The National League campaign kicked off last weekend, with several teams making winning starts to the 2025/26 season.
One of those victorious teams in the fifth-tier’s opening game weekend was newly promoted Brackley Town, who recorded a 1-0 win over Eastleigh courtesy of a Shane Byrne penalty.
The result was a good start for a team and club that have worked hard to climb the English football pyramid, especially for a team making their debut in the fifth tier.
Brackley finally won promotion in season 2024/25
A victory in the National League has been a long time coming for the Saints. Town won the National League North title last season, having finished in the play-off spots in six of their previous seven seasons.
In fact, Brackley were play-off finalists in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons before their eventual triumph in the 2024/25 season. Everybody associated with the Northamptonshire club must have thought that they were never going to win promotion.
However, the players and management kept believing, and their perseverance eventually paid off, as Brackley finally won promotion to the English fifth tier for the first time.
Climbing up the league pyramid
Although Brackley was founded in 1890, they didn’t join the Hellenic League until the 1977/78 season. Previously, Town had played in the Oxfordshire League and the amateur North Bucks & District Football League.
It was when Brackley joined the Hellenic League Division One that the long slog of climbing the English football pyramid began for the Saints.
Brackley spent six seasons in Division One, finishing in the top seven of the table in their last four seasons in the division. Town joined the Counties League Division One ahead of the 1983/84 season. They were immediately successful, winning the title while suffering just two defeats in their 30 league matches.
The promotion led to Brackley playing in the United Counties League Premier Division. Town spent ten largely unsuccessful years in the division, mostly struggling. In seasons 1992/93 and 1993/94, Brackley finished rock bottom of the division.
The 1994/95 campaign saw a return to the Hellenic League. However, this time Brackley were playing in the Hellenic Football League Premier Division. After a 14th-place finish in their debut campaign, Town finished second and eventually claimed the title in their third season in the division.
Winning the title meant that Brackley would be playing their football in the Southern Football League Midland Division for the 1997/98 season. They would spend just one season in the division before moving to the Southern Football League Southern Division for the following campaign.
It would prove to be an ill-fated move of divisions, as Town finished bottom of the table in the 1998/99 season. After five seasons back in the Hellenic Premier Division, Brackley won promotion to the Southern Football League Western Division.
In the 2006/07 season, Town won the Southern Football League Division One Midlands title, which saw them move up to the Southern Football League Premier Division.
They spent five seasons in the Premier Division until season 2011/12 when they were crowned champions and won promotion to the sixth tier. Firstly, they played in the Conference North for three seasons before the division was rebranded the National League North ahead of the 2015/16 season.
Brackley actually thrived in the sixth tier, where they only finished outside the league’s top seven positions in 13 seasons in the division. This, of course, led to Town winning the title last season and to where they are today in the fifth tier.
A Brackley promotion charge wouldn’t be a massive surprise
Brackley winning their opening game in the National League is not an enormous surprise, as they have tremendous momentum from last season’s title-winning campaign.
Boss Gavin Cowan has stated that his team have now “set a standard” for the rest of the campaign, winning their National League opener.
Considering the consistency that the Saints have shown in recent seasons, it wouldn’t be a massive surprise if they mount a promotion charge this season too.
However, for now, everybody connected with the Northamptonshire club will be happy that Town have made a winning start to the campaign, and will hope that there is more to come from their team for the remainder of the season.
Matt Tomiak