Sunday League Living: Lancashire Sunday Football League, Division 4

Words: Joseph Gudgeon

Images: Joseph Gudgeon

When I was 14/15 I used to play for a men’s football team called Ace Engineering. We initially played our home games on Moor Park in the shadow of Preston North End’s Deepdale ground.

Preston North End were only one of four league teams at the time to have a plastic pitch. The local council held the lease for the ground and hired out the pitch for various sporting events.

We ended up playing our home games on Saturday evenings at Deepdale. We would get changed in a portakabin behind the old Town End. It was surreal following in the footsteps of our heroes (PNE) who we’d been supporting on the terraces only a few hours earlier!

Sliding tackles on that surface were something to behold and many still bear the scars today. At full-time you would empty your trainers of all the grit and sand. A mini replica of the Sahara Desert would start to appear by your feet!

I think this experience of grassroots football has stood me in good stead for my photo documentary which features Div 4 of the Lancashire Sunday Football League. The majority of teams play their matches on Preston’s parks and various recreational grounds in the surrounding areas.