Pilkington (A) \\\ Matchday Info
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Preview
West travel to St Helens on Wednesday evening to play Pilkington FC with the aim of reviving what has been a largely positive start to the season.
Saturday’s 1-2 defeat to Burscough leaves West sitting in 13th place following the weekend’s fixtures, and opponents Pilkington are one of three other clubs who sit alongside West on four points from their opening three matches. Pilkington’s single win came away at Litherland Remyca in a 0-1 win, but they will console themselves in the knowledge that they have only dropped points to the two sides who are currently joint top of the division, Ramsbottom United and Charnock Richard (against whom they drew and lost respectively). Alongside this, they also eliminated last season’s champions, Wythenshawe FC, from the FA Cup with a 3-1 home replay win after the original tie was drawn 0-0. Whilst Pilkington did finish last season in 22nd place and lost five of their final six matches, their start to this season suggests that they may be a tougher proposition than some will give them credit for. Their standout player so far has been winger Gabriel Ellis, who has scored three goals in his five competitive outings so far this season.
West’s only new injury concern for the trip to Pilkington looks to be that of Lee Grimshaw, who was taken after just over 20 minutes on Saturday. Elsewhere, club captain Jimmy Moore will be pushing for a return to the starting XI after featuring in the second-half on Saturday.
West are yet to beat Pilkington in a competitive fixture. Last season was the first time that the two sides had played in the same division, and the spoils were shared on both occasions. West were unlucky not to take all three points at the Acroframe Stadium in September despite playing over half the match with ten men when Markell Foulds was controversially dismissed after half an hour. He was adjudged to have committed a professional foul on a Pilkington attacker some distance from goal moments after Lee Grimshaw completed an early brace to give West the lead. Despite the numerical disadvantage, it took a 94th minute Pilkington equaliser to prevent West from taking the three points back to Manchester as the game finished 3-3. The points were also shared in M21 later in the season as the sides played out an altogether less exciting 1-1 draw on a bitterly cold December evening.
History
Pilkington FC was established in 1938 and the name originates from the Pilkington glass factory in St Helens. Their history has largely been spent in amateur leagues across Liverpool and mid-Cheshire and they made their North West Counties debut in 2018/19 when they were promoted to Division One North. They did however complete a tour of Portugal prior to that in 1970, and found themselves watched by several thousand locals who had been drawn in by Pilkington’s touring name, Recs Pilkington de Liverpool, which they were disappointed to learn actually had no relation to the Anfield side.
Pilkington’s first two seasons at Step 6 of the football pyramid were disrupted by Covid-19, but they finished in 6th place in 2021/22 for their first complete season and they then went up as champions 12 months later. Despite a good start to life in Step 5 last season, they struggled after the turn of the year and limped to a 22nd place finish and joined West at the bottom of most form tables throughout 2024.
Last Meeting
Tuesday 5th December 2023
NWCFL Premier Division
West 1 Pilkington 1
West scorer: Ben Hampson
Attendance: 265
Head to Head
Overall
P3 W0 D2 L1 F4 A7
At Pilkington
P2 W0 D1 L1 F3 A6
Quick Info
Home colours: All green
Change colours: Pink / white or blue / white or blue
Travelling distance: 26 miles
West away 2024/25 round trip: 74 miles
Last season: 22nd, NWCFL Premier
Last season's average attendance: 130
Pictures by Chris Michell
Midweek fixtures
NWCFL Premier Division
Monday 12th August 2024
Stockport Town 2-4 Glossop North End
Tuesday 13th August 2024
Abbey Hey v Bury
AFC Liverpool v Squires Gate
Barnoldswick Town v Padiham
Burscough v Charnock Richard
Chadderton v Cheadle Town
FC St Helens v FC Isle of Man
Longridge Town v Colne
Ramsbottom United v Irlam
Wednesday 14th August 2024
Litherland REMYCA v Lower Breck
South Liverpool v Prestwich Heys
