Football rivalry about to get real in Bedford

Adams, Brown, Bunton, Chisholm and Halliwell might sound like a central defensive three with two wing-backs, but they are not. As the Spice Girls, they once sang about how two can become one and that might have been true of local rivals Bedford Town and Real Bedford. In January last year, the two clubs began talks about a merger but it did not happen and they continued into the 2025-26 season as separate entities.

Now they are set to meet on the pitch for the first time since Bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack bought the former Bedford FC in 2021, turned them into Real, and outlined plans to establish an English Football League club in his home town. There will be no league points at stake in the Bedfordshire County Cup final, now confirmed for Friday, 24 July at Town's The Eyrie ground, but it will be a chance to finally see how the two teams measure up against each other on the pitch. When the date was recently confirmed by the county Football Association, Real were quick to brand the game the 'Battle Of Bedfordshire' on social media.

"It'll be an exciting occasion. It's something everyone in Bedford has wanted to see for some time," Real Bedford manager Rob Sinclair told BBC Sport. "It's going to have a different feel because the final usually happens just after a season has ended, so the personnel might have changed a little bit by then.

"It'll be weird to have a cup final during pre-season but hopefully, because it's been moved to the Friday night, people will come out and we'll have a good crowd. " Real just miss out on fourth promotion There was a chance both Bedford teams could have been playing in National League North next season, but Real came up short in the Southern League Premier Central play-off final, losing 4-2 to Spalding United after extra time. They were 2-1 up with just minutes to go, but a debatable penalty enabled Spalding to level the scores and go on to win the game, thereby denying Real - and Sinclair - a fourth successive promotion.