This will be the club’s 14th season at Step 3, having been promoted on 1st May 2012. Nearly 500 people were at Victory Road that night to see Mark Morsley's side beat Potters Bar Town 6-0. A Leon Ottley-Gooch hat-trick (netted in just eight second half minutes), two Joe Jefford goals and a Danny Smy header helped the Blues beat Enfield Town to the title by one point. Leiston finished the season with 91 points.

STAT ATTACK
The Blues end of season finishes in the last 13 seasons at Step 3;

2012/2013: 12th
2013/2014: 9th
2014/2015: 9th
2015/2016: 8th
2016/2017: 7th
2017/2018: 6th
2018/2019: 19th
2019/2020: 19th (before the COVID-19 Lockdown)
2020/2021: 21st (before the second COVID-19 Lockdown)
2021/2022: 7th
2022/2023: 3rd
2023/2024: 13th
2024/2025: 10th

SQUAD NEWS

ADAM Mills will make his 100th club appearance for the Blues against Halesowen. Seb Dunbar and Ben Fowkes sat out training in the week but are expected to be fit for the match.

Meanwhile, new signing Kyle Callan-McFadden will be included in the first matchday squad of the season. Kyle has played for King’s Lynn Town for the last five seasons, playing in the National League and National League North respectively.

THE OPPOSITION

HALESOWEN TOWN have a rich history and won the FA Vase twice in the 1980s. Formed in the 1870s, the West Midlands club lost in last season’s play-off semi-final against AFC Telford United.

They play at the Grove Recreational Ground and averaged crowds of more than 1,000 spectators last season. Nicknamed ‘The Yeltz’, they are managed by Russell Penn.

The sides first met in Suffolk in 2018, with Leiston winning 4-0 thanks to goals from Jake Reed, Byron Lawrence, Matt Blake and Christy Finch. They didn’t meet again at Leiston until February 2024. The Blues won 2-1 that night before last season in April 2025, Halesowen won 3-0 to end all hopes of a play-off place for Chris Wigger’s men.

COMING UP FOR THE BLUES

CHRIS Wigger’s team will head to Kettering Town on Tuesday night before visiting Oxfordshire next weekend to face Banbury United.

The following Saturday, Leiston host Redditch United (Saturday 23rd August) before heading to Bloomfields to play Needham Market on Bank Holiday Monday (25th August).

The team will play in the First Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup on the final Saturday of the month (30th August), with the draw set to take place on Monday 18th August at FA Headquarters.

MATCH INFORMATION
Leiston v Halesowen Town
Pitching In Southern League Central Premier
3pm kick off
Watson & Hillhouse Stadium, Victory Road, LTAA, Suffolk, IP16 4DQ
Tel: 01728 830308

ADMISSION PRICES: Adults £13, Concessions £10, Students (with ID) £8, Under 16’s £3, U5’s Free of charge
PRINTED MATCHDAY PROGRAMME: £2.50 available on the turnstiles and in the ground
FACILITIES: Hot and cold food available, Club Shop, licensed bar, covered seating, free parking

MATCH SPONSOR: - GODBOLD PROPERTIES

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