A VILLAGE football team has lifted the title after an unbeaten league season – while earning praise from a former Premier League referee along the way.

Adderbury Park won the Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Division, picking up three points in 23 of their 26 games, while scoring 110 goals in that process.

The north Oxfordshire side’s incredible form meant they finished the campaign 19 points above second-placed Bicester Hallions.

READ ALSO: U’s chairman on accountability and what went wrong last season

In addition to the league title, Adderbury also picked up the Oxfordshire Senior League Presidents Cup and the Byfield Bethel Cup to complete a treble-winning season.

The club’s chairman, James Collier, heaped praise on manager Ben Lovatt and told this newspaper: “It’s a wonderful achievement and shows the impact that the manager has had.

“He came in during the summer with a new style, playing pressing and attacking football.

“It’s been an unforgettable season with lots of goals, wins and a few trophies as well.

“It’s been brilliant and an honour to watch the side grow and develop, and play brilliant football.”

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Collier added: “We started pre-season quite early, and Ben came in to have a look and watch some training sessions.

“He came in and worked with them, and brought in a few new faces, and worked really hard with the lads.

“It was a talented group with lots of potential but we’ve found a way with Ben where we had a way of playing, and he drove it home.

“One of the games we played was refereed by Dermot Gallagher and he pulled the manager aside afterwards and said that he hadn’t seen a team play like us at this level – that was great praise for the manager.

“Ben is very tactically flexible and will adjust. All the players trust him and it’s paid off.”

Despite the success on the pitch, Adderbury won’t be promoted while work to develop their ground continues.

Collier said: “The hardest thing and most disappointing thing is that we can’t go up while our ground is being developed.

“We had a look at groundsharing but at the minute, we won’t go up to Hellenic Division One so it feels like we’re staying still.

“We’re really trying to keep the group together although we’ll likely to lose one or two because of how well they’ve played, but we’re lucky to keep Ben.

“The aim next season is as much as we can, to get the ground ready.

“It’s something we can grow, not just for the first team but also our four youth teams as that aspect of players coming through is important.”

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About the author

To sign up to Liam’s latest Oxford United newsletter for free, click here: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/newsletters/

Formerly the politics reporter for the Oxford Mail, Liam now covers all things Oxford United.

Liam attends the U’s home and away, as well as covering other big sports stories across the county.

His Oxford United newsletter is released every Saturday morning at 6am.