The pre-season work is over and the 2024-25 season for Brighouse Town opens on Saturday at the Silent Night Stadium in Barnoldswick on the North West Yorkshire and Lancashire border (3pm).
Town, with their relegation before being reprieved, join 441 other clubs now having to take part in the Extra Preliminary round of the Emirates FA Cup and Barnoldswick from Step 5 and the North West Counties Premier Division will be no pushover for the Step 4 club. A victory for Brighouse will see them entertain the winners of the Squires Gate v Northwich Victoria tie on Saturday, August 17.
Barnoldswick made last season’s play-offs and they opened their season last Saturday with a late equaliser in a 3-3 draw with Lower Breck from Merseyside.
On Tuesday night they had a derby game at Colne and manager Grant Black sent in scouts Darrell Hadala and Will Armitage to take a look at them and also their star man Andrew Hill who bagged a brace including the all important third goal.
In the past week Town wrapped up the friendlies with a 5-1 away win at Huddersfield and District side Hepworth on the Tuesday night and then a 0-0 draw at home to Stocksbridge Park Steels last Saturday.
The scorers at Hepworth were Danny Edwards with two, Harrison Beeden, Rafa Ferreira and Wayne Gibbons, with Sam Thompson getting a consolation goal for the hosts.
Both managers for the Stocksbrige game used their squads in what was a particularly entertaining second half in which both could have snatched a winner. Multiple shots at both ends were either blocked or saved and the well attended game saw spectators across lunchtime having their moneysworth.
Town went in to the Stocksbridge game without their former Marske United centre-back Jorge Sikora who has left to sign for NPL Premier Division club Lancaster City.
The club’s former Rotherham United academy centre-back Harrison Beeden, a goalscorer at Hepworth, was expected to re-sign for Town after his 18 months at Whitby Town, but after also trialling at Buxton, Worksop Town and Gainsborough Trinity, withdrew from signing at the Heffernan Utilities Stadium again and went off to train with an unnamed club.
Town’s faithful felt after seeing the squad against Stocksbridge that they looked fitter, sharper and certainly more pacey than last season. All with be revealed at around 4.50pm on Saturday afternoon unless the sides are locked in a draw and if so the replay will be on Wednesday night (7.45).
The coach will leave the Dusty Miller at 12 noon on Saturday.
Town have made two more signings this week in Stocksbridge PS winger Basile Zottos and Campion defender Jack McGahan, while allowing left sided defender Rhys Plater to go out on dual registration to Parkgate.
