AMPTHILL

HOLDING UP his phone, match-day doctor Will Allingham is showing us a picture of himself in Ampthill kit from when he was nine. Now working in Coventry and as team medic for the Blaze professional ice hockey team as well, the young doc – “Yeah, I do hear quite a bit that doctors are getting younger these days!” – was invited back to the club by chairman and family friend Alex Radley when the side stepped up into the Greene King IPA Championship and had to meet certain medical standards to compete.

We are in Ampthill for a Championship Cup fixture against Ealing. This is a club where you hear the word ‘community’ uttered over and over. So many fans sport badges with it embroidered on. Locals proudly talk of the thriving minis and youth section. A cursory look at the ‘teams’ tab on the club website shows the vast number of sides turning out in claret