LITHERLAND PREVIEW

Happy New Year – welcome to 2026!  What can we expect to see in this one?  Only time will tell but, as always, we head into it with hope renewed and positivity abound as we welcome Litherland REMYCA to the HWRS for our first league game at home in two months!

MATCH: Ramsbottom United vs Litherland REMYCA
VENUE: Harry Williams Riverside Stadium, Ramsbottom, BL0 0BS
COMPETITION: North West Counties League Premier Division
DATE: Saturday 3rd January 2026
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:
We are officially half way through our league campaign with 23 games played and 23 to go.  The Rams sit in third place in the table with games in hand courtesy of the heavily ruined December due to the weather and various waterlogged pitches along the way.

And whilst it has been disappointing to see the record run of victories end and be replaced with a spell of five games without a victory (until Tuesday night’s friendly at Top Park against Turton), the hopes and dreams of Ramsbottom United being in the end of season promotion shake-up continue to be strong.

With the numbers being swelled by new arrivals, who impressed in the impromptu friendly in midweek, there is definitely a sense of positivity in the camp ahead of the visit of the league’s bottom side, Litherland REMYCA, who we play for the first time this season.

Much has been said about the travails of REMYCA who have secured just seven points from their 28 games played, enduring a horrendous run of results with just one win in their last 30 games across all competitions – that victory coming at home to Cheadle Town 4-2 at the top end of December.

Unfortunately for them, they have lost their last five since and neither of their two victories this season have come on the road – only scoring seven times in their 14 away matches this campaign.

It is a mighty job for recently installed manager, former Ramsbottom striker Jamie Rainford, who played 36 times for us from 2018 to 2021 scoring 22 goals and was a part of the play-off reaching side of 2019, to turn their fortunes around and he will certainly be striding back to the HWRS looking to put one over on his former side.

But that does, of course, mean very little as the two sides go head to head, both sides looking for an important three points.

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 and access to the cricket club, 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 also 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 across from Litherland REMYCA for this game.

This will be just the fifth meeting between the sides and the Rams have held the upper hand in the previous four – winning three and being held to a draw in the first of the clashes, three days shy of two years ago.

Matt Dudley’s opener on 70 minutes gave the Rams the lead until Elliot Taylor’s 98th minute equaliser ensured the hosts took a share of the spoils, although REMY’s manager Colin McDonald saw red in the 99th minute!  A month later and it was much more comfortable for the Rams as they stormed to a 5-1 victory with braces for Luke Sephton and Matthew Birchall coming after Luke Jackson’s sixth minute ice breaker.  James Hamill pulled one back for the visitors.

It was the L.Sephton show last season as he collected the match ball in the away fixture, scoring a hat-trick to go with Oscar Radcliffe’s hit just before the break as the Rams sailed to a 4-0 win before Tom Hoyle, Harvey Hayhurst and Harvey Whyte picked the Rams up from 1-0 down to seal a 3-1 success at home in March.

STEVE WILKES SAYS:
“First of all I would like to wish a Happy New Year to all my players, staff, committee members and everyone else who works tirelessly hard for this football club.

“But most of all to you, the fans, that keep following us home and away week in and week out. Let’s hope 2026 is the year we finally realise what we’ve set out to achieve.

“Back to the football and it was more than useful to have a run out on Tuesday night against Turton as we haven’t played much competitive football since the Nelson game so it was important to get minutes into the lads’ legs.

“We know we have a tough run of games coming up so its vital that we come into these games in good shape but this game against Litherland won’t be easy, despite their record, and I will be letting the lads know that in no uncertain terms that we will not take anyone for granted at all.”