The Opposition - History
Cleethorpes Town are a relatively new team, formed as recently as 1998.
Progress through the leagues was swift during the 2010s, with promotion from the Lincolnshire League in 2012 followed by the NCEL Division One title in 2014 and finally the Premier Division in 2017 which brought them to the NPL where they have been ever since.
Also in there was a trip to Wembley for the FA Vase final in 2017, where they lost to South Shields.

Manager Craig Rouse took over in May 2024.

A journey of around 89 miles awaits the Nailers today.

The Opposition - This Season
The Owls haven't really put too many feet wrong this season but even by their high standards the opening weeks were exceptional.
They bagged 21 goals in their first six matches to go straight to the top of the table and through two Preliminary Rounds of the FA Cup.
Their first defeat didn't arrive until a 1-0 reversal at Kettering Town in the Second Qualifying Round, part of a run of five successive away matches and September overall saw six matches in four different competitions.
After a home defeat to Dunston they went nine unbeaten before losing at Ossett and after three further wins they were narrowly defeated at Grimsby Borough on New Year's Day.
After this they weren't on the losing side again until early March as Dunston completed the double over them and that remains their last defeat, they are currently eight unbeaten in 90 minutes (losing a thrilling Lincolnshire Cup Final on penalties to Scunthorpe United).
Like Belper, they have kept three clean sheets in a row and they are second in the division for goals scored (behind Newton Aycliffe) and goals conceded (behind Emley).

League (1st): P 39 W 27 D 7 L 5 F 88 A 33 Pts. 88
Cups: P 11 W 6 D 4 L 1 F 30 A 11

Top goalscorers: Josh Walker (26), Curtis Bateson (20)
Most appearances: Bradley Abbott & Josh Walker (49), Curtis Bateson (47)
Biggest victory: 7-0 vs. Kimberley Miners Welfare (3rd August)
Heaviest defeat: 1-4 vs. Dunston (28th September) and Ossett United (30th November)
Highest home attendance: 882 vs. Grimsby Borough (26th August)
Average home attendance: 434 (3rd/22)
Most consecutive wins: 6
Most games without a win: 2
Most consecutive defeats: 1
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 had struggled to get wins over the line, drawing seven out of eight before recent home wins (and clean sheets) against Stocksbridge and Emley.
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
The Nailers and the Owls have met on ten occasions.
The first three produced some crazy score lines, with a 4-4 draw at Cleethorpes in October 2017 followed by the Nailers going down 0-7 at home in the reverse fixture.
The following season saw another heavy defeat for Belper, this time 1-5 away but they finally picked up their first (and to date only) victory in the fixture back at Belper in April 2019.
Cleethorpes have won the six fixtures since then including the double in last season's encounters and 2-0 at the Raygar Stadium earlier this season.
Overall the record from a Belper perspective does not read well: P 10 W 1 D 1 L 8 F 8 A 31.

Form Guide (all comps)
Cleethorpes Town: WDDDWW
Belper Town: DDDDWW

Team News
Full team news will be announced around 2.00pm.

Permutations
A win will guarantee the security of 3rd place in the table (in the absence of a highly unlikely 15 goal swing which is needed to catch Dunston).
Despite back to back wins, anything less than victory will open the door for up to three teams to overtake the Nailers, only a draw or better will ensure a playoff place at full time.
Cleethorpes have of course already been crowned Champions of the NPL East but agonisingly they cannot quite reach the feat of Basford in 2018 who secured 100 points en route to winning the league.

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

Saturday, 19th April 2025 - 3:00pm kick off

The Linden Club
Clee Road
Grimsby
North East Lincolnshire
DN32 8QL

Admission prices: Adults £10, Concessions £7, 6-15 £3, U6 Free.

Follow the match
Full coverage of the match:

• Audio commentary with Chris 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
The three sides below Belper all face sides in the bottom half of the table while our game at the Linden Club involves the only sides in the division without a defeat in their last six matches.

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