The Opposition - History
Boldmere St. Michaels FC was founded in 1883 as a church youth team, playing friendlies until joining a league in 1912. They progressed through local leagues, winning the Birmingham AFA Senior Cup in 1928–29 and Junior Cup in 1933–34. In 1937 they entered the Central Amateur League, finishing runners-up in 1938–39 and champions in 1946–47.

In 1947–48 they reached the FA Amateur Cup semi-finals, losing 2–0 to Barnet at Highbury before 26,000 fans. That season they were league runners-up, shared the AFA Senior Cup, and later hosted the Indian Olympic team. They won the Central Amateur League again in 1948–49, then joined the Birmingham & District League. Remaining amateur in a semi-pro league led to poor results, finishing near bottom in 1952–54.

After league mergers, they entered Division Two, later the West Midlands (Regional) League, before dropping to the Worcestershire Combination in 1963. Renamed the Midland Combination in 1968, the club won cups in the late 1970s. Promoted to the Premier Division in 1983, they won titles in 1985–86 and 1988–89, then achieved a 1989–90 treble of league, League Cup, and Tony Allden Cup, retaining both cups in 1990–91 and winning again in 1991–92.

In 1994 they became founder members of the Midland Alliance, finishing runners-up in 2013–14. After the league merged into the Midland League, they joined the Premier Division, finishing runners-up in 2021–22 to earn promotion to Division One Midlands of the Northern Premier League.

Manager Ben Roberts took over in February 2025.

A journey of around 40 miles awaits them today.

The Opposition - This Season
Boldmere started out in disappointing form, losing in the FA Cup to Abbey Hulton United before coming unstuck at home to Rugby Borough in their NPL opener.
They picked up their first three points at Anstey Nomads but Tuesday evening Mickleover picked up a win at the Boldmere Community Stadium.

League (15th): P 3 W 1 D 0 L 2 F 4 A 5 Pts. 3
Cups: P 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 F 1 A 3

Top goalscorers: Harry Wakefield (2), Various (1)
Most appearances: George Cleet (4), Various (3)
Biggest victory: 1-0 vs. Anstey Nomads (12th August)
Heaviest defeat: 1-3 vs. Abbey Hulton United (2nd August)
Highest home attendance: 162 vs. Abbey Hulton United (2nd August)
Average home attendance: 134 (22nd/22)
Most consecutive wins: 1
Most games without a win: 2
Most consecutive defeats: 2
Most games without a defeat: 1

The Nailers
After an indifferent pre-season Belper got off to a winning start in the NPL at St. Neots Town.
The first home match saw a narrow win over Loughborough Students but this was followed by a disappointing FA Cup exit at the hands of Kidsgrove Athletic.
A midweek trip to league newcomers Lichfield City saw the Nailers come away with a 1-1 draw.
Kevin Bastos leads the goalscoring charts with three, while Ben Rhodes has two. Jack Broadhead and Jonathan Wafula have one apiece.

Head to Head
The sides have met twice before.
In November 1996 the Mikes dumped the Nailers out of the FA Vase, an early exit for Belper after two successful seasons in the competition.
The next fixture wouldn't arrive until early last season when Belper won 2-1 at the Raygar Stadium in the FA Trophy.
Record for Belper: P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 F 3 A 4

The return fixture from today is scheduled for Saturday, 4th April 2026.

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Belper Town: WWLD
Boldmere St. Michaels: LLWL

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

Permutations
The Nailers can go top but it will require a win, along with a goal difference improvement and sides above them dropping points.
With so few matches played the table is yet to spread out and they could slip into the bottom half of the table if defeated.
For Boldmere victory could shoot them up as high as 7th while a freak set of results could see them in the relegation zone if they don't win.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Boldmere St. Michaels
Pitching In Northern Premier League Division One Midlands

Saturday, 23rd 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
Cash and card accepted on the turnstiles.

Follow the match
Full coverage of the match:

• Audio commentary with Joe 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)

NPL Midlands fixtures
There's an early season top of the table battle as Corby Town in 2nd entertain 4th place Coventry Sphinx.
Leaders Carlton Town entertain Lichfield City who shared the points with Belper on Wednesday.

(16th) Anstey Nomads vs. Rugby Town (14th)
(18th) Bedworth United vs. Bourne Town (22nd)
(5th) Belper Town vs. Boldmere St. Michaels (15th)
(1st) Carlton Town vs. Lichfield City (11th)
(9th) Coleshill Town vs. St. Neots Town (19th)
(2nd) Corby Town vs. Coventry Sphinx (4th)
(17th) Mickleover FC vs. AFC Rushden & Diamonds (8th)
(20th) Shepshed Dynamo vs. Racing Club Warwick (10th)