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Warrington Town

Warrington Town were relegated from the National League North at the end of last season after winning only six of their 46 matches. Their record was P46, W6, D13, L27, F34, A70, Points 31. 
They were promoted from the Northern Premier League at the end of the 2022-23 season so only survived two seasons in the National League North.


Full name:   Warrington Town Football
ClubNickname(s):   The Yellows, The Town, The Wire
Founded:   1949; 76 years ago (as Stockton Heath)
Ground:   Cantilever Park, Warrington
Capacity:   3,094
Chairman:   Toby Macormac
Manager:   Paul Carden

They were established in 1949 under the name of Stockton Heath, adopting their current name in 1961.The Cal.Delivery Stadium, also known as Cantilever Park, has a current capacity of 3,094. There are two covered all-seater stands and two further covered standing terraces and two uncovered standing terraces, together with the standing room around the perimeter of the pitch. Additional refreshment kiosks and toilets have been added to the ground in recent times, while the function room of the social club is also accessible on a match day once you’re in the ground.

The below map shows key details of the various areas of the ground.
Main Stand
The main stand sits adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal and has 251 seats. Fans are able to reserve seats in this stand on a seasonal basis and take up is approximately 25% of the capacity of the stand. The remaining seats are available on a match day at no extra cost on a first come, first served basis.


On the same side of the ground, there is now stepped, uncovered terracing as a result of the recent developments, with the long-term plan to add further covered terracing along that side of the ground.

John Chorley Steel Stand
Informally known as “The Shed End”, this covered terrace at the Cantilever bridge end of the ground is popular with the more vocal supporters. It is the end of the ground that saw the club’s most famous goal, live on BBC TV in the FA Cup back in 2014.

Novelis Stand
Now a covered terrace, many years ago this was an all-seater stand, situated behind the dugouts and next to the social club and snack bar. Although its angle gives awkward views, it remains popular due to its position in the ground.

Bilfinger Stand (Away end)In 2024, significant work was completed to add the new Bilfinger Stand at one end of the ground, which comprises of a covered, seated stand and a standing terrace, and acts as the away end of the ground when segregation is in place. Behind the stand is a toilet block and a food/drink kiosk.

Food/Drink kiosksWe now have a number of food/drink outlets inside and outside of the ground.

There is the Talk of the Town takeaway, situated on the club car park before you enter the turnstile, which is also open during the week.Jackie’s Baps is now a permanent residency within the ground, next to the club shop. The Ojojo Coffee cart is now located next to the shed end.
We also have the club operated traditional Snack Bar, and the new food/drink kiosk that is situated behind the new away stand.

Social Club
On a matchday, the front of the social club is accessible before you enter the turnstiles. Once you enter the ground, you can access the function room in the social club, with the bar open.
After the match, the function room is closed for players and officials only.

Clubhouse
The main clubhouse includes the changing rooms for both teams and officials, the club office and press box.It also has the boardroom, which provides up to 32 match hospitality spaces per game, including a pre-match meal, private bar and other refreshments.

  

Farsley Celtic


Full name:   Farsley Celtic Football Club
Nickname:   The Celt Army
Founded:     1908
Ground:        The Citadel, Farsley
Capacity:      4,000 (300 seated)
Manager:      David Stockdale  
Farsley Celtic were finally relegated from the National League North after narrowly avoiding the drop in the three previous seasons. They finished bottom last season with 26 points from 46 matches. 
This was their record : P44, W7. D5, L34, F35, A113, Points 26. 

During the 2024–25 season Farsley were forced to play some home games at other stadiums including Bradford Park Avenue's Horsfall Stadium and Buxton's Silverlands due to issues with installing artificial turf at the stadium.



​The Gates to the Citadel Stadium




 

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If this is to be the teams in the NPL Premier Division next season then it looks a really tough league and it will be a real challenge to make the playoffs. 


.     
    Team                           Post Code     League
                                                               Last
                                                               Season
1.  Ashton United             OL6 8DY          NPP
2.  Bamber Bridge.           PR5 6UU.        NPP
3.  FC United                     M40 0FJ.         NPP
4.  Gainsborough T.          DN21 2QW.     NPP
5.  Guiseley                        LS20 8BT.       NPP
6.  Hebburn Town.             NE31 1UN.      NPP
7.  Hyde United                  SK14 5PL.       NPP
8.  Ilkeston Town.               DE7 8JF.         NPP
9.  Lancaster City.              LA1 5PE.         NPP
10 Leek Town                     ST13 8LD.       NPP
11 Morpeth Town.               NE61 2YX.      NPP
12 Prescot Cables.             L34 6HD.         NPP
13 Stockton Town.             TS19 0QD.       NPP
14 Warrington Rylands      WA2 7RZ.        NPP
15 Whitby Town.                 YO21 3HZ.       NPP
16 Workington.                    CA14 2DT.       NPP
17 Farsley Celtic.                 LS28 5BE.       NLN
18 Warrington Town.           WA4 2RS.        NLN
19 Cleethorpes Town.         DN32 8QL        NPE
20 Stocksbridge P S            S36 2AN.         NPE
21 Hednesford Town.          WS12 2DZ.      NPW
22 Widnes                             WA8 7DZ.        NPW


It's difficult to predict the impact of the new teams but Warrington Town, Widnes and Hednesford could do well and
from last season I expect Ashton, Gainsborough, Guiseley, Stockton and Warrington Rylands to be playoff challengers.
That's eight decent teams who could stand in the way of Ilkeston making the playoffs









 

Last edited by Matchman (14/5/2025 5:26 PM)

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Rushall Olympic



Full name:       Rushall Olympic Football Club
Nickname:      The Pics
Founded:        1893; 132 years ago
Ground:          Dales Lane, Rushall, Walsall 
Capacity:        1,400
Chairman:       John Allen
Manager:         Richard Sneekes 


So we have a surprise in the FA allocations to the Northern Premier League Premier Division.  

Rushall Olympic were widely predicted to go into the Southern League. But the FA's demotion of Farsley Celtic from Step 2 to Step 5 left a space for another team to come into our league. Personally I would rather it had been Quorn.
Rushall Olympic have always been over achievers.
We went there in the 2022-23 Southern League season with a strong team but had two players sent off on the night. Willock was dismissed in the first half and Arlott-John in the second half. On both occasions the referee seemed to be influenced by the deliberate and excessive pressuring by the Rushall players. We lost 2-0 and this was the Ilkeston team on Tuesday 11th October 2022.
1 Battersby, 2 Wilson, 3 Hutchinson, 4 Thomas, 5 Willock, 6 Delap, 7 Ward, 8 Solanke, 9 O'Grady, 10 Troke (C), 11 Arlott-John
Bench :12 Campbell, 14 Bradley, 15 Eratt-Thompson, 16 Hilton, 17 Brown-Hill.


Rushall were promoted to the National League North at the end of the 2022-23 season. They finished 5th in the Southern League Premier Central but won the playoffs by beating Coalville and Nuneaton both after penalty shootouts. They just avoided relegation in season 2023-24 but last season they were relegated after finishing 16 points short of  safety.



 


 

Last edited by Matchman (15/5/2025 8:54 PM)

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Leek and Rushall are now our two shortest journeys so could become our Bank Holiday matches next season

Both require journeys taking over an hour