Non-League and Academy football writer

Ahead of this Saturday’s Middlesex County Football League The Eddy Mee Division Two Challenge Cup final, between Kodak (Harrow) Reserves and Hounslow Lions, I did an interview with a player for Kodak Reserves, George Michaelides. Many thanks to George, for taking the time to speak to me.

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football?

George: I’ve been at Kodak for the best part of 20 years and I reached 300 games for the club this year. I joined as an Under 18 player, and I’ve played most seasons since then, apart from taking a short break from playing, when I was studying. I’ve played alongside my brother, Tony, for Kodak, who has played for them for pretty much every season. I’ve spent most of my time as a player at the club, playing for the first team, but during the last couple of years I’ve played in the seconds. 

Me and my brother started running the adult section of the club around seven years ago, and we took it over after the first team had been relegated back to Division One. We ran it for a year, and we did quite well. But, our aim was always to get the team back into the Premier Division, and so we appointed some managers for the team, who eventually got the team into the top division of the Middlesex League. And in the meantime we’ve built a second and thirds team, and everything has just progressed upwards from there really, with three Saturday teams and two Sunday teams.

What are some of your memories of Kodak (Harrow) Reserves’ run to the final of this season’s The Eddy Mee Division Two Challenge Cup?

George: We got a bye from the first round, before then drawing a team (Foxes) who folded before we got the opportunity to play them. That got us through to the semi-finals before actually kicking a ball, which was quite fortunate. We then played FC Sunbury in the semi-finals, who we were very good against, beating them 4-1 on the day. And so we’ve had a relatively good route into the final.

Could you talk me through a bit about this season (2025/26) with Kodak (Harrow) Reserves, in both the league and in cup competitions?

George: We’ve had a very good season in the league, as well in cup competitions. We lost our first game of this season, which was actually awarded to us, but overall we’ve been very consistent throughout the season. We’ve been strong pretty much every week in the league this season, and we’ve managed to get a lot of players out on a Saturday, as we have a very big squad. But, since our opening day loss, we’ve not lost a game, and I was very happy to win the league last Saturday in our game with RF Elite, who are a good side. But, we knew that we only needed a point on the day, and once we got our equaliser, we were quite content to just take the result, and we were quite professional in how we did it. So winning the league just before the cup final, fits in well.

We were also in the Middlesex FA Junior Cup this season. We managed to get to the quarter-finals of the competition. Despite going 2-0 down to Civil Service 3s, through to unbelievable finishes from Civil Service, we did get it back to 2-2, before losing on penalties. So although we were disappointed to get knocked out, as has happened in the past, when you get knocked out of one cup competition, that then gives you the drive to win the league, as well as the league cup as well, which I hope to win on Saturday. Big shout out to Qays and Cush for building the team spirit and for the achievements this season. They’ve done an amazing job.

Finally, what are some of your thoughts ahead of the final this Saturday, against Hounslow Lions?

George: We’ve lost in this final during the last couple of seasons, with us not being the favourites in both of those finals in the last two seasons. The team this season is a lot stronger, and given that we are league winners, I’d like to think that we’ll be favourites on Saturday. And I’m very confident that we’ll be lifting the cup on Saturday afternoon, even though it won’t be an easy game, by any means.