Stocksbridge Park Steels (H) – Match Preview

A whole host of league games have been played, and we, at last, have got a cup game to mix things up

Step 4 side Stocksbridge Park Steels will be travelling to Green Lane tomorrow, with a win against them putting us in the 2nd round of qualifying, a stage which we have never reached before

Last season’s defeat to Pickering Town was a shock to most people, but we also proceeded to storm to a second consecutive league title.

The season prior, we suffered a 3-0 defeat to Pontefract Collieries, a side we put 9 goals past in the 2025/26 campaign.

A defeat to Tadcaster Albion the season before followed Seaham Red Star knocking us out in both the 2021/22 and the 2022/23 editions

Cup competitions as a whole have seemed to be a hurdle for us, with last season’s shock defeat to Pickering, a penalty shootout loss to Bradford Park Avenue, and a semi-final defeat in the county cup to Boro Rangers.

League form, though, has never been an issue, and it is no different so far this season, as we come off the back of a chaotic but successful August that sees us sat 3rd in the league, being the only team in our division to remain unbeaten, picking up 5 wins and 3 draws from our 8 matches played

15 goals scored, just 4 conceded, and some promising scorelines including a 5-0 win against last season’s play-off finalists Warrington Rylands, a 2-0 win against local rivals Stockton Town, and a 0-0 opening day draw against a Bury side that everyone thought would dominate

After the Stocksbridge match, we host Leek Town on the 12th, before a trip to Cleethorpes on the 19th

The promising fact is, if we beat Leek (and Stocksbridge), then we will have gone an entire year without a home defeat

Our last one came against Emley; we have already passed the ‘1 year since our last home loss’, but the 365 days unbeaten stat will need to wait for the anniversary of our 10-1 thrashing of Silsden, which will be on the 13th of this month

Our cup opponents will be making the trip up to Teesside, though there will be no league fixtures between us this season, as they finished bottom of last season’s NPL Prem

7 points behind 18th-placed Workington meant the Steels were rooted to 21st, with Widnes Town’s resignation meaning there were only three sides relegated this time around

Morpeth Town and Prescot Cables were the other two sides to accompany them, with only Prescot occupying a decent spot in Step 4 at this moment

Morpeth, after five matches, sit 12th, behind the likes of newly promoted Liversedge and Guisborough, whilst Stocksbridge are currently sat in 21st, with just two points picked up so far

They are just one of the three sides who have failed to win in the NPL East so far, alongside Hallam and Ashington

The Steels have only had two away matches so far, losing 2-0 to Heaton Stannington in their opening fixture, before a 0-0 draw at Silsden on the bank holiday Monday

Our match is the 2nd of three away fixtures for our opponents, with their next seeing them go to North Ferriby, which was the ground that saw us close off our successful 2025/26 season

Stocksbridge have participated in a lot more FA Cup campaigns than us, having played in every edition since the 1992-93 season

The furthest they have gotten, though, is the 4th round of qualifying back in the 2003-2004 season, in which, after beating Squires Gate, Prudhoe Town, Brandon United, and Eastwood Town, they ultimately fell to a 6-0 defeat away at Shildon

After that, it was a lot of 1st- and 2rd round elimiation, before a string of Pre-Qualifying knockouts

The closest they have been to that 4th-round qualifying marker since the 03-04 season was back in 2022-23, in which they lost a 3rd-round qualifier replay to Ashington

Hopefully for us, we do pick up a win tomorrow and reach a new milestone. But, as is the case with the FA Cup, you never know what is going to happen on the pitch.

See you at Green Lane