Needham Market FC

For a town of only 4,700 people (what's that, the South Stand at Portman Road?), Needham Market has a heck of a history. Its Football Club

@needhammktfc, currently sits in the National League North, having won the Premier Division Central last season.

So, let's pop down the A14 and #GetTheBadgeIn. The crest of Needham Market FC is derived from the family coat of arms of the Earls of Ashburnham. This noble family, which began with (as ever) a buddy of William the Conqueror, started out in England as Constable of Dover. From there, they made a fortune from ironmaking in the Weald (Sussex and Kent) and maintained close ties with the Crown over generations.

The coat of arms is quite literal—an ash tree (ASHburnham) grows out of the top of a crown. The most notable Ashburnham was John Ashburnham, a close friend of Charles I. During the Civil War, John was one of two companions who fled Oxford with the King. After Charles I was executed, John endured imprisonment and exile, including stints in the Tower of London and Guernsey. When the monarchy was restored under Charles II, John regained influence. As a reward, the family was granted property in Westminster, where they built Ashburnham House, now one of the boarding houses for Westminster School. I've never been, but I imagine the paintings chat back, and the staircases drift about. They probably have a groundsman called Hagrid. The Ashburnhams remained loyal to the Royals, and John's grandson, another John, was awarded an Earldom, becoming the 1st Earl of Ashburnham in 1730.

Their Suffolk connection began in 1756 when the 2nd Earl married Elizabeth Crowley, heiress to a small fortune and lands in Barking, Suffolk. Barking, a small village near Needham Market (not that place in Essex), was historically the seat of regional nobility, with Needham Market as the junior neighbour. Elizabeth's wealth came through her father’s family, who owned the country’s largest metalworks in Durham—so both families had iron in their blood. They missed a trick not calling themselves the Ironborn (sorry, Game of Thrones reference).

The Ashburnhams built Barking Hall in the 1700s, a grand stately home. It was demolished in 1926 and is now farmland (like so many stately homes in East Anglia—a waste, didn't they stop to think how much wedding planners would pay for Instagram friendly venues?) As major landowners and benefactors, the family supported local churches and influenced the town. Naturally, Needham Market adopted their coat of arms. Enough about them though—what about Needham Market itself? It has a harrowing story. In the early medieval period, it grew into a prosperous part of the East Anglian wool trade, specialising in combing wool to prepare it for spinning into yarn.

Henry II granted the town a charter for a regional market, and the place began to thrive. But then the Black Death arrived. The town was such an infection risk that it was chained off at both ends. Two-thirds of the population died. Chainhouse Road marks where the chain once stood. The “Causeway” in the town comes from “Corpse Way,” the route through which bodies were removed.

It took 200 years for the population to recover, but when it did, the town punched above its weight in science and radical thought. One local was burnt at the stake by "Bloody" Mary I for his beliefs, while another was jailed for being a Quaker. A local blacksmith invented a "safety" bicycle—actually a tricycle—and Joseph Priestley, the scientist who discovered oxygen and invented carbonated water, was briefly the town’s priest. Needham Market can also boast having once had a mouse trap factory.

I’ve struggled to unpick the Ashburnham/Needham Market crest, but I think the stars must represent a megastar like no other: June Brown, aka Dot Cotton from EastEnders, who grew up there. From a prosperous wool trade to a catastrophic plague, from noble patrons to soap opera royalty, Needham Market has thrived and survived in its own idyllic way. When that National League North side takes to the pitch this weekend, currently languishing near the bottom of the league, they're writing an exciting new chapter for a town that is used to coming back strong from early setbacks.