FC Lions

F.C. Lions are a Sunday League Football team from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Founded in season 2013/2014, the team came 6th in it's maiden season. A collossal title battle followed the next season with Lions being pipped to the crown by Astro 92. Nevethertheless promotion was achieved.

2015/2016 saw Lions lead at the top of the standings all season until back-to-back losses against Beaconsfield Arms in the final two games, saw the latter lift the title by a solitary point with Lions finishing runners up once more.

Lions then took a season's sabbatical in 2016/2017 when manager Will Carter was unable to commit due to work commitments before returning in 2017/2018 and finishing runners up to a very good FCS side.

2018/2019 saw Lions compete in Division 2 for the first time, achieving a 6th place finish, but reaching the final of the Divisional Subsidiary Cup, where they eventually went down 2-1 to FC Beaconsfield Reserves.

2019/20 saw Lions on course for a runners up position in the league, whilst still mathematically being able to win the league, with just 2 games left - it was unlikely as table toppers Trix only needed a solitary point in their last 2 games, before the Coronavirus pandemic swept across the world, curtailing Grassroots football. Lions were also in the semi final of the High Wycombe Combination Cup, due to face Cendon House. With victories home and away in the League over Crendon already, it was expected Lions would progress to the Final where one of Trix or AFC Liberal would've awaited. Nevertheless the season was declared null and void, and all results voided.

2020/21 was a season of rebuilding for Lions, with the emergence of FC Marlow & REOC in the Combination - Lions lost a number of players, and a huge rebuild process was undertaken. Unsuprisingly Lions struggled for results in the Premier Division as a result and was embroiled in a relegation battle up until the season once more was declared null & void.

### 2021/2022 — The First and Only Relegation

The 2021/2022 season proved to be an unfortunate chapter in FC Lions' history, as the club experienced its **first and, to date, only relegation**.

Lions eventually finished bottom of a revised Division One, recording just **three wins from 18 league games**. However, the final league position did not necessarily tell the full story of the campaign. Of the club's 15 defeats, **six came by a single goal**, highlighting just how many of the matches could have gone differently.

One of the defining characteristics of the season was Lions' tendency to **score the opening goal**, only to struggle to maintain their advantage. A combination of a lack of fitness and a noticeable shortage of quality ultimately meant that Lions were repeatedly unable to hold onto leads, before eventually conceding and succumbing to defeat.

Will Carter had assembled a squad with one primary objective: **to keep the club alive**. However, a distinct lack of genuine quality and goals throughout the team proved costly across the season.

Despite the disappointment, Lions finished the campaign with something positive to build upon. **Two victories in the final three games** provided a much-needed lift and, as it turned out, helped lay the foundations for what would follow.

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# 2022/2023 — The Season the Tide Turned

2022/2023 was the season when everything changed.

FC Lions finally became **League Champions**, doing so in arguably the most impressive manner possible.

Lions played **18 league matches in Division Three**, winning **16 and drawing two**, meaning they completed the campaign **unbeaten**. They finished **eight points clear of Burnham Village**, scoring a remarkable **81 goals** while conceding just **18**.

It was a dominant campaign from start to finish.

Will Carter had once again teamed up with **Paul Slatter**, and the pair became a driving force behind the scenes as Lions powered their way towards the title.

The numbers were historic. Lions' **points-per-game record** and their record for the **fewest goals conceded** both broke Division Three records based on historical 18-game seasons.

**James Przybylak** finished as the club's leading goalscorer and formed a devastating attacking partnership with **Mark Slatter** and **Ross Shearer**. Between them, the trio scored an incredible **43 goals**, while **Marcus Mealing** added a further 12.

Carter's famous **"entertainers"** were back.

This time, they were champions — and they did it without losing a single league game.

**Full league results:** [FC Lions 2022/2023 Full League Results](https://fulltime.thefa.com/displayTeam.html?divisionseason=310964367&teamID=722077146&utm_source=chatgpt.com)

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# 2023/2024 — Incredible Highs and Desperate Lows

The 2023/2024 season would prove to be one of the most eventful and complicated seasons in FC Lions' history.

It was a campaign of **incredible highs and desperate lows**, while also marking the end of **Will Carter's reign as manager**.

Carter made the decision to step down following the final game of the season, choosing to prioritise his attention on the footballing journeys of his two young sons, **Finley and Keegan**, who had both begun playing football towards the end of the campaign.

However, to fully understand the rivalry that developed throughout this season with **Great Brittan United**, it is important to go back to the final stages of the previous campaign.

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## The Creation of FC Lions II

Towards the end of the 2022/2023 season, FC Lions had expanded into **two teams**.

Following **Paul Slatter's** arrival as Will Carter's number two, the role of **Craig Wright** had diminished somewhat. Although the three worked well together, Wright's responsibilities had increasingly become centred around **first aid and overseeing the warm-up**, rather than having significant involvement in match-day decisions.

At the same time, the Lions squad was growing, with more and more players wanting regular opportunities to play.

The solution was to create a reserve side.

Shortly after Christmas, **FC Lions II** was established, with **Craig Wright** appointed as manager.

The initial purpose of the side was straightforward: to give Lions' excess and squad players a game every week, while also providing the club with a natural opportunity to expand.

Wright subsequently began recruiting additional players. Among the first were **Ollie Brittan and Toby Brittan**, along with a handful of their friends.

FC Lions II performed well in terms of results towards the end of the season. However, behind the scenes, the original purpose of the side gradually began to change.

