A preview of the Vanarama National League North Teams
ALFRETON TOWN:
Situated on the edge of the Peak District, Alfreton is a former mining village in North Derbyshire with a population of 8000. The Reds finished fifth in the National North and narrowly lost in the play-offs to Boston. Their home is the 3,000 capacity Impact Stadium (DE55 7FZ) 164 miles from Needham.
BRACKLEY TOWN:
A small town in Northamptonshire 127 miles from Bloomfields, Brackley is best known for its association with several Formula One racing teams. Ending last season in fourth, The Saints lost in the play-offs to Boston in front of a 3,000 full house at their St. James Park Stadium (NN13 7EJ).
BUXTON:
An attractive spa town in the Derbyshire peaks, Buxton is 1,000 feet above sea level, making their Silverlink Stadium (SK17 6QH) the highest in the Pyramid. The Bucks manager, John McGrath joined them from Mickleover during the summer.
CHESTER FC:
A cathedral city with a zoo, racecourse and famous shopping area amongst its attractions. Chester is described as the “Roman Heart of Cheshire” and is 234 miles from Needham. Chester City were relegated from the Football League in 2009 and were wound up the following year. A phoenix club was formed in 2010 as Chester FC and they began the climb back to the National League. Their home since 1992 is the Leap 76 Arena (CH1 4LT) formerly the Deva Stadium and they enjoyed an average gate of 2198 last season.
CHORLEY:
A former cotton town, Chorley is about ten miles from Blackburn, Wigan and Bolton in the heart of Lancashire. A 239 miles journey will take Needham to Victory Park (PRZ 3DU) the home of the Magpies. Following heartbreak in last season’s play-offs they will be hoping that the purchase of the Club by two members of Boyzone will lead to a Wrexham like boost to their fortunes. Ipswich fans will recall that Chorley was the birthplace of legend Paul Mariner.
CURZON ASHTON:
Formed in 1963 from the merger of two Manchester clubs, The Nash’s home is in Ashton Under Lyne a former mill town in Greater Manchester. They play at the 4000 capacity Thameside Stadium (0L7 9HG) 230 miles from Bloomfields and attracted one of the lowest average gates of 449.
DARLINGTON:
It’s a 242-mile trek up the A1 to the County Durham town of Darlington famous for its rich railway heritage. To say they have had mixed fortunes in recent years would be an understatement having moved from their quaint Feethams home to their current Blackwell Meadows Stadium (DL1 5NR) via the 26,000 capacity Reynolds Arena. Having been expelled from the FA in 2012, the club was re-formed as Darlington 1883 and climbed from the Northern League Div.1 to the National League North. Known as The Quakers or simply Darlo.
FARSLEY CELTIC:
The Citidel Stadium (LS28 5BE) home of Farsley Celtic is 201 miles from Needham and lies midway between Leeds and Bradford. The Celts were Northern League champions in 2018/19 and have been in the National League since then although they flirted with relegation last season when they finished one place above the drop.
HEREFORD FC:
A journey of 198 miles takes us to the cathedral city of Hereford just 16 miles from the Welsh border. Founded in 2014 as a phoenix club following the 13 demise of Hereford United, the Bulls were able to stay at their Edger Street Stadium (HR4 9JU) and climbed back from tier 9 to the National League North in 2018-19.
KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS:
The Harriers are the only football club to play in the Football League from Worcestershire, enjoying five seasons from 2000 before returning to non-league football. The town is 20 miles south of Birmingham and 160 miles from Needham. Their home is the 6,400 capacity Aggborough Stadium (DY10 1NB) where former Hull manager Martin Allen will doubtless keep the players on their toes.
KINGS LYNN TOWN:
The Linnets need no introduction to Needham supporters many of whom will have made the 56-mile trip to the West Norfolk market town and port. The arrival of manager Adam Lakeland at The Walks (PE30 5PB) put new life into the team when relegation looked a distinct possibility.
LEAMINGTON FC:
9 miles south of Coventry and 144 miles from Needham lies the spa town of Royal Leamington famous for the supposed healing properties of its waters. Taking their nickname from their roots as a car parts manufacturing team, The Brakes play at the Phillips 66 Stadium (CV33 9QB) but have plans to re-locate to a new state of the art home. Last season they defeated Telford and Redditch to join us in promotion from the Southern League.
