Flanagan's Football Files

The 500-Goal Man
Striker Carl Grimshaw cemented his place in non-league folklore by scoring over 500 competitive goals for Charnock Richard, ending his career with a staggering 513 goals for the club.

The 'Dentist' Hat-Trick Hero
Walton & Hersham striker Eddie Simon became the first player in the top eight tiers of English football to score four consecutive hat-tricks in 2023. Remarkably, as a part-time player, he was not allowed to keep the match balls because they were deemed too expensive to give away in the eighth tier.

The Ice Cream Van Away Trip
A team traveling to a away match in an ice cream van because of a transport mix-up, only to arrive just in time, wearing the wrong colors, and still winning.

The 'World Cup' Team
West Auckland Town, a small Northern League club, won the 'Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy' in 1909 and 1911, a competition often referred to as the first 'World Cup,' defeating Juventus in the process.

The Goalkeeper Who Scored 5
In a dramatic, yet often overlooked, lower-league match, a goalkeeper not only kept a clean sheet but also managed to score five goals.

Although Erling Haaland has brought home six match balls in a season, the Manchester City striker hasn’t scored more than two hat-tricks in consecutive matches. Get in the bin, Erling!

Towards the end of March, Walton & Hersham’s striker Eddie Simon became the first player ever in the top eight tiers of English football to score four consecutive league hat-tricks.

Simon pulled off this impressive feat in March, against South Park, Chertsey Town, Binfield and Uxbridge in the Isthmian League South Central Division. A dentist by profession, Simon had been unaware there was a record at stake before scoring his third goal against Uxbridge and had signalled to the bench that he wished to come off because of injury. Luckily, he bagged his third before his number went up. Despite his heroics, Simon didn’t get to keep any of the four match balls to which he was entitled, such commemorative souvenirs being far too expensive to be given away in the eighth tier of the pyramid.

Atherstone v Hinckley’s penalty shootout replay
A Midlands Premier League Cup semi-final was abandoned towards the business end of a penalty shootout after a fan encroached on the pitch and allegedly attacked one of the players. Atherstone Town were taking on local rivals Hinckley in the first 'A5 Clasico'” derby for four years and the teams had played out a 1-1 draw, prompting a shootout that was well under way at the Pointons Community Stadium when the referee forced the abandonment after a Hinckley fan invaded the pitch. With the match already played, Birmingham County FA declared that the teams should reconvene to replay the shootout behind closed doors. Despite missing their first two spot-kicks in the rescheduled shootout, Hinckley recovered to book their place against Whitchurch Alport in the final at Walsall’s Bescot.

Jimmy Flanagan