mile journey took just over three hours.

There was some very interesting football chat (one player had turned down £800 a month a £10 goal bonus to drop two levels - A's players aren't paid) and a couple of players organised an impromptu quiz including music rounds and some get to know you questions.

I think Actonians must have the most multicultural squad in the league - the coaching, physio and media team alone is made up of people of Japanese, Kurdish, Lebanese, Indian, Iranian, Israeli, Peruvian and Slovakian heritage. I was the only English person (my Ancestry DNA test came back 95% positive - how dull).

Aside from the English ones, the players have links to Armenia, Australia, Barbados, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Pakistan, Turkey, Ukraine, USA and those are just the ones I know about - oh and the club founder is Swedish.

The match itself was always going to be tough and you can read my report here.

Our journey back somehow took around four hours and saw a lot of result digesting from around the leagues. 

If you read the report, you'll see mention of a highly controversial opening goal - with a Norwich shot slamming against the underside of the bar midway through the first half.

The assistant referee had absolutely no hesitation in awarding the goal and yet during our journey back, a Norwich fan published their own footage from behind the goal showing it wasn't even close to crossing the line - I showed the team and uproar ensued!

Whatever happens now, the result won't change and we move on.

Next up for me will hopefully be the derby against Fulham on Sunday at North Greenford United's ground - the A's used to play here a few years ago but this will be the first since signing a new groundshare deal.

That's it from me for now - enjoy your week and maybe see you at Berkeley Fields.

THE WEEK AHEAD 

Games in the Premier League and EFL top the bill this week whilst at non-league level there's a selection of games in the National League, plus several FA Cup replays and the first round of the FA Vase too.

In women's football, there are a good range of games in the FAWNL and FAWNL Cup.

As always, please make sure you check with clubs before you travel just in case a game has been called off or the venue or kick-off time has changed - this is highly possible for some of the lower non-league clubs and development matches. Also, please let me know if anything is wrong or missing.

Details on all of this week's games can be found on the following match maps. If you've never used them before, please note that when there is more than one match at a specific ground you'll only be able to see individual match pins if you zoom right in. If you don't, the pins obscure each other and you might miss them. To avoid this, you can also scroll down the list of games on the drop down menu at the top of the map page to make sure you get all the information. Games are listed from top to bottom in date order so Monday's games (yellow pin) will appear first and Sunday's (orange pin) last. Games are also ranked in terms of status so the higher the division, the higher up the list they will appear on each day.

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Also if you're unfamiliar with the English league structure I indicate the level at which an individual league sits in the national 'pyramid' with the Premier League at the top (Level 1) and various minor leagues at the bottom (Level 10). Typically a top level game will see crowds of anywhere between 20,000-60,000. These figures will gradually decline as you go down the leagues until you get to Levels 8-10 where attendances of 150 or less are most common.

It should also be noted that the top four levels are for fully professional teams. Level 5 has a mixture of professional and semi-professional teams, while Levels 6-10 will see most players paid but it will vary from no more than travel expenses at the bottom, right up to several hundred pounds a week at the top.

MIDWEEK MATCH MAP

Monday fixtures - yellow pin

Tuesday fixtures - green pin

Wednesday fixtures - turquoise pin

Thursday fixtures - purple pin

Friday fixtures - black pin

BANK HOLIDAY MATCH MAP

Saturday fixtures - blue pin

Sunday fixtures - orange pin

Monday fixtures - yellow pin

    

GET INVOLVED

If you're going to see a game, whether you're a local or a visitor, please let me know what you've  been up to. If you're interested in reviewing a ground in the London area for this blog then get in touch. I also very much welcome photos of your football travels.

NEED HELP?

Got any questions about visiting London? Don't hesitate to ask - be they football or more general travel/touristy queries. I do not charge for this advice like some other sites so don't hold back!

You can contact TLFG through the comments section below, via X/Twitter or even by good old email.

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