2025/26 Preview - The Opposition: Part Two

 

The second part of our National League North seasonal preview mostly comprises places you wouldn't necessarily describe as being archetypally northern... 

Kidderminster Harriers

Adam Murray takes over as Harriers’ new manager. He arrived in the summer from Eastbourne Borough having guided the club to third place in the National League South last season, falling just short of promotion, so he and his new club have something in common.

There’s no suggestion that the Aggborough money tap is being turned off despite them facing another season at step 6, so as a full-time side they should be in the mix again. Given the players they sign, it’s no surprise that they’re haemorrhaging £200k a season, and it’s to be hoped that whoever’s underwriting that doesn’t get bored and walk away as they’re a proper and respected club, with a fanbase and history that fellow financial sustainability-deniers Buxton lack.

An aggregate score of 8-1 in their favour last season in the two matches against Hereford was, depressingly, about right. It would be good to give them a game at least this time.

The goalkeeper is an irritant in terms of his ‘look at me’ timewasting which he takes to ludicrous extremes. Will refs give early yellows for that sort of thing this season? Here's hoping. It's probably fair to say that his timewasting in those games last season merely kept the score down anyway so he may well have done us a favour.

They’ve signed a number of players from higher levels for this season far out of the financial reach of sustainably-run Hereford, with the Bullls generating more income through the turnstiles than their Worcestershire neighbours, so the games will be tough again, but scrapping them out as underdogs and getting something from them would be hugely rewarding, even if the ‘underdog’ tag is a bit depressing, for fans who remember the HUFC days at least.

Kings Lynn Town

It all seems a bit messy at the moment in terms of the ownership of the Linnets, with Stephen Cleeve and his Singaporean co-owners figuring out how to marry glamorous full-time multi-promotion ambition with the inconvenient reality that unfortunately they own Kings Lynn Town, which must be like trying to ride a bike to F1 success.

New manager James Rowe comes in as a proven results man, if not perhaps a proven likeable man, with capable and quite likeable Adam Lakeland leaving in the aftermath of the budget being hacked to bits.

As a result, they’ve lost good players such as Josh Hmami and Fin Barnes, and brought in replacements who, on paper at least, look inferior to the players Radcliffe, for example, have brought in. Michael Clunan’s return from Scunthorpe and Jack Lambert’s arrival from Chester look like good signings though.

Leamington

You know what you’re going to get with Leamington, but that doesn’t make it any more palatable. After big-time charlies Shrewsbury swooped for star striker Cally Stewart last season they really struggled, and goals could be a problem again this season, as could survival, but they do love a 0-0, especially one that’s peppered with random acts of off-the-ball brutality and falling over a lot like they’ve had huge multi-organ explosions, before recovering miraculously from those explosions having gained a free kick from a bafflingly gullible referee and taken a minute or two off the 90. Well done them…admirable, they must sleep well at night.

Macclesfield

Macc won the Northern Premier at a canter last season, galloping home before Easter. OK, mixing my horse metaphors here…they walked it anyway.

They’ve walked, cantered and galloped their way through the pub leagues over the last few seasons in a way that will be familiar to Bulls fans, but as is also familiar to Bulls fans the NLN is the acid test for a club looking to prove itself capable of hurtling right back up to the heady and glamorous heights of playing Harrogate or Cheltenham, and even non-posh places like Salford, in the Football League. If those three clubs positively drip glamour and Football League heritage to you, you’re a/ younger than me, and b/ probably delusional, both of which have a lot to recommend them.

They’ll either go very well or screech to a halt. The NLN tends to inflict the latter on the unprepared.

Marine

Brilliant season last time from Marine. They took a while to acclimatise and looked way off it at Edgar Street last season in terms of quality (not much) and naivity (loads), but quickly turned things around and finished 19 points clear of the drop in losing just two of their last ten games. Something to build on, using Peterborough Sports and Curzon Ashton perhaps as examples of smaller clubs perfectly entitled to punch above their weight in tier 6 if they’re run well.

Bobby Grant has been appointed as manager, yet another new one in the NLN. Last season he played for Marine and was captain when Hereford played there in March.

 

Merthyr Town

Fascinating new local derby at this level for the Bulls, against a side far more up against it geographically than fellow-promotees Bedford. They’ve got 40-odd miles to find before even starting to be as isolated as Hereford are in NLN terms. Maybe they’ll train in Birmingham. Maybe they’ll train in Hereford.

They’d typically consider South Wales and Bristol as their recruiting catchment area, but players from those parts wouldn’t find Tuesday night in Spennymoor in January particularly inviting, so I’m not sure where that leaves them in terms of recruitment.

One player who is up for the travel is dangerman Ricardo Rees. With 33 goals last season at a level lower, the Martyrs have done well to keep hold of him. Lewis Twamley returns to the club after a brief spell with Yeovil. Prior to that he’d scored 15 goals in 21 games for the Welsh side, so he and Rees could pack a bit of a punch up front.

 

Oxford City

Oxford took a while to adapt to the rigours of the National League North last season, both on the pitch and off it given the travel involved as a southern club in a northern league. However, like Marine they rallied, adapted and ultimately comfortably avoided back-to-back relegations. To do more than survive this time they’ve got a lot more work to do though, having finished 23 points behind tenth-placed Hereford. That was despite winning 2-0 at Edgar Street in a match that saw Alex Babos sent off in the first half. Zac McEachran is described by the club as ‘near unplayable on his day’. That may be pushing it a bit, but he’s certainly a danger for them, and has played almost 350 games in the City hoops.

Peterborough Sports

Tiny club now thoroughly established at this level. As Matt Rhead used to be with Alfreton, co-manager Michael Gash is something of a club talisman. He was absolutely superb at Edgar Street last season in marshalling the defence and masterminding a draw - dropped points among others at home that ultimately cost the Bulls a comfortable play-off place. He’s now approaching 40 and as his powers inevitably wane it’s tempting to hope that the rigid and efficient defensive organisation he brought to the home of football last season will wane with them.

Unless I’m missing something they seem to have done very little business over the summer in terms of player arrivals, so they’re presumably relying on continuity and the togetherness of the squad, which is no surprise as it’s an approach that’s served them very well in their NLN tenure to date. 

The final part of this preview will follow tomorrow, and will actually feature some true northerners.