The Opposition - Key Facts
Full name: Carlton Town Football Club
Nickname: The Millers
Founded: 1904 (as Sneinton FC)
Ground: Bill Stokeld Stadium
Capacity: 1,968
Chairman: Mick Garton
Manager: Tommy Brookbanks and Mark Harvey (since May 2019)
Last season: 7th/22 (NPL East)
Journey distance: 25 miles

The Opposition - History
Carlton Town were originally formed in 1904 as Sneinton Football Club and enjoyed considerable success in their early years.
The Notts Alliance League was secured in four out of five seasons between 1905 and 1910 and in the 1920s they added a Notts Alliance Cup and Carlton and District Charity Cup as they rebuilt after losing several players during World War I.
They became champions of the Notts Spartan League in 1933 but then had to disband ahead of World War II.
Reforming in 1947, they moved to Division Three of the Notts Amateur League and a decade later they were playing in Division Two.
The 1960s saw Sneinton struggle for players and it wasn't until 1985 that they secured further silverware, winning the Notts Alliance League Division Two.
In to the 90s and the club moved to its current home, the Bill Stokeld Stadium in Gedling and joined the Central Midlands Football League.
The name change to Carlton Town came in 2002 to reflect the fact that Gedling had historically been in a parish named Carlton-le-Willows, forming part of the Carlton Urban District.
By 2007 they had reached the NPL Division One South and they have remained at that level ever since, reaching the Playoffs on two occasions but finishing in 18th or 19th in five successive seasons, avoiding relegation on one occasion due to ground grading issues at AFC Mansfield.
Last season they finished 7th in the NPL East, and were transferred to the Midlands Division along with Belper.

The Opposition - This Season
The Millers had a great start to the campaign, winning their first four including a 6-1 FA Cup victory away to Barton Town.
After dropping points in their next two NPL matches, they picked up a great win over Cleethorpes in the FA Cup then defeated Long Eaton United on penalties in the FA Trophy.
However their next two matches saw them exit both of those Cups as they went on a run of five successive Cup fixtures which also included a solid start in the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup.
Recent league fixtures have seen a comfortable win away to Boldmere St. Michaels before a heavy defeat at Racing Club Warwick and they come in to the match this evening off the back of a narrow win at home to St. Neots Town at the weekend.

League (7th/22): P 8 W 5 D 1 L 2 F 13 A 10 Pts. 16
Cups: P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 F 16 A 8

Top goalscorers: Ashley Chambers (9), Liam Moran (4)
Biggest victory: 6-1 vs. Barton Town (16th August)
Heaviest defeat: 0-4 vs. Racing Club Warwick (30th September)
Highest home attendance: 308 vs. Lichfield City (23rd August)
Average home attendance: 266 (12th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 4
Most games without a win: 2
Most consecutive defeats: 2
Most games without a defeat: 4

The Nailers
After an indifferent pre-season, Belper started well in the NPL with three victories in their first four matches but this early spell also saw an exit from the FA Cup at the first hurdle.
A good point was secured on Bank Holiday Monday at Basford and it was another draw against Rugby Town back at the Raygar.
The Nailers battled past Newcastle Town in the FA Trophy before defeating Bedworth United.
Rugby Town ended the FA Trophy run at the Second Qualifying Round stage but recent wins over Wellingborough Town and Coventry Sphinx mean Belper come in to the match this evening still unbeaten in the League.
Seven players have appeared in every match so far. With Kieran Preston having to sit out the midweek trip to Coventry, Ioan Evans is now the only player to have played every single minute of the season to date.
Kevin Bastos leads the goalscoring charts with six, while Jacob Fenton and Ben Rhodes have three each. Jonathan Wafula has two to his name and a further six players have one goal apiece.

Head to Head
This fixture has become a regular one in recent years, having been played 27 times despite the first meeting being as recently as 2007.
This looks set to continue with both sides having been awarded lateral moves from the NPL East to the Midlands at the end of last season.
Belper enjoyed the better of the early encounters, winning 7 out of the first 11.
This included, in the 2011/12 season a 4-2 Doodson Sports Cup victory which was followed up just over a week later with a 5-4 FA Trophy victory, a match where the Nailers were 2-1 down at half time but battled back in the second half.
After this the Millers went on a five match unbeaten run against us, ending in 2017. Carlton won heavily at the Bill Stokeld in February 2018 but Belper won the next four.
In April 2022 Carlton threatened to derail Belper's promotion push (but didn't) and two seasons ago a Cam Johnson goal wasn't enough to stop the points staying in Nottinghamshire before later in the season the Nailers ran out 4-0 winners at the Raygar Stadium.
Last season, a Harry Draper double saw the Nailers win 2-1 in Nottingham in October but the Millers took their revenge at the Raygar in February, winning comfortably 3-1, this at the time being a fourth successive home defeat for Belper.
Overall, from a Belper perspective the record reads: P 27 W 14 D 3 L 10 F 51 A 46.
All of those matches bar two (Cup) have been Step 4 league fixtures.

The return fixture from today is scheduled for Saturday, 7th February 2026.

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Belper Town: WWLWW
Carlton Town: LWWLW

Team News
Full team news will be announced around 7:00pm.

Permutations
With the Nailers two points clear at the top, a win will guarantee at least the same cushion come full time.
If Belper draw, Corby would need to win heavily away to Wellingborough to leapfrog to the summit while any victory will do for them if the Nailers are defeated.
Rugby Borough who sit immediately behind Belper are not in action this evening.
For Carlton, victory and other results going their way could result in a jump to 2nd although it would require a goal difference swing. One thing in their favour is all of the teams between them and Belper are either away tonight or not playing.

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

Tuesday, 7th October 2025 - 7:45pm 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
The Nailers are one of only three teams in the top half of the table who play at home tonight.
The side immediately below us, Rugby Borough are not in action but third placed Corby are in action and face a relatively short journey to Wellingborough.

(22nd) Bedworth United vs. Sutton Coldfield Town (14th)
(1st) Belper Town vs. Carlton Town (7th)
(13th) Boldmere St. Michaels vs. Lichfield City (8th)
(21st) Bourne Town vs. Basford United (5th)
(19th) Loughborough Students vs. Long Eaton United (15th)
(18th) Mickleover FC vs. Anstey Nomads (9th)
(11th) Racing Club Warwick vs. Coventry Sphinx (4th)
(20th) Rugby Town vs. Coleshill Town (17th)
(12th) St. Neots Town vs. AFC Rushden & Diamonds (16th)
(10th) Wellingborough Town vs. Corby Town (3rd)