MARINE:
Despite its 2000 capacity and 3G pitch, The Travel Stadium (L23 3AS) home of ambitious Marine FC does not meet their plans for the future, and they are looking to re-locate. The club is based in Crosby six miles north of Liverpool and just a few miles down the Irish Sea coast from Southport. It’s a lengthy 243 miles from Bloomfields. During Covid they hosted Spurs in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. The match was played in a closed stadium but incredibly they sold 300,000 virtual tickets to more than recover their losses despite a 5-0 defeat. More recently they gained promotion to the National North with a play-off victory over Robbie Savage’s Macclesfield.
OXFORD CITY:
149 miles takes us to the ‘Dreaming Spires’ of Oxford home of the Hoops. Relegated from the National League after just one season, they hold the record for the highest number of FA Cup replays with a marathon six against with Alvechurch. They play at the Raw Charging Stadium (OX3 0NQ) Bobby Moore and Harry Redknapp made their managerial debuts there in 1979.
PETERBOROUGH SPORTS:
Just 86 miles takes us to Pimms Park (PE1 3HA) the home of The Turbines so named from their engineering roots. Our sides met regularly until 21/22 when Sports defeated Coalville to reach step 2 football for the first time, since when they have had two creditable mid table finishes.
RADCLIFFE FC:
Radcliffe is a market town in Greater Manchester 229 miles from Needham. Despite changing their name from Radcliffe Boro. To Radcliffe FC in 2018, they are still known as The Boro. Like ourselves, this is their first season in the National North having been run away winners of the Northern Premier League last season attracting an average 1252 fans to their Stanton Park ground (M26 3PE) They have an impressive list of past players including Frank Worthington and Paul Gascoigne.
RUSHALL OLYMPIC:
Rushall is a former mining village with a population of just 11,000 near Walsall and 140 miles from Bloomfields. They were promoted to step 2 for the first time in their history by virtue of an extra time shoot out with Nuneaton in 22/23 They play at the Dales Lane ground (WS4 1LJ) and are known as The Pics.
SCARBOROUGH ATHLETIC:
As with several other clubs in this league, Scarborough have difficult times in recent years. In 2007 despite, being one of the oldest clubs in England, they folded having previously enjoyed a 12-year spell in the Football League between 1987 and 1999. Following the sale of their McCain stadium they reformed as Scarborough Athletic and now play at the 6,400 capacity Athletic Ground (YO11 2JW) A typical seaside resort on the beautiful North Yorkshire Coast, Needham fans might see this as a visit worth the 256 miles.
SCUNTHORPE UNITED:
Of all the former Football League clubs, the demise of Scunthorpe has possibly been the most dramatic. From playing in Division 1 as recently as 2018, successive relegations and off the field issues threatened their existence. Finally, with the support of a local business and a community action group, the decline has been halted and their home at Glandford Park secured. Last season they were pipped in the play-offs having finished second and were the best supported club with an average 4180 attendance. Known as the Iron from the steel works that dominated the Town or simply Scunny they play at the newly named Attis Arena (ON15 8TD). Scunthorpe is 170 miles from Needham.
SOUTHPORT:
Is an upmarket seaside resort famous as England’s golfing capitol including Royal Birkdale amongst its several nearby courses. The Town lies 17 miles north of Liverpool and 246 from Needham. Their home is the 6,000 capacity Big Help Stadium (PR8 6JZ) so named after a local charity. The Sandgrounders had a 57-year spell in the football league ending in 1978.
SOUTH SHIELDS:
One of the fastest growing sides in the National league is South Shields. Situated at the mouth of the Rive Tyne and just a few miles from Newcastle, it will be our longest trip at 278 miles. Since groundsharing with Peterlee in 2003, The Mariners have made steady improvement until reaching the National North in April ‘23 With regular gates in excess of 2,000 at their well-appointed 4,000 capacity !st Cloud Arena (NE32 3UP) and with the League’s leading scorer Paul Blacket, they finished their first season in a comfortable mid table position.
SPENNYMOOR TOWN:
One of a host of ambitious clubs from the North East, Spennymoor lies a few miles off the A1 and seven miles from Durham, and 251 miles from Bloomfields. The former mining town has a population of 19,000 The Moors were formed from the ashes of Spennymoor United and Evenwood rising to the the National League in 2018. Their Brewery Field Stadium (DL16 6JN) has a capacity of 4,300. Former managers Alex Mathie and Tommy Miller are familiar names to Ipswich fans.
WARRINGTON TOWN:
A 178-mile journey takes us to the Town of Warrington perhaps better known as the home of the rugby league side the Wolves. They started life as Stockton Heath changing to Warrington in 1961. Last season was their first at step 2 ending in a solid mid table position. An industrial town beside the Manchester Ship Canal their population of 178,000 dwarfs Needham Market. They play at Cantelever Park (WA4 2RS) named after the famous bridge over the canal.
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