Glossop North End (A)
NWCFL Premier Division
Matchday 38
*** Please note that kickoff is 7:30pm, as this match is part of the NWCFL Groundhop***
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Preview
West travel to Derbyshire on Saturday night to face Glossop North End for the third time this season, as Paul Marshall and Steve Yarwood reach 50 games in charge.
A West win will mark a treble over the Hillmen following a 3-0 home win on the opening day of the league season, and a 2-1 away win in the FA Cup Preliminary Round.
There are only nine league games left to play of the 2024/25 season, and West missed the chance to make up ground on their promotion rivals in midweek after being held to a 1-1 draw at Litherland REMYCA. That result initially gave West a one-point cushion over Chadderton and Irlam, but those sides met last night with Irlam winning 6-0.
West have moved down to 6th as a result and cannot afford to drop too many more points as the run-in hots up.
Saturyday's opponents Glossop North End are 16th and are in the kind of form that seems to have defined their season. In their last five matches, Glossop have lost to the two teams they've played from the top 10 (Irlam and FC Isle of Man), drawn the two games they've played against sides in mid-table (Cheadle Town and Litherland REMYCA) and have also beaten 23rd place Prestwich Heys. Throughout the season the Hillmen have consistently beaten the sides in the bottom third of the table, but they are yet to record a win against any team above FC Isle of Man in 9th. In fact, they have only picked up two points all season against the division's top eight, and both of those points came away from home.
Glossop will be missing key midfielders Conal Gallagher and Abdul Djalo through suspension, which may open the door for another appearance for the host's player-manager Richard Brodie. He featured from the substitute's bench when Glossop visited M21 last July, and has also played in their last two matches.
West may welcome Tom Murray back to the squad this weekend. He has missed the last two matches after running a charity ultra-marathon last weekend and will hopefully be ready to feature on Saturday night.
In terms of Glossop's food and drink offering, the club have a spacious clubhouse as you enter the ground, a 'pie hut' behind the goal at the same end of the ground, a can bar at the opposite end of the ground, and they are also advertising jacket potatoes, Hobgoblin real ale, hot drinks with alcoholic shots and more besides.
West fans Max and Connor are walking to Glossop tomorrow to raise money for The Christie. It's a 16 mile walk and the link to donate can be found HERE. Please do give generously if you can, to support a great cause.
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Form Guide
Glossop North End
Position: 16th
Form position: 14th
Home position: 18th
Last six overall: DDLWLW
Last six home: LWWLWW
West
Position: 6th
Form position: 7th
Away position: 9th
Last six overall: DWLWLW
Last six away: DLWLDW
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Glossop North End At A Glance
Home colours: Black & white / black / black
Change colours: All orange
Travelling distance: 16 miles
2023/24 position: 21st, NWCFL Premier
2024/25 average attendance: 276
West away season round trip: 1,665 miles
Glossop is famously the smallest town in England to have had a team in the top-flight of English football.
Younger readers may not recall too many details of Glossop’s 1899/1900 campaign and their single season at the top table was not a successful one. They were promoted to the top-flight alongside current champions Manchester City, but they struggled to adapt to life at the summit of English football and ultimately finished bottom of the league. They picked up only four wins that season,against Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa. While a quick return to the big time wasn't on the cards, they did make it to the quarter-final of the 1908 FA Cup, bowing out to Bristol City after a replay.
The club’s chairman during this period was cricketer, baronet, businessman and Conservative politician Sir Samuel Hill-Wood and it was his stewardship of the club during such a successful spell that led to the club being nicknamed the Hillmen ever since.
The club have played at their current home at Surrey Street since 1955, and became founder members of the North West Counties Football League in 1982. They are, by all accounts, a ‘sister’ club of Arsenal, and they celebrated their centenary in 1986 with a testimonial match against the Gunners. That link exists after Hill-Wood moved to London in the 1920s and became the Arsenal chairman, a role that he passed down to his son and later his grandson.
Glossop were given permission to train at Arsenal’s Colney training ground ahead of their 2009 FA Vase final defeat to Whitley Bay, which is the first of their two appearances in that competition’s final. Six years later they once again were playing under the Wembley arch but on that occasion their road to glory - which coincidentally began at the true home of football (Brookburn Road) - was ended by North Shields. In April 2023 Glossop returned to the NWCFL after eight years in the Northern Premier League divisions. They finished 21st last season and look on course to achieve an improved finish this time around.
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Head to Head
Overall
P11 W4 D0 L7 F16 A21
At Glossop North End
P6 W3 D0 L3 F10 A13
West have already won at Surrey Street this season. Victor Abadaki scored a second-half brace as West came from behind en route to the club's best ever FA Cup run. HERE is the match report from that afternoon.
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Browse through our wonderful match galleries, from club photographers:
Nathan Ashmall, Chris Michell, Jack Todd and Christina Bowett.
