The Opposition - Key Facts
Full name: Mickleover Football Club
Nickname: Sports
Founded: 1948
Ground: Station Road
Capacity: 1,500 (280 seated)
Chairman: Don Amott
Manager: Gareth Holmes (since May 2024)
Last season: 20th/22 (NPL Premier Division) (Relegated)
Journey distance: 10 miles

The Opposition - History
The club was established in 1948 as Mickleover Old Boys. They joined the Derby & District Senior League, where they played until moving up to the Premier Division of the Central Midlands League in 1993. The club was then renamed Mickleover Sports. A fourth-place finish in the Premier Division in 1994–95 saw them promoted to the Supreme Division. In 1998–99 they were Supreme Division champions, earning promotion to Division One of the Northern Counties East League. The club went on to win Division One and the league's Trophy in 2002–03 and were promoted to the Premier Division.

The 2006–07 season saw Mickleover win the League Cup, beating Garforth Town in the final on penalties. In 2008–09 they were Premier Division champions, earning promotion to Division One South of the Northern Premier League. The club went on to win Division One South the following season, securing a second successive promotion, this time to the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League. They also won the league's Chairman's Cup with a win over Halifax Town. However, the club were relegated back to Division One South at the end of the 2011–12 season. A fifth-place finish in 2013–14 saw them qualify for the promotion play-offs. After beating Coalville Town 3–2 in the semi-finals, they lost the final 1–0 to Belper Town.

Following their play-off final defeat, Mickleover went on to win Division One South the following season, earning promotion back to the Premier Division. On 1 June 2020 they were renamed Mickleover Football Club. In 2022 the club were transferred to the Premier Division Central of the Southern League. They finished fifth in the division in 2023–24, before losing 2–0 to AFC Telford United in the play-off semi-finals. At the end of the season they were transferred back to the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League.

The Opposition - This Season
Sports had a nightmare start to the season, losing their first three games - all by the same margin of 2-0. This included an FA Cup exit at the hands of fellow Derbyshire side Matlock Town.
They found their feet with wins over Boldmere St. Michaels and AFC Rushden & Diamonds but then went on a run of three without a win. After bouncing back with victory against Bourne Town they lost their next two but that was the catalyst for a fantastic unbeaten run which stretched to seven matches.
This run was ended by Racing Club Warwick two weeks ago and last weekend Carlton Town made it back to back defeats, winning 3-2 at Station Road.

League (8th/22): P 18 W 8 D 3 L 7 F 25 A 25 Pts. 27
Cups: P 2 W 0 D 0 L 2 F 2 A 5

Top goalscorers: Data not available
Biggest victory: 4-1 vs. AFC Rushden & Diamonds (23rd August)
Heaviest defeat Two goal defeats on five occasions
Highest home attendance: 358 vs. Long Eaton United (12th August)
Average home attendance: 257 (12th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 3
Most games without a win: 3
Most consecutive defeats: 3
Most games without a defeat: 7

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 two weekends ago it was a comfortable win at Sutton Coldfield Town, with two goals scored in injury time. The game last weekend was postponed.
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 sides have met on 12 occasions.
Mickleover won the first fixture 2-1 in the Challenge Cup and followed it up by repeating the score in the first league encounter that same 2009/10 season.
Belper picked up their first victory in the reverse fixture and then knocked Sports out of the Derbyshire Senior Cup three seasons later before winning the next NPL encounter to make it three in a row.
A 0-0 draw followed, the only one to date before an emphatic 4-0 Nailers win at the Meadow at the start of the 2013/14 season.
Two late Shaun Tuton goals weren't enough to prevent an exit from the FA Trophy a couple of months later.
By far the most memorable match between the sides came on the 3rd of May 2014. 1,021 fans packed in to Christchurch Meadow to see Phil Watt's 75th minute goal seal promotion to the NPL Premier Division.
The two matches since then have both been in Cup competitions, Belper winning on penalties in a November 2016 League Cup tie and Mickleover winning the most recent fixture, 2-1 in the Derbyshire Senior Cup on a freezing night in December 2023.

Overall record for Belper: P 12 W 5 D 3 L 4 F 17 A 12
(1 x Challenge Cup, 2 x Derbyshire Senior Cup, 1 x FA Trophy, 1 x League Cup, 7 x NPL)

The return fixture is scheduled for Saturday, 18th April 2026.

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Belper Town: WWDLDW
Mickleover FC: DWWDLL

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

Permutations
The Nailers are six points off top spot but can go back 2nd if we better Basford United's result. However this will also require the three sides below us failing to win.
A draw or defeat would leave the door open for Anstey Nomads, Lichfield City and Corby Town to leapfrog us.
Mickleover can jump two places to 6th with victory while with anything less they may drop as low as 13th.

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

Saturday, 22nd November 2025 - 3:00pm kick off

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
(20th) AFC Rushden & Diamonds vs. Lichfield City (5th)
(4th) Anstey Nomads vs. St. Neots Town (17th)
(22nd) Bedworth United vs. Rugby Town (12th)
(3rd) Belper Town vs. Mickleover FC (8th)
(21st) Boldmere St. Michaels vs. Bourne Town (18th)
(1st) Carlton Town vs. Sutton Coldfield Town (16th)
(6th) Corby Town vs. Coleshill Town (7th)
(13th) Long Eaton United vs. Coventry Sphinx (9th)
(11th) Racing Club Warwick vs. Loughborough Students (19th)
(10th) Rugby Borough vs. Basford United (2nd)
(14th) Shepshed Dynamo vs. Wellingborough Town (15th)