The Opposition - Key Facts
Full name: Bourne Town Football Club
Nickname: The Wakes
Founded: 1883
Ground: Abbey Lawn (JJ Mac Stadium)
Capacity: 2,000
Chairman: Mark Lynch
Manager: Michael Goode (since October 2023)
Last season: 2nd/20 (UCL Premier (promoted via play-offs))
Journey distance: 70 miles

The Opposition - History

Bourne Town FC, founded in 1883, joined the Peterborough & District League in 1911, winning Division One titles in 1933–34 and 1939–40, with further successes immediately after World War II. After a difficult spell in the United Counties League from 1947 to 1956, the club returned to local leagues before joining the Central Alliance in 1958, winning Division One South in 1959–60. They entered the reformed Midland League in 1961, then rejoined the United Counties League in 1965, where they enjoyed a strong period, claiming three league titles between 1968 and 1972 and another in 1990–91.

Demoted in 2009–10 due to ground grading issues, Bourne spent over a decade in Division One but finished third in 2022–23, reaching the play-offs. They won the Division One title the following season after ground improvements enabled promotion to the Premier Division North. In 2024–25 they finished runners-up, won the play-offs, and secured promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands.

The Opposition - This Season
The Wakes won their season opener, an FA Cup tie at Harrowby United and followed this up with a good win over Wellingborough Town to reach the First Qualifying Round.
However they had to wait until matchday four until they tasted NPL success, securing three points away to Bedworth United.
A couple of home draws followed and AFC Rushden & Diamonds ended their FA Trophy campaign.
They suffered league defeats at Mickleover and Sutton Coldfield Town before bouncing back with a thumping victory over Racing Club Warwick.
Problems with consistency continued as they lost the next two, picked up a good home victory over Basford United but then went five without a win.
This run ended when they dispatched Rugby Town at the JJ Mac Stadium three weeks ago and then followed this up with a win on the road at Loughborough Students.
They come into the match today off the back of a defeat at Boldmere St. Michaels last weekend.

League (19th/22): P 19 W 5 D 5 L 9 F 25 A 29
Cups: P 5 W 2 D 1 L 2 F 5 A 6

Top goalscorers: Data not available
Biggest victory: 4-0 vs. Racing Club Warwick (20th September)
Heaviest defeat Two goal defeats on five occasions
Highest home attendance: 503 vs. AFC Rushden & Diamonds (6th September)
Average home attendance: 344 (5th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most games without a win: 5
Most consecutive defeats: 3
Most games without a defeat: 5

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 three weeks ago it was a comfortable win at Sutton Coldfield Town, with two goals scored in injury time.
After the Shepshed match was postponed due to the weather, last weekend the Nailers returned to the Raygar Stadium and put four past Mickleover.
Five players have appeared in every match so far.
Kevin Bastos leads the goalscoring charts with seven while Jacob Gratton, Liam Moran and Jacob Fenton have five each. Jack Broadhead has four to his name while Ben Rhodes and Jonathan Wafula sit on three apiece. A further four players have one goal.

Head to Head
The sides have met on eight occasions, all Midland League fixtures in the 1960s.
Belper have a great record in the fixture, winning four out of the first five and drawing the other.
The most entertaining match came in April 1964 when the Nailers won 7-4 at Christchurch Meadow!
Bourne's solitary victory to date arrived only 18 days after that crazy match when they took revenge with a 4-1 victory in Lincolnshire.
Belper won the last two, both in the 1964-65 season with the last meeting a 5-1 Belper win.
Our record goalscorer Mick Lakin bagged seven goals against Bourne and was manager for the last two wins!
Bourne suffered relegation to the United Counties League in that 1964-65 season but would win Division One three times in the next seven seasons to gain promotion to the Premier Divison where they would remain for nearly 40 years.

Overall record for Belper: P 8 W 6 D 1 L 1 F 26 A 15
(All Midland League)

The return fixture is scheduled for Saturday, 25th April 2026, the final day of the NPL regular season.

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Bourne Town: DDLWWL
Belper Town: WDLDWW

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

Permutations
Carlton's relentless form means the Nailers remain six points back so all they can do today is keep second place safe. This will happen with a win.
A draw would leave the door open for Basford United if they win while Anstey Nomads and Lichfield City are three points behind but have lots of goals to make up if they want to leapfrog Belper.
For Bourne, a win could take them as high as 15th while Loughborough Students and Boldmere St. Michaels are in a position to pounce if they fail to win, a scenario which would place them in the relegation zone.

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

Saturday, 29th November 2025 - 3:00pm kick off

JJ Mac Stadium
Abbey Lawn
Abbey Road
Bourne
Lincolnshire
PE10 9EN

Admission prices: Adults £9, Concessions £6, U18s £3, U12s £0

Follow the match
Full coverage of the match:

• Audio commentary with Chris 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
Boldmere St. Michaels and Loughborough Students sit out this weekend of fixtures while the Rugby derby sees Town host Borough.

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