January 2025 Goalkeeper of the Month announced
Sat 8th February 2025 | League Awards | By Martin Fallon
The Winners of the Reusch Goalkeeper of the Month Awards for January 2025 have been announced this week by the NWCFL.
PREMIER DIVISION
The North West Counties League Premier Division Goalkeeper of the Month Award for January 2025 has gone to Harry Allen of Prestwich Heys.
Harry came through the ranks at Manchester United before joining Burnley where he played at U19 and U21 level. He then moved to Welsh outfit Flint Town before joining Northern Premier League side Farsley Celtic. Loan spells followed at Albion Sports and Colne. He joined Glossop North End in October but never played before moving to Prestwich Heys in November.
Since Harry joining Heys, they have steadily improved and had a great January, winning three of their four games.
Heys beat Squires Gate 3-0 in the opening game of 2025, which looked comfortable on paper but for a long time the game hung in the balance. Whilst 0-0, Harry made a couple of smart saves to keep the scores level and after we had taken a 1-0 lead, he again made a great save to deny Dean Ing an equaliser. Next was a 2-1 loss at Lower Breck with Harry in the thick of the action with some great saves in the second half as the hosts applied the pressure.
The third game saw Harry not have too much to do in a 4-1 win over South Liverpool, but one of the features of his game is he is very vocal in giving out directions or alerting his teammates. This was also evident in the 1-0 win over Litherland in the final game with his directions from the back instrumental in seeing Hays through to a key win. He also made a great scrambling save at 0-0 to deny Remyca the opening goal.
Congratulations to Harry on his Award!
FIRST DIVISION NORTH
The Goalkeeper of the Month award for the First Division North has gone to James Aspinall of Darwen.
James played for professional clubs Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic, with loan spells at AFC Fylde, Glossop North End, Stalybridge Celtic and City of Liverpool. He was also once invited to a goalkeeper camp with the National Team. Upon his release from Wigan, he moved into non-league and in the past three seasons has appeared for Ashton Athletic and Longridge Town before moving to Darwen earlier this season.
January saw James powerless in the opening game to stop a 3-1 defeat to Maghull, though he pulled off a couple of great saves to keep the score down. The next game was a commanding performance from James as he kept his fifth clean sheet of the season in a 4-0 win over Route One Rovers, James marshalling and organising his defence well.
The final game of the month saw James come into his own, pulling off a number of amazing saves against Daisy Hill which helped give Darwen the three points in a 2-1 win. James' organisation was again a key component, with his vocalness to his defence on show throughout the game.
Congratulations to James for his performances in the month!
FIRST DIVISION SOUTH
There winner of the January 2025 Goalkeeper of the Month Award for the First Division South is Andrew Jones of Sandbach United, making it a clean sweep of the awards for the Cheshire club.
Andrew has had a fine and distinguished career in the NWCFL after coming through at Altrincham, before moving onto Maine Road and then Winsford United. He first picked up this award for Winsford United in March 2013 before retaining it the following month. Andrew then moved onto Congleton Town and West Didsbury & Chorlton where he picked up this award twice more, once in December 2021 and once in March 2022. He moved from West to Sandbach at the start of the season.
January saw Andrew keep his fifth clean sheet of the season in the opening game, a 4-0 win over Barnton in which he had little to do. He made up for it in the next game at Eccleshall though, picking up a highly deserved Man of the Match award after pulling off some magnificent saves and number of one on one attempts and keeping an on form side at bay in a 1-0 win.
The third game was a loss against a Hyde United side three divisions higher in the Cheshire Senior Cup, but he bounced back superby with another commanding display in the final league game of the month, keeping his seventh clean sheet of the season and third in four games in January with a 2-0 win at Alsager Town.
Andrew has commanded from the back and played his part in steadying the ship giving Sandbach one of the toughest defences in the league as they mount a promotion challenge.
Congratulations Andrew!
January 2025 Goalkeeper of the Month announced
Sat 8th February 2025 | League Awards
By Martin Fallon
The Winners of the Reusch Goalkeeper of the Month Awards for January 2025 have been announced this week by the NWCFL.
PREMIER DIVISION
The North West Counties League Premier Division Goalkeeper of the Month Award for January 2025 has gone to Harry Allen of Prestwich Heys.
Harry came through the ranks at Manchester United before joining Burnley where he played at U19 and U21 level. He then moved to Welsh outfit Flint Town before joining Northern Premier League side Farsley Celtic. Loan spells followed at Albion Sports and Colne. He joined Glossop North End in October but never played before moving to Prestwich Heys in November.
Since Harry joining Heys, they have steadily improved and had a great January, winning three of their four games.
Heys beat Squires Gate 3-0 in the opening game of 2025, which looked comfortable on paper but for a long time the game hung in the balance. Whilst 0-0, Harry made a couple of smart saves to keep the scores level and after we had taken a 1-0 lead, he again made a great save to deny Dean Ing an equaliser. Next was a 2-1 loss at Lower Breck with Harry in the thick of the action with some great saves in the second half as the hosts applied the pressure.
The third game saw Harry not have too much to do in a 4-1 win over South Liverpool, but one of the features of his game is he is very vocal in giving out directions or alerting his teammates. This was also evident in the 1-0 win over Litherland in the final game with his directions from the back instrumental in seeing Hays through to a key win. He also made a great scrambling save at 0-0 to deny Remyca the opening goal.
Congratulations to Harry on his Award!
FIRST DIVISION NORTH
The Goalkeeper of the Month award for the First Division North has gone to James Aspinall of Darwen.
James played for professional clubs Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic, with loan spells at AFC Fylde, Glossop North End, Stalybridge Celtic and City of Liverpool. He was also once invited to a goalkeeper camp with the National Team. Upon his release from Wigan, he moved into non-league and in the past three seasons has appeared for Ashton Athletic and Longridge Town before moving to Darwen earlier this season.
January saw James powerless in the opening game to stop a 3-1 defeat to Maghull, though he pulled off a couple of great saves to keep the score down. The next game was a commanding performance from James as he kept his fifth clean sheet of the season in a 4-0 win over Route One Rovers, James marshalling and organising his defence well.
The final game of the month saw James come into his own, pulling off a number of amazing saves against Daisy Hill which helped give Darwen the three points in a 2-1 win. James' organisation was again a key component, with his vocalness to his defence on show throughout the game.
Congratulations to James for his performances in the month!
FIRST DIVISION SOUTH
There winner of the January 2025 Goalkeeper of the Month Award for the First Division South is Andrew Jones of Sandbach United, making it a clean sweep of the awards for the Cheshire club.
Andrew has had a fine and distinguished career in the NWCFL after coming through at Altrincham, before moving onto Maine Road and then Winsford United. He first picked up this award for Winsford United in March 2013 before retaining it the following month. Andrew then moved onto Congleton Town and West Didsbury & Chorlton where he picked up this award twice more, once in December 2021 and once in March 2022. He moved from West to Sandbach at the start of the season.
January saw Andrew keep his fifth clean sheet of the season in the opening game, a 4-0 win over Barnton in which he had little to do. He made up for it in the next game at Eccleshall though, picking up a highly deserved Man of the Match award after pulling off some magnificent saves and number of one on one attempts and keeping an on form side at bay in a 1-0 win.
The third game was a loss against a Hyde United side three divisions higher in the Cheshire Senior Cup, but he bounced back superby with another commanding display in the final league game of the month, keeping his seventh clean sheet of the season and third in four games in January with a 2-0 win at Alsager Town.
Andrew has commanded from the back and played his part in steadying the ship giving Sandbach one of the toughest defences in the league as they mount a promotion challenge.
Congratulations Andrew!
