The Opposition - History
The original Emley were formed in 1903 and known as Emley A.F.C. until 2002. They relocated to Wakefield in 2000 and were renamed Wakefield & Emley in 2002.
They were subsequently renamed Wakefield-Emley in 2004 before becoming Wakefield in 2006 and were wound up in 2014.
The early days saw membership of the Huddersfield District League, Yorkshire League and Northern Counties East League from where they gained promotion to the Northern Premier League in 1989.
The new club gained promotion to Division One of the NCEL in 2006 and in 2014 they rejected a proposal to merge with Wakefield FC.
2016 saw promotion heartache as they lost the playoff final on penalties to Bottesford Town.
Renamed as Emley A.F.C. from 2019 onwards, they moved to the North West Counties League ahead of the 2019-20 season and were in fourth position before Covid hit and saw the season abandoned.
They then moved back to the NCEL and were top when that season was also abandoned.
However in May 2021 it was confirmed they would be promoted based on their success in the previous two seasons and in 2023 they added the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup.
In 2022 the FA confirmed that the current club is a continuation of the club which was founded in 1903 and that the club had split with Wakefield FC being a separate entity; subsequently all records and honours were returned to Emley A.F.C.
Last season saw them win the NCEL Premier Division title, bringing them to the NPL Division One East.

The Opposition - This Season
The Pewits had a successful pre-season which they saw out unbeaten and it contained lots of goals.
A 3-3 draw with Hallam was followed by a 2-2 deadlock at Frickley Athletic.
Then followed a remarkable 7-3 victory away to Tadcaster Albion and a 4-2 win at Rossington Main.
Their final friendly saw them travel to local rivals Wakefield and come away with the bragging rights, winning 2-0.
The season proper started with a 2-0 victory at home to St. Helens Town in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round.
Then followed three points in their opening league fixture, former Nailer Nathan Curtis with the only goal at Grimsby Borough.
Next up was a 1-1 draw at Newton Aycliffe and they come in to the fixture this evening off the back of a healthy 3-0 win at Trafford in the FA Cup Preliminary Round on Saturday.

A journey of around 58 miles awaits Belper this evening.

Manager Richard Tracey, a former pro with many northern clubs (and also a former Nailer, scoring 11 goals in 61 appearances between November 2007 and February 2009) took over in May 2019 having previously managed Ossett Albion for five years.

Amir Berchill leads the way with three goals this season, Nathan Curtis has two and Luke Parkin has notched a single goal.

The Nailers
After a solid pre-season, the league campaign started with a first ever visit to Heaton Stannington and the Nailers came away with the points, Crofts and August on the scoresheet.
Last Tuesday evening Belper went top, securing a 1-0 win at home to Bradford (Park Avenue) to make it six points out of six.
Attention turned to the FA Cup at the weekend and our place in the First Qualifying Round was secured with a 3-1 home victory over Lutterworth Town.
Six different players have scored Belper's goals this season - Nat Crofts, Keaton August, Ben Rhodes, Jacob Gratton, Harry Draper and Lewis Austin.

Head to Head
Belper met the original Emley on 17 occasions but endured a terrible overall record against them despite winning three of the first five.
This would be followed by defeat in ten of the next twelve, drawing the other two.
Belper's last victory in the fixture came in November 1984 when they secured a 2-1 win at Christchurch Meadow, with Wetton and Khan on the scoresheet.
The overall record for Belper reads: P 17 W 3 D 3 L 11 F 15 A 29.
Fourteen of the games took place in the NCEL (this will be a first meeting at Step 4), with the other three in the FA Cup including a Third Qualifying Round win for Emley in 1997.

Form Guide (all comps)
Belper Town: WWW
Lutterworth Town: WWDW

Team News
Curtis Burrows remains unavailable but there are no major injury concerns or suspensions.

Permutations
Unusually for a fixture this early in the season, we know that a Belper win will keep us top regardless of other results, having secured a two point advantage at the summit.
Emley will go top if they win and the match between Cleethorpes and Carlton finishes in a draw.

Match details
Emley AFC vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One East
Tuesday, 20th August 2024 - 7:45pm kick off
Fantastic Media Welfare Ground
Off Upper Lane
Emley
Nr Huddersfield
HD8 9RE
Tickets: Adults £8, Concessions £5, 5-11yrs £1, U5s (with accompanying adult) £Free

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.

NPL East fixtures

There are only five fixtures in the division over the next 24 hours with a few teams facing FA Cup replays or seeing their league fixture postponed because their scheduled opponent does.

Tuesday 20th August
Bradford (Park Avenue) vs. Brighouse Town
Bridlington Town vs. Liversedge
Cleethorpes Town vs. Carlton Town
Emley AFC vs. Belper Town

Wednesday 21st August
Sherwood Colliery vs. Stocksbridge Park Steels