CITY OF LIVERPOOL PREVIEW
Back-to-back home games for the Rams as we play a Saturday league match at the HWRS for the first time in two months with struggling City of Liverpool heading into town for a crucial match in our season.
MATCH: Ramsbottom United vs City of Liverpool
VENUE: Harry Williams Riverside Stadium, Ramsbottom, BL0 0BS
COMPETITION: North West Counties League Premier Division
DATE: Saturday 24th November 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:
The first line of this preview is a very, very simple one. Do not look at the league table. Don’t take any notice whatsoever of the gap between the Rams and our opponents City of Liverpool.
Yes, it is easy to point at the Purps horrendous run of form, currently sat at 11 defeats on the spin since holding Euxton Villa to a 0-0 draw on 1 November. In those last 11 games, 4 goals scored and 66 conceded. But they only lost 2-1 to Wythenshawe at home, just a fortnight after losing 11-1 to them and it took a 95th minute winner to give FC St Helens a 1-0 win on Tuesday night.
So if anyone thinks that this game is just a mere formality and three points in the bag, think again. Another former NPL side, their troubles have been fairly well documented but they are far from dead in the water and have a game in hand over 22nd place Abbey Hey and just two points behind … survival is the key.
For the Rams, this is a huge game in the promotion charge. A massive statement win by league leaders Wythenshawe on Tuesday night, hammering Padiham 6-2 to open up a five point lead over them and a 10 point gap from the Rams in third means that every game is vital to keep pace.
There is 20 more league games to go – 10 home and 10 away. With doubles against West Didsbury and Chorlton and a home clash with Padiham within the next six weeks, coupled with a plethora of high profile games too – the Rams cannot afford too many more slip ups.
Whilst it was disappointing not to take the full three points, our record at home remains without defeat. Can that continue to the end of the season? It might be the deciding factor between the promotion goal and another year in the NWCFL.
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 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.
Please be aware that the access road to Ramsbottom Cricket Club and Ramsbottom United FC has now had a no parking policy imposed with immediate effect carrying a fine of £100. Please do not park on this road.
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 who has come over from City of Liverpool for this game.
Our history against City of Liverpool goes back to the NPL NW Division and the Covid ruined season of 2019/20 with the Rams winning both fixtures in that null-and-voided campaign 5-0 at the HWRS and 5-2 at Vesty Road. A double for Iyrwah Gooden plus singles from Tom Kennedy, Ruben Jerome and Josh Hmami did the damage in the first game before Gooden went one better and claimed a hat-trick with Hmami hitting two in the reverse fixture in January 2020.
From lots of goals to just one goal in three games in 2021 and early 2022 as the NPL 1 West game at Vauxhall Motors finished 0-0 and the return league fixture just before Christmas 2021 saw Jamie Rother’s 50th minute strike separating the teams.
A 0-0 FA Cup Preliminary Round game in August 2022 (pictured above) gave way to a thrilling 4-3 win for CoL in the replay, James Steele scoring a hat-trick to cancel out Leon Creech, Domaine Rouse and Temiloluwa Ajibola’s hits for the Rams.
Our last meetings in the NPL saw a brace of 2-1 victories for the side in purple – and we would be relegated that season but our swords crossed once again on 18 November 2025 at the Community Ground where the Rams ran out 8-0 victors – our largest away league victory of all time.
STEVE WILKES SAYS:
“Was really disappointed not to take the full three points from Tuesday night’s game having led twice and the lads were equally disappointed with it.
“But we have a chance to get back to winning ways against City of Liverpool, who we know are fighting hard for their Premier Division survival and were unlucky not to take something on Tuesday night from their game at St Helens so they are not a team to be taken lightly at all and we won’t be.”
