Flowers and Stone enjoy return to Brocton
Non-league stars turned Premier League hopefuls Aidan Stone and Harry Flowers returned to Brocton last night as their former club played host to Burnley.
The pair both made the jump from the Midland League Badgers to the top flight Clarets last season but were back on familiar turf to face their old team-mates in a pre-season friendly.
Anthony Juxon headed the hosts into an early lead but it was the visitors, fielding an under-23 team, who ran out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Jamie Thomas, Harry Limb and Khius Metz. The game was arranged as part of the deal which saw Flowers, the grandson of Wolves legend and World Cup winner Ron, move to Turf Moor in March.
England under-18 goalkeeper Stone made the same journey a few weeks later and both are now part of the Premier League club’s under-23 squad.
Flowers said: “It was nice to come back and see some old faces. Brocton is a friendly club with good facilities and I really enjoyed my time here.”
Brocton, who play in Division One of the Midland League, the sixth tier of non-league football, are set for another big occasion today when Ron Flowers opens the club’s new hospitality suite.
The facility has been built at a cost of £150,000 thanks to grants from Sport England and the Football Stadia Improvement Fund.
