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 tough start to life back at Step 4, losing their first two NPL matches and in the FA Cup, all without scoring a goal.
After bouncing back with two successive wins, they then went a further four without one but October was much better - after an early defeat they five and drew one over the rest of the month to shoot up the table.
November wasn't a great month, with no victories but December started with a 7-0 win over Chesterfield Reserves in the County Cup.
The old year ended with a win and the new one began with one but overall January was an inconsistent month.
Their form since then has not been great, with two wins from 13 matches since the start of February.
Their last two matches have seen 11 goals, with a 4-1 home win over Rugby Town being followed by last weekend's defeat at Long Eaton United.

League (14th/22): P 40 W 14 D 10 L 16 F 59 A 65 Pts. 52
Cups: P 5 W 2 D 0 L 3 F 13 A 13
FA Cup: Exited at Preliminary Round (Matlock Town)
FA Trophy: Exited at First Qualifying Round (Basford United)
County Cup: Exited at Semi-Finals (Glossop North End)

Top goalscorers (NPL only): Paddy Webb (11), Manni Norkett (9)
Most minutes played (NPL only): George Wilkinson (3,415), Andy Dales (3,301)
Biggest victory: Three goal wins on three occasions
Heaviest defeat: 0-4 vs. Belper Town (22nd November) and Sutton Coldfield Town (24th January)
Highest home attendance: 358 vs. Long Eaton United (12th August)
Average home attendance (NPL): 253 (13th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 3
Most games without a win: 8
Most consecutive defeats: 3
Most games without a defeat: 7

The Nailers
Belper had a great start to the season, losing just once in a busy August, that defeat being to Kidsgrove Athletic in the FA Cup.
It would be October until they lost in the NPL at home to Carlton Town but by then the FA Trophy campaign was also over as Rugby Town staged a fantastic second half comeback.
One defeat led to two, away to Coleshill Town but the ship was then steadied with wins over Anstey Nomads and AFC Rushden & Diamonds.
November was an outstanding month for the Nailers, seeing four wins and a draw and defeat at home to St. Neots Town on the 20th of December was a first in nine matches.
Long Eaton United away on Boxing Day saw a Nailers horror show and heavy defeat and 2026 started with a mixed bag - a win, draw and defeat all at the Raygar Stadium.
February saw only one win as revenge was gained on Rugby Town with a comfortable NPL win but the next three matches were a struggle and Belper didn't win any of them.
After another win in Rugby, this time at Borough, a disappointing home defeat to Sutton Coldfield Town came next.
A great win at AFC Rushden & Diamonds was followed by another reversal at the Raygar Stadium, Lichfield City winning comfortably.
Further defeats at Shepshed Dynamo and Boldmere St. Michaels followed but some confidence was restored with a home win over Long Eaton United on Bank Holiday Monday.
Last weekend saw the Nailers slip to defeat at Loughborough Students.
Appearances wise, only Curtis Burrows can lay claim to have played in every match this season, with Kieran Preston missing just the one.
In terms of goals, Kevin Bastos and Liam Moran lead the way with ten, closely followed by Jacob Gratton with nine. Jonathan Wafula has six while Jacob Fenton secured five before his move away from the Raygar Stadium while five players sit on four goals. A further four players have three goals or fewer.

Head to Head
The sides have met on 13 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 after that were both in Cup competitions, Belper winning on penalties in a November 2016 League Cup tie and Mickleover winning 2-1 in the Derbyshire Senior Cup on a freezing night in December 2023.
Most recently, the Nailers secured a comprehensive 4-0 victory at the Raygar Stadium earlier this season.

Overall record for Belper: P 13 W 6 D 3 L 4 F 21 A 12
(1 x Challenge Cup, 2 x Derbyshire Senior Cup, 1 x FA Trophy, 1 x League Cup, 8 x NPL)

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Mickleover FC: LDDDWL
Belper Town: WLLLWL

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

Permutations
Belper's goal difference advantage is such that it is likely one win from the last two games will secure a playoff spot.
That would mean only Coleshill Town and Racing Club Warwick could go above us, but the latter's goal difference is lower by 10.
Mickleover are safe from relegation but cannot reach the playoffs.

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

Saturday, 18th April 2026 - 3:00pm kick-off

The Don Amott Arena
Station Road
Mickleover
DE3 9FB

Admission prices: Adults £12, Concessions £8, 12-16 £3, U12s (w/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