Hyde United (A) – Match Preview

Any chance of staying top relies on outside results, but also on us to keep winning matches

We’re back on the road tomorrow, and it is for the next league fixture that sees us head to Hyde.

The Tigers’ form has been, bluntly, quite bad. No wins since a 2-1 victory at home to Stockton on the 3rd of October, and their last league victory before that came in a 2-1 win against Bury on the final day of August.

Since then, they have lost 3-1 to Whitby, 2-1 to Leek, 4-0 to Gainsborough, and have just suffered a 1-0 loss to Ilkeston on Halloween.

They have also lost to Curszon and Cleethorpes, and drawn with Quron FC.

All that is what came after the win against Bury, too, with results before then including a 4-0 defeat away to Alfreton and a dramatic 4-4 draw against Bamber Bridge.

However, despite the fact that we are top of the league, we seem to frequently struggle against teams at the lower end of the table, with narrow wins against Ashton, Leek and FC United being the poignant scares of an otherwise successful start to the season.

I say start; we are about to play our 17th league fixture, with the 16 before tomorrow giving us 35 points via 10 wins, 5 draws, and a single defeat (Cheers Curzon).

Our league position is also unstable, with Cleethorpes being 2 points behind us, with a game in hand.

After our trip to Hyde, there are 2 home league fixtures against Bamber Bridge and Warrington Town, and then we have a trip to Gigg Lane as we take on Bury.

Steelmen are playing at a ground that used to host EFL football; our rise has been nothing short of staggering.

As for player stats, Brad Fewster’s goal against Guiseley does mean he has continued his scoring run, with our striker now bagging in 4 consecutive matches.

As for Luke Spalding, he has become our 9th separate league goalscorer, joining Bosh, Brad, Oscar, Andrei, Curtis, Danny Rowe, Louis, and Owen.

So… I wonder who our 10th will be

Hyde United’s history is another long one, which seems like a common theme for clubs based around Manchester.

Founded in 1919 after the folding of Hyde FC, Hyde United joined the Manchester League after a season in the Lancashire and Cheshire federation, and by 1930 they would have picked up five league titles and won the Gilgryst Cup twice.

The ten years after World War 2 would be a great time for the club, with the Cheshire Senior Cup being followed by more league cups and titles.

They would reach the FA Cup first round in 1954, only to be beaten 5-1 by a Bill Shankly-managed Workington, and league success would eventually see Hyde United reach the NPL.

In 2005, they would win the NPL title through highly unusual circumstances, as a 0-0 win against Spennymoor would push them above Farsley Celtic, with Spennymoor’s results being expunged due to the inability to complete their fixtures.

The 2008/09 season saw Hyde still in the Conference North, and they would be saved from relegation thanks to King’s Lynn failing ground requirements

However, Hyde would very nearly collapse themselves, as in Spectember 2009 they would be wound up at High Court, though that order would be rescinded a little over a week later, with a new owner stepping in.

A sponsorship with Manchester City would see the side change their colour scheme, and also their name, with the side reverting to their origins as they became Hyde FC and played in black and white.

Promotion to the Conference Premier would come in the 2010-11 season, though they would be relegated in the 2013-14 campaign after picking up just one win all season.

The relegation was followed by another one, with the Tigers then dropping to the NPL, and the conclusion of the 2014-15 season saw them return to the Hyde United name too.

It then got even worse, as another relegation saw Hyde United drop to the NPL Division One for the 2016/17 season.

They would return to the NPL Premier after a 3rd-place finish in the 2017-18 season, and they have remained at Step 3 since then, with consecutive seasons in 6th being the highlights of this tenure.

Now, though, they are 15th, and they will be looking to start picking up wins again to climb up the table and get away from the drop zone

But hopefully for us, it is 3 points for the Steelmen tomorrow, instead of 3 for the Tigers