MATCHDAY
PROGRAMME
AVRO v Shifnal Town
SATURDAY, 23RD AUGUST, KICK OFF 3.00PM
Pitching In NPL Division One West
HISTORY
CONTACT US/ GENERAL INFORMATION
CLUB PERSONNEL (under development)
MEDIA (under development)
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon and welcome to The Vestacare Stadium for what is our second home fixture of the 2025/26 Northern Premier League West Campaign. After a record attendance of 1320 at The Vestacare last time out against Bury, we’re looking forward to welcoming you once more on what is expected to be another exciting afternoon of football. With the exciting young squad that Grant Shenton has put together having a run of positive performances in recent weeks, there is an optimistic feeling about the Avro squad and what the rest of the season may bring.
We would like to extend a warm welcome to the visiting players, officials, and fans of Shifnal Town and would like to congratulate them on a successful campaign last time out which saw them earn promotion from the Midland League into The Northern Premier League. With a first visit to The Vestacare for our visitors this afternoon, we would like to welcome you to The Vestacare, and we hope you enjoy your visit. Drinks are available in the Lancaster Suite with a new and refreshed menu available just next door in The Hangar.
NOTE: As always, please be respectful of the stadium rules and staff. They are there for your safety, this includes no smoking or vaping in the ground. Avro FC maintain a zero-tolerance approach to discriminatory or dangerous behaviour and remain fully committed to ensuring all supporters can enjoy matches at The Vestacare Stadium in a safe and respectful environment.
Jamie Ross (Head of Media)
We welcome our visitors Shifnal Town today to the Vestacare Stadium for their first ever visit, and the first ever game between our two clubs. We hope you’ve had a smooth journey over to us. The Shropshire side compete for the first time ever at Step 4, having achieved promotion from the Midlands Premier Division at the end of 2024/25 season, defeating our old NWCFL and NPL West friends 1874 Northwich in the playoff final before a club record crowd:
Semi Finals Sat 19/04 Shifnal Town 3-2 Brocton (695)
Final Sat 26/04 Shifnal Town 2-0 1874 Northwich (1,067)
In the league last season Shifnal finished runners-up to the title winners Lichfield City with 78 points from 34 games, this included a magnificent 12 games won away from home, which was a record only matched by the league winners Lichfield. Town also had the best defensive record in the division, conceding a mere 27 goals in those 34 matches, and at home amazingly only 9 goals were let in across the 17 home league games. Town have already exited the Emirates FA Cup at the Extra Preliminary stage, being defeated at home 0-1 by Step 5 Coventry United from the United Counties League. Their start to NPL life is far from easy as well, with opening fixtures at home to perennial play-off hopefuls Clitheroe, and then away to Chasetown, which is always a difficult place to visit as we found last season. Hopes will be high from all at Town though as like us, they look to make their mark at Step 4. Shifnal Town FC traces its roots to 1964, when it was founded as St Andrew’s Youth Club FC at Idsall School. The name changed to Shifnal Juniors in 1968, the same year they entered the Shropshire County League after backtoback runner-up finishes in the Wellington & District League. In 1972 the club adopted the name Shifnal Town, and by 1976 they’d secured the County League title and election to the West Midlands (Regional) League. In 2021, based on their results in the disrupted 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, they were promoted to the Midland League Premier Division (Step 5) where they remained until gaining promotion last season via the playoffs.
Written by Mark Hutton (First Team Secretary)
Our visitors this afternoon sit 5th after two victories and two defeats in their opening four league fixtures, with three of these results ending 1-0. Apart from their convincing 3-0 win over Stafford Rangers, the other three fixtures have proved to be close contests.
The surprise package so far in the NPL West is Lower Breck. After a thrilling battle with Bury last season which saw Breck earn 106 points and score 122 goals, they had to settle for a place in the play-offs. They didn’t let this ruin their momentum and secured promotion to the NPL West after a 2-0 win against Padiham. They have adjusted well to life in the league and currently sit top after 3 wins out of 3. The standout result being an emphatic 5-2 away victory against Atherton Collieries which showed the league that they’re here to compete in their first season at this level.
The fancied favourites of Stalybridge Celtic, Bury and Runcorn Linnets have all made steady starts with 4 points each from their opening two league fixtures while last season’s play-off finalists, Congleton Town, have had a disappointing start with just a point from their opening three league fixtures.
It promises to be another exciting afternoon of football and hopefully one that The Ro will benefit from come the standings at the end of the day.
