Carlton Town

Reasons To Adopt

Here is the argument for Carlton Town: England, England FA Trophy, and a ground called Bill Stokeld Stadium Gedling, Nottinghamshire, England. A second team should give you something your first one cannot, and this is a different country's whole weather system.

• Easy weekend

  East Midlands Airport (EMA) is about 24km from the ground, and Gedling and Carlton railway station is 1km closer still. A home fixture is a genuinely doable two-night trip.

• The calendar you inherit

  England FA Trophy is cold-weather football: mud in February, breath visible under the lights, and a fixture list that rewards anyone who sticks it out. England does not do easy neutrals.

• Old enough to matter

  1904 is the founding date, old enough that the club has survived a war, a rebuild and at least one financial scare, young enough that the good years are still in living memory.

• Nothing won, everything to play for

  No major honours on record, which means every cup run is uncharted territory and every promotion feels like a coronation.