Glapwell FC (England)

Glapwell are a relatively new club, formed as recently as 1985 in the Derbyshire village of Glapwell - only five miles from Mansfield and seven miles from Chesterfield. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, it became a thriving pit village during the industrial revolution, although when the pit closed in 1974 nearly all employment left the settlement, and now people mostly work in the two aforementioned towns. however. Glapwell - or The Well as they are known to their fans - commemorate the mining tradition of the town by both playing in the black and white stripes usually beloved of pit teams, and featuring a davy lamp on their club crest.

Currently members of the Northern Premier League Division One South - or The Evostick League as its gluely sponsor would prefer you to call it - they played for most of their short history at the minimal Hall Corner ground in the north of the village - a proper small-town facility holding up to 1500 punters. However, after their gentle rise up the league pyramid began to clash with the new exacting league stipulations, it was required that they either improved their ground or made other arrangements. The latter alternative saw an unexpected turn when the club convinced Conference Premier team Mansfield Town to let them use their hefty 10,000 capacity Field Mill ground for home games from the 2010/11 season onwards.

Their rise up the leagues from plucky village faves to a pretty decent level of league was both quick and surprising. The brainchild of local businessman Roger Caton and his wife Ellen, they started out in the parish leagues of Derbyshire, and had already notched up a couple of league and cup wins before they were accepted into the Central Midland League and gained a much sought after place in the pyramid in 1989. Each of the next three seasons saw them earn successive promotions, and from there they gradually climbed their way up to the NPL with very limited resources.

But they have one other claim to fame. That popular, mulleted former England star may have started his footballing career at a team from a small pit town playing in black and white stripes - Tow Law Town - but he also felt compelled to end it at another - Glapwell, for who he kicked his final competative ball in 2002. I believe he played for some other team in black and white stripes somewhere in between, but for the moment I can't for the life of me recall who it might be...

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Pollok FC (Scotland)

Pollok are a Scottish Junior side from the Glasgow suburb of Newlands. But they're not a youth side - in Scotland the Junior game is roughly equivilent to the English non-league set up bellow the Conference level. And as such it is a fiercely contested and well-attended corner of the game. And as far as the Junior league go, Pollok are among the biggest teams.

They regularly draw crowds in excess of 550, which may not sound a lot to you, but is still much higher than many teams in the Scottish Second Division, even though they play in the SJFA Stagecoach Superleague Premier League, effectively the fifth tier of the Scottish game. They formed in 1908, but did little of any great note until 1967, when their nearby neighbours Third Lanark disbanded and they took on many of their fans. This extra input eventually urged them on to their first Central League title in 1979 - and went on to win it eight times in total. They've also won the prestigious Junior Cup on three occasions. After a league restructuring they went on to win the new West Premier League a further four times.

They play their home games at the nicely terraced 4000 capacity Newlandsfield Park ground on the south side of Glasgow, where they've been based since 1928. Their many former ground have included Haggs Park on the Pollok estate, Roseberry Park and the rather delightfully named Queen Mary Tea Gardens at Spiersbridge. You'd definitely have wanted to have put that down on your list of grounds that you'd attended!

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Tow Law Town (England)

Tow Law is a small town in the A68 in County Durham whose most recent claim to fame was as the site where most of the North East's diseased cattle were disposed of down a disused pit on the edge of town during the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak. However the town's football club has brought a good deal of good times to the area to make them forget about the pong.

Formed in 1890 as simply Tow Law (because they weren't big enough to be considered a town at the time), they were founder members of the Auckland District League two years later. They currently play in the Northern League - the ninth tier in English football - which they first joined in 1894, and have stayed there pretty much ever since, winning the title in 1924, 1925 and 1995. But it is as a cup team that they are perhaps best remembered.

They had a great run in the 1967/68 FA Cup, where after beating Mansfield a superb 5-1 in the first round proper, they drew 1-1 with Shrewsbury in the second. The third round draw, held before the replay at Gay Meadow, caused much excitement in Tow Law as they drew Arsenal at home, but unfortunately Shrewsbury spoiled what would have been the biggest day in the town's history by hammering them 6-2 in the replay. But they did get to Wembley, for the 1998 FA Vase final, where after a battling game they lost 1-0 to Tiverton Town.

They play, as they always have at the 3000 capcity Ironworks Road ground, a pitch that has been graced by some footballing royalty. Leicester City star Steve Howard started his career there, but more impressively, the bemulleted England star Chris Waddle also began his immense footballing journey with The Lawyers back in 1978.

