Chadderton (A)
NWCFL Premier Division
Matchday 28
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Preview
West will play their second match in 50 hours on Saturday when they travel to Avro to face 3rd place Chadderton.
The game comes after an important 1-0 win against Cheadle Town on Boxing Day. West have now won five games in six and are on the cusp of the playoff places. The win over Cheadle moved the club up to 6th place - two points behind FC St Helens with one game in hand.
Chadderton have enjoyed an excellent season and they reside in 3rd place - trailing slightly behind Bury and Ramsbottom United in what looks to be a three-horse race for the Premier Division title. Chaddy are two points behind both of their fellow challengers, and they have also played more games than each side. They were top of the pile briefly in the lead-up to Christmas, but a heavy loss at Bury on 20th December and a surprise Boxing Day defeat to Abbey Hey brought an 8-match winning streak to an abrupt end and pulled them back into 3rd.
Chadderton games are characterised primarily by one thing - goals. They have won and lost games by a 7-1 scoreline already this season; they had a week in December where both matches they played ended 5-2, and they have been involved in games where 7+ goals have been shared on an incredible 11 occasions so far this season. For context, this has only happened once for West - in the 4-3 loss to AFC Liverpool last month. Chadderton often leave it late however, with 20% of their goals coming in the final 15 minutes.
Saturday's hosts also have the division's top scorer in their side. Lewis-Simon Byrne has managed 32 goals already in all competitions, including 29 in the Premier Division. He has scored 12 goals in his last 10 appearances.
West played away at Chadderton on the final game of the 2023/24 season and whilst Chadderton eased their way to a 3-1 win courtesy of a brace from current West midfielder Connor Hughes, results did not go their way and they missed out on the playoffs on goal difference alone. That was the last occasion that Chadderton played at their home ground of the Falcon Fire Stadium, which is currently being redeveloped and is due to re-open later this season. They have played the majority of their home matches at Avro's Vestacare Stadium and whilst they do have a strong home record, they have achieved better results on their travels and they have only won 7 of the 12 'home' games they have played.
They have also only picked up one solitary point in the four matches they have played so far against the division's top 6. West, on the other hand, have won three of the four matches they have played against the same group of teams. A result against a team of Chaddy's quality would be huge for West ahead of games against Bury and North Shields, but it is not a meeting that they should be fearful of and those West fans travelling to Oldham should expect a exciting match which could go either way.
Incidentally, Chadderton's next two matches are home fixtures against West - as the sides meet again in the Quarter-Finals of the Manchester Premier Cup in early January. That match is also currently scheduled to be played at Avro's Vestacare Stadium and is due to take place on Wednesday 8 January 2025. West do however have a home match against Bury in between these meetings. ___________________________________________
Form Guide
Chadderton
Position: 3rd
Form position: 7th
Last six overall: LLWWWW
Last six home: LWWWWL
West
Position: 6th
Form position: 4th
Last six overall: WWWLWW
Last six away: WLWLLW
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Chadderton at a glance
Home colours: All red
Change colours: All neon & black
Pitch surface: Artificial (playing at Avro)
2023/24 position: 7th, NWCFL Premier
2024/25 average attendance: 144
Travelling distance: 11 miles
West away season round trip: 1,148 miles
Chaddy were founded in 1946 as a junior football team during the Second World War. They later formed an adult team named Millbrown Football Club, which was initially renamed as North Chadderton Amateurs before finally becoming Chadderton in 1957 and remaining so ever since.
They are founder members of the NWCFL and, prior to their promotion in 2023, they had played in Step 6 for 25 years straight without going up or down. Even then, their demotion from Step 5 in 1997/98 was for ground grading reasons, and their previous promotion in 1991/92 occurred despite them only finishing 12th in the division. Chaddy therefore hadn't experienced a tradition promotion or relegation prior to their recent promotion since the late 1980s. They came close to a second successive promotion in 2023/24 and look like they will be amongst the leading pack this season too.
The Chadderton team that featured in the first ever Counties season in 1982 contained none other than ex-England, Arsenal and Serie A stalwart David Platt before he was plucked from the crop at Andrew Street by Ron Atkinson at Manchester United. Other famous Chadderton alumni include Take That’s very own Mark Owen and former Crystal Palace assistant manager John Pemberton.
At the conclusion of the 2024/25 season, only Bacup Borough will have played more matches in the North West Counties Football League than Chadderton.
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Head to Head
Overall
P4 W2 D0 L2 F8 A8
At Chadderton
P2 W1 D0 L1 F4 A3
West lost 3-1 at Chadderton on the last match of the 2023/24 season. It was a forgettable match which called time on a disappointing campaing and ultimately Chris Rowley's time as West manager. Lewis Billingsley gave West the lead that day with a free-kick shortly before half time, before a brace from Connor Hughes set Chaddy on their way to a 3-1 win.
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Browse through our wonderful match galleries, from club photographers:
Nathan Ashmall, Chris Michell, Jack Todd and Christina Bowett.
