The Opposition - History
The original Heaton Stannington FC resigned from the Newcastle and District Amateur League in 1904, reforming in 1910 and joining the Tyneside Minor League in 1913.
They quickly moved to the Northern Amateur League and gained promotion to Division One, also winning the Challenge Cup in 1936.
By 1939 they had joined the Northern League but after struggling in the late 1940s they joined the Northern Alliance, returning to the Northern Amateur League four seasons later.
They joined the relaunched North Eastern League in 1959 but continued to jump around the leagues, moving to the Northern Combination after one season. They eventually moved to the Wearside League in 1973.
They were forced to resign due to financial problems and ended up in the Tyneside Amateur League in 1982, playing as Heaton United.
Success followed, winning not only that title but also the Northern Amateur League in 1986.
The 21st century has seen further success, with promotion to the Premier Division of the Northern Alliance, which they went on to win in 2012; they would retain it the following season.
They have not finished lower than 9th in any season since 2006/07 and this is their debut at Step 4, earned following a 3-0 Play-off final win over West Auckland Town.

The Opposition - This Season
The Stan opened the campaign with victory in the FA Cup against Easington Colliery but didn't pick up a win in their debut Step 4 season until matchday five when they defeated Liversedge. The season opener was of course against Belper at Grounsell Park.
September saw a good win against local rivals Newton Aycliffe but an exit from the FA Trophy at the hands of Clitheroe.
October started much better with two wins out of three including an impressive point at league leaders Cleethorpes but ended with defeats at Dunston and Carlton Town.
November started with three successive home matches but they didn't take advantage until Ossett United were defeated and they followed this up with a win at Blyth Spartans in the Northumberland Cup.
The three matches after that saw them lose away games at Bridlington Town, Bishop Auckland and Sheffield, conceding 10 goals in the process and they come into the match today off the back of Wednesday night's match at home to Stocksbridge Park Steels where a point was salvaged two minutes into injury time.

The Nailers
Belper started the season in excellent form, losing just once in their opening seven competitive fixtures.
They bounced back from an FA Cup replay defeat at Bromsgrove Sporting to win six of their next seven but two home defeats inside four days, to Brighouse Town and Newton Aycliffe proved a setback.
They were soon back to winning ways, with five successive league victories but exited the FA Trophy on penalties at Chasetown.
Recent weeks have seen a couple of matches called off, but a good win at Grimsby Borough was soon forgotten with a poor performance in a heavy defeat at Stocksbridge.
After defeating Glossop North End on penalties in the Derbyshire Senior Cup, and with no league draws to their name all season, 1-1 scorelines at both Garforth Town and Brighouse Town followed coming into the match today.
Harry Draper remains well clear as leading goalscorer with 18 while Luke Rawson, Nat Crofts and Curtis Burrows have five each.

Head to Head
The only previous meeting between the sides came on the opening day of this campaign on a sunny afternoon in Newcastle.
The hosts took the lead through a Leighton Hopper penalty early in the second half.
Nat Crofts equalised with 20 minutes remaining before Keaton August fired home the winner in the final ten minutes.
An entertaining game in front of 417 fans in the Stan's first game at Step 4.

Form Guide (all comps)
Belper Town: WWLDDD
Heaton Stannington: WWLLLD

Team News
There are no major injury concerns or suspensions while Harry Draper is available for selection again.

Permutations
Belper cannot go top but they will climb above Emley in to 2nd if they better the result of the Yorkshire side.
Defeat would leave the door open for Newton Aycliffe to climb above us if they win due to their superior goal difference.
The visitors could drop into the relegation zone if they don't win and other results go against them while a win could propel them as high as 15th.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Heaton Stannington
Northern Premier League - Division One East

Saturday, 21st December 2024 - 3:00pm kick off

Raygar Stadium
Bridge Street
Belper
Derbyshire
DE56 1BA

Admission prices: Adults £11, Concessions (under 16 and 60+) £7, Under 11 (with paying adult) £0
Cash and card accepted on the turnstiles.

Follow the match
Full coverage of the match:

• Audio commentary with Chris on Radio Belper Town
• Full text coverage on X, Facebook and Bluesky
• Match reports on the website (all matches) and in the Non-League Paper (Saturday matches only)

NPL East fixtures
Game of the weekend is tough to call but could be on Friday night where the winner moves into the playoff places.
Top of the table Cleethorpes are the only team in the top six who aren't at home while second from bottom Ashington are the only team in the bottom six who are at home.

Friday
(6th) North Ferriby vs. Bradford (Park Avenue) (8th)
Saturday
(21st) Ashington AFC vs. Ossett United (17th)
(3rd) Belper Town vs. Heaton Stannington (18th)
(16th) Brighouse Town vs. Cleethorpes Town (1st)
(12th) Carlton Town vs. Bridlington Town (19th)
(13th) Consett AFC vs. Sherwood Colliery (20th)
(2nd) Emley AFC vs. Grimsby Borough (10th)
(15th) Liversedge vs. Garforth Town (9th)
(4th) Newton Aycliffe vs. Sheffield (22nd)
(14th) Pontefract Collieries vs. Dunston (7th)
(5th) Stocksbridge Park Steels vs. Bishop Auckland (11th)