Non-League and Academy football writer

North London club Wingate & Finchley play their home games at The Maurice Rebak Stadium, in north London, and it is one of my favourite grounds in non-League, with it also having a really nice main stand. Wingate & Finchley have started the current Isthmian League Premier Division season well, under the tutelage of Ahmet Rifat and Ricky Machel. Last season Wingate & Finchley finished in 16th place in the Isthmian League Premier Division, but this season they currently sit just outside of the play-offs, in sixth place, above the likes of Carshalton Athletic and Horsham in the table, having picked up 25 points from 16 league games this season. The chairman of the club is Aron Sharpe, who is a real footballing man, and having gone to see Wingate & Finchley play on a good number of occasions so far this season, I have been impressed with how they have played. A difficult team to face this season, Wingate & Finchley have produced some impressive results. Such as winning 2-1 away to Lewes, winning 6-2 at home to Canvey Island, and also a 2-0 home win over Horsham.

From the games that I’ve seen Wingate & Finchley in this season, they seem to play a good variety of football, and with players such as versatile CAM Elliot Long, a player who has really impressed this season, and also Ruben Carvalho and Anointed Chukwu, they certainly have goals to their game. In fact the north London club have the joint third most goals in the division this season. Elliot Long is Wingate’s top scorer in the league this season, with nine goals. He is a classy player who is intelligent both on and off the ball, and he is also a good finisher, who links the play well. At Wingate & Finchley, the club have a very good youth policy, which gives young players the opportunity to do really well, and make a name for themselves in non-League. AFC Bournemouth player Dominic Sadi, is a highly skilful player, who is a fairly recent player who was at Wingate for a short time, where he did really well, and then ended up being signed by Bournemouth’s now category two academy.

From watching Wingate’s opening league match of the season, when they lost 4-0 at home to Folkestone Invicta in what was a difficult game, to seeing them winning away at Haringey Borough, and then winning convincingly against the likes of Canvey Island (they came from behind twice in that game) and Horsham, their start to the season has been impressive. I personally think, from the games that I have watched this season, that Wingate & Finchley are a team who are good not only in possession of the ball, but also when they are out of possession, where they work hard as a team. As well as having a good group of young players in the first team set-up, they also have a good amount of experienced players, and so they have a good balance to their side. Wingate & Finchley travel to Carshalton Athletic later today (Saturday), a team just below them in the league standings. It is a game that I will be in attendance for, and it should be a very good game. I always enjoy going to watch Wingate & Finchley play, and I wish them all the very best for the remainder of this season.