A very warm welcome to The Step Places Stadium to the committee, players and club officials from Sandbach United, match officials and to all spectators. The feel good factor of still being able to stage our matches in front of spectators cannot be underestimated in this climate of uncertainty and confusion.

Our winning run came to a disappointing end last Saturday when we suffered our first defeat of the new season against Charnock Richard in the FA Vase. Whilst the game was fairly even in the first half, Charnock were able to find an extra gear and take control in key areas. Nevertheless, the team performed well and will learn from that experience to help move us towards the level needed to push for promotion back to the Premier Division. 

The matches will come thick and fast from now on, and as these notes were written ahead of our mid-week match on the road against Stone Old Alleynians, a good result from that game will restore confidence going into today’s match. Our opponents today are in very good shape and top the NWCFL form guide so we will need to be at our best.

You may have also seen that our Women’s First Team secured another fantastic win against Mersey Rail last Sunday, winning 2-1 to make it two wins from two in the league. Nathan and the team are matching their ambitions with results and I encourage you to watch them in action.  

Whilst we are fortunate in being able to allow spectators into our matches, behind the scenes we are being heavily scrutinised for compliance with the COVID-19 restrictions. The committee and volunteers are all working extremely hard and learning very quickly and last week’s match-day operation went really well. I would like to thank our fans also for observing social-distancing measures. We all need to remain vigilant and continue this high standard over the coming weeks as restrictions in the North West continue to change.

I hope you enjoy today’s match, which promises to be a tough encounter and a good opportunity to check our progress.  

Please remember to social distance – wash hands, cover your face and make space.   

Come on West!

Steve,  West chair