The Opposition - History
The club was formed in 2008, although a club of the same name did compete in the FA Cup in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
They joined the Central Midlands League in 2012, and entered the FA Vase for the first time in 2016 where they beat both Penistone Church and Clipstone both of higher divisions before being knocked out 3–2 by Westfields.
The 2017–18 season saw the club finish as runners-up in the league and subsequently gain promotion to the East Midlands Counties Football League.
The 2019–20 season saw the club enter the FA Cup for the first time, getting past Quorn F.C. in the extra preliminary round, before losing out to Loughborough Dynamo in a replay in the next round.
In 2021, the club were promoted to the Premier Division of the Northern Counties East League based on their results in the abandoned 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons.
The 2023–24 season saw Colliery promoted as champions to the eighth tier.

Manager Wayne Savage has been in charge for a few seasons now.

A journey of around 19 miles awaits them today.

The Opposition - This Season
The Wood started the campaign with a draw in the FA Cup against Grantham before going on to lose the replay but won their opening Step 4 match at home to Consett.
They then went four without a win before picking up three points at Ossett, this after dispatching Bedworth in the FA Trophy.
Hanley Town ended that particular run and October was a tough month, picking up just the one win in their final game of the month at home to Liversedge.
November also saw a solitary victory, in the Nottinghamshire Cup at Carlton and a lack of league wins has seen them hovering around the relegation places.
However they do come into the match today with two wins in their last three matches, they completed the double over Liversedge before defeating Carlton last time out.

League: P 23 W 6 D 4 L 13 F 24 A 40 Pts. 22
Cups: P 5 W 2 D 1 L 2 F 6 A 8

Top goalscorers: Alexander Duhameau (9), Ewan Robson (4). Five players have two goals each
Most appearances: Jaz Goundry, Jordan Pierrepoint, Ewan Robson, Carter Widdowson and Jamie York (26 each)
Biggest victory: 4-1 vs. Liversedge (30th October)
Heaviest defeat: 0-4 vs. Grantham Town (6th August) and Ossett United (7th December)
Highest home attendance: 276 vs. Belper Town (26th August)
Average home attendance: 134 (22nd/22)
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most consecutive defeats: 4

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, it was a trip to Garforth a couple of Tuesdays ago and an even match finished 1-1, a first league draw of the season for Belper after 19 games.
The last two matches have seen impressive performances to dispatch Heaton Stannington 3-0 and Sheffield 4-1 in thick Boxing Day fog.
Harry Draper remains well clear as leading goalscorer with 20 while Curtis Burrows moved to seven with his brace at Sheffield. Luke Rawson has six and Nat Crofts is on five.

Head to Head
The only previous meeting between the sides took place back on Bank Holiday Monday, 26th August.
Luke Rawson's 16th minute goal was all that separated the sides in a match played at Rainworth Miners Welfare in front of 276 spectators.

Form Guide (all comps)
Belper Town: LDDDWW
Sherwood Colliery: LLLWLW

Team News
There are no major injury concerns or suspensions while new signing Jack Watson is available for selection.

Permutations
Belper are four points behind Cleethorpes so cannot go top.
Emley are three points behind but have a superior goal difference so defeat leaves the door open for the Yorkshire side to leapfrog us.
For Sherwood they can climb to 15th with a win while anything less would mean the possibility of ending the day in the relegation zone.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Sherwood Colliery
Northern Premier League Division One East

Wednesday, 1st January 2025 - 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 Tom 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
Two matches, both local derbies in the north east were moved to Monday evening while Carlton and Garforth played their match on Saturday.

Saturday
(10th) Carlton Town 3-1 Garforth Town (8th)

Monday
(16th) Ashington AFC 0-1 Dunston (3rd)
(5th) Newton Aycliffe 4-1 Bishop Auckland (11th)

New Year's Day
(2nd) Belper Town vs. Sherwood Colliery (17th)
(19th) Brighouse Town vs. Emley AFC (4th)
(13th) Consett AFC vs. Heaton Stannington (20th)
(12th) Grimsby Borough vs. Cleethorpes Town (1st)
(14th) Liversedge vs. Bradford (Park Avenue) (9th)
(6th) North Ferriby vs. Bridlington Town (21st)
(15th) Pontefract Collieries vs. Ossett United (18th)
(7th) Stocksbridge Park Steels vs. Sheffield (22nd)