Saturday 4th August 2018 (3pm), NWCFL Premier Division
West v Northwich Victoria
Brookburn Road, Chorlton, M21 8FE
£5 adults, £3 concessions, free for under-12s

The curtain rises on the NWCFL season as West welcome Northwich Victoria to Brookburn Road.

Both sides will be looking to improve on disappointing 2017-18 campaigns - while West were at least able to salvage a top-ten finish, Vics ended the season in 16th following a poor run-in.

Steve Settle will look to call on a raft of summer signings, including ex-Maine Road duo Rory Breslin and Jack Langford and former Abbey Hey man Zac Cooper, while Josh Tinker will be back in contention after recovering from last season's knee injury.

Vics, back in Northwich this season following a move to rivals Witton Albion's Wincham Park ground, have also been active in the transfer market. Forward Joel Brownhill, who scored 28 goals for Ashton Athletic last year, has made the move to Cheshire, as has former Atherton Collieries midfielder Brad Cooke, who captained Colls to the NWCFL title two seasons ago.

Recent meetings

Both fixtures last season ended in away wins - Tom Bailey's goal wasn't enough to stop Vics leaving Brookburn Road a 2-1 win in November, but Bailey and Joe Shaw gained revenge in April as West won at Barnton's Townfields by the same scoreline.

14th April 2018 - Vics 1 West 2 (Bailey, Shaw)
28th November 2017 - West 1 (Bailey) Vics 2