Increasing numbers of players known to **Ollie Brittan** were brought into the squad, while some of the original FC Lions players — the very players the reserve side had initially been created to accommodate — were gradually replaced.

What had originally been intended as an extension of FC Lions was beginning to develop into something rather different.

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## The Marcus Mealing Incident

One particular incident would create significant unrest behind the scenes and ultimately help set the tone for the split that followed at the end of the season.

**FC Lions captain Marcus Mealing** was faced with a choice between playing for the first team in an important **Cup Quarter-Final against Denham United**, or playing for FC Lions II in a Division Four league fixture that had little significance.

Mealing chose to play for FC Lions II.

His reasoning was that he **"wanted to play for his mates."**

As a result, he failed to turn up for the first team's Cup Quarter-Final against Denham United, a match Lions would eventually lose **2–3**.

Carter responded by **stripping Mealing of the captaincy** and demoting him to FC Lions II for the remainder of the season.

The incident became an important turning point in the relationships within the club and would have significant consequences in the months that followed.

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# The Birth of Great Brittan United

At the end of the season, **Ollie Brittan created Great Brittan United**.

Together with **Marcus Mealing**, Brittan set about assembling an extraordinary squad of high-quality, well-known and highly reputable Saturday League players, many of whom were known to Mealing.

On paper, the resulting squad was arguably the **strongest team ever assembled in the history of the High Wycombe Sunday Football Combination**.

What made the situation even more remarkable was the calibre of some of the players recruited.

A significant number were signed from **Ascot United**, who had won the **FA Vase Final at Wembley in May**.

[BBC Sport — Ascot United win the FA Vase at Wembley](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65664375?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Many of those same players would go on to line up against FC Lions in September.

It was a remarkable turnaround — players who had been competing at Wembley in the FA Vase final in May were now being recruited by Great Brittan United and would soon be facing Lions in the High Wycombe Sunday Football Combination.

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# The Dan Hunt Dispute

During pre-season, Great Brittan United requested the registration of **Dan Hunt**, a player who had already signed for FC Lions.

Will Carter responded with a cheeky comment regarding the absence of a transfer fee, making a tongue-in-cheek reference to the idea that a player of Dan's quality would, in the professional game, command a transfer fee.

The remark was intended as a joke.

However, the Brittan camp did not see it that way.

Instead, Great Brittan United reported FC Lions to the League, claiming that Lions were attempting to demand a transfer fee, which was against the League's rules.

This would become the first of a number of complaints and disputes involving Great Brittan United and FC Lions.

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# The League Committee Dispute

Another important part of the story occurred during the summer, when **Will Carter fell out of favour with the League Committee**.

Following Lions' outstanding unbeaten championship campaign in Division Three, Carter believed the club should progress through the divisions **one promotion at a time**.

His view was that, having won Division Three, Lions should be promoted into the next division and given the opportunity to continue their development naturally.

However, other members of the Committee believed Lions' unbeaten championship campaign justified **double promotion**.

The disagreement continued throughout the summer.

Eventually, with the new season approaching, the League — under the leadership of **Trevor Saunders** — changed the constitution at the **11th hour**.

The decision ultimately resulted in FC Lions being placed in the **top division**, where they would immediately face Great Brittan United.

GBU had already been accepted into the top division, with it being common knowledge that they were planning to assemble a squad packed with high-quality players.

Interestingly, however, Great Brittan United began pre-season — and even their opening league fixture — with a relatively modest group of what could be described as **ordinary Sunday League players**.

That was about to change.

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# Great Brittan United's Nightmare Start

Great Brittan United's opening fixture came against **Hazlemere Sports**.

The match was played at the historic and prestigious home of **Marlow FC**, a venue the Brittans had secured that week because their equally prestigious intended home at **Bisham Abbey** was unavailable.

What followed was the shock result of the opening weekend.

**Hazlemere Sports 4–1 Great Brittan United.**

The result immediately raised eyebrows.

Great Brittan United had ambitions of becoming the latest **"YouTube team"**, and had enlisted a high-quality production team to document the club.

Unfortunately for them, that production team was now capturing one of the worst possible starts to life for the newly formed side.

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# Gameweek Two — FC Lions vs Great Brittan United

Just one week later, the League produced what could only be described as a **"Committee's dream"**.

FC Lions were drawn against Great Brittan United in a mouth-watering first meeting between the two clubs.

Following their 4–1 defeat to Hazlemere, Great Brittan United reacted by bringing in a huge number of new players.

By the time they arrived to face Lions, **nine of Great Brittan's starting players had featured for Ascot United in the FA Vase Final at Wembley only a few months earlier**.

Those players had been signed almost daily during the week leading up to the match, following GBU's opening-day defeat.

The transformation was extraordinary.

Great Brittan United arrived with a team that, on paper, appeared almost impossible to beat.

Yet FC Lions did not simply roll over.

Lions produced an **incredibly valiant and courageous performance** against a side that had suddenly assembled an extraordinary level of talent.

With 25 minutes remaining, Lions were still within touching distance at **2–1**.

Ultimately, fitness and the quality available to Great Brittan United told in the final stages, and GBU eventually ran out **4–1 winners**.

Despite the result, Carter's men had given an extremely strong account of themselves against a team that had effectively transformed its squad within the space of a week.

**Full match details:** [FC Lions vs Great Brittan United — Gameweek Two](https://fulltime.thefa.com/displayFixture.html?id=25338754&utm_source=chatgpt.com)

And, in many ways, this was only the beginning.