Trailblazing owners and ex-Premier League stars: Meet Maldon & Tiptree, the eighth-tier club ready to 'cause an absolute stir' in Emirates FA Cup
Updated 01/11/2025 at 16:39 GMT
Maldon & Tiptree are far from your average Emirates FA Cup underdogs. Sitting pitchside at the Drewitt-Barlow Stadium, one of the only Tesla Cybertrucks in the UK. Plastered on its side, a huge emblem of the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition. The story behind this eighth-tier club is remarkable, and they head to Port Vale on Sunday looking for a major, historic upset.
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"They think they're going to be up against an eighth-tier Sunday league team. On Sunday, the 2nd of November, we're going to cause an absolute stir at Port Vale."
The overwhelming feeling of defiance emanating from Scott Drewitt-Barlow could convince even the most cynical of pessimists.
Next to him, his husband, Barrie, admits to knowing not much about football. So to him, the idea of his eighth-tier club - Maldon & Tiptree - upsetting a League One side in the Emirates FA Cup on Sunday was simply unfathomable, but he's coming round to the idea.
Barrie and Scott completed their takeover of 'The Jammers' in February. Eight months later - their first full season as football club owners - they prepare for one of the biggest matches in Maldon & Tiptree's history, as the lowest-ranked team to make the first-round proper.
One quick glimpse at their squad list tells you this is anything but the typical story of a plucky non-league team: Former West Ham striker Freddie Sears; Macauley Bonne, who was playing Championship football just three seasons ago, and Celtic cult hero Gary Hooper (who is, unfortunately, injured).
TNT Sports spent an evening at the Drewitt-Barlow Stadium to catch a glimpse of the feeling ahead of their historic cup tie, and believe us when we say it is a club operating quite like no other.
'I owe a lot to the community'
Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and his ex-husband Tony became the first gay couple in the UK to become the legal parents of children through surrogacy. By winning a landmark legal case, the two successful businessmen would have "parent one" and "parent two" on the birth certificates of their twins - Aspen and Saffron - a historic moment in the movement for same-sex parenting.
"If that hadn't happened, a million gay men around the world wouldn't have their kids right now," Barrie tells TNT Sports.
"Because not only did we become the first same-sex couple in the UK to actually have our children from surrogacy, we were the first couple in the world to change the laws on surrogacy and same-sex parenting."
It took years of legal battles for Barrie to make that breakthrough. And without the resources from his various business ventures, it would simply not have been possible.
That is why Barrie, who arrived in Maldon 30 years ago from Manchester with "£20 in my pocket", feels indebted to the community - culminating in his purchase of Maldon & Tiptree earlier this year.
"I'm ready now to be back here full-time and part of the journey for me is engaging with the community that helped me grow my business," he says.
"But it also helped me start my family because if I hadn't had the opportunities that I did here in Maldon, I would never have had what I've got now, and I certainly wouldn't have had my kids because I wouldn't have had the money behind me to go off and do it.
"So for me, you know, I owe a lot to the community here and, for me, the completing of that journey is for me to come back, die here, but leave something behind - the Drewitt-Barlow stadium."
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Barrie and Scott Drewitt-Barlow with Emirates FA Cup trophy - Credit: OMZ Media
Image credit: From Official Website
Football is a new environment for Barrie. Less so for his husband, Scott, who has always had a vested interest. Football club ownership, though, has met him with some harsh realities.
"Yeah, it's just been absolute tired nights, hasn't it?" Scott says. "It's quite a different world when you're growing up and watching it on TV, you don't see the actual ins and outs of how football clubs actually run.
"It's not until you actually dive into it and you see it and you think, well, there's actually so much more to just watching it and being a manager on your sofa thinking you can run an entire football club. It's endless meetings with players, coaches and all kinds of things."
But there is no sign of teething issues. Top of the Isthmian North, average attendances are more than five times what they were attracting pre-takeover, with a feel-good energy reverberating from the brand-new clubhouse, through to the renovated dressing room and to the immaculate surface on which the squad are training on a cold, but fresh Thursday evening.
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Maldon and Tiptree branded Tesla Cybertruck at Drewitt-Barlow Stadium - Credit: OMZ Media
Image credit: From Official Website
Barrie's enjoyment of the project so far is evident, but he has a clear succession plan for the medium term.
