The first fixtures of the new Arthurian League season have just been released, with all three Saturday sides finding out who they will play in the opening month of the season.

The OHAFC 1st XI, once more under the leadership of Dan Firoozan, will face familiar opposition on the opening day of the season, September 5th, when the Blues travel down to Whitton to face the Old Rugbeians. The two teams have faced each other eight times in Division One over the past four seasons and met in the Dunn Cup last season, the Rugbeians winning 1-0 on their own ground against a depleted Harrow team. In the League, the two teams share remarkably similar records: both have won two, drawn one and lost one of their four home games, the Rugbeians having scored twenty-four goals to Harrow’s twenty-two.

With September 12th taken as a free weekend and the Festiphil tournament on the 19th, that fixture against the Rugbeians is the 1s’ only game in September – a busy next few months surely awaits!

There is no such rest for the 2nd XI however, who are again led by Miles Kellock and Tristan David. The 2s begin with a tricky home fixture against Old Westminsters 2s, who were unfortunate to miss out on promotion last season. Westminsters came to the Hill in late September last season and won 4-2, although the gap in quality between the sides was probably greater than the scoreline suggested.

The following week things don’t get any easier as the 2s face the arduous trip out to Essex to face the Old Brentwoods 2s. The sides last met in the League in the 2023/24 season, the men from Essex running out 6-1 winners in their home game – one of six straight victories for Brentwoods over the OHAFC on their own ground.

Festiphil then allows the 2s a slight breather before another tricky encounter looms at the end of the month, the visit of Berkhamstedians 2s to the Hill. Oddly, in four previous meetings between the teams in Division Three, neither side has yet tasted victory on their own ground, the visitors winning 2-1 on the Hill last season in early October.

Finally, the OHAFC 3rd XI, beginning life back in Division Five under new leadership, make their season bow on September 12th when they host Merchant Taylors 2s on the Hill. Taylors have flirted with introducing a second team for a while now and have finally taken the plunge – as such they will very much be an unknown quantity when they arrive on the Hill. Following Festiphil, the 3s have another home game, this time against more familiar foe, the Old Stoics. Stoics have struggled for the last few seasons and the two teams last met in the autumn of 2022, the two teams bizarrely hammering each other on their own grounds. Nine previous meetings again saw a very even share of the spoils with both sides winning four, losing four and drawing once.

Confirmed details for every fixture will, as usual, be listed on the website as soon as they become available.