Non-League and Academy football writer

On Wednesday night at Hanworth Villa’s Rectory Meadow ground, Civil Service 3s will face CB Hounslow & Abbots Senior Reserves (of the Combined Counties Football League Division Two), in this season’s Middlesex FA Junior Cup final. I recently spoke to Rob Solomon, the manager of the Civil Service 3s, about their season so far, with some emphasis on this cup final, and the run up to the final. 

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football, prior to joining Civil Service?

Rob: I’m originally from Ipswich, and I played in the Suffolk version of the SAL – the Suffolk & Ipswich League. I played in that league for about ten years. However, I moved down to London in my early 20s, and for the first two or three years of living in London, I used to travel back to Ipswich at the weekends, to play for the team who I played for there. But, I soon got a bit fed up of doing that, and so I started looking for a team to play for in London. And, I got introduced to Civil Service by friends, and that was 12 years ago now, and I’ve been there ever since!

What have you made of the season (2024/25) so far, for the Civil Service 3s?

Rob: To he honest it’s been a bit of an up and down season. We’ve had some really, really good results, as well as a couple of cup runs. And obviously we’re in this cup final, but, we were very unlucky in the SAL Cup semi-finals. In the SAL Cup we beat two teams from the league above us, before losing in what was a bit of a crazy game in the semi-finals. Our league form has been mixed, with us having both some good and bad results in the league this season. So to finish off the season in a positive manner, it would be great to win the final on Wednesday night. 

What have been some of your standout memories of this season (2024/25)?

Rob: Our Middlesex Junior Cup semi-final win against our 2s on penalties, that was the standout moment of the season so far, for me.

Could you talk me through the team’s run to the final of this season’s Middlesex FA Junior Cup?

Rob: Working backwards from the semi-final, which was such a big game against Civil Service 2s. The game finished 1-1 in normal time, and we’d managed to keep our discipline, and we fought back really well, going on to score the equaliser in the second half. We were playing our 2s team, who are two leagues above us, and so we really had to dig in. But, we got our tactics spot on, and we limited them, as well as keeping our shape and discipline, and taking our chance when it came. And then we managed to get to penalties and ultimately get over the line. So that was a huge result for us, but, going back to our quarter-final tie at AFC Heathrow, and we were 1-0 down at half-time of that game, and in fact we were 1-0 down well in to the second half. But, we were all over them, and it was looking like one of those days where we would be unable to score, although once we got one with 20-25 minutes remaining, we went on to score four extra goals.

In the third round we actually lost to Shepherd’s Bush SB Ballerz, but, they had played an ineligible player, and so we were then reinstated in to the competition. And, in the previous round, the opposition Kodak (Harrow) 3s forfeited that cup tie, and in the round before that we got a bye. And so it’s been a bit of a long and winding road to the final, via forfeits, ineligible players and penalties, but, we’ve got, there.

What are some of your thoughts ahead of the final against CB Hounslow & Abbots Senior Reserves?

Rob: I don’t know an awful lot about the opposition on Wednesday, although I do know that they are in a different league structure. So there’s not a lot that I can do to know what kind of team we’re going to face, and so we’ve just to focus on ourselves. I want us to keep the preparation as similar as possible to how we do for a normal league game, but we do have a full squad for this final, with only one injury doubt. So we’ve got really good availability, and I’ve got a lot of lads who have been with me throughout my five year journey with the 3s team, as well as some newer signings. And there’s a lot of lads in there, who for the effort that they’ve given me over the last four or five years, really deserve some reward for that effort, by winning this cup final. If we set up well for the final, and really apply ourselves, and play the way that I know that we can, then I’ve got every faith that we’ll get a good result.