North Ferriby FC (A) – Saturday 14th September 2024

The Opposition - History
North Ferriby FC were formed in 2019 after the demise of North Ferriby United, who themselves were formed in 1934 and reached as high as the National League before facing Liquidation following which the phoenix club started up.
The new team started out in the Northern Counties East League and gained promotion to the Premier Division in their first completed season, the first two having been abandoned because of Covid.
The 2022/23 season saw them finish top of the Premier Division to get back to the Northern Premier League, where the former team had been at the stage of its demise and last season they finished 8th.

The Opposition - This Season
The Villagers opened up with defeat on the road at Bradford (Park Avenue) before bouncing back to beat Sherwood Colliery 3-2 in a match where they were three goals up after 25 minutes before receiving two red cards in the last ten minutes and conceding to a penalty in injury time!
Their FA Cup journey was ended by Newcastle Blue Star in a replay and their last three fixtures have seen a 1-1 draw at home to Heaton Stannington (League), a 3-0 win away to Bridlington Town (League) and a 1-0 defeat away to Heaton Stannington (FA Trophy).

They currently sit 10th: P 4 W 2 D 1 L 1 F 7 A 4 Pts. 7.

A journey of just over 80 miles awaits the Nailers today.

Manager Chris Bolder (younger brother of former Derby midfielder Adam) took the reigns ahead of the 2019/20 season having previously managed the club from November 2017 to October 2018. He has also had two spells as Assistant Manager at Scarborough Athletic under former Nailers manager Steve Kittrick.

So far this season Josh Whiteley leads the way with four goals. Tom Corner, Lewis Dennison, Mason Johnson, Levi Tabotton and Jack Walters have one 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 and last time out it was a 2-1 victory over Boldmere St. Michaels in the FA Trophy.
Harry Draper leads the way with five goals while Nat Crofts and Jacob Gratton have three each. Keaton August, Lewis Austin, Jack Broadhead, Luke Rawson and Ben Rhodes have each notched one goal.
The Nailers sit top of the table: P 5 W 4 D 0 L 1 F 8 A 4 Pts. 12.

Head to Head
Last season's meetings were the first between Belper and the current North Ferriby FC. The Nailers won both, 4-0 at Ferriby at the start of the season before securing a 2-1 win back at the Raygar Stadium in January.
There were 33 meetings with North Ferriby United, with Belper coming out on top on just five occasions.
They failed to win any of the first 16 encounters before going on an unbeaten run of ten. They were however without a victory in the last nine, with the last match between the sides in January 2005.
The return fixture is scheduled for Saturday, 7th December 2024.

Form Guide (all comps)
North Ferriby: WDLDWL
Belper Town: LWWDLW

Team News
Ben Rhodes is close to match fitness and no suspensions.

Permutations
A win for Belper would retain top spot, with a one point advantage in place over Cleethorpes Town who aren't in League action anyway.
Anything less would open the door for Emley, who travel to Liversedge.
The other teams in the playoff places - and the only others who could in theory have caught Belper on Saturday - Dunston and Brighouse do not have an NPL game this weekend.
North Ferriby could leap in to the playoff places with a win.

Match details
North Ferriby FC vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One East
Saturday, 14th September 2024 - 3:00pm kick off
Grange Lane
North Ferriby
East Yorkshire
HU14 3AB
Tickets: Adults £8, Over 65s £6, Under 18s £1, Disabled £0 (including carer)

Follow the match
Live commentary is available with Chris 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
Ashington vs. Grimsby Borough
Bishop Auckland vs. Bridlington Town
Liversedge vs. Emley
North Ferriby vs. Belper Town
Ossett United vs. Sherwood Colliery
Pontefract Collieries vs. Consett
Stocksbridge Park Steels vs. Heaton Stannington