The Opposition - History
Ossett United were formed in 2018 following a merger between Ossett Town (est. 1936) and Ossett Albion (est. 1944).
Both of those clubs had been long standing in the NPL and the new club set up camp at Ingfield, former home of Town.
Recent seasons have seen familiar faces involved with the club.
Ahead of the 22/23 season Jas Colliver and Mark Ward took over as joint managers but this appointment did not work out and Grant Black, Belper manager in the promotion campaign three seasons ago, took over in October 2022. He was sacked just before Christmas 2023.
The fledgling club has picked up a single honour, the West Riding County Cup in 2019.
Last season saw a 16th place finish.

Manager James Walshaw was appointed in October 2024.

A journey of around 60 miles awaits them today.

The Opposition - This Season
The Sheepicorns had a very tough start to the season, losing in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round and going without a win in the NPL until matchday six against Consett.
They battled past Stalybridge on penalties in the FA Trophy before knocking out Bradford PA and Prescot Cables but league form remained a concern throughout September and October until three wins out of five steadied the ship a little, including a fantastic 4-1 win over Cleethorpes.
They followed this up with another four goals against Sherwood Colliery but then suffered a heavy defeat in the County Cup and against Garforth back in the league.
Recent weeks have seen a good home win over Bradford PA before defeat at Ashington and they come into today off the back of a goalless draw at home to Liversedge.
Away from home they have won 4 out of 11 games this season in the NPL and it is these results which have kept their head above water as only Sheffield have a worse home record.

League (19th): P 23 W 6 D 4 L 13 F 26 A 43 Pts. 22
Cups: P 7 W 3 D 1 L 3 F 9 A 13

Top goalscorers: Eddie Church (8), Basile Zottos (7), Joe Crosby (4)
Most appearances: Eddie Church (28), Aleks Petrovic (24), Conor Qualter & Ryan Qualter (21 each)
Biggest victory: 4-0 vs. Sherwood Colliery (7th December)
Heaviest defeat: 0-5 vs. Grimsby Borough (14th August) and Ilkley Town (10th December)
Highest home attendance: 771 vs. Emley (12th October)
Average home attendance: 367 (7th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most games without a win: 6
Most consecutive defeats: 5
Most games without a defeat: 4

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 are one of the form teams in the league in recent weeks, having enjoyed comfortable wins over Heaton Stannington, Sheffield FC and Sherwood Colliery over the festive period and they were on the right end of a nailbiter at Bradford (Park Avenue) two weeks ago.
Midweek saw the good run come to an end as North Ferriby won at the Raygar Stadium.
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
Belper have only met the current Ossett United five times but are undefeated in the fixture.
In 2018/19, two matches saw 11 goals.
In September at Ingfield, a stunning 60 yard goal from Jack Vann in injury time secured a point for Ossett with the match finishing 3-3.
The Nailers picked up the points back at Belper the following April. 0-2 down after 48 minutes, goals from Robson, Crouz and South saw the game turned on its head with the hosts winning 3-2.
Last season, goals from James Cadman and Zak Goodson saw Belper to a 2-0 victory at the Raygar Stadium before later in the season the points were shared at Ingfield.
Earlier this season a late goal from Harrison Poulter secured a Nailers win in West Yorkshire.
Record vs. Ossett United: P 5 W 3 D 2 L 0 F 11 A 7 (all league).

Form Guide (all comps)
Belper Town: DWWWWL
Ossett United: WLLWLD

Team News
There are no major injury concerns or suspensions.

Permutations
Only victory will guarantee top spot at full-time. Defeat on Tuesday means although the two point gap remains, Cleethorpes have two games in hand and a superior goal difference.
Cleethorpes will need to win to regain top spot regardless of our result.
For Ossett, due to their goal difference and a one point gap to safety, they will need to win to climb out of the relegation places. Victory could take them as high as 15th.
Anything less than victory leaves the possibility of both Heaton Stannington and Brighouse Town leapfrogging them.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Ossett United
Northern Premier League Division One East

Saturday, 18th 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
There's a big game at Dunston where Cleethorpes are the visitors and this is a good one for Belper who, if they win will gain points on at least one of them.
At the bottom there's a huge game at Bridlington where basement club Sheffield are the visitors.

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