The Opposition - Key Facts
Full name: Shepshed Dynamo Football Club
Nickname: The Dynamo
Founded: 1994
Ground: The Dovecote Stadium
Capacity: 2,500 (500 seated)
Chairman: Mick Sloan
Manager: Gary Drake (since October 2024)
Last season: 13th/21 (NPL Midlands)
Journey distance: 28 miles

The Opposition - History
Football in Shepshed dates back to the late 19th century, with Shepshed Albion joining the Leicestershire Senior League in 1907 and winning titles in 1911 and 1921.

In 1975, backed by Maurice Clayton of Charterhouse Holdings, the club became Shepshed Charterhouse and began a remarkable rise. Between 1978 and 1984, they won six consecutive league titles, reaching the Southern League Premier Division and even the FA Cup First Round in 1982, losing to Preston North End. Former Nottingham Forest player Martin O’Neill briefly managed the club in 1989.

After back-to-back relegations in 1991–92, the club reverted to Shepshed Albion, then reformed as Shepshed Dynamo in 1994. They won the Midland Football Alliance in 1995–96, earning promotion to the Southern League.

Subsequent years brought fluctuating fortunes, with league restructures and financial struggles. Despite occasional reprieves from relegation, Dynamo eventually dropped to the United Counties League in 2012, later joining the Midland Football League Premier Division after a merger in 2014.

The Opposition - This Season
The Dynamo started the campaign with an FA Cup win over AFC Wulfrunians but had to wait until matchday four for an NPL victory, though it was worth the wait as they defeated Racing Club Warwick 5-0.
They backed this up with a good win at Rugby Borough and then knocked Bourne Town out of the FA Cup in a replay.
Anstey Nomads inflicted a heavy defeat to end the FA Trophy run before it had begun and Stamford did the same in the Cup.
These matches were part of a run of seven successive home matches which ended with a 2-1 win over Bedworth United, a few days after they had suffered a heavy reversal to Corby Town.
After collecting three points at Bourne Town, a poor run followed with four defeats in a row but they come into the match today with two wins from their last three matches including last weekend at home to Coventry Sphinx.

League (13th/22): P 17 W 7 D 2 L 8 F 22 A 23 Pts. 23
Cups: P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 F 7 A 9

Top goalscorers: Data not available
Biggest victory: 5-0 vs. Racing Club Warwick (23rd August)
Heaviest defeat: 1-5 vs. Corby Town (23rd September) and 0-4 vs. Anstey Nomads (6th September)
Highest home attendance: 474 vs. Stamford (13th September)
Average home attendance: 221 (14th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most games without a win: 4
Most consecutive defeats: 4
Most games without a defeat: 3

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 it was back to winning ways against Wellingborough Town and Coventry Sphinx.
Carlton Town won at Belper on the 7th of October to inflict a first defeat of the season and four days later it became back to back defeats as Coleshill won 2-0.
The Nailers bounced back well from these setbacks, with an impressive victory at Anstey Nomads being followed by a comfortable home win over AFC Rushden & Diamonds.
On the 25th of October, a last gasp free kick from Jacob Gratton secured a point at Racing Club Warwick before a late, late show from Corby Town condemned us to defeat the following Wednesday.
Back at the Raygar to start November, we had to settle for a point against Rugby Borough but last weekend saw a comfortable win at Sutton Coldfield Town, with two goals scored in injury time.
Five players have appeared in every match so far.
Kevin Bastos leads the goalscoring charts with seven, while Jacob Gratton has five. Liam Moran and Jacob Fenton have four and Jonathan Wafula and Ben Rhodes have three. Jack Broadhead has two while a further four players have a single goal to their name.

Head to Head
The two sides have met on 20 occasions (this includes one abandoned), all since 2004.
The Dynamo had much the better of the early meetings, going unbeaten in the first four.
Belper then won back to back games before Shepshed did the same.
The Nailers struggled to get any momentum in the fixture until they achieved three wins in a row, a run which was ended in the last meeting when Shepshed won at the Raygar Stadium in March 2022.
Belper's biggest win is 6-0 in April 2012 while Shepshed's is 3-0 in September 2008.

Overall record for Belper:
P 20 W 7 D 4 L 8 (1 abandoned) F 32 A 27
(19 x NPL Step 4, 1 x Challenge Cup)

The return fixture is scheduled for Saturday, 28th February 2026.

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Belper Town: WWDLDW
Shepshed Dynamo: LLLWLW

Team News
Full team news will be announced at 2:15pm.

Permutations
Belper are three points behind Carlton but have a better goal difference so victory combined with Carlton losing at Mickleover would send the Nailers top as Anstey Nomads are not in action (they are level on points with us but three goals back).
We cannot drop a place as the only team besides Anstey who are within three points - Corby Town - are not in action either.
For Shepshed, they can climb from 13th to 9th with a win if other results go their way.
If they drop points the lowest they can finish the day is 17th.

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

Saturday, 15th November 2025 - 3:03pm* kick off *in relation to the National League's 3UP day of action campaigning for an additional promotion place to the EFL

Raygar Stadium
Bridge Street
Belper
Derbyshire
DE56 1BA

Admission prices: Adults £11, Concessions £7, U11 (with accompanying adult) £0

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
(2nd) Belper Town vs. Shepshed Dynamo (13th)
(21st) Boldmere St. Michaels vs. Racing Club Warwick (14th)
(5th) Coleshill Town vs. Basford United (7th)
(9th) Coventry Sphinx vs. AFC Rushden & Diamonds (19th)
(6th) Lichfield City vs. Long Eaton United (12th)
(16th) Loughborough Students vs. Bourne Town (20th)
(8th) Mickleover FC vs. Carlton Town (1st)
(11th) Rugby Town vs. St. Neots Town (17th)
(18th) Wellingborough Town vs. Bedworth United (22nd)