“The best game of football at this level”, is how the Radstock Town Manager, Ryan Child, described the derby match between RadstockTown and Welton Rovers, scheduled for December 26th, Boxing Day.

“It’s so well supported, and because the teams are so close together, you get people that work together; one of them likes Radstock, one of them likes Welton. There’s families where one person played for Welton and the other one played for Radstock, or there’s players, a lot of players, that have played for both – and they come back and watch the game. It’s usually played in pretty good spirits. The fans welcome each other into the clubhouse, and everyone’s sharing a couple of beers after the game”, said Ryan.

But just because the Coalfield Classico is a “friendly rivalry”, that doesn’t mean the Miners want to make life easy for their table-topping neighbours.

“There’s no doubt that Welton are having a good season, you can’t argue with how well they’ve done. But we’re just going to enjoy the occasion and I can remember many times when we’ve won the game.

“The last time that I remember us losing to Welton on Boxing Day, our Assistant Manager, Tom Pawley, was playing for Welton and I was playing for Radstock. He was very good that day, unfortunately, and Welton beat us 1–0 at Southfields”, said Ryan.

Whilst Radstock have had their eyes focussed on Welton, the Green Army have been looking up at the prospect of promotion out of the Western League First Division. The Club have grown during lockdown and Manager, Tom Smith, has been quick to praise the Club officials for the work they’ve done.

“You can see it growing every week on social media. Gareth (Paisey) who does the social media is fantastic at it, brilliant, keeps everyone up to date. For me, that’s a massive part of it as well, because if people feel like they’re involved, then of course, they’re going to show more interest. And with what we’re doing on the pitch, the facilities at West Clewes are getting better and better. I think people are just genuinely excited at the minute.

“Hopefully the support will continue to grow all the way to the big game on Boxing Day, although we’re Away. I’d like to think we’ll take a load up at Radstock and vice versa on Good Friday. So, really exciting time for us and the community at the moment,” said Tom.

The Coalfield Classico is kicking off at Southfields Recreation Ground, Radstock, at 1pm on December 26th. The comments reported in this article have been taken from the Toolstation Western League Podcast and the Sounds of the Sea Podcast.

Ian Nockolds