The Opposition - History
Football existed in Kidsgrove before World War II, but the war caused the team to disband. In 1952, local men, including Frank Timmis, formed Kidsgrove Athletic, joining the Burslem and Tunstall League. After playing on the Vickers and Goodwin pitch, they developed their Hollinwood Road ground in 1961, winning the league in 1962 and moving to the Staffordshire County League, where they won Division Two in 1963–64 and Division One in 1965–66. A switch to the Mid-Cheshire League in 1966 brought championships in 1970–71, 1977–78, 1986–87 and 1987–88, plus three League Cups.

In 1990 they joined the North West Counties League, gaining Premier Division status in 1991–92 and winning titles in 1997–98 and 2001–02, which led to Northern Premier League promotion. The club avoided relegation narrowly in the early 2000s, then reached the play-offs in 2009–10 and finished seventh in 2010–11.

Kidsgrove reached the FA Cup fourth qualifying round in 2011–12. A turbulent managerial period followed, with changes including Shaun Hollinshead, Ant Buckle, Neil Gill, Paul Moore, and the return of Peter Ward by late 2014.
(Source - Wikipedia)

Matt Rhead and Tom Pope became Joint Managers in February 2025.

A journey of around 40 miles awaits them today.

The Opposition - This Season
The Grove finished pre-season in style, defeating Shrewsbury Town 7-3 before kicking off their competitive campaign with back-to-back wins and clean sheets against Rugby Borough in the FA Cup (a win that locked in today's fixture) and Wythenshawe Town in the NPL West.
They suffered defeat for the first time on Tuesday evening, coming unstuck away to Nantwich Town.

League (11th): P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 F 3 A 3 Pts. 3
Cups: P 1 W 1 D 0 L 0 F 1 A 0

Top goalscorers: Various (1)
Most appearances: Various (3)
Biggest victory: 2-0 vs. Wythenshawe Town (9th August)
Heaviest defeat: 1-3 vs. Nantwich Town (12th August)
Highest home attendance: 352 vs. Wythenshawe Town (9th August)
Average home attendance: 233 (12th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most games without a win: 1
Most consecutive defeats: 1
Most games without a defeat: 2

The Nailers
Belper began pre-season with a draw against their cross-town rivals Belper United.
Defeat to Step 3 Barwell followed on a scorching Leicestershire evening before another draw with the Burton Albion Academy.
The Nailers picked up a victory at the fourth time of asking away to Gresley before back to back 4-1 defeats against Matlock Town and Chasetown.
The final friendly saw a late Keaton August goal secure a win over Congleton Town.
The league season started last weekend with a hard fought 3-1 win at St. Neots Town, Bastos (2) and Rhodes on the scoresheet.
On Tuesday evening goals from Jack Broadhead and Jonathan Wafula ensured it was six points from six following victory over Loughborough Students.
Kevin Bastos leads the goalscoring chart with two, while Broadhead, Rhodes and Wafula have a goal each.

Head to Head
The two sides met for the first time in 2002 with Belper winning 2-0 in Staffordshire. The Nailers then went seven without a win in the fixture but won five of the next seven including a 5-4 victory in October 2006.
The Grove then had the better of things winning three in a row but Belper went unbeaten between March 2012 and April 2018 - a total of ten encounters before Kidsgrove won 3-1 at Belper.
The most recent meeting occurred in September 2024 when Belper triumphed in an FA Trophy encounter.
Overall the record from a Nailers perspective reads: P 33 W 15 D 9 L 9 F 60 A 44.

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Belper Town: WW
Kidsgrove Athletic: WWL

Team News
Full team news will be announced sometime after 2:15pm. There are no major injury concerns or suspensions.

Permutations
The winner will enter the First Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Should the match be level after 90 minutes a replay will take place in midweek, details of which will be announced in due course.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Kidsgrove Athletic
Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round

Saturday, 19th August 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
(All pay fixture - Season Tickets not valid)
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 and Facebook
• Match reports on the website (all matches) and in the Non-League Paper (Saturday matches only)

FA Cup fixtures involving NPL teams
Friday
Atherton Collieries vs. Prestwich Heys
Lye Town vs. Racing Club Warwick
Saturday
Basford United vs. Hucknall
Bedworth United vs. Atherstone
Belper Town vs. Kidsgrove Athletic
Blackstones vs. Grimsby Borough
Bradford (Park Avenue) vs. Avro
Congleton Town vs. Padiham
Coventry Sphinx vs. Dudley Town
Heaton Stannington vs. Marske United
Hinckley AFC vs. Long Eaton United
Lutterworth Town vs. Chasetown
Mickleover FC vs. Matlock Town
Nantwich Town vs. Charnock Richard
Newton Aycliffe vs. Newcastle BS
Northampton SR vs. Corby Town
Pershore Town vs. Coleshill Town
Pontefract Collieries vs. Blyth Spartans
Shepshed Dynamo vs. Clay Cross Town
Sherwood Colliery vs. Anstey Nomads
Stalybridge Celtic vs. Bury FC
Sutton Coldfield Town vs. Newcastle Town
Thornaby vs. Dunston
Trafford vs. Campion AFC
Wellingborough Town vs. Bourne Town
Whitchurch Alport vs. Runcorn Linnets
Wythenshawe vs. Vauxhall Motors