'Oliver Twist' club Bedford Town celebrate promotion

Lee Bircham has been Bedford Town manager since May 2023

It almost feels like a case of anything you can do, we can do better.

Bedford Town clinched the Southern League Premier Central title with a 2-0 win over Stourbridge in front of a crowd of 2,186, just days after Real Bedford became Division One Central champions.

It is the second year in a row that both Bedford clubs have won promotion, having recently abandoned plans to merge for next season.

Town will now play in National League North or South in 2025-26, the second tier of English non-league football.

"It wasn't until about 10 minutes before the end of the game that we thought we were going to get the job done," manager Lee Bircham told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"I think the owners have struck it lucky with what they've spent, to get a championship-winning team - I hope they don't expect more of the same because that's a one-off.

"There's be a big queue of us lining up outside their door now, it'll be like a scene from Oliver Twist."

The Eagles went into the game against Stourbridge with a three-point lead over rivals Kettering Town, but with an inferior goal difference.

Ryan Blake put them ahead in the first half and Jack Davies added the second after 74 minutes to delight their fans at their The Eyrie ground in Cardington.

The achievement was all the more remarkable because Bircham expressed the view in January that a merger was the "right solution" for the club because they could not compete financially at Southern League Premier level.

"It's a totally unexpected promotion. It was never planned. There's some monster football clubs in that league and genuinely we wanted fifth from bottom, that's what we were aiming for, that was the target," said Bircham.

"We lost out on a lot of players (last summer) because we weren't ambitious enough but we got a few wins, changed a few players around and the momentum carried on."

Bircham, who has a contract to the end of the 2026-27 season, now doubts how "genuine" the merger proposal was - but believes it worked to the advantage of his part-time team.

"It didn't disrupt us, if anything it pulled us together, so we thank them for that, it was a masterstroke really," he continued.

The players are now set for a post-season celebration in Marbella before reviewing the situation as to what will be needed to be competitive next term.

"We haven't had discussions with players about being National League, we haven't got a clue what we're going to do," Bircham added.

"We're going to make it up as we go - but we have this year as well.

"I'm going to try and enjoy actually getting promoted before I worry about next season. The club has worked so hard to get there and want to stay there, of course they do. They want to give it a go."

The National League will confirm later in the summer which division Town - who were originally founded in 1908 - will play in.

When that happens, the Eagles will consider themselves at home.

Lee Bircham was speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio's Andy Collins