10 March 2026 You know, I was thinking the other day about how these reports used to be more… well, more fun. Times when I didn’t take it so seriously, maybe. It’s not that writing reports has become a chore exactly, but I think it’s time I try to put the joy back into it, regardless of the performance or the result, because – because it genuinely is a joy to be able to watch a team I care about passionately, follow them home and away, highs and lows, and now and again to d

7 March 2026 A rare quiet midweek for the Badgers – not even through postponement, just no game scheduled – and now time for one of the four remaining home games, at home to the Wasps of Wincanton. When these two sides met in the reverse fixture, southern England was still in the grip of a drought; the pitch was bone dry, and the groundsman had to come on with a wheelbarrow of sand to fill a small crater which had opened up near one penalty area. A scrappy 2-2 draw brought

28 February 2026 8 Saturdays to go this season – 6 of them featuring away games for Brock, starting at Love Lane, home of Petersfield Town (it’s now called the SmartSpaces Stadium, apparently). The Rams had a great start to the season, including a comprehensive 3-0 win at the Meadens on matchday one, and looked sure to be challenging for a playoff spot, but there’s been some upheaval lately which saw the manager leaving, followed by a lot of the first team squad, so there’s

24 February 2026 Badgers back in action: a last-gasp win against Hythe & Dibden followed by something of a stale stalemate against Andover New Street, but then a postponement at the weekend so yet another home game (after tonight, only 4 of the remaining matches at Grigg Lane, the other 8 on the road). One thing I didn’t mention from the Andover New Street game: the very welcome return of Rian Drake, starting on the bench but coming on in the second half – been far too long,

21 February 2026 Yet another blank Saturday! 2026 really hasn’t done the fixtures secretary any favours, has it. Nothing daunted, scour the morning updates, see what else might be on. East Cowes Vict- no. Sherborne To- no, lovely ground but a devil of a journey. OK, something closer to home: Hamble Club v New Milton Town, which failed an initial pitch inspection but was then passed by the match referee and in truth, it was a very decent surface, even with the incessant r

17 February 2026 So, almost unbelievably, two home games in four days for the Badgers (after 48 days without one)! Fifth against ninth, six points between the teams but the visitors holding two games in hand: this was one to look forward to. A few missing for Brock tonight, and at least one missing for the visitors (get well soon, Heath!) but every reason to expect a decent game. I usually think that the run-in starts with about ten games to go, and there were 14 to play

14 February 2026 Am I the only one who’s starting to think that the season won’t be finished before about July? Yet another postponement in midweek, leading to a hastily-arranged friendly on the artificial surface at Shaftesbury – a foggy start, which brought back some pretty unhappy memories of a previous visit, but it cleared and a good workout ensued. The hosts won 3-0, but Brock were missing a few and didn’t do too badly. Useful minutes under the belt, couple of fresh

7 February 2026 Crazy, waterlogged times. Yet another blank Saturday for Brockenhurst, and not many alternatives – so for the fourth time since Christmas I found myself at The Nest. Not seen Brock play at home in a competitive game in all that time, but three previous visits to Downton: the league game (veil drawn), a Southampton Senior Cup match against Romsey and the previous round in this competition, an uninspiring goalless draw against Slimbridge which the Robins won o

3 February 2026 Crazy times. Since 27 December, I’ve spent more time at both Downton and Stoneham than at Grigg Lane. Badgers managed to play twice, both times away from home… and now a third away game on the spin, away to the runaway leaders and champions elect. Regular blog-watchers will know that I took in Stoneham’s “top of the table clash” against Hamble Club on Saturday, which ended in a pretty convincing 3-0 home win – and the Purps have been mighty at home, winning

31 January 2026 So farewell to January, and good bloody riddance. Brock were due to have three home games this month, and all three were postponed – the third one, today, at 1130 after the pitch had passed an early inspection but then suffered a massive downpour. Yet another call which had to be made after the opposition (and their fans) had left home; incredibly frustrating for everyone but what can you do? And if you’re going to take in a neutral, third-party game, wha

