TLFG: 20-26 July 2026

Greetings one and all and welcome to this week's TLFG.

I've had a pretty busy week again so with it still being pre-season, I've decided not to do any previews again but have picked out a few headline games in the section below instead.

Aside from work, I had a pretty eventful football week.

Apart from all the England goings-on which we all experienced, I got up to quite a bit.

As previewed last time, I announced that this season's Non-League Day will now become a full weekend event at Easter with hundreds of extra games - it's going to be a huge increase in work but I think it should be well worth it.

Yours truly was honoured to win at the Middlesex FA awards

On Thursday I headed to Brentford's GTech Community Stadium for the Middlesex FA's annual awards.

I was shortlisted in the 'New Volunteer of the Year' category, primarily for my work on Actonians' programme and podcast, and won! 

Other members of the club also picked up gongs on what was a very successful night.

I ended the week down at Bedfont Sports, near Heathrow, for the first game of the A's new era under majority American ownership.

The friendly against last season's divisional champions Fulham was expected to be extremely challenging (they haven't lost a league game for two years) but they were inexplicably poor and the A's romped to a highly unexpected 4-0 win!

It was only a friendly and the squad still needs to be finalised with at least two of today's standout players mulling over offers elsewhere, but it was incredibly encouraging.

It was rather surreal to see former USA international Steph McCaffrey playing and scoring two for the A's but this is the position we now find ourselves in.

If my plans work out, I hope to be at QPR on Saturday and Barking on Sunday but let's see how the week pans out.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Probably the most eye-catching fixture of the week takes place in Shepherds Bush on Saturday where QPR entertain Italian club Fiorentina.

Crystal Palace are the first Premier League side to enter the fray as they travel to fellow south-east Londoners Bromley who are beginning their first season in League One. 

German club Hansa Rostock head to Vicarage Road to play Watford on Saturday.

AFC Wimbledon have a couple of decent home fixtures against Championship clubs Norwich City and Charlton Athletic.

League Two club Barnet are hosting a community day at The Hive. Women's side London Bees play Wycombe Wanderers at 1245pm before the men's side take on Oxford United at 3pm.

Of the many non-league clubs in action, Hornchurch host Leyton Orient in an east London derby on Tuesday, whilst fellow National Leaguers Wealdstone welcome MK Dons on Saturday.

It may still be July but some tenth-tier divisions are actually starting this weekend with the ECL Division 1 South kicking off on Friday night, before the Combined Counties League Division 1 starts on Saturday.

In the women's game, there are some decent friendlies featuring teams in the fourth and fifth tiers - personally I'm aiming to be at Mayesbrook Park to watch Actonians' next game at Barking.

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

WEEKEND MATCH MAP

Saturday fixtures - blue pin

Sunday fixtures - orange 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, Instagram or even by good old email.

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