Five Things We Learned 2024/25 - Gameweek 33
Thu 13th March 2025 | Five Things | By Jay Cooper
1. Lower Breck going higher and higher
For the longest time in this season of the NWCFL Premier Division, it seemed as though the top two would consist of Ramsbottom United and Bury. Which order they would finish was not abundantly clear for a while, but it now looks like nothing can stop the Shakers taking the crown. However, one team hoping to stop Rammy even finishing second are Lower Breck.
Breck made another statement of their intent to be best of the rest last weekend, hammering FC St Helens 5-1, with Sam Burns bagging a brace for his efforts. This now places Breck a point above Rammy in the league table, and they still have a game in hand on their challengers for second. With that in mind, they also have two games in hand on Bury, and if they were to win both of those, they could cut down the points difference between the two sides to just three. Maybe the title race is not quite over yet.
2. Gate off the bottom
The relegation battle in the Premier Division took another interesting turn this week, as third-bottom and safe-as-it-stands Colne pulled off another comeback to earn a point against Irlam. They began the day with a three-point margin between themselves and second-bottom Prestwich Heys, but that gap is now at just two points, not between Colne and Heys, but between Colne and former league propper-uppers, Squires Gate.
The Blackpool-based outfit scored a surprise victory away from the mainland this past weekend, with a Jack Coop brace key to a 3-2 win over FC Isle of Man. Heys now sink back to the bottom of the table, and there are now just four point between safety and dead last in the division, with a varying amount of games left to play for all three teams. Pilkington and South Liverpool are only three points ahead of this collection too – watch this space!
3, Play-offs nearly sewn up in the North
We’re well into the business end of the season now, and with that comes plenty of tales of last-minute promotion pushes, relegation dog-fights, heartbreak and triumph. However, that doesn’t look to be a possibility in the First Division North race for the play-offs. As of right now, with 15 points left to gain for Darwen FC in 6th and Ashton Town in 7th, those two sides are 10 and 13 points respectively behind the current lowest-seeded play-off side, Holker Old Boys.
On top of that, Holker have a game in hand on their two closest challengers, which, if they were to win, would stretch the gap even further. Euxton Villa in 4th are also not 100% safe in those play-off places, but just one more win from their remaining five games would do the trick, regardless of how Darwen or Town fare.
4. Garstang are down
Following on from Skelmersdale United’s official relegation two weeks ago, joining them in limbo between the First Division North and the feeder leagues will be Garstang, after Guy Heffernan’s men lost to play-off candidates Euxton Villa on Saturday.
With just four league games left to play for the ide from the Riverside, there is now a 13-point gap between themselves and safety. Of course, nothing is confirmed as of yet, but Garstang will now be reliant on the FA’s League Allocations for the 2025/26 season to retain their place in the NWCFL.
5. Stafford’s and the South’s man of the season
I made mention a few weeks ago of the individual race for the Premier Division Player of the Season award, which will be allocated by number of Man of the Match performances throughout the season. In the First Division South, there is still that same race, but only one man appears to be running it – Stafford Town’s Matthew Hearsey.
Market Drayton Town’s Nicky Parker and Armando Wood are joint-second in the league’s MoM table for the South, with nine awards this season, but they will do well to catch Hearsey, who has 12 at the time of writing. After Stafford’s match against Alsager Town was abandoned due to injury, Hearsey will have another chance to add to his tally at some points during the home stretch.
With that in mind, everyone at the NWCFL wishes the best to Alsager’s Adam Hampshire, whose unfortunate head injury rightly saw the match be abandoned. Adam has since been discharged from hospital, where he spent the night after the game, and is recovering well.
Five Things We Learned 2024/25 - Gameweek 33
Thu 13th March 2025 | Five Things
By Jay Cooper
1. Lower Breck going higher and higher
For the longest time in this season of the NWCFL Premier Division, it seemed as though the top two would consist of Ramsbottom United and Bury. Which order they would finish was not abundantly clear for a while, but it now looks like nothing can stop the Shakers taking the crown. However, one team hoping to stop Rammy even finishing second are Lower Breck.
Breck made another statement of their intent to be best of the rest last weekend, hammering FC St Helens 5-1, with Sam Burns bagging a brace for his efforts. This now places Breck a point above Rammy in the league table, and they still have a game in hand on their challengers for second. With that in mind, they also have two games in hand on Bury, and if they were to win both of those, they could cut down the points difference between the two sides to just three. Maybe the title race is not quite over yet.
2. Gate off the bottom
The relegation battle in the Premier Division took another interesting turn this week, as third-bottom and safe-as-it-stands Colne pulled off another comeback to earn a point against Irlam. They began the day with a three-point margin between themselves and second-bottom Prestwich Heys, but that gap is now at just two points, not between Colne and Heys, but between Colne and former league propper-uppers, Squires Gate.
The Blackpool-based outfit scored a surprise victory away from the mainland this past weekend, with a Jack Coop brace key to a 3-2 win over FC Isle of Man. Heys now sink back to the bottom of the table, and there are now just four point between safety and dead last in the division, with a varying amount of games left to play for all three teams. Pilkington and South Liverpool are only three points ahead of this collection too – watch this space!
3, Play-offs nearly sewn up in the North
We’re well into the business end of the season now, and with that comes plenty of tales of last-minute promotion pushes, relegation dog-fights, heartbreak and triumph. However, that doesn’t look to be a possibility in the First Division North race for the play-offs. As of right now, with 15 points left to gain for Darwen FC in 6th and Ashton Town in 7th, those two sides are 10 and 13 points respectively behind the current lowest-seeded play-off side, Holker Old Boys.
On top of that, Holker have a game in hand on their two closest challengers, which, if they were to win, would stretch the gap even further. Euxton Villa in 4th are also not 100% safe in those play-off places, but just one more win from their remaining five games would do the trick, regardless of how Darwen or Town fare.
4. Garstang are down
Following on from Skelmersdale United’s official relegation two weeks ago, joining them in limbo between the First Division North and the feeder leagues will be Garstang, after Guy Heffernan’s men lost to play-off candidates Euxton Villa on Saturday.
With just four league games left to play for the ide from the Riverside, there is now a 13-point gap between themselves and safety. Of course, nothing is confirmed as of yet, but Garstang will now be reliant on the FA’s League Allocations for the 2025/26 season to retain their place in the NWCFL.
5. Stafford’s and the South’s man of the season
I made mention a few weeks ago of the individual race for the Premier Division Player of the Season award, which will be allocated by number of Man of the Match performances throughout the season. In the First Division South, there is still that same race, but only one man appears to be running it – Stafford Town’s Matthew Hearsey.
Market Drayton Town’s Nicky Parker and Armando Wood are joint-second in the league’s MoM table for the South, with nine awards this season, but they will do well to catch Hearsey, who has 12 at the time of writing. After Stafford’s match against Alsager Town was abandoned due to injury, Hearsey will have another chance to add to his tally at some points during the home stretch.
With that in mind, everyone at the NWCFL wishes the best to Alsager’s Adam Hampshire, whose unfortunate head injury rightly saw the match be abandoned. Adam has since been discharged from hospital, where he spent the night after the game, and is recovering well.
