Meet Bruno’s brother Ricardo Fernandes who captains non-league Roffey FC in the ninth-tier of English football.
It’s Saturday afternoon and a Portuguese central midfielder named Fernandes is wearing the captain’s armband. His players are in a huddle in the dressing room, listening to his final words of advice.
It’s Ricardo Fernandes, not his younger brother and Manchester United superstar Bruno Fernandes who is leading out his team Roffey FC against Pagham in front of a record crowd of 509 fans.
Welcome to the Southern Combination Football League Premier Division, the ninth tier of the English football pyramid.
Roffey, also known as The Boars, are in the hunt for a play-off place after promotion as Southern Combination Division One champions last season. The Premier League is another eight promotions away.
Ricardo Fernandes said: “To see my brother [Bruno] in the Premier League, which is the best league in the world, is unbelievable. There’s no words for that. I talk with my brother more or less every day. We’re a very close family. A football family!
Growing up with Bruno
“Me and my brother played together most of the time in our neighbourhood. I am five years older than him and he always loved to join in and play with me. I was always worried because of the bigger lads tackling him and I always tried to protect him. But that’s how he became a better player I guess.”
“My Dad was a football player as well. The love is football is everywhere – every uncle, every family member loves playing football. I even had a cousin who played professionally in Portugal!”
Ricardo, who went viral with a lobbed outside-of-the boot finish in April last year, actually came to England five years ahead of Bruno’s arrival at Manchester United.
Ricardo came to England in 2015, initially to work as a hospital porter for the NHS and managed to fit his passion for playing football around his shift work, also representing Three Bridges, Billingshurst and Epsom all in the South East.
Roffey FC first-team manager Jack Munday said: “Ric looks just like him [his brother]. His technique and playing style are very similar. His work rate, everything that he does is very similar to him.
“Even if he’s not the brother of Bruno, we’d still get exactly the same from him and we’d still want him playing for us week in, week out.”
Non-League Day
This Saturday (March 22, 2025) is the latest Non-League Day, which began in 2010 and is an annual celebration of the football pyramid. It encourages as many fans as possible to support their local non-league side on a weekend of international football when there is no Premier League or Championship action.
Ahead of this year’s event, the Premier League Trophy travelled to Bartholomew Way, Roffey FC’s picturesque home. Located in woodland on the outskirts of Horsham in West Sussex, it is no surprise that the ground is fondly known as the “Theatre of Trees.”
“Having the Premier League here is so important,” adds Ricardo, who is in his third season with the club. “Not just for Roffey or for this game, but for the non-league. It’s a massive impact in terms of funding helping to build stands, floodlights or whatever the clubs need.
“Roffey is about community, making everyone comfortable, making everyone as a family. Everything around this club is amazing. It’s so important to get these clubs going because this is the story of football.”
In 2020, The Boars received more than £50,000 from the Premier League Stadium Fund for a new stand and floodlight system. Further Premier League funding has been approved for LED floodlights.
“It’s a very special place,” says Roffey FC chairman Philip Gibbs. “We’ve got a beautiful environment and people who come to our club really do enjoy it, it’s a bit different, it’s a bit quirky. I love the fact that people are looked after when they come here, everyone is welcomed.
“The support from the Premier League has been absolutely essential to turn this place into a proper football venue and has allowed us the chance to really grow. It’s absolutely vital that those levels of support carry on for clubs like us.”
Premier League Investment Importance
“Premier League investment is massive for us,” added first-team manager Jack Munday.
“I was playing here in 2016 and the stand and the floodlights weren’t here. It costs a lot of money to make your ground worthy of this level of football.
“We have 100 hundred seats now with our new stand and it’s really important that people are able to sit down and be covered in the bad weather. It all helps with the spectator experience and trying to get more people through the door to come and watch.”
Through the Premier League Stadium Fund, which is delivered by the Football Foundation, more than £207m has been invested into improving the stadiums and facilities of clubs in the EFL, National League System and Women’s Football Pyramid since 2000.
Over 5,900 grants have been provided to more than 1,000 clubs across more than 100 leagues.
Fans can use the Non-League Day fixture finder to find a local match, by entering their postcode at www.nonleagueday.co.uk/map
READ MORE: Truro City vs Salisbury preview – Free entry for kids on Non-League Day!
