Kidsgrove Athletic (A) - Saturday 21st September 2024

The Opposition - History
Football was played in the town of Kidsgrove before the outbreak of World War II, which led to the disbandment of the team. Football was resurrected when Kidsgrove United was formed, bringing a number of players from further afield. Local young men, unhappy with this structure, formed their own club in 1952 under the name Kidsgrove Athletic. One of these young men was Frank Timmis. The club joined the amateur Burslem and Tunstall League. They played on the Vickers and Goodwin pitch next to the A50 before deciding not to play football in 1961, opting instead to develop a ground on Hollinwood Road, Clough Hall. The club won the Burslem and Tunstall League in 1962 and joined the Staffordshire County League in 1963.

They won the Division Two title in 1963–64 before winning the Division One title in 1965–66. Kidsgrove moved to the Mid-Cheshire League in 1966 a move which caused some controversy. The team thrived in the new league and were crowned champions in 1970–71, 1977–78, 1986–87 and 1987–88 and also won the Mid-Cheshire League Cup in 1968, 1970 and 1986. The club joined the North West Counties Football League in 1990 and were promoted to the Premier Division in 1991–92 due to ground grading. After several seasons of struggle at this level they won the title in 1997–98 and 2001–02 which earned them promotion to the Northern Premier League. Kidsgrove struggled with the step up to the eighth tier narrowly avoiding relegation in 2002–03 and 2003–04. Under the management of Ant Buckle and Darren Twigg they finished in mid-table in 2004–05 and 2005–06. Peter Ward re-joined the club in the summer of 2006 which saw Kidsgrove begin to mount a promotion challenge and they reached the play-offs in 2009–10 but lost out to Glapwell. In 2010–11 Grove missed out on a play-off spot by four points finishing in 7th position.

In 2011–12 Kidsgrove reached the fourth-qualifying round of the FA Cup where they lost 2–0 to Bradford Park Avenue. In the summer of 2012 Peter Ward left the club and was replaced by Shaun Hollinshead however he was sacked in April 2013. Ant Buckle and Darren Twigg took control of the side for the 2013–14 season. Grove had a poor 2013–14 season finishing bottom of the table which saw Ant Buckle replaced by Neil Gill in May 2014. However, after a poor start to the 2014–15 campaign Gill was sacked on 7 September 2014, being replaced by Paul Moore four days later. However Moore quit on 22 October 2014 blaming board interference. In his place came former manager Peter Ward.
(Source - Wikipedia)

The Opposition - This Season
The Grove started the season with an FA Cup victory over Pershore Town but lost their opening league fixture against Widnes.
They bounced back in style, dispatching Witton Albion 4-0 before continuing their FA Cup run with a 6-0 win at Atherstone Town.
Following this they secured victory over Hednesford Town but then went three without a win before ending the run with a win over AFC Rushden & Diamonds in the previous round of this competition.
They come in to the match this afternoon off the back of a 4-0 win over Wythenshawe on Saturday, Garlick and Harrison scoring for Kidsgrove while the unfortunate Goodwin netted two own goals.

They currently sit 6th in the NPL West: P 8 W 3 D 2 L 3 F 11 A 8 Pts. 11.

A journey of around 50 miles awaits the Nailers today.

Manager Anthony Malbon is also the club's record goalscorer and held the reigns on an interim basis back in March before before the appointment was made permanent earlier this month.

So far this season Kingsley Adu-Gyamfi leads the way with seven goals. Robbie Hatton has five and Richie Sutton two while a further six players have netted one goal each.

The Nailers
Belper enjoyed a great start to the campaign, with a victory at Heaton Stannington followed by a home win against Bradford (Park Avenue) and then Lutterworth Town in the FA Cup.
There was a setback at Emley where mix-ups at the back meant a 1-0 lead was a 2-1 deficit by half-time and the hosts secured the points in injury time.
It was back to winning ways with an impressive 3-0 home victory against Bridlington Town before a Bank Holiday win at Sherwood Colliery.
Bromsgrove Sporting ended the FA Cup campaign in a replay but the Nailers progressed in the FA Trophy with a 2-1 victory over Boldmere St. Michaels.
The weekend saw a fantastic performance at North Ferriby where the points were comfortably secured but Cleethorpes inflicted a first home defeat of the season on Tuesday evening.
Harry Draper leads the way with six goals while Nat Crofts has four. Jacob Gratton netted three before his move to Worksop. Five players have one goal each.
The Nailers 2nd in the table: P 7 W 5 D 0 L 2 F 10 A 6 Pts. 15.

Head to Head
The two sides met for the first time in 2002 with Belper winning 2-0 in Staffordshire. The Nailers then went seven without a win in the fixture but won five of the next seven including a 5-4 victory in October 2006.
The Grove then had the better of things winning three in a row but Belper went unbeaten between March 2012 and April 2018 - a total of ten encounters before Kidsgrove won 3-1 at Belper. Last time out it was a 2-2 draw at Kidsgrove in January 2020 with Gordon and Peterson scoring for Belper.
Overall the record from a Nailers perspective reads: P 32 W 14 D 9 L 9 F 58 A 43.

Form Guide (all comps)
Kidsgrove Athletic: LLWDLW
Belper Town: WDLWWL

Team News
Larell King remains out, there are no other injury concerns or suspensions.

Permutations
The winners of the tie - which will go straight to penalties if the scores are level after 90 minutes - will take their place in the Third Qualifying Round for which the draw will be made on Monday lunchtime.
The prize money for winning in this round is £2,250 while the losing team will pick up £575.
A further £2,450 (£625) is available in the next round.

Match details
Kidsgrove Athletic vs. Belper Town
Isuzu FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round
Saturday, 21st September 2024 - 3:00pm kick off
Autonet Insurance Stadium
Hollinwood Road
Kidsgrove
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST7 1DQ
Tickets: Adults £10, Concessions £5, U16s £2, U12s £0

Follow the match
Live commentary is available with Tom on Radio Belper Town - https://radiobelpertown.mixlr.com
Full coverage on X (Twitter). Team news, HT & FT scores on Facebook.
Match reports to follow on the website and in the Non-League Paper.

FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round fixtures (NPL East teams)
Clitheroe vs. Heaton Stannington
Coleshill Town vs. Carlton Town
Emley AFC vs. Newton Aycliffe
Hanley Town vs. Sherwood Colliery
Kidsgrove Athletic vs. Belper Town
Ossett United vs. Bradford (Park Avenue)
Walsall Wood vs. Cleethorpes Town
Wythenshawe Town vs. Stocksbridge Park Steels

NPL East league fixtures
Bridlington Town vs. Consett
Brighouse Town vs. Liversedge
Dunston vs. North Ferriby
Grimsby Borough vs. Bishop Auckland
Sheffield FC vs. Garforth Town