Sutton Coldfield Town (H)

The Opposition - Key Facts
Full name: Sutton Coldfield Town Football Club
Nickname: The Royals
Founded: 1879
Ground: Coles Lane
Capacity: 2,000
Chairman: Nick Thurston
Manager: Jemiah Richards (since October 2025)
Last season: 12th/21 (NPL Midlands)
Journey distance: 36 miles

The Opposition - History
Sutton Coldfield Town FC was founded in 1879, playing its first match against the 2nd XI of Birmingham F.C. on 1 February that year. In its early years, the club played in Sutton Park and competed in various local leagues, including the Central Birmingham and Suburban Leagues. By the 1930s, now based at Coles Lane, they played in the Birmingham Alliance and Combination with limited success.

After World War II, as Sutton Town, they joined the Birmingham & District League in 1954 but struggled financially after a fire at their ground. In 1964, they moved to the Worcestershire Combination, winning the title twice before rejoining the West Midlands (Regional) League in 1979, immediately winning promotion. A strong run in the early 1980s saw them move to the Southern League, where they briefly reached the Premier Division before returning to the second tier, remaining there until 2010 when they joined the Northern Premier League Division One South.

In 2011, Sutton won their first Birmingham Senior Cup, defeating Nuneaton Town 1–0, and installed a new 3G pitch soon after. Manager Chris Keogh resigned in 2012 and was succeeded by Neil Tooth, who led the team to promotion to the Premier Division in 2015. The club was relegated again in the 2017–18 season.

The Opposition - This Season
The Royals lost only two of their first 12 matches in all competitions and got all the way to the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, where they were narrowly defeated by Stamford.
September ended with a league win over Long Eaton United but four defeats in five followed that.
The finished October with two straight wins but November was a nightmare month, with four defeats and a draw and December also starting with a heavy defeat at Anstey Nomads.
They picked up a much needed win at Rugby Borough before draws with Basford United and Boldmere St. Michaels.
Their form has been inconsistent since then, with each couple of wins tending to be followed by defeats or draws.
They come in to the match today without a win in three, most recently a single goal defeat at home to Coleshill Town last weekend.

League (16th/22): P 35 W 12 D 7 L 16 F 57 A 65 Pts. 43
Cups: P 9 W 5 D 2 L 2 F 18 A 14
FA Cup: Exited at Third Qualifying Round (Stamford)
FA Trophy: Exited at Second Qualifying Round (Corby Town)
County Cup: Exited at Second Round (Redditch United)

Top goalscorers (NPL only): James McGrady (13), Reece Gibson (10)
Most minutes played (NPL only): James McGrady (2,873), Tom Hurley (2,675)
Biggest victory: 4-0 vs. Mickleover (24th January)
Heaviest defeat: 1-5 vs. Carlton Town (22nd November)
Highest home attendance: 379 vs. Stamford (27th September)
Average home attendance (NPL): 189 (17th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 3
Most games without a win: 7
Most consecutive defeats: 4
Most games without a defeat: 5

The Nailers
Belper had a great start to the NPL campaign, not losing until matchday ten but did exit the FA Cup at the first hurdle, Kidsgrove Athletic winning in Staffordshire.
There was an early exit from the FA Trophy as well, Rugby Town coming from two goals down to win 3-2 and the league form was up and down after this match, with two wins followed by two defeats and then another two wins before a draw and a defeat!
November was much better with three wins from four matches and the concession of just a single goal.
December started well with four further matches without defeat but it ended with reversals to St. Neots Town and Long Eaton United.
The Nailers have struggled to get any momentum in 2026, with a draw at home to Basford United on New Year's Day followed by a win in the County Cup but then an NPL defeat to Corby Town.
After ending Wellingborough Town's fantastic run with victory in Northamptonshire, Belper drew at home to Coleshill Town and slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Carlton Town the following Saturday but then in midweek came a comprehensive win at Rugby Town.
Five weeks ago the Nailers thought they had won it with an Ioan Evans header in the 85th minute but a Martyn Waghorn penalty for Anstey Nomads secured them a point. A County Cup exit to Ilkeston Town followed.
The following two weekends saw postponements and the Nailers returned to action two weeks back with a goalless draw at the Raygar Stadium.
Last Saturday saw an Evans header secure the points at Rugby Borough.
Appearances wise, two players - Kev Bastos and Curtis Burrows - have appeared in every match this season.
In terms of goals, Bastos leads the way with ten, closely followed by Liam Moran and Jacob Gratton with nine. Jacob Fenton scored five before his move away from the Raygar Stadium while five players sit on four goals. Four players have three goals or fewer.

Head to Head
The two sides have met on 14 occasions.
The Royals won the first five but the Nailers have been victorious in eight of the last nine including the last seven in a row!
All have taken place since 2010 with Sutton Coldfield's largest margin of victory being 4-1 while Belper's is a 7-1 win in October 2020.
The last meeting was back in November, Jacob Gratton putting the Nailers ahead just before half-time, then securing the points in stoppage time before Bastos made it three.
Overall record for Belper P 14 W 8 D 1 L 5 F 29 A 19 (13 x NPL, 1 x FA Cup)

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Belper Town: LWDLDW
Sutton Coldfield Town: LWWLDL

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

Permutations
A few results went Belper's way last weekend but we remain five points behind Basford United with two games in hand. Those games in hand are also held over Coleshill Town in 5th.
The Nailers are guaranteed to be in the playoff positions at full-time, with a four point advantage over Wellingborough Town who occupy 6th spot.
For the Royals, they a have a seven point cushion over the relegation zone and could climb as high as 12th with a win, though this would require a significant goal difference swing.
They will drop one place if defeated and Coventry Sphinx win but that is as far as they can fall.

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

Saturday, 21st March 2026 - 3:00pm kick off

Raygar Stadium
Bridge Street
Belper
Derbyshire
DE56 1BA

Admission prices: Adults £11, Concessions £7, U16s £0
Please note U16s must be accompanied by a paying adult if they do not hold a BTFC Season Ticket or Youth Membership.

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