Match Preview – Sleaford Town v Staveley Miners Welfare, Saturday 15th October 2025

The Greens are back at home this weekend, as Staveley Miners Welfare make the trip to the newly named PSZ Direct Stadium.

In The Green Corner

Town will look to repeat their last game against Saturday’s opposition, where a 3-0 victory at Staveley back in August lived long in the memory. The goalscorers that day were Lewis Roland, Ben Ashall and Andy Whalen.

The last outing for Sleaford, however, will not want to be repeated, as a 2-1 defeat away at Southwell City saw The Greens slip down to fifteenth in the division. An early Taylor Gray red card set the tone for the afternoon, and with Sleaford 2-0 down late on Ben Coleman pulled a goal back in stoppage time but was too little too late in the end.

Reflecting on the Southwell game, where his side has perhaps lacked discipline, manager Matt Evans understands the necessity in changing this. “There is a reason, or at least a theory, for everything that happens in a game” he said, “We've really focused on picking apart the player's reactions when things go against them and are working together to improve team cohesion. The lads are gaining a better understanding of how their behaviours influence others and whilst it isn’t a quick fix we are beginning to see some improvements. The football development cant happen without increased maturity”.

It has been several months since the aforementioned meeting with Staveley, but Evans knows it won’t be the same picture this time around. “Beating Staveley away remains one of the highlights of the season so far. The application that day was superb and we will aim to replicate that again this weekend.

“However, a lot of football has been played since then and both teams have had to adapt to changes in personnel. I thought Staveley were a good team and we worked hard to stop them. Whilst our goals looked favourable on the attackers, our defence did a superb job to provide the platform”.

With this being the only home fixture of the month, Evans is looking forward to returning to the town. “I'm really glad to be back at home especially following the refurbishment works to the club house. Volunteers have been working hard to create a better environment for us all and whilst there is still a long way to go, the PSZ Direct Stadium is slowly becoming a home to be proud of. Thank you to everyone that has worked with us to make these improvements.”

Opposition Report

Staveley MWFC were founded in 1962 as under the name “Nags Head”, and after a couple of decades competing as a Sunday league side, they moved to the Saturday leagues in 1989. The club are currently facing their second season in the UCL D1, though they have competed at step six for a number of years before that.

Placed 8th in the table, The Trojans are currently six points away from the final playoff position but have played three more times than Grace Dieu in fifth. The last five games indicate that Staveley are in good form. Nine points from a possible fifteen came in the middle of these games, beating Rainworth MW 1-0, West Bridgford 6-2 and Holwell 4-0. However, they were beaten narrowly by South Normanton 1-0 in their last game.

Key Details

Location: PSZ Direct Stadium, NG34 9GH
Time: 3:00pm Kickoff
Pricing: Adults £7 | Military £5 | 65+ £4 | U16 Free

Match preview by Olly Burton