The Opposition - History
Like Belper, Ashington AFC were established all the way back in 1883.
Early years saw them competing in the Northern Alliance and East Northumberland League.
They won the Alliance in 1914 and gained promotion to the North Eastern League.
They were then elected to join the new Third Division North of the Football League in 1921.
After spending 8 seasons as a League team they finished bottom and and re-entered the North Eastern League but at Division Two as the top division was full.
1927 saw a trip to the FA Cup 3rd Round, losing to Nottingham Forest.
They remained in the NEL until it folded in 1958.
The 1960s saw them flit between the Midland League, Northern Counties League (founder members), Wearside League and North Regional League before becoming founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968.
They resigned due to costs after one season and again moved around leagues in the north.
They remained back in the Northern League from 1970 all the way up until 2023, when they defeated Glossop North End 3-0 to gain promotion to the NPL Division One East and last season they finished 14th.

Manager Nick Gray took over in October 2024.

A journey of around 180 miles awaits the Nailers today.

The Opposition - This Season
The Colliers started the season with a resounding FA Cup win over Shildon and prevailed over Bishop Auckland in the next round but were knocked out of the FA Trophy early and had to wait until matchday four before they picked up an NPL win.
Three defeats followed this before a good run of three wins from four but September finished with defeat at home to Sherwood Colliery and October was a disastrous month as they lost all six matches, ending the month in the relegation zone.
November was slightly better as they picked up three wins and in December they lost only once.
The new year saw some tight encounters, with single goal victories away to Grimsby Borough and Stocksbridge sandwiching a draw at Sherwood.
They finished January with a heavy home defeat to local rivals Newton Aycliffe and couldn't get past Consett in another derby match but finally bounced back with successive victories over Bishop Auckland and Brighouse Town, to ease relegation worries.
Recent weeks have been tough, they come into the match today without a win in four matches, although one of those was a penalty shootout defeat to Morpeth in the Northumberland County Cup.
Last weekend they were defeated 1-0 at Emley.

League (16th): P 34 W 10 D 7 L 17 F 40 A 57 Pts. 37
Cups: P 8 W 4 D 2 L 2 F 18 A 14

Top goalscorers: Josh Gilchrist (12), Craig Spooner (8), Wilson Kneeshaw (6)
Most appearances: Wilson Kneeshaw (37), Craig Spooner (34), Gary Ormston (31)
Biggest victory: 4-1 vs. North Shields (18th September) and Brighouse Town (15th February)
Heaviest defeat: 0-4 vs. Liversedge (30th November) and Newton Aycliffe (28th January)
Highest home attendance: 478 vs. Bishop Auckland (17th August)
Average home attendance: 365 (7th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most games without a win: 8
Most consecutive defeats: 7
Most games without a defeat: 4

The Nailers
Belper had a dream start to the season, winning their opening two NPL games and FA Cup opener against Lutterworth Town.
Defeat at Emley was just a minor blip as the Nailers bounced back with wins over Bridlington Town and Sherwood Colliery.
An exit from the FA Cup followed at the hands of Bromsgrove Sporting and then after a fine performance and win at North Ferriby it was disappointment in a home defeat to Cleethorpes Town.
This kickstarted a five game winning run which ended with two poor home performances against Brighouse Town and today's hosts, both matches were lost 2-0.
After a win at Carlton Town came a penalty shootout exit from the FA Trophy at Chasetown and then a crazy 6-4 win over Consett.
This began another good run of four wins in a row but following this Belper failed to win in four.
More back to back wins followed, four again but that run ended on the 14th of January and the Nailers then lost five out of six and conceded 17 goals.
Four weeks ago saw a thrilling 3-3 draw at Newton Aycliffe while the following Tuesday it was a first goalless draw for nearly a year, at Pontefract.
Three weekends ago the points were shared for the third game in a row as ten-man Belper returned from Consett with a 1-1 draw while March began with a much needed home victory over Garforth Town. Last Saturday saw a second goalless draw in four matches, Bishop Auckland the opponents this time.
Harry Draper is well clear as leading goalscorer with 24 while Luke Rawson picked up 10 before re-joining Stocksbridge and Curtis Burrows sits on eight.

Head to Head
Only three meetings with Ashington to date.
Last season, at the turn of the year in the north east, Belper enjoyed the better of the early stages but the game was settled by a stunning 25 yard strike from Wilson Kneeshaw in the 32nd minute in front of 345 spectators.
Back at Belper in March a brace from Sidik Atcha, including an injury time equaliser helped the Nailers to a 2-2 draw.
Earlier this season at the Raygar Stadium, a Curtis Burrows penalty was all that separated the sides and so both sides have the same record in the fixture.
Record for Belper: P 3 W 1 D 1 L 1 F 3 A 3.

Form Guide (all comps)
Ashington: WWLDLL
Belper Town: LDDDWD

Team News
Full team news will be confirmed before kick off as Lee Attenborough awaits to see who is fit.

Permutations
The Nailers cannot realistically move up to 3rd, with Dunston now three points ahead and also holding a goal difference advantage of 18.
We could conceivably finish outside of the playoff places if we fail to win. Newton Aycliffe, North Ferriby and Stocksbridge are all poised to overtake. All three need a win to do so, no matter the result for Belper.
For Ashington, a win could push them as high as 13th while the most ground they could lose if they fail to do so would be one place, down to 17th and this will happen if Brighouse better their result.

Match details
Ashington AFC vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One East

Saturday, 15th March 2025 - 3:00pm kick off

Woodhorn Lane
Ashington
NE63 9FW

Admission prices: £9 / £5 / £3.

Parking, with space for 120 cars is available on a first come first served basis. If you arrive and find all spaces are taken, please do not block any entry or exit roads.

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 Stocksbridge vs. Carlton, with both teams knocking on the door of the playoffs.
The top five all face away fixtures.

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