Blyth Spartans v Brighouse Town | Saturday, 8 November 2025 - 15:00 | League

The Hosts:

Blyth Spartans return to Croft Park this weekend aiming to build on a positive result on the road against play-off hopefuls, North Ferriby. Spartans, under new management, then caretaker, now permanent Manager Marc Nash, put in a battling performance, had Ferriby on the ropes during the second half. Spartans look to turn performances into results come Saturday. With confidence building and belief growing among the squad, Blyth will look to make Croft Park a fortress once again as they look to climb up the table.

The Opposition:

Brighouse Town make the long trip north hoping to continue their impressive form. The West Yorkshire outfit have been a solid presence in the Northern Premier League East Division in recent years, making themselves a difficult team to beat, especially in recent weeks.

Brighouse boast a blend of youthful enthusiasm and experienced heads. Their resilience and togetherness often make them difficult to break down, particularly in tight games. Despite Town's league position, they remain a side capable of causing problems for any opponent when given space to play.

What's at stake:

With both teams eager to gather consistency heading into the winter months, this clash carries real significance. For Blyth, it's an opportunity to kick-start their campaign under new management and climb out the relegation places. Brighouse, meanwhile, will see this fixture as a chance to extend their unbeaten streak in the league to six and take points off a side with the new manager bounce.

From Factory Team to Northern Premier League Mainstay:

Formed in 1963 as a representative side of the Blakeborough Valve Company, Brighouse Town AFC began in the Huddersfield Works League, playing at Woodhouse Recreation Ground. Early honours included the League Cup and Halifax District Cup in 1968/69.

A move to Green Lane, Hove Edge, brought further success before stepping up to the West Riding County Amateur League in 1975. After relocating to St Giles Road, their current home, the club thrived under a new identity following the Blakeborough Company's closure, enjoying a golden spell between 1989-1996 with multiple league and cup triumphs.

The leap to semi-professional football came in 2008-09 via the Northern Counties East League, and by 2013/14, under Paul Quinn, Brighouse were crowned NCEL Premier Division champions, earning promotion to the Northern Premier League, the highest level in the club's history.

Since then, the club has cemented itself at NPL level, producing talents such as Sam Reed (Sheffield Wednesday) and achieving consistent stability. After a challenging 2024/25 campaign, Grant Black and Mick Norbury's side retained their league status for a 12th straight season.

From factory fields to national non-league competition, Brighouse Town's story is one of resilience, progress, and Yorkshire pride.

One to watch, Youseff Chentouf:

Chentouf comes into this weekend's clash in red-hot form. Fresh from netting the winner against Pontefract Collieries, the lively attacker has scored three goals in his last four outings and will be eager to extend that run on Saturday.

A technically sharp and composed finisher, Chentouf is no stranger to finding the net at this level. Before joining Brighouse, he spent time in the Wigan Athletic academy setup, where he honed his movement and link-up play, before spells with Slough, Hendon and Royston Town.

His blend of pace, close control, and eye for goal makes him a constant threat in and around the box and someone the Spartans defence will need to keep a close eye on this weekend.

Team News

As you may have seen, there has been a couple strong additions to the squad today. Experienced goalscorer Michael Fowler and academy graduate Rio Joisce. Keep your eyes peeled, there may be one extra at 6pm.

Media Coverage

You can follow all of the action on Saturday afternoon via our social media platforms and BlythLive on Mixlr from 2:50 pm.

The new addition of 'The Spartan' will be available around the ground tomorrow afternoon.

Featuring: A word from Supporters Trust Chairman, Dan Rolls.

Remembering fallen Spartans

A chat with Viz co-creator, Graeme Dury.

Supporter Information:

The Spartans Clubhouse will be open from 12pm - offering a wide range of very fairly priced alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks.

Our new catering container 'Shield and Skillet' will also be serving food well before kick off, with their updated menu on offer.

The club store will also be open for 1:30pm, where you can still pick up a new home or away shirt, pre-order one of the new replica re-launched Viz shirts and check out everything else on offer.