28 January 2026 OK, so Saturday happened. It wasn’t great, but it’s done. After a four-week break, it was probably understandable – a bit of a scratch team, distances not quite right, players out of position a bit too often – but an immediate chance to do something about that with a trip to the GMS Windows Arena Sherborne. Third attempt for this – postponed back in November because of the wind and rain, postponed again in January ditto – and miraculously surviving Storm Ch

24 January 2026 And so, finally, four weeks later, the Badgers get back into action. Ironically it’s a third successive report from the Nest for me – when we came to watch a random cup tie at the end of December we had no idea that Brock would get three successive postponements and that this would in fact be the site of their return! Before that enforced break, the Badgers had been in great form: 26 goals in their last five games, three successive clean sheets in the league

17 January 2026 No report last weekend – Brock were postponed and for once we chose to go and watch the Devs, who beat Clanfield 6-0: a classy hattrick from Dylan, goals for Henry and Rian (how good it was to see him back) and also from Will Giles, whose second half cameo was definitely one of the highlights of the afternoon. Better than no football at all – on which note, neither Brock nor Andover New Street have played yet in 2026 and that continued this afternoon with a

30 December 2025 OK so it’s the depths of winter… that time of year some people annoyingly call twixmas… still plenty of chocolate and cake to be consumed… and there’s Arsenal v Aston Villa on Sky, first against third, the acid test of title credentials for both. So where would anyone rather be than The Nest – sorry, the Brian Whitehead Sports Ground – for a third-round tie in the Southampton Senior Cup? Well, I’ve told you before that it takes a special kind of nutter… Th

27 December 2025 And so to the final game of 2025 for the Badgers. I have to confess that your intrepid reporter went into this game several kilos heavier than when writing the mid-season review at the start of the week, but hopeful that the players might have eaten fewer mince pies and chocolates… A proper local derby in the league, which we haven’t had since Bashley went up and then Lymington went down; although having already played both the Linnets and Lyndhurst in the

22 December 2025 Everyone has their own unique Christmas traditions, don’t they? Mine seems to be that I write a mid-season review! I can’t see this catching on across the nation, somehow; but for what it’s worth, here are some observations on the story so far. Starting with the bigger picture – no surprise to see that Stoneham are out there as one of the front-runners. Petersfield – well, they were tipped for good things this season after making the playoffs in our sist

20 December 2025 Before today’s match report, a quick word of appreciation for Luke Holmes, who has left us to re-join Bashley (or should that be re-left us to re-re-join Bashley?). Luke quickly established himself as a fans’ favourite in a very short period of time because of his very obvious quality on the ball. One particular feature, which should have been mentioned in dispatches previously, was his ability to keep control even when knocked to the ground, getting back u

16 December 2025 Well what’s this? Two games in four days? Like London buses, Brock games – and finally, back at the Meadens for the first time since the win in the previous round of this competition against New Milton Town, all of three weeks ago. Quarter-final of the Southampton Senior Cup, a couple of wins away from a final at St Mary’s – not a bad incentive, with 103 brave souls coming out on a chilly night to watch (although it seemed rather emptier than that up in th

13 December 2025 Well glory be, a Saturday afternoon and finally, a game for the Badgers! Three successive league postponements, but back into cup action for the next couple of matches, starting at Hurn Bridge for a Wessex League Cup tie against Christchurch. The league game was a closely-fought 1-1 draw a few weeks back, so what would each have learned about the other to change the dynamic this afternoon? Whatever happened, we knew this one couldn’t even level – someone w

6 December 2025 So that’s three successive away Saturdays for Brock, and three postponements – the weather hasn’t been treating us kindly! However, today we found an alternative: FA Vase, Round 3, Stoneham v Cinderford Town. Cinderford, known as The Foresters, currently sit 15 th in the Hellenic League Premier, with 20 points from their 16 games – and it’s a long old trek from Gloucestershire to take on the mighty Purps in their own back yard. By the way – were you, dea