No home comfort for Carl
Asked by the Guardian earlier this week what he hoped the release of Witton Albion’s fixtures would bring, manager Carl Macauley was succinct in reply.
“A home game would be nice,” he said.
His wish has gone ungranted; for a fourth successive summer, the Northwich side will hit the road on a new season’s opening afternoon and their destination next month is Whitby.
Witton have not raised the curtain on a campaign in front of their own supporters since Alex Titchiner scored the only goal against Ossett Albion in 2015.
The importance of August
It is a ritual for by now for managers to stress the significance of starting well.
And if a club have designs on being promoted or at least making the play-offs, it is crucial not to be left behind.
On the three most recent occasions when Witton have finished inside the Premier Division’s top-five – in 2007, 2008 and 2013 – they collected at least seven points in the opening month and never lost more than once.
They have done exactly that in each of the past two seasons in the top-flight.
Who are Witton most looking forward to playing?
With the above statistic in mind, Albion could have done worse than face two teams – Whitby and Nantwich – against which they have an unblemished record since returning to the league’s top-flight.
They completed doubles over each without conceding a goal last term.
Carl Macauley’s side has also collected 10 points from four meetings with Matlock since stepping up from the First Division South in 2016.
On the flip side, a fixture list for August pits them against opponents they have struggled to beat in Mickleover Sports.
Two draws, and as many defeats – not to mention a penalty shoot-out defeat in the Integro Cup in between – is a disappointing return from games against the Derby-based club.
When are the derbies?
The two clubs closest to Northwich, both of them in Cheshire, are Nantwich and Warrington.
Meetings with those teams have been fixed on holiday dates:
Aug 26 Nantwich Town (a)
Dec 26 Warrington Town (a)
Jan 01 Nantwich Town (h)
Apr 13 Warrington Town (h)
Why might the fixture list be out of date in less than 48 hours?
Albion supporters should keep an eye on a draw for the first two rounds of qualifying in the FA Cup, scheduled to be published on Friday lunchtime.
Their side will not feature but it’s possible Radcliffe – promoted from the West Division through the play-offs – may well do.
If Boro are not exempt from the preliminary round, pencilled in for Saturday, August 24, then Witton will have an afternoon off on Bank Holiday weekend.
Their pre-season schedule may be disrupted too if AFC Liverpool, tenants at Marine, are handed a home draw in the FA Cup extra preliminary round.
Witton are due in Crosby on August 10 for a friendly which would need to be rearranged.
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