THE GAME
Hednesford Town vs Scarborough Athletic
Enterprise National League North
Keys Park Stadium, Keys Park Road, Hednesford, WS12 2DZ
Saturday 15th August 2026, kick off 3pm.
THE PITMEN
Saturday sees Hednesford Town play their first home game at Step 2 since 2015/16 when 287 people watched a 0-0 draw with Bradford Park Avenue.
This result saw The Pitmen relegated to the Northern Premier League, finishing in 21st place, eight points from safety.
After a decent pre-season which saw just one defeat, Hednesford returned from South Wales empty handed last Saturday following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Merthyr Town.
The 18 man squad only had two players, Liam Kinsella and Omari Sterling-James, remaining from last season due to the club’s transition to full-time football and the new look team found themselves a goal down after three minutes and two behind at half time.
Despite an improved second half performance the scoreline stayed the same.
THE OPPOSITION
After a season away from their Scarborough Sports Village ground, playing all their home games at Bridlington Town in 2025/26 due to extensive groundworks, The Seadogs returned to Ashburn Road in pre-season for a game against League One side Barnsley.
A crowd of 2,322 saw a 2-0 win for the visitors and three days later Scarborough beat Hull City U21s 1-0 with a goal from Mo Fadera.
Other pre-season games saw a 3-1 win at Pickering, 2-2 draws at Bridlington Town and North Ferriby and a 2-1 defeat at Harrogate.
Fadera, who signed for the club following his release from York City, notched three goals in pre-season while Rio Allen and Luke Hall scored two each.
On the opening day of the season, Scarborough went 1-0 down at home to last season’s play-off finalists South Shields despite having 17 goal attempts and eight corners during the game.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
Both Scarborough FC and Scarborough Athletic have visited Keys Park since 2000 and both times have returned to North Yorkshire with all three points.
In 2000/01 a crowd of 754 saw a Paul Ellender goal earn Scarborough FC a win in the Nationwide Conference.
Meanwhile, on the opening day of the 2018/19 season, Wayne Brooksby scored the only goal of the game for Scarborough Athletic in the 13th minute of a Northern Premier League encounter which was made all the more difficult for The Pitmen after Reece King’s 24th minute red card.
MATCHDAY DETAILS
Admission prices for league games this season at Keys Park are as follows:
Seating: £18 adults, £15 concessions, £8 13-17 years old, £5 under 13s.
Standing: £15 adults, £12 concessions, £5 13-17 years old, £3 under 13s.
All juniors aged 15 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult.
The Ticket Office and the Chase Suite open at 12pm on Saturday for the early kick-off which you can watch live at the stadium.
Meanwhile, the Turnstiles and Club Shop open at the usual time of 1pm.
Smoking and vaping is only allowed in the Fanzones behind the Hednesford End and Heath Hayes End. As this is not a designated game, all Boltbars will be open.
Please remember that due to building work there is no parking at Keys Park so please park responsibly elsewhere.
The matchday programme will be on sale from the programme sellers and the club shop. This features a look at this season’s squad and a bespoke cover illustration courtesy of Mammoth Creative Works.
