Far from the campaign trail - we're on the road to Bognor Regis (Town FC)...

Ten days ago, along with an astonishing 971 others, I was at Bloomfields, the home of our plucky little non-league football team - the Marketmen of Needham Market - as they played out an incident-packed, and ultimately indecisive, 2-2 draw against fellow title contenders Harlow Town. That meant that the last day of the season would see Needham Market travel to Chatham Town, knowing that a win would see them promoted, regardless of events at Harlow, where Thamesmead Town were the visitors. Any slip up though, and a win for Harlow would condemn the Marketmen to the lottery of the playoffs.

So, a nervy ninety minutes or so in prospect it seemed. Clearly, nobody told the team, as they put the Chats to the sword, romping to a three-nil half-time lead before eventually coming out as five-nil winners. It was tough on Harlow Town, worthy adversaries all season, although some of their rather foul-mouthed supporters whose expletive-laden chanting both at pitch side and in the bar afterwards was out of keeping with our genteel town won't be missed should they fail at the play-off stage.

And so, next season sees the relative footballing big time hit sleepy Needham Market, with teams that people may have heard of looking at a map wondering, "Where the hell is that?". And yes, compared to Dulwich, or Lewes, or Harrow, Needham Market is very small, but visiting teams can expect a warm welcome, friendly locals and a decided lack of aggro. We just don't do that here.

It also means the end of Preliminary Round FA Cup games for the time being - Ryman League Premier Division teams are exempted until the First Round of the Qualifying Competition, which will ease the burden on the squad in the early stages of the season. Best of all, it makes the prospects of reaching the First Round proper that little bit more realistic - dreams of Portsmouth or Luton Town coming to Bloomfields will be slightly less fanciful.

So, Wingate and Finchley, Kingstonian and Burgess Hill Town, Canvey Island and Metropolitan Police, prepare yourselves for the Marketmen. Let the adventure begin...