"I'm helping these guys set it up, so for my partner Scott, I want him to have something that he's good at and he can do," Barrie says. "He's not relying on me.
"My son Aspen is an avid football supporter. His wife's a medical student; she finishes her course this year, so they're moving back full-time as well. So he'll be here as the CEO.
"I'm just, as they say on social media, the gobby, bleach blonde t***."
'People are playing for their mortgages'
"That pitch is like a stage," Barrie says. "If your stage has got cr** actors or dancers on it, people are just going to walk out. If you don't like a meal in a restaurant, you don't go back. It's the same here."
Many players at Maldon & Triptree's level play on non-contract terms, or non-committal deals, which often result in a sizeable squad turnover throughout the season.
"I didn't want that," Barrie says. "I like continuity, I want continuity. I want them to feel like they're secure in their job. I brought them in on contracts and I've guaranteed them a job for at least a year, some of them two."
That level of investment and ambition has been reflected in the club's ability to attract many players who have played at a much higher level than the eighth-tier.
Take former Charlton, QPR and Ipswich Town striker Bonne as an example. Just five months ago, he helped Southend United all the way to the National League play-off final. Just five years ago, he was sold to QPR from Charlton for £2 million.
Having seen his Southend contract expire in the summer, his future was shrouded in uncertainty - until The Jammers came calling.
"Last year I was being messed around by other clubs and being promised the world and again the same thing happened this summer," Bonne says. "[At] Southend, I thought I was getting a new contract there and didn't.
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Macauley Bonne of Southend United reacts during the Vanarama National League Playoff Final between Oldham Athletic and Southend United
Image credit: Getty Images
"It got to a point where I thought, 'Do I just stop playing?' Because it was getting so late.
"I got to the point where I've played at Wembley Stadium, I've played from my hometown, I've got the million-pound move, played in the Championship, and hit the 100-goal mark. I'm like, 'If I were to retire now, I'd retire happy'.
"I never ever thought I'd do that, being from a little council estate in Ipswich, like that doesn't happen to people like me. For me, where I was brought up, I'm not saying it's a bad area, just born in a council estate, kicking balls on the wall in the garden."
That is why Bonne, who recently celebrated his 30th birthday, had no issue with dropping down a few tiers.
"I had a League Two side who were really interested in me, but it was almost like, 'What would I gain when I was 30 years old, moving to like a League Two side'. Money aside, yeah, it's playing league football again, but I'm on 440 career appearances, I've broken the 100 career goal barrier.
"There's no harm. Take the hit, drop a few levels. It's proper football. People out here are playing for their mortgages. They're playing to get paid to support their families, and you can see it really hurt when we lost [to Felixstowe and Walton] the other day.
"It's real football here. I'm playing for my family like to help my family and, and all them boys in there, you can see it really when we win a game, you can see what it means to us. Now moving on to the weekend, it's huge.
"And honestly, there are boys there who haven't had the chance to play at a League One club or in that first round of the FA Cup, and now it's massive, for the occasion, for the boys and the whole club.
"My one goal is to get this club out of this league, and no matter what, what league you're in, to be getting out of the Championship, of the Premier League or get out of this league today. It's on your CV that you've got a promotion, and when I retire, I can look at that."
With a vast amount of EFL experience in their squad, Sunday's trip to Vale Park - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - will likely not overawe Maldon & Tiptree. Bonne himself was particularly bullish about the task.
"I feel an upset coming, I do," he declares. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, working on his laptop opposite, lets out a wry laugh.
"The young boys, it'll give them a taste of the level and I really think we've got some exciting young talent here who are going to be able to get on TV. A lot of boys have done that before. I'm excited like I'm an 18-year-old kid again."
Sharp-shooting Sears
Over 17 years ago, Freddie Sears enjoyed a dream debut for West Ham United, scoring off the bench in their 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers. He went on to make 58 appearances for The Hammers and enjoyed a fruitful career in the EFL, notably with Ipswich and Colchester United.
He was one of the noteworthy names to come through the door following the Drewitt-Barlow takeover, and has been seismic in his side's strong start to the season - notching four goals in the four qualifying rounds while hitting a further 10 in the league.
"Obviously, there are a lot of big names in the team and the squad in the summer that got put together was really exciting," Sears says. "With Barrie and Scott's help and the manager Kevin [Horlock], knowing a lot of the boys helped as well, so there wasn't really a bedding-in period."
