We’re happy to announce that Atherton Collieries have been added to our pre-season schedule, with Colls set to visit Brookburn Road on Tuesday 30 July.

The two sides have long had a friendship, something that has been further burnished through our appointment of Brad Cooke as manager – Brad made 265 appearances for Atherton, scoring 40 goals and captaining the club to two promotions before leaving to end his playing career at Northwich Victoria. One of the finest days in the club’s history came at Colls expense, as we pipped them to promotion from NWCFL Division One on the last day of the season in 2012/13 – however, the fortunes of the two sides have differed wildly since. Going up as champions from the same division the next season, Atherton won the Premier Division in 2016/17, and ended last campaign as the winners of the Evo-Stik Division One West. They come to Brookburn Road in preparation for their debut season in the Evo-Stik Premier Division, and we look forward to welcoming them.

The last fixture between the two teams was two seasons ago, when Steer, Bayunu, and Lilley scored to earn West a 3-3 draw on a sunny day at Brookburn Road. We have, however, made the trip to Colls’ Kensite Stadium much more recently: following floodlight issues in May 2018, the club was forced to fulfil a ‘home’ fixture in Atherton, which ended in a memorable win over City of Liverpool.

This game replaces the previously announced fixture against Ashton United, who are also now playing an alternative fixture on the same day. In addition, our friendly against Widnes will no longer be going ahead due to a change in circumstances. Any replacement fixture and any other alterations to our pre-season schedule will be announced in due course.