ABBEY HEY PREVIEW

A Saturday home Premier Division game for the first time in six weeks is next up as the Rams put their unbeaten HWRS league record on the line against an Abbey Hey side who have already troubled us this season back in August.

MATCH: Ramsbottom United vs Abbey Hey
VENUE: Harry Williams Riverside Stadium, Ramsbottom, BL0 0BS
COMPETITION: North West Counties League Premier Division
DATE: Saturday 25th October 2025
KICK-OFF: 3:00pm
ADMISSION: Adults – £9, Concessions (over 67) – £5, U12 – £1 (with paying adult).
NOTE: We are a CASH ONLY stadium – there are NO CARD FACILTIES at the ground.

OVERVIEW:
Five wins on the spin, eight wins from our last nine games across all formats and back-to-back clean sheets to boot, the Rams are in good shape as October edges towards its conclusion, sitting in second place in the NWCFL table, five points behind the leaders.

There is still a very long way to go but 35 points from 15 games and the only side left in the division to be unbeaten on home soil, the Rams winning seven of their nine at the HWRS this term with a couple of draws, there is plenty to be encouraged about.

And it would be very easy to look at the league table and see Abbey Hey, down in 21st place and think this will be a banker ‘home win’.  Not a bit of it!  We know all about Abbey Hey, having played them back in mid August at the Abbey Stadium and all that separated the sides was Oscar Radcliffe’s strike just after the half-hour mark.

It wasn’t easy then and it won’t be easy on Saturday either as our visitors are unbeaten in their last couple of games, holding Stockport Town 2-2 last Saturday before easing past in-form Prestwich Heys 2-1 on Tuesday night with two first-half goals and holding on despite a late penalty for Heys.

15 games played and 12 points collected but a third of those have been in the last two games which has moved them a little clear of the bottom two, although thats not a concern at this still early stage of the season – we aren’t even at half way yet.

So there will be no taking things easy as the Rams look to extend their October fest of wins and goals, five wins, 13 goals and just five conceded and although this is the fifth home game in our last six played and another on the horizon on Tuesday night too, let’s continue to come through the gate and support the team as, things continue to look up!

FACILITIES
The game at Ramsbottom United will be by payment in CASH at the turnstile (the club does not have a card facility).  Prices are as shown above and programmes are £2.

Due to cricket and adjacent building works, parking for spectators should be away from the ground, in either town centre car parks (drivers are advised to check any time limits) or in the various side streets, all of which are no more than 5-10 minutes walk away but please be mindful of local residents and businesses.

Various bus routes come into Ramsbottom town centre (https://bustimes.org/localities/ramsbottom for details) and the East Lancs Railway (https://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/events-activities/western-region-weekend/) station is adjacent to the ground.

Tea Bar serving hot and cold drinks, pie and peas, sweets, crisps etc will be open within the ground, as will the Can Bar serving beer, lager and cider.

HISTORY
We offer a very warm welcome to everyone coming up from Abbey Hey for this game.

Another of our old friends from the Manchester League days, we first met in the NWCFL in March 2000 and the Rams completed a comprehensive double, winning 3-0 away from home and then 7-0 at the Riverside with David Yorke-Robinson and Danny Goodall both slotting twice.

Of the 28 previous meetings, the Rams has won 17 and Abbey Hey just six (with five draws) and, well, let’s get this out of the way now, Abbey Hey have not scored a goal against the Rams since their 4-1 victory at the Riverside in April 2009.  Theo Coley’s 87th minute strike completing the rout but that was the last and we have played 543 minutes of football since then!

The last six meetings, admittedly with a 14-year gap while the Rams went into the NPL, have seen scores of 1-0, 2-0, 1-0, 3-0, 0-0 and 1-0.  It really is quite a remarkable record and one that you can be sure that our visitors will want to rectify!

STEVE WILKES SAYS:
“We left it very late on Tuesday night to beat a dogged Glossop side but it kept our unbeaten run going and a clean sheet as well, so all in all, whilst disappointing in patches, we got the win and that’s all that matters.  We sometimes talk about winning ugly, we did!

“Now we turn our attention to Abbey Hey, who gave us a tough game a couple of months ago and they will want to use their recent upturn in form and bring it to the HWRS on Saturday.  We know it will be tough, all the games are, and we will definitely not be taking this game lightly.”