On Tuesday 16th September Hednesford Town play the first of this season’s Staffordshire derbies when they travel across the county to play Leek Town in their latest Northern Premier League Premier Division fixture.
While Hednesford were moving into the Third Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday with a 7-0 drubbing of Coleshill Town, Leek were in league action, falling to their third away loss of the season, 0-3 at Cleethorpes Town. Their other defeats on the road have come at Bamber Bridge (2-3), and FC United of Manchester (0-2) while they have drawn 1-1 at Prescot Cables and won 2-1 at Hyde. At home their form is much better. After losing 0-3 to Rushall Olympic in their first home game of the season they won the next three, beating Morpeth 1-0, Warrington Town 3-1 and Guiseley 4-0. Their leading scorer is ex-Macclesfield Town striker Alex Hurst who has four goals while Jordan Hodkin and Liam Edwards have two each.
There are several players who have turned out for both sides. The most notable are Allan Somerville who made 372 appearances for Leek, Dave MacPherson who played 312 times for them scoring 60 goals and Rob Stevenson who has 102 goals in 307 appearances for The Blues while Dan Trickett-Smith has scored 79 goals over four spells at Harrison Park.
Following the late drama of last Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Ilkeston Town, The Pitmen are still undefeated at Keys Park although their away form is a little more mixed with two defeats, a draw and just one win from the opening day of the season when Dom McHale’s goal was enough to beat Hebburn. Hednesford are in fourth place in the table with 14 points from eight games while Leek are eighth with 13 points but have played a game more.
Manager Gavin Hurren said: “They are a very strong side with good performances and good wins, and they’re on a nice bit of form. At their place it’s always tough, but going away from home it’s about mindset — we’ve got to be professional, stay focused, and whatever formation or players we come up against, we’ve got to find a way to win and enjoy it.”
Leek Town play at the F.Ball Community Stadium, Macclesfield Road, Leek, Staffordshire ST13 8LD. The ground was previously known as Hamil Park when they purchased it in 1948 for £1,250 and renamed Harrison Park in 1972 after former Club Chairman Geoff Harrison. It took its present name in 2021 when an artificial surface was installed. The stadium has a capacity of 3,600 with 625 seated. Their record attendance is 3,512 for the visit of Macclesfield Town in an FA Cup Second Qualifying Round game while their average home league attendance this season is 532, the highest being 638 against Warrington Town.
Parking: Leek Cricket Club have opened their car park for the game. It is less than half a mile from the stadium (postcode ST13 8SG) and just a short five-minute walk. They have space for over 200 cars and their bar opens from 6pm as well as the stadiums.
Kick off on Tuesday night will be 7.45pm and admission is £13 adults, £9 concessions/18-21, £5 U18 and U8s are free. Tickets can be bought in advance via the FanBase app or pay on the gate.
