The Opposition - History
The club first saw the light of day in 1975 as a humble works outfit when former Chairman, John Thompson, with some of his colleagues at HMSO on the Team Valley Trading Estate, decided to form a football team. The club joined the Newcastle City Amateur League playing at the Civil Service Sports Ground, Longbenton.
Early success inspired the club to progress and a piece of land was leased from Gateshead M.B.C. and the committee began to develop what is now the UTS Stadium.
The club were now gaining much success in the Northern Combination and with aspirations to progress further they approached the Federation Brewery to become the club’s main sponsor. With the Federation Brewery as their main sponsor the club joined the Wearside League in 1987 and after another period of success the club felt a need to seek new opportunities and an application was made to join the prestigious Northern League. The club had now realised one of its main ambitions and entered the National Pyramid of Non League Football.
In its second season in the Northern League the club won the Second Division and was promoted to the First Division.
Since joining the Northern League the club has won the Second Division, been First Division Champions twice, League Cup winners on five occasions and JR Cleator Cup winners on five occasions. Included in these successes were back to back First Division title winners and League Cup winners in seasons 2003/2004 and 2004/2005.
They joined the NPL North West in 2019 and moved across to the East in 2021, remaining there since, finishing 3rd last season and losing out in the playoffs.
(Source - Dunston UTS website)

Manager Jon McDonald was appointed after the 2022/23 season, having originally joined the club as Assistant Manager in 2021.

A journey of around 156 miles awaits them today.

The Opposition - This Season
The Fed started the season in good form, losing only one of their first seven games in the league and cruising past Whickham in the FA Cup.
September was a tough month, seeing them exit the Cup in a replay at Scarborough Athletic and picking up just one victory, albeit a fine 4-1 win at Cleethorpes.
October started with a win over Sheffield but then that memorable afternoon at the UTS Stadium where Belper came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 after a sensational second half.
November was much better, it saw four wins in total and December saw a further three despite beginning with a 2-1 reversal at North Ferriby.
Due to the weather they have only played one match so far in 2025, a 4-1 win at home to Brighouse on Tuesday evening, meaning today (if it goes ahead as planned) will be just their second game in 26 days.
They sit top of the 'home' table in the NPL East having won 8 from 11. Away from home they've won half of their 12 matches.

League (4th): P 23 W 14 D 5 L 4 F 49 A 25 Pts. 47
Cups: P 7 W 2 D 2 L 3 F 12 A 11

Top goalscorers: Scott Robson (11), Sado Djalo (10), David Robinson (9)
Most appearances: Harvey Neary (29), Jude Swailes (28)
Biggest victory: 6-1 vs. Consett (12th November)
Heaviest defeat: 2-5 vs. Scarborough Athletic (17th September). Not lost by more than a single goal yet in the league.
Highest home attendance: 563 vs. Whickham (21st August)
Average home attendance: 266 (15th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 4
Most games without a win: 4
Most consecutive defeats: 2
Most games without a defeat: 7

The Nailers
Belper started the season well, winning their first three matches before coming unstuck at Emley.
They bounced back with another couple of wins before Bromsgrove Sporting ended the FA Cup run in a replay.
An excellent performance and win at North Ferriby was followed by a home defeat to leaders Cleethorpes Town but a run of five successive wins followed.
Successive home defeats to Brighouse Town and Newton Aycliffe in the space of five days provided a setback but this once again propelled the Nailers who won five out of their next six before a poor performance at Stocksbridge.
A penalty shootout win over Glossop North End in the Derbyshire Senior Cup followed and then after no draws in the league in their first 18 games, matches with Garforth and Brighouse both finished all square.
Belper were one of the form teams in the league over the festive period, enjoying comfortable wins over Heaton Stannington, Sheffield FC and Sherwood Colliery and they were on the right end of a nailbiter at Bradford (Park Avenue) three weeks ago.
However recently the Nailers have gone three without a win - and a goal - as both North Ferriby and Ossett won at the Raygar Stadium in the NPL before a heavy defeat at Buxton in the Derbyshire Senior Cup during the week.
Harry Draper is well clear as leading goalscorer with 22 while Curtis Burrows and Luke Rawson have seven each. Nat Crofts is on five.

Head to Head
The Nailers met Dunston Federation Brewery in the FA Vase in 1991. With the first tie at Belper abandoned at 1-1, the sides met again in the north east between Christmas and New Year, with the home side progressing 2-0.
The only meetings since then have taken place last season and this. Early on in the 23/24 campaign Belper took a 3-1 lead but an 88th minute penalty from top scorer Dale Pearson completed a comeback to give the visitors a 4-3 win.
In a game played at Brighouse later in the season, Dunston won 3-1 with Karl Demidh on the scoresheet for Belper.
Earlier this season, the Nailers stunned their hosts at the UTS Stadium, winning 3-2 despite looking down and out at half-time, Curtis Burrows securing a brace and Nat Crofts winning it in the 89th minute.

Overall the record from a Belper perspective reads:
P 4 W 1 D 0 L 3 F 7 A 11 (1 abandoned).

Form Guide (all comps)
Belper Town: WWWLLL
Dunston: WLWWWW

Team News
There are no major injury concerns or suspensions.

Permutations
Belper need a win to stay top with Cleethorpes just one point behind - they also have two games in hand.
Anything less than victory could allow the Owls to go above us.
Dunston are six points behind the Nailers but have three games in hand, making today extra important.
The Fed will climb a place to 3rd if they better Emley's result while only North Ferriby can catch them from behind, they are two points back but have a far inferior goal difference so would need a win combined with a Dunston defeat.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Dunston UTS
Northern Premier League Division One East

Saturday, 25th 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
Game of the day is probably this one, with every other team in the top half facing a team in the bottom half.

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