AFC Portchester set sail into unchartered waters this weekend as their Step 4 adventure sees them take on opposition they have not faced before.
Following their promotion from the Wessex League, the Royals are swapping the coast and countryside trips which mostly made up their Step 5 away days and instead they will be taking in the bright lights of London suburbs for a large number of their trips on the road during the 2025-26 season.
The first such trip comes this Saturday when the Royals head to Bedfont Sports – a club based just to the south east of Heathrow Airport and enjoying an unbeaten return to Step 4 football so far this season.
Bedfont made their return to the Pitching In Isthmian League after winning promotion via a penalty shoot out in the promotion play off final for the Combined Counties Premier Division North at the end of last season.
They first made the jump to Step 4 football in 2018 after finishing runners-up in the Combined Counties League Premier Division. They went close to gaining promotion to Step 3 and were one game away from the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in 2021-22 but they were relegated back to Step 5 in 2023.
The club was formed in 2002 and started out in the Hounslow and District League before gaining promotion to the Middlesex County League. They first joined the Combined Counties League in 2009.
Bedfont have enjoyed a solid start to the campaign, gaining four points from their first two league games and they currently sit in fifth place in the South Central Division table.
They have got past Guernsey and Kingstonian in the FA Cup so far this season to set up a home tie against Littlehampton Town in the First Qualifying Round next weekend.
Bedfont describe their Recreation Ground home as one of the best facilities not only in Middlesex but the south of England, boasting a 3G pitch and stands on all four sides of the ground containing over 750 seats.
The Royals go into this game ninth in the table and looking to extend their unbeaten away record for league games further – after victory at Fareham it now stands at 20 games, with 18 of those as victories.
