Match Preview

Kindly written by Adrian Lynn

Belper United face their longest trip of the season, about 110 miles, when they travel to meet the Fenmen at Fountain Fresh Park on Saturday.
Belper, a market town situated seven miles north of Derby, are relative newcomers to the United Counties League, joining in 2021 and winning promotion to the Premier Division North in their first season.
They found the going tough in the first campaign, finishing 14th. Against Wisbech last season they drew 1-1 at home, Sisa Tuntulwana scoring for the Fenmen, and Wisbech won the return 2-1 with goals from Rob Conyard (pen) and Amir Ward.
Belper began this season in fine style with four league wins out of five putting them at the top of the table. Their main threat will probably come from Richard Hanslow, who already has seven goals including a hat-trick against AFC Mansfield.
But they have suffered setbacks, losing 3-2 to lower ranked Worcester Raiders in the FA Cup and 4-1 at home to Eastwood CFC, their first league defeat of the season, last Saturday. But they returned to winning form on Wednesday, coming from 3-1 down to beat Ashby Ivanhoe 4-3.

Club History

Belper United were founded in 1921 and by the late 1970s were playing in the East Midlands Regional League. They were Division One champions in 1979/80, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 1984/85 the club were the league's last Premier Division champions, with the league merging with the Central Alliance to form the Midlands Regional Alliance.
Belper were placed in the Premier Division of the new league and became the first champions in 1985/86. They won the Challenge Cup in 1992/93, a second league title in 1994/95 and another Challenge Cup the following season. They were later relegated to Division One, which they won in 2004/05 to regain their Premier Division place.
Despite finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 2008/09, Belper were not relegated to Division One. In 2010 they switched to the South Division of the Central Midlands League and in 2014/15 won the Central Midlands League Floodlight Cup, beating Clay Cross Town 3-2 in the final. The club were promoted to the East Midlands Counties League after finishing as runners-up in the South Division in 2015/16.
They remained members of the league until it was disbanded at the end of the 2020/21 season and they were transferred to the United Counties League Division One. In their first season they finished third, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. They beat Radford in the semi-finals and then defeated Hinckley 1-0 in the final to earn promotion to the UCL Premier Division North.