The Opposition - History
Carlton Town were originally formed in 1904 as Sneinton Football Club and enjoyed considerable success in their early years.
The Notts Alliance League was secured in four out of five seasons between 1905 and 1910 and in the 1920s they added a Notts Alliance Cup and Carlton and District Charity Cup as they rebuilt after losing several players during World War I.
They became champions of the Notts Spartan League in 1933 but then had to disband ahead of World War II.
Reforming in 1947, they moved to Division Three of the Notts Amateur League and a decade later they were playing in Division Two.
The 1960s saw Sneinton struggle for players and it wasn't until 1985 that they secured further silverware, winning the Notts Alliance League Division Two.
In to the 90s and the club moved to its current home, the Bill Stokeld Stadium in Gedling and joined the Central Midlands Football League.
The name change to Carlton Town came in 2002 to reflect the fact that Gedling had historically been in a parish named Carlton-le-Willows, forming part of the Carlton Urban District.
By 2007 they had reached the NPL Division One South and they have remained at that level ever since, reaching the Playoffs on two occasions but finishing in 18th or 19th in five successive seasons, avoiding relegation on one occasion due to ground grading issues at AFC Mansfield.

Manager Tommy Brookbanks, the most successful in their history returned to the club in May 2019 for another stint in charge, jointly with Mark Harvey.

A journey of around 25 miles awaits the Nailers this evening.

The Opposition - This Season
The Millers opened the season with victory at Bridlington Town, and an FA Cup win at AFC Mansfield followed a league draw with Sheffield FC.
A first defeat was suffered at a strong Cleethorpes Town but they bounced back to thrash Bishop Auckland 5-1. Defeat at Garforth Town followed before the FA Cup campaign continued with an impressive victory over Stamford.
This run ended at Leamington and a week later Coleshill Town sent them out of the FA Trophy.
After this defeat they went five unbeaten but this run ended at the weekend with a heavy defeat at table-topping Emley.
So far this season Lamin Manneh leads the way with seven goals, Nathan Watson has five and Jack Newall four.

The Nailers
Belper's form has taken a dip in the last week with 2-0 home defeats to both Brighouse Town and Newton Aycliffe.
Before this things had been going very well as the Nailers embarked on a five game winning run, culminating in a sensational second half comeback at Dunston.
Earlier in the season defeat at Emley was a first of the season after winning the first two games and a three match unbeaten run followed it.
Harry Draper leads the way with nine goals. Nat Crofts has five and Curtis Burrows three, the same as Jacob Gratton before his move to Worksop. Keaton August and Luke Rawson have two goals each while a further six players are on one goal apiece.

Head to Head
This fixture has become a regular one in recent years, having been played 25 times despite the first meeting being as recently as 2007.
Belper enjoyed the better of the early encounters, winning 7 out of the first 11.
This included, in the 2011/12 season a 4-2 Doodson Sports Cup victory which was followed up just over a week later with a 5-4 FA Trophy victory, a match where the Nailers were 2-1 down at half time but battled back in the second half.
After this the Millers went on a five match unbeaten run against us, ending in 2017. Carlton won heavily at the Bill Stokeld in February 2018 but Belper won the next four.
In April 2022 Carlton threatened to derail Belper's promotion push (but didn't) and last season a Cam Johnson goal wasn't enough to stop the points staying in Nottinghamshire before later in the season the Nailers ran out 4-0 winners at the Raygar Stadium.
Overall, from a Belper perspective the record reads: P 25 W 13 D 3 L 9 F 48 A 42.
All of those matches bar two (Cup) have been Step 4 league fixtures.

Form Guide (all comps)
Carlton Town: (28th Sep)WDWWDL(19th Oct)
Belper Town: (28th Sep)WWWWLL(19th Oct)

Team News
There are no major injury concerns or suspensions.

Permutations
Belper are now five points adrift of Emley but will jump to 2nd place if they better Cleethorpes' result this evening.
Both Stocksbridge and Bradford PA can leapfrog the Nailers if they better our result due to their superior goal difference.
For Carlton, victory could take them as high as 6th but there is then a gap of three points to Bradford PA who occupy the last playoff place.

Match details
Carlton Town vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One East
Tuesday, 22nd October 2024 - 7:45pm kick off
Bill Stokeld Stadium
Stoke Lane
Gedling
Nottingham
NG4 2QS
Tickets: Adults £10, Concessions £8, U16s £2

Follow the match
Live commentary is available with Tom on Radio Belper Town - https://radiobelpertown.mixlr.com
Full coverage on X and Facebook.
Match reports to follow on the website (all matches) and in the Non-League Paper (Saturday matches only).

NPL East fixtures
Tuesday
Ashington AFC vs. Pontefract Collieries
Bradford PA vs. Emley AFC
Carlton Town vs. Belper Town
Cleethorpes Town vs. Bridlington Town
Dunston UTS vs. Heaton Stannington
Garforth Town vs. Bishop Auckland
Newton Aycliffe vs. Consett
North Ferriby vs. Grimsby Borough
Ossett United vs. Stocksbridge Park Steels

Wednesday
Sherwood Colliery vs. Sheffield