Boreham Wood stand one victory away from reaching the English Football League for the first time in the club's history. The non-league side face Rochdale at Wembley on Sunday, with a place in the Football League the prize for whichever club wins.
The fixture has drawn attention well beyond Hertfordshire. Writing in the Guardian, a veteran foreign correspondent recalls riding the club's team bus some fifty years ago during a gap year spent reporting for the Borehamwood and Elstree Post, and describes the coming match as something that will leave him "somewhat possessed" — even from his current home in Argentina, seven thousand miles away.
The piece is a reminder of how much weight a club of Boreham Wood's size can carry for those who passed through its orbit. The Wood have spent the majority of their existence in non-league football, operating in the shadow of north London's larger clubs and in a borough better known for the film studios at Elstree than for its football pedigree. Reaching the Football League would represent a transformation in the club's standing.
Boreham Wood currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of English football and the final step before the Football League's fourth division. Promotion from this level is decided not through the regular table alone but via the play-offs, and Sunday's final at Wembley is the culmination of that process. Rochdale, a club with a longer history inside the Football League's lower divisions, provide the opposition.
For a club of Boreham Wood's resources and history, simply arriving at Wembley for a promotion final is a considerable achievement. Whether they take the final step remains to be seen when the two sides meet on Sunday.