The Opposition - Key Facts
Full name: St. Ives Town Football Club
Nickname: The Saints
Founded: 1887
Ground: Westwood Road, St. Ives
Capacity: 2,000
Chairman: Mark Taylor & Andy Dunn
Manager: Tommy Cooney
Last season: 19th/22 (Southern League Premier Central) (Relegated)
Journey distance: 105 miles

The Opposition - History (Source - Wikipedia)
St. Ives Town Football Club was formed in 1887.
They joined the Central Amateur League in 1949, but the league folded at the end of the 1949–50 season.
The club briefly played in the United Counties Football League Division Two for two seasons in the early 1950s.
They rejoined the United Counties Football League Division One in 1985–86, and gained promotion to the Premier Division in 2004–05 after a third-placed finish.
They reached the Fifth Round of the FA Vase in 2007–08, 2008–09 and 2009–10, and reached the Quarter Finals in 2011–12.
They won promotion to the Southern Football League after finishing second in the United Counties League Premier Division in 2012–13.
In the 2015–16 season, the club earned promotion to the Southern League Premier Division via the play-offs, defeating AFC Rushden & Diamonds in the final on 2 May 2016 in front of 1,523 fans.

The Opposition - This Season
The Saints have had a tough start to the season, recording two victories in their 15 matches so far.
They lost an opening day thriller at home to Carlton Town before getting their first three points on the board against current high-flyers Sutton Coldfield Town.
A heavy defeat at Mickleover was the start of a nine game run without a win and which saw them concede four goals in four of the matches.
After getting back to winning ways with a home win over Corby Town, they suffered a 5-1 thrashing away to Basford United and come in to this match on the back of successive 1-0 defeats to Nuneaton Town and Boldmere St. Michaels.

Their home record is 16th out of the 22 sides in the division, while only Long Eaton United have a worse away record.
Their defence is the leakiest in the division, having conceded six more than the next highest, Corby Town.

League (21st/22): P 12 W 2 D 1 L 9 F 14 A 31 Pts. 7
Cups (90 minutes): P 3 W 0 D 2 L 1
FA Cup: Eliminated by Fakenham Town in Preliminary Round (replay)
FA Trophy: Eliminated by Boldmere St. Michaels in First Qualifying Round (penalties)
County Cup: Drawn against Eynesbury Rovers in Quarter-Final

NPL Stats
Top goalscorers: Michael Gash (4)
Most minutes played: Matty Miles (944), Andrian Ankrah (560)

Overall stats
Biggest victory: 3-1 vs. Corby Town (21st September)
Heaviest defeat: 0-4 vs. Mickleover (15th August) and 1-5 vs. Basford United (26th September)
Highest home attendance: 243 vs. Corby Town (21st September)
Average home attendance: 193 (18th/22)
Most consecutive wins: 1
Most games without a win: 8
Most consecutive defeats: 5
Most games without a defeat: 2

The Nailers
Belper started out with successive goalless draws before slipping to defeat at home to Coventry United.
A first win came against Boldmere St. Michaels and this was followed up by a comfortable FA Trophy victory at Rugby Town.
However, four successive defeats followed before a resounding win at Boston Town in mid-September.
Rugby Borough took the points from the Raygar Stadium three days later but the Nailers come in to the match unbeaten in four, with three of those matches 1-1 draws.

Most appearances: Four players have appeared in all 15 matches so far, with two playing every minute (Kieran Preston and Louis Keenan)
Top goalscorers: Harry Draper (6), Louis Keenan (2), nine players on one goal

Head to Head
The two sides have met on only one previous occasion.
Back in October 2022, the Nailers entertained the Saints in the FA Trophy First Round.
Myles Cowling put the visitors ahead before Dan Moore saved a penalty and Brodie Litchfield curled home the equaliser at the other end.
With the tie level, it went straight to penalties and Belper prevailed on penalties, scoring all four and seeing St. Ives miss two.

Overall record for Belper: P 1 W 0 D 1 L 1 F 1 A 1
1 x FA Trophy

The return fixture is scheduled for Saturday 27th February

Form Guide (all competitive matches)
St. Ives Town: LLWLLL
Belper Town: WLDDWD

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

Permutations
The Nailers can climb seven places to 8th with a win and favourable results elsewhere.
Defeat could see us drop as low as 18th.
For the Saints, They need a win to escape the relegation zone but will also be relying on others, while they could end the day bottom of the table if they fail to win and Long Eaton United pick up three points.

Match details
St. Ives Town vs. Belper Town
Pitching In Northern Premier League Division One Midlands

Saturday, 10th October 2026 - 3:00pm kick-off

Quattro-Tech
Westwood Road
St. Ives
Cambridgeshire
PE27 6DT

Admission prices: Adults £10, Concessions, Students and Military w/ID £8, 12-16 y/o £2, U12s Free.

Directions and Parking
From Belper, head for Derby on the A6 or A38 then join the A52 Nottingham bound at the Pentagon.
Leave at the second exit and then keep left again to loop around on to Raynesway.
Follow Raynesway / Derby Southern Bypass until you join the M1 southbound at J24a.
Exit the M1 at J19 and pick up the A14 eastbound
Leave the A14 at J21 (Thrapston Road) and join the A141, follow this road to loop around Huntingdon.
Go straight over the roundabout and this road becomes Huntingdon Road / A1123.
Follow this road until you enter St. Ives then turn right on to Ramsey Road.
After a few hundred yards, turn right on to Westwood Road and follow it as it winds around until you come to the ground.

There is only limited parking within the ground, but a large free public car park is located in front of Burgess Hall which is immediately adjacent to the ground.
As always, if you are parking elsewhere please do so with courtesy to local residents.

Follow the match
Full coverage of the match:

Audio commentary with Joey 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
(8th) Bedworth United vs. Bourne Town (17th)
(16th) Coleshill Town vs. Basford United (18th)
(20th) Corby Town vs. Boldmere St. Michaels (4th)
(11th) Coventry United vs. Carlton Town (5th)
(22nd) Long Eaton United vs. AFC Rushden & Diamonds (13th)
(12th) Loughborough Students vs. Barwell (19th)
(6th) Rugby Borough vs. Nuneaton Town (3rd)
(10th) Shepshed Dynamo vs. Mickleover FC (14th)
(21st) St. Ives Town vs. Belper Town (15th)
(2nd) Sutton Coldfield Town vs. Boston Town (7th)
(1st) Wellingborough Town vs. Grantham Town (9th)