There was a chance both Bedford teams could have been playing in National League North next season, but Real came up short in the Southern League Premier Central play-off final, losing 4-2 to Spalding United after extra time.<\/p>\n
They were 2-1 up with just minutes to go, but a debatable penalty enabled Spalding to level the scores and go on to win the game, thereby denying Real – and Sinclair – a fourth successive promotion.<\/p>\n
The result prompted an X post from Town, external<\/a>, which said: “Congratulations to our friends @SpaldingUnited on your promotion to the @NL_Enterprise north. We look forward to welcoming you to The Eyrie next season!”<\/p>\n No local solidarity there then – but Sinclair said: “I have got the utmost respect for Bedford Town. I was there as a player and my dad used to take me to watch them when I was a kid – although I’m a Tottenham fan.”<\/p>\n He continued: “Rivalries are usually wanted by fans. As management and players, there is always that respect because we know how hard it is in football.” <\/p>\n There is a big contrast between the two clubs – both of whom won promotion last season to ensure they would not be in the same non-league tier in 2025-26.<\/p>\n Two years ago, Winkelvoss Capital, owned by billionaire twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, invested $4.5m (about \u00a33.6m) in Real<\/a>, an unheard of sum for a club then four levels below the EFL.<\/p>\n