Non-League and Academy football writer

Sushel Miah is one of the owners of Cannons Wood FC, who play in the Thurlow Nunn League First Division South (step 6 of the non-League pyramid). Recently under new ownership, I met Sushel Miah, to find out some of his and the club’s plans, hopes, and aims for the coming seasons. It was great to meet and interview Sushel recently, and I wish Cannons Wood all the very best for the upcoming 2025/26 season.

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football, prior to becoming involved with Cannons Wood?

Sushel: I used to play football as a youngster, but as they say, life got in the way. And, I didn’t play for a good seven/eight years. I started working and I started up my business, before coming back to football, around seven years ago. It was actually a gentleman called Tarik Khan, from Soul organisation, who got back me in to football, for a Sunday league team that he used to run.

Tarik knew how much that I loved football, but around that same time I was doing amateur boxing. I won both of my fights that I took part in, by knockout. Going forward I started playing football again. But, one thing that I quickly noticed was that the commitment from players and teams wasn’t great. So, I contacted a couple of people that I knew, from different organisations.

During my chats with different organisations, I wanted to try and get more young south Asian players to play football. But, people said to me that it was all down to commitment, and so I kind of challenged them by saying do these youngsters get the right opportunities and training that they need, as well as the right mentorship. Around two years later Soul FC created a team in the Essex Alliance Football League, at step 8.

I trialled for Soul, and as time went on the team grew, and we did quite well in the first season, despite dropping off a bit at the end. In the second season we started off strongly, and we would go on to reach that season’s Premier Division Cup final, which unfortunately we lost to Waltham Abbey A. There was a rumour circulating that Soul had taken over Tower Hamlets FC, and to us players that did give us extra motivation to try and win that final.

After Soul Tower Hamlets was created, I had to go through the motions to get in to the team. My passion for playing football came back, and so I had to put in the extra work to be competitive in playing step 6 football. And the reason why I wanted to do that was to show young players that you can succeed, if you put in the work. I believe that in life you have to go above and beyond to get what you want.

After Soul Tower Hamlets had won promotion to step 5, following the SCEFL Division One play-offs, that was when the opportunity with Cannons Wood came along. 

What are some of your thoughts ahead of the new 2025/26 Thurlow Nunn First Division South season, your first season with Cannons Wood?

Sushel: I’m probably going to be the only non-League owner who will be playing football for their own club, as well as helping to run the club. I’m excited and nervous for the new season, but for me I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead. There are some really good teams who I know very well, such as May & Baker and AS London, to name only a couple of clubs that I know well. However, Cannons Wood are going for the title this season, and we’re going with a mindset of winning every cup competition that we’re in.

We won’t rest on our laurels with the league, hence why we started pre-season in May. This season will be a good challenge, and I know that there are a couple of teams out there who are out to get us, but what I would say to them is to watch out for us, because we are going for that title.

What are some of your personal aims/ambitions for the 2025/26 season, with Cannons Wood?

Sushel: The ambition regarding the league is to win it. But, we also want to do well in the cups, and we’ll be competing in four competitions this season. And we are coming for every competition, and we’re pushing in the right direction as a team, and all of our players who have joined, know that this is a longterm project. But, my biggest goal in football, is to change the narrative of non-League football, and I generally believe that I can change that, because it is all about money now. And sometimes the loyalty and ambition within football is lost. 

I’ve had chair people of clubs say to me that once they get their club to step 5, that they just want to stay there. But, that is not my motive, and we want to push this club as high up as possible. Since I bought Cannons Wood from DT, who I’d like to thank, we’ve had so many managers applying to manage the team. For us though, Terry Thomas was always our first choice, and he was always going to be. Terry has done a lot for a group of players who respect him. He makes his teams work hard, but he is very straight forward, which is one thing that I like about him. And he is one of the best coaches out there in non-League football, in my opinion.

So for us as a club, we want to get a group of players who are willing to work hard, play for the badge and to want success, rather than focusing on money. 

Are there any teams that you are looking forward to facing next season? Also, who are some of the sides that you think will be up there competing near the top of the table?

Sushel: I think that Stansted will be up there, as an established team who were relegated from the Essex Senior League last season. I also expect Rayleigh Town, AS London and Clapton Community, as well as May & Baker to be up there competing for the league this season. With the team that we have, and if we can stay relatively injury free and get some further signings over the line, then I think that we can run away with the title. That all depends on how we start the season though, and how consistent we are. I don’t think that it will be an easy league, at all. 

I’m really looking at how far we can go in the FA Vase this season. And, I’d love to get either Soul Tower Hamlets or Sporting Bengal United in the draw at some stage, because that would be a nice occasion.

What are some of your hopes for Cannons Wood for the long term future?

Sushel: We want to go up the steps of non-League football, and we want to eventually build our own stadium. But, at the moment I would say that we don’t have our own identity, as a club. We are trying to create an identity and a fanbase, and we want to get more people along to watch our games. We’ve got a five year plan for the club, and that is to be at step 3 within five years time. We also want to be in our own stadium in that time, and also setup a women’s team, and a youth set-up. So we want to achieve a long lasting identity of our own.

Our season ticket for this season is one of the cheapest and most valuable, because we want people to see football, as well as spending less money. Also, we want to have a hungry group of players, who have the right training and set-up to succeed in any level of football. And so players at our club are given everything that they need in order to succeed, and we are trying to run this as a professional football club.

(Sushel pictured during his boxing days.)