By Liam Price, Nantwich photos by Jonathan White
The Dabbers are back in action with 7 friendlies to prepare for the new season. Below we take a quick look at all 7 teams we’ll be facing; this will be updated as we approach each game with latest results etc.
Gresford Athletic (H) – Friday 4th July
Gresford play in the Cyrmu North, the second tier of Welsh football, where they finished 11th out of 16 last season. They’ve recently revealed a newly designed badge celebrating their Welsh identity, a local church, and their mining heritage which sadly includes the disaster in 1934 where 266 people were killed.
They also unveiled the signing of Mark Winslade, who scored 7 goals in 40 games for the Dabbers between 2014 and 2015.
With their season starting a bit earlier than the English league, they’ve already played 2 friendlies by the time they play the Dabbers, and both of them have had 8 goals in them (a 4-4 draw and a 7-1 win), so we could be in for an exciting game.
Market Drayton Town (A) – Monday 7th July
Market Drayton play in the North West Counties South (2 tiers below the Dabbers), where they finished 9th out of 18 last season.
In their friendlies so far, they have beaten FC Hanley 2-0 and drew 2-2 with AFC Bridgnorth, winning a penalty shoot out for the Jason Francis Memorial Cup.
They play at Greenfields Sports Ground, TF9 3SL, which is about a half hour drive from Nantwich. Ticket prices are £3 for adults, £2 for concessions and £1 or under 16s.
Whitchurch Alport (H) – Friday 11th July
We meet Whitchurch again for the now traditional Eddie Morris Memorial Trophy match. For those who may not know or need reminding, Eddie was a former Nantwich player and legendary Whitchurch manager whose playing career also saw him play for Crewe, Congleton and Witton. His son John went on to be a successful test cricketer for England.
Alport finished 6th out of 18 in the Midland Premier League (1 tier below Nantwich) last season, and had a great run to the quarter finals of the FA Vase.
In their first pre-season friendly, Whitchurch drew 1-1 with Welsh side Holywell.
The previous runnings of this trophy match saw the Dabbers win 2-1 in 2020 in the inaugural running, and by the same scoreline again in both 2021 and 2023.
Former Dabbers youth product Callum Parker is a player to watch up front for Whitchurch.
Tickets for this one are available HERE.
Winsford United (H) – Monday 14th July
Winsford face the Dabbers the summer after brilliantly securing the North West Counties South title last season. They have been allocated into the Midland Premier alongside Whitchurch for 2025/26. They also had a joint club record run to the Third Round of the FA Vase.
In their friendlies so far, they have drawn 1-1 with Welsh side Airbus UK Broughton and beaten Alsager 3-0 only on Saturday, former Dabbers Ollie Pope among those on the scoresheet.
The Blues were the former club of Perry Bircumshaw, who joined the Dabbers from Winsford in 2022 and has been a fixture in the first team squad ever since, making over 100 appearances.
Tickets for this one are available HERE.
Prescot Cables (A) – Friday 18th July
We travel to Merseyside to face Prescot in the second running of the 1884 Cup. That name is in reference to the year in which both Prescot and the Dabbers were formed, with the first trophy match taking place last summer as we both celebrated our 140th anniversaries. Prescot won that game 2-1.
In the end they had a very good first season after promotion back to the NPL Premier. There was that extremely scary period in the summer for their supporters where manager Ste Daley resigned and most of their players looked to be following, only for him to return less than a week later. With stability restored, they did brilliantly to finish 10th out of 22.
Their first and so far only pre season friendly saw them draw 1-1 away at Northwich Victoria last Saturday.
Former Dabbers midfielder Tom Scully is one of their headline summer signings.
The Auto Safety Stadium (L34 6HD) has had a bit of a revamp since we last visited in January 2024 (a 1-0 defeat) so it’ll be great to see it in person.
Northwich Victoria (H) – Tuesday 22nd July
The Trickies have been busy since finishing 11th out of 18 in the Midland Premier (1 tier below the Dabbers, same as Whitchurch and Winsford). Among several eye catching signings are Sean Cooke and brothers Harry and Joe Davis, all of whom have played for Nantwich at different points in their careers.
The Dabbers and Northwich Victoria haven’t met since the quarter final of the Cheshire Senior Cup in 2020, which the Dabbers won 3-0 thanks to 2 goals from Joe Malkin and another from Callum Saunders.
Tickets for this one are available HERE.
Leek Town (A) – Saturday 26th July
After going up as champions to the NPL Premier in 2024, Leek, like Prescot, have settled in nicely to their surroundings, ending up 15th under Josh Brehaut’s stewardship in 24/25.
Former Dabbers coach Jay Bateman has joined their staff this summer. They also have former Nantwich players Nathan Okome (below) and Connor Heath, who has joined this summer as well.
Our last meeting with Leek was the league game in February 2024, which Leek won 3-1.
Harrison Park is a familiar location for the Dabbers, and it was even used as a ‘home’ ground for us in 2023 as our artificial pitch was being finished off.
