It’s never a dull week of footballing action when the Shakers are concerned.
After having to replay our previous FA Trophy tie due to player ineligibility, we now face a re-arranged fixture against Runcorn Linnets on Tuesday night. More details to follow on that one, but first, we face off against Stafford Rangers in the league.
The 45 minutes against Runcorn last weekend gave Oscar Threlkeld & Reece Kendall their Shakers debuts, Reece for the second time, also Gavin Massey’s first Shakers start and a welcome return for Aaron Chalmers from injury.
Stafford Rangers will head to Gigg Lane to face the Shakers for the first time, but they have conceded seven goals across their last two visits when they played FC United of Manchester twice across 2013 & 2014.
Words from the Gaffer
As we didn’t have a post-match interview following the Runcorn fixture, Dave McNabb has shared these short thoughts ahead of the weekend:
“I thought the first half performance was good on Saturday and felt we had the majority of the play once things settled down after conceding early.
“Never nice for a game to be abandoned but realistically the referee had no choice with the amount of standing water and more rain planned.
“We now have a mega busy schedule two two-week games for the foreseeable future with potentially more to follow. We are also battling a growing injury list with 9 players unavailable last Saturday, and Bobby picking up a knock during the game itself. We may now consider utilising some of the excellent Under-21’s players in the replayed FA Trophy game. This could be a brilliant opportunity for the young lads to showcase their abilities on a big stage as well as showing the club’s commitment to building a pathway to the first team.”
In Opposition – Stafford Rangers
Despite extensive research, no one has been able to prove when Stafford Rangers was formed, as early minute books were destroyed during the First World War.
Rangers’ formation year is recognised as 1876 because of articles in the local Advertiser newspaper, but an alternative theory on Rangers’ formation date, printed in the Sentinel newspaper during 1891, suggests that the club was founded by a Bible class in 1877.
The club has peaked at 6th in the National League on two occasions, or at that time named the Conference, in the late 1980s / early 1990s. It’s their second consecutive season at Step 4, having only spent four seasons out of the last 15 at this level, having been at the NPL Premier and Conference North levels in recent years.
On the Day & In the Ground
Our Matchday @ Gigg guide is available to read to find out everything you need to know going on in and around the ground.
Tickets are still on sale via our ticketing page on our website. Pay on the gate will also be available.
Starkies will be open at the normal time of 12.30pm for supporters to access from the Manchester Road End entrance before kick-off. This will be on a first-come, first-served basis up to capacity, which will be managed on the door. Starkies will remain open throughout the game (for those in the main stand only) as well as after the game.
Matchday Media Coverage
If you are unable to make it to the action at Gigg Lane, we’ll have all the live coverage across our media platforms.
Live Stream: Streaming details are still to be confirmed. Keep up-to-date with all our video content via the club’s YouTube Channel. Click to subscribe and never miss highlights and match reaction across the season.
Audio Commentary: Roch Valley Radio will be providing commentary for this game (UK only, due to competition broadcasting rules). Join the team from the press box at Gigg Lane. Click here ahead of kick-off to listen live. Audio commentary will be provided for every game of the season, so you will never miss a piece of the action.
Social Media: Our team will also bring you in-depth text commentary via the club ‘MatchDay Live‘ Twitter feed, with team news and half time and full time updates available also on Facebook and feel like you are there with our match galleries and imagery available over on Instagram.
Whatever the weather, wherever you are across the globe, we have you covered.
Up the Shakers!