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: 11th/22 (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 have had a mixed start to the season.
They started with back to back defeats, first up was a first hurdle defeat in the FA Cup to Coventry United before they were narrowly defeated at St. Ives Town in their NPL opener.
However they bounced back from those defeats by recording a 4-2 home win over Corby Town and last time out a 91st minute penalty from Ryan Edmunds handed them victory against Loughborough Students by the odd goal in five.

League (6th/22): P 3 W 2 D 0 L 1 F 7 A 5 Pts. 6
Cups: P 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 F 1 A 3
FA Cup: Lost to Coventry United in Extra Preliminary Round
FA Trophy: Still in (play Worcester Raiders in First Qualifying Round)
County Cup: N/A

NPL Stats
Top goalscorers: Reece Gibson and Ryan Edmunds (2)
Most minutes played: James Wren, Tom Hurley and Zak Kourouiyanni (270)

Overall stats
Biggest victory: 4-2 vs. Corby Town (15th August)
Heaviest defeat: 1-3 vs. Coventry United (FA Cup) (8th August)
Highest home attendance: 148 vs. Corby Town (15th August) and Loughborough Students (18th August)
Average home attendance: 148 (20th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 2
Most games without a win: 2
Most consecutive defeats: 2
Most games without a defeat: 2

The Nailers
Belper's results improved as pre-season went on.
Beginning with a defeat at Sheffield, back to back 2-2 draws followed at Matlock and Heanor before Belper United secured the inaugural Belper Memorial Cup.
After four matches without a win, the Nailers won the last three against Gresley Rovers, Congleton Town and last weekend's comprehensive victory against Kidsgrove Athletic.
The NPL campaign began with a goalless draw at Shepshed and continued with another at Loughborough the following Tuesday!
This represented Belper's first back to back goalless draws for nearly 25 years.
A week last Saturday saw a third successive game without scoring as Coventry United took the points from the Raygar Stadium, however a goal and three points were finally secured last Tuesday at home to Boldmere St. Michaels.
This was followed up by an impressive win at Rugby Town at the weekend, in the FA Cup.
Most appearances: Ten players have appeared in all five matches so far, with seven of them playing every minute
Top goalscorers Harry Draper (2), three players on one goal

Head to Head
The two sides have met on 15 occasions.
The Royals won the first five but the Nailers have been victorious in eight of the last ten including 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.
Last season, in November at Sutton Coldfield, Jacob Gratton put the Nailers ahead just before half-time, then securing the points in stoppage time before Bastos made it three.
The return fixture in March saw our visitors reduced to nine men but still win 2-0!
Overall record for Belper P 15 W 8 D 1 L 6 F 29 A 21 (14 x NPL, 1 x FA Cup)

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
Belper Town: DDLWW
Sutton Coldfield Town: LLWW

Team News
Full team news will be announced at 7:00pm.

Permutations
With five matches in the Midlands division tonight, plus two more tomorrow there is likely to be lots of table movement this week.
Belper in 11th are four points off top spot so that is out of reach for now, with the highest we can climb to being 3rd.
The top two meet tomorrow evening (Rugby Borough vs. Wellingborough Town).
Sutton Coldfield are 6th and three points from the summit so could get there with a win as none of the teams above them play tonight.
There are however two teams (Boston Town and Carlton Town) also in action this evening (against each other) who are level on points with them, so there will be goal difference in play if there is a winner in the other match.

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

Tuesday, 25th August 2026 - 7:45pm kick-off

Raygar Stadium
Bridge Street
Belper
Derbyshire
DE56 1BA

Admission prices: Adults £11, Concessions £7, U11s £0
Please note our Under 16s entry policy

Directions and Parking
Information for first time visitors to the Raygar Stadium can be found here

Follow the match
Full coverage of the match:

Audio commentary with Chris on Belper Town Live
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
Monday
~~(12th) St. Ives Town P-P Corby Town (22nd)~~

Tuesday
~~(10th) AFC Rushden & Diamonds P-P Bedworth United (8th)~~
(11th) Belper Town vs. Sutton Coldfield Town (6th)
(13th) Boldmere St. Michaels vs. Barwell (17th)
~~(14th) Bourne Town P-P Shepshed Dynamo (5th)~~
(9th) Carlton Town vs. Boston Town (7th)
~~(21st) Long Eaton United P-P Basford United (16th)~~
(19th) Loughborough Students vs. Grantham Town (18th)
(15th) Nuneaton Town vs. Coleshill Town (20th)