Sears' side have accrued a great deal of momentum, losing just one league match so far this season, and slender scorelines not often telling the full story of some compelling performances.
Given their momentum, Sears is quite happy for his side to be deemed underdogs for Sunday's match. Though he does feel the five-division gulf between the two sides is "very deceiving".
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Ipswich Town's Freddie Sears during the Sky Bet League One match between Ipswich Town and Accrington Stanley at Portman Road
Image credit: Getty Images
"I don't think anyone would be overawed going to Port Vale, you know, a lot of us have played there," he says. "This is the FA Cup, we've earned the right to go and play at Port Vale, do you know what I mean?
"I quite like the tag of being the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, but I'm sure we're better than a lot of the teams that are left in the competition.
"So a lot of experience in the squad, a lot of quality, and yeah, it's a game we can really look forward to and be really excited about.
"We're on TV for a reason, you know, FA Cup growing up as a kid, all the stories are about the giant-killings, the teams that beat the teams that they shouldn't beat. Nine times out of 10, Port Vale probably should beat us, but on that one day, who knows?"
His sentiment is matched by Tom Eastman - a dominant centre half who has spent practically his whole career playing EFL football. Even in recent years, he has been in the National League - three divisions above Maldon, and he knows first-hand the pressure that will be on Port Vale to perform.
"I quite like being the underdog," he says. "I remember playing for Colchester a few years ago, and we played Sudbury.
"I felt going into that game a bit more pressure going into it because people expect you to win. It's not great, even if you win, it's a lose-lose situation, really. So it's nice coming in as the underdog. No one expects too much and hopefully it can cause an upset."
Manchester City legend in the dugout
On the very same day they officially became Maldon & Tiptree owners, Barrie and Scott Drewitt-Barlow appointed former Manchester City and West Ham midfielder Kevin Horlock as head coach.
It was a return to east Essex for Horlock - who turns 53 on the eve of Sunday's huge cup tie - having managed the club from 2016 to 2018. Things are totally different this time around, as he explains.
"Where do I start? It has changed beyond recognition. Obviously, the facility is the first thing that people notice. Coming into the place looks unbelievable, you've got the new bar areas in here, the dressing rooms, the pitch is immaculate. The stadium looks good, so that's the initial changes that I think you see visually.
"But I think it's more than that, it's, it's about people, it's a really good place to work. We're like a family and it's a nice place to come. People want to come in to work and work hard for success, and I think that's been said by Barrie and Scott.
"Obviously, they demand success, and rightly so, they've they've invested not only a lot of money but a lot of time as well."
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Kevin Horlock of Northern Ireland in action during the World Cup 2002 Group 3 match against Malta played at Windsor Park
Image credit: Getty Images
Horlock made more than 200 appearances for City, and since retiring from his playing career, has taken up coaching roles in non-league and with the Northern Ireland youth set-up. He says winning at Vale Park on Sunday would be "up there with anything I've achieved" in his coaching career thus far, but remains realistic about the magnitude of the task.
"Let's not kid ourselves, we could be going there for a thumping, you just never know," he says.
"They're five leagues ahead of us, so that's really what should happen, but like I say, I've got good players that, in my opinion, can play much higher than we're playing, if they play with that freedom and relax, hopefully, then that lends itself to them performing better, we've seen it in the FA Cup so many times over the years."
The atmosphere in the dressing room notably feels very relaxed. As if they are preparing for any other game - is that how the underdogs should be feeling?
"It has happened where lads go there and have never been at that level before, and you get caught like a rabbit in the headlights," Horlock says. "Whereas this squad of players, the majority have been there and done it and seen it, so they're not going to be overawed by it.
"Hopefully, that can rub off on the younger players. They should be a little bit nervous, I think that's important because that means you really care and it matters, but just go out there with freedom."
If you're questioning whether the magic of the FA Cup is still alive, head to the Drewitt-Barlow Stadium, even just for a short while, and get a sense of the anticipation ahead of Sunday. It is palpable.
For it is not just a trip to any League One club. It is, of course, the beloved team of famed singer Robbie Williams.
And Barrie could not pass up the opportunity to float an invite to the former Take That star.
"I did send him a personal message, actually, a couple of weeks ago. It was a very simple message, and I said: 'Robbie, let me entertain you.'"
Watch the Men's and Women's FA Cup live throughout the season on TNT Sports and discovery+
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