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AS Biellese 1902 (Italy)

Associazione Sportiva Biellese 1902 are a small italian club based in the equally small Italian town of Biella, which nestles in the foothills of the Alps, not far from the country's border with Switzerland. As with many such settlements in the Alpine area, the town was once famous for its wool, as the region's mountain pastures and ready water supply made for easy production of the much sought after fabric. To this day, many of the buildings and monuments still to be seen there.

The club, as their name suggests, were formed in 1902, and currently play in the A Division of Serie D - the fifth level of the Italian footballing pyramid. Despite it only being five steps down, the pyramid has fanned out so far by that point that there are a total of 166 clubs involved in its various regional divisions. They had a brief flirtation with the fourth tier in 2009 when they won the A Division, but sadly bounced stright back down from the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.

They play their home games in the expansive Stadio Lamarmora - Vittorio Pozzo, which can hold 3800 football loving visitors. And despite it being one of those municipal multi-sports areas with a big running track around it, the ground is situated in such a lovely spot that it would be a shame not to pay it a visit if ever you found yourself in this remote but beautiful neck of the woods.

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Askern Villa FC (England)

Completely unconnected to their near-namesakes from the West Midlands, this Villa come from the South Yorkshire spa town of Askern. And of course, they don't play in the claret and blue either, electing to keep the much more agreeable black and white stripes that they adopted when they were formed as Askern Welfare back in 1924.

Indeed, the Villa suffix is only a very recent addition to their name, coming as recently as 2008. That year they became champions of the Central Midland League Supreme Division, gaining promotion to the big time of the Northern Counties East League Division One - the tenth level of English football. With such a major leap in rank they decided to celebrate with a name more in keeping, and chose to change it to their current puntastic appelation. Whether it was done in all seriousnes or with their tongues slightly in their cheeks is unknown - but it's kind of cute whichever way you look at it.

Retaining at least one link with their past, they play their home games at the town's Welfare Ground - which is considered to be one of the best facilities in the whole Doncaster area... although I'm quite sure they've considered changing it's name to something more apt to their new name - like Welfare Park, perhaps.

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Club Social y Deportivo La Emilia (Argentina)

Club Social y Deportivo, or the Sports and Social Club come from the small Argentinian town of La Emilia, about 160 miles up river from the capital Buenos Aires. They play in the Torneo Argentino B, one of two leagues that make up the fourth tier of the country's football. La Emilia have won their regional provincial title, the Liga Nicoleña de Fútbol, a tasty seventeen times.

The club formed in 1930, and play at the 6000 capacity Estadio Jacinto Gato Lopez, and go by the nickname of The Drapers, as when they formed they were effectively the works side of a major textiles factory in the area. There was some fear in the area back in 1985 when the factory was sold off and subsequently closed, but the great efforts of local town councilors, businessmen and the fans themselves helped keep the club - a major source of pride for the town - up and running as a competative footballing concern.

Since that  day, the club has operated as a non-profit sports society, working with the town to keep the locals fit, healthy and entertained and helping, as they say, to "capture children and young people away from the evils of society." As a club they are owned by the town and are at the very heart of the local community. The results on the pitch almost don't matter when a club holds such importance to the very fabric of a town - although the rabid support of their fans certainly helps them out along the winning trail. Long may they thrive.



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Coalville Town FC (England)

Coalville are based in the appropriately named mining town in Leicestershire. They were formed in 1926 as Ravenstone Miner's Athletic, one of many miner's teams to come from the vilage of Ravenstone - hence their nickname The Ravens. They pottered around in the district and county leagues for most of their history, but started doing so well in the late 1980s, that in 1991 they were invited to join the First Division of the Leicestershire Senior League. But one of the stipulations of promotions was that they had to have floodlights installed, and the local council took against this idea and flatly refused to grant them planning permission.

But the club weren't going to stand for such nimbyism and prompty upped sticks and shifted the whole operation to nearby Coalville instead, who welcomed them with open arms. And success in their new home came quickly. In only their second season they gained promotion to the Premier Division, an achievement they immediately emulatedm winning each division, and working their way up the Midland Alliance, the ninth tier of English football, where they play their football today.

Their home pitch is at the 2000 capacity Owen Street Sports Ground, which has seen some interesting times in their short time there. Perhaps the most exciting was in 2004, when they entered the FA Cup for the first time in their history. Starting in the Extra Preliminary Round - the very first stage of the competition - they worked their way though the qualifying rounds until they were beaten by Wycombe Wanderers in the first round proper. This incredible journey made them only the second club in the cup's history to achieve this feat.

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