GARY Bradshaw has issued a challenge to Wheatsheaf Dons to retain the Thames Valley Premier Division title next season and prove they are a great team.

The club has a management team consisting of four ex-Wheatsheaf stars who all played in the Observer Industrial League in the late 1990s and early 2000s – Bradshaw, Rupert Gumbs, Chris Simon and Andy Farrell.

The current club joined forces with Stoke Poges Dons who also operated out of the Observer Industrial League and transferred when it disbanded three seasons ago.

The unification took place at the beginning of the season when Dons secretary Michelle Brereton contacted Bradshaw and suggested a merge of the two clubs.

As Bradshaw had been chasing four of the Dons players for their signatures, he saw no reason why such a project could not work and, after a brief meeting with Brereton, the deal was sealed.

Wheatsheaf will be crowned Premier Division champions after an unbeaten league season which saw them win nine of their 14 league matches and amass a total of 32 points.

Bradshaw has paid tribute to the club’s win to will but he has urged them to kick on in the new campaign.

The Wheatsheaf boss said: “I couldn’t have achieved this success on my own. This has been down to the commitment of the players, the support of a very strong management team and the collective will to win.

“We have always believed that we could win this league but always managed to just fall short at the final hurdle.

“Now that we have got there, the hope is that the players realise that the next step is to kick on and attempt to do it all over again. Good teams don’t just win titles, they retain them.”