The Opposition - History
Stocksbridge Park Steels are a relatively new club in comparison to others in the League, having been formed as recently as 1986 following a merger between Stocksbridge Works and Oxley Park Sports.
The new club was granted entry to the NCEL Division Two but this was disbanded five years later and re-organised, with the Steels moving to Division One.
New manager Mick Horne led them to the title at the first time of asking in 1992 and after a tough season first time out in the Premier Division they won the title the following season.
Unfortunately Bracken Moor did not meet the requirements for promotion to the NPL and so they had to remain in the NCEL.
A couple of seasons later in 1996 they finished second on goal difference and were at this time admitted to the NPL - they have remained there since.
After a few seasons of consolidation they reached the Premier Division in 2009, defeating the Nailers in the Playoff Final.
They spent five seasons at Step 3 before being relegated in 2014, ironically being replaced by Belper who won the Division One South Playoffs that season.
They have played at Step 4 for the last decade, finishing in the top six on three occasions including in 5th the season before last which earned them a Playoff place. They were defeated by Stockton Town in the semi-finals.

Manager Ian Richards took over in September 2021. A former Nailer as well as player at Stocksbridge, he previously managed Penistone Church.

A journey of around 50 miles awaits them today.

The Opposition - This Season
Steels had a solid start to the season, not losing until matchday four in the NPL and getting through two rounds of the FA Cup.
An FA Trophy win over Widnes kicked off a seven game unbeaten run and when that ended another five game run began.
December saw only two matches played, both draws and the new year started with a comfortable home win over Sheffield.
A sticky patch followed as they went six without a win including back to back 0-3 defeats on the road.
They bounced back with a run of seven successive victories before Carlton won at Bracken Moor and they then exited the Sheffield & Hallam Cup at the hands of Hallam.
Their last two outings have seen them defeat Newton Aycliffe and Pontefract Collieries, with former Nailer Luke Rawson on the scoresheet in both matches.

League (5th): P 37 W 19 D 9 L 9 F 55 A 33 Pts. 66
Cups: P 11 W 7 D 2 L 2 F 33 A 14

Top goalscorers: Alexander Hardwick (11), James Morris (9)
Most appearances: Elliot Owen (48), Alex O'Connor (46), Kurtis Turner (45)
Biggest victory: 6-0 vs. Kiveton Miners Welfare (24th September) and Denaby Main (16th October)
Heaviest defeat: 0-3 vs. Bradford (Park Avenue) (9th October and also against same opposition 1st February) and Emley (4th February)
Highest home attendance: 301 vs. Newton Aycliffe (16th November)
Average home attendance: 206 (20th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 7
Most games without a win: 6
Most consecutive defeats: 4
Most games without a defeat: 9

The Nailers
Belper started the season well, with three successive victories before defeat at Emley. They bounced back from this with another good mini run before bowing out of the FA Cup at Bromsgrove Sporting.
Late September in to October saw five wins in a row but this run came to a halt with back to back home reversals against Brighouse Town and Newton Aycliffe.
After this it was six unbeaten but the poorest performance of the season at that stage saw Stocksbridge run out easy winners at Bracken Moor.
This once again sparked some form in the Nailers who went seven without defeat before once again successive home defeats ended things, this time against North Ferriby and Ossett United.
Further setbacks against Dunston and Carlton meant it was four defeats in a row at the Raygar Stadium but recent weeks have seen Belper become difficult to beat, although they have also struggled to get wins over the line, drawing seven out of the last eight matches before today.
Harry Draper remains well clear as leading goalscorer with 24 while Luke Rawson hit 10 before his move back to Stocksbridge and Curtis Burrows has eight.

Head to Head
Stocksbridge are one of our most faced opponents in recent years.
The teams have met 55 times, with Stocksbridge leading things 21-15 (despite Belper winning the first three) and eight draws.
Memorable matches include the Presidents Cup Final in 1990/91, a two-legged tie marking the first meetings and Belper emerged victorious 8-1 on aggregate.
In 2002, Belper were 0-3 down and missed a penalty before coming back to win 4-3 at Christchurch Meadow.
A couple of years later Stocksbridge reversed the score line at the same ground, Belper being reduced to ten players and Bullimore scoring a hattrick of penalties for The Steels.
The most recent fixture at Bracken Moor earlier this season ended in a comfortable 3-0 victory for Stocksbridge and Belper are five without a win, the last time they came out on top being September 2019.
Belper's record in the fixture reads P 55 W 19 D 11 L 25 F 69 A 73.
(48 x League, 2 x Presidents Cup, 2 x NCE League Cup, 3 x Challenge Cup)

Form Guide (all comps)
Belper Town: DWDDDD
Stocksbridge PS: WWLLWW

Team News
Full team news will be confirmed around an hour before kick off.

Permutations
Belper can climb back to 4th if they win and Newton Aycliffe fail to beat North Ferriby (4th vs. 7th - a good fixture for Belper).
Anything less than victory means both North Ferriby and Carlton Town would leapfrog the Nailers with wins - if both do so Belper will drop to 8th but after that there is an 11 point gap and realistically the playoffs are out of reach for the teams in 9th downwards.
The permutations for Stocksbridge are identical, with the two teams separated only on goal difference.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Stocksbridge Park Steels
Northern Premier League Division One East

Saturday, 5th April 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 are two massive matches in the playoff race - the one at the Raygar Stadium and also at Newton Aycliffe where North Ferriby are the visitors.
At the bottom, Sheffield could be all but relegated if they fail to win and results go against them, they are eleven points (+GD) from safety with only twelve to play for after today.

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