Non-League and Academy football writer

Camden & Islington United’s men’s Saturday team had a really good debut season in the Middlesex County Football League Premier Division, in 2023/24. A club which is owned by the supporters and run by the community, Camden & Islington United have a men’s Saturday team and a Sunday team, a women’s Saturday team (they are managed by Joel Williams) and development team, as well as a women’s seven-a-side team. They also have a men’s reserve side, who play at step 8 of the non-League system, in the Middlesex League. Camden & Islington United were founded in 2019 by Kat Craig, Nicholas Wigmore and Joel Williams, and in that time, despite there being curtailed/disrupted seasons because of Covid, they have made remarkable progress across the club’s various teams.

Having watched Camden & Islington United’s men’s Saturday side in the Middlesex County Football League Premier Division in 2023/24, I was really impressed by how they play the game. That side finished in fourth place in this step 7 league, recording an impressive total of 69 points. From the games that I reported on last season that involved Camden & Islington, it was as if they had been playing at that level for the previous ten seasons, such was the way in which they played on the pitch. With the club’s top scorer Ryan Pickles scoring 20 goals from 24 league appearances, as well as many more in cup competitions, and also Josh Gruby scoring an impressive amount of goals last season, they really were a free scoring side in 2023/24.

In addition to the men’s Saturday team doing very well in their respective step 7 league last season, they were also victorious in the London FA Saturday Junior Cup, winning 3-2 in the final of that competition, against Exeter Old Boys. From the games that I saw Camden & Islington United’s men’s Saturday side play last season, I thought that they were a real footballing side, with great awareness and movement off the ball. James Goldsmith and Kat Craig’s youthful side recorded league victories over the likes of league champions Pitshanger Dynamo, and Shepherds Bush, last season.

The footballing side and the real talent that Camden & Islington have across their teams is very impressive, and with the men’s Saturday team there is a real pathway from their reserve side, a team who I’m sure will continue to progress at step 8 next season. Off the pitch Camden & Islington United do some fantastic work in the local community, as I learned from my interview with the club’s director of football (Nicholas Wigmore). Just one of the great things that the club are involved in, includes the club having links with some food banks in the local area, with the players helping to deliver food packages to people in the local community, who are unable to leave their homes, to collect them.

“ As a club we’ll always support a more inclusive game, and although we want to have a really successful football club, we care even more about people and society. ” The above quote is from Nicholas Wigmore, from our interview on my blog in May, and I think that really shows what Camden & Islington United stand for, across their club, and that is something that is really important, and which also shows just what a special club that they are. Regarding next season (2024/25), I’m really looking forward to what should be a brilliant and highly competitive season in the Middlesex County Football League Premier Division, and I’m sure that Camden & Islington United’s men’s Saturday team will be looking to improve further in the league next season. My preview for that league season will be out later this month. I wish Camden & Islington United all the very best for 2024/25, across all of their teams.