1874 NORTHWICH have the chance to make history on Saturday – and they have had to wait a while for it.

Since its inception in 1982, no team has ever successfully defended the North West Counties League’s Macron Cup.

Should they beat Runcorn Town in the twice-delayed 2019-20 final this weekend, Greens will be the first to do just that.

It appeared for a while as though they would not get the chance to go back-to-back in the competition they won so memorably back in 2019.

Aaron Smith’s winner against City of Liverpool will forever be etched in the memory for 1874 fans, and the team are keen to give them something more to celebrate on Saturday.

“It’s good it’s being played. We are and have always been keen to play it,” co-manager Wayne Goodison said.

“When it was first postponed and the league asked us for our opinion, we said we were happy to play it as and when we could.

It will be nice for us to play again in a competition we enjoyed playing in. We did well to win it and if we can defend it, that’s great.

“Whenever you’re in a cup final, you always want to win it.

“To get back to the final was a massive achievement – winning it the year before was a massive catalyst to set us up for that fantastic season we had.

“Nobody has ever retained it so it’s a really good incentive for us, but we’re under no illusions that Runcorn will want to win it as much as we do.”

All involved with 1874 will hope this serves as a glorious goodbye to the North West Counties League having been moved upwards into the Northern Premier League as part of the National League System restructure.

As a result, they are in the middle of preparations for their league season, which does not kick off until August 14.

On the other hand, Runcorn are primed and ready for competitive football having started their pre-season earlier to account for the NWCFL campaign kicking off on July 31.

They will also have the advantage of the game being played at their Viridor Community Stadium home ground.

“In pre-season last year, we had the FA Cup game in the middle then we went back to friendlies for a bit,” Goodison said.

“At least this year we know that we have this game, then only two more friendlies until the league starts.

“The advantage for them is being at home – there’s no real upheaval for them on the day.

“They start their league season next week, so they’re probably at the point we’re aiming to be at in a couple of weeks in terms of being ready for the season.

“They will have the edge on fitness because they have been back that little bit longer.

“Win, lose or draw, it will give us a good indication of how far we’ve got to go.

“With three weeks to go until the league starts, it gives us a chance to brush up on a few things.”