The Opposition - Key Facts
Full name: Rugby Town Football Club
Nickname: The Valley
Founded: 1956
Ground: Butlin Road, Rugby, Warwickshire
Capacity: 5,000
Chairman: Brian Melvin
Manager: Grant Joshua (took over May 2025)
Last season: 19th/21 (NPL Midlands) - reprieved
Journey distance: 58 miles

The Opposition - History
Rugby Town FC began in 1956 as New Bilton Juniors, soon renamed Valley Sports and progressing through local leagues before becoming VS Rugby in 1969. After several ground moves, they settled at Butlin Road in 1973. Under manager Jimmy Knox from 1981, the club enjoyed its greatest success, winning the 1983 FA Vase, claiming league and cup honours, and reaching the FA Cup second round in 1987/88. A highlight came in 1991 with a 1–0 win over Manchester United in a testimonial.

After Knox’s departure, financial struggles saw the club enter receivership in 1992, but supporters rescued it and promotion soon followed. Name changes to Rugby United (2000) and Rugby Town (2005) proved contentious. In the 2010s, Dave Stringer twice led the team close to promotion via play-offs, before a period of managerial changes and eventual relegation to the Midland Football League in 2017.

Stringer briefly returned, then Carl Adams took over in 2018. The club’s best FA Vase run since 1983 came in 2021–22, and in 2022–23 Rugby secured promotion back into the Northern Premier League system.

The Opposition - This Season
The Valley have had a tough start to the season.
They exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle following defeat on the road at Coton Green before losing their NPL opener at home to Carlton Town.
They picked up a good win away to Wellingborough Town but since then have lost successive games to Corby Town, Anstey Nomads and Shepshed Dynamo.

League (21st): P 5 W 1 D 0 L 4 F 5 A 8 Pts. 3
Cups: P 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 F 1 A 2

Top goalscorers: Rivel Mardenborough (2), Various (1)
Most appearances: Various (6)
Biggest victory: 2-0 vs. Wellingborough Town (12th August)
Heaviest defeat: 1-3 vs. Anstey Nomads (23rd August)
Highest home attendance: 358 vs. Corby Town (19th August)
Average home attendance: 322 (9th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 1
Most games without a win: 3
Most consecutive defeats: 3
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.
The following midweek saw a trip to league newcomers Lichfield City and the Nailers come away with a 1-1 draw but a few days later it was back to winning ways as Boldmere St. Michaels were defeated at the Raygar Stadium.
A trip to Basford on Bank Holiday Monday resulted in a first goalless draw since March and a second successive clean sheet for Kieran Preston and his defence.
Kevin Bastos leads the goalscoring charts with five, while Ben Rhodes has two. James Tague, Jack Broadhead and Jonathan Wafula have one apiece.

Head to Head
The sides have met on five previous occasions, all within an 18 month period when both sides were in the NPL South.
The first match was a goalless draw before Rugby won a League Cup encounter by the odd goal in seven.
They also secured a win in the next encounter at Belper but the Nailers have secured three points in each of the last two meetings without conceding a goal.
Overall record for Belper: P 5 W 2 D 1 L 2 F 7 A 6.
(4 x NPL, 1 x League Cup)

The return fixture is scheduled for Saturday, 10th January 2026.

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Belper Town: WLDWD
Rugby Town: LWLLL

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

Permutations
Belper will go top with a win because the two teams above them are not in league action today.
A draw will also be enough to send them to the summit if Lichfield City fail to win.
For the visitors, they currently sit second from bottom but can shoot up as high as 12th with victory.
They cannot drop a place as basement club Bedworth United do not play today.

Match details
Belper Town vs. Rugby Town
Pitching In Northern Premier League Division One Midlands

Saturday, 30th 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 Tom 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
Lots of teams are competing in the FA Cup today so only four fixtures go ahead in our division.

(10th) Anstey Nomads vs. AFC Rushden & Diamonds (14th)
(3rd) Belper Town vs. Rugby Town (21st)
(19th) Loughborough Students vs. Boldmere St. Michaels (13th)
(12th) Mickleover FC vs. Lichfield City (6th)