North Ferriby v Blyth Spartans | Saturday, 6 September 2025 - 15:00 | League

Date: Saturday, 6 September 2025

Stadium: Versa Sportswear Stadium

Time: 3:00pm KO

Ticket Prices: Adult: £9, Concession: £7 & U18s: £2

Blyth Spartans kick off their FA Trophy campaign with a trip to fellow Northern Premier League East side North Ferriby FC.

The Spartans can head into this match with confidence after picking up their first away win and clean sheet of the season last weekend away to Garforth Town.

Colin Myers' side will be hoping they can have a good cup run in this competition after being knocked out of the FA Cup in the preliminary round earlier this season.

The Opposition: North Ferriby FC

The Villagers have a long-standing history which dates all the way back to their first records of competitive matches being played in 1919 as North Ferriby AFC. The club was renamed in 1934 as North Ferriby United, placing second in the East Riding Church League Division One in their first ever league season and also won the League Cup in their inaugural season.

North Ferriby are previous winners of this competition; their triumph came in the 2014/15 season against the now EFL Championship side Wrexham AFC after coming back from two goals down, taking the match to extra time and claiming victory on penalties.

The Villagers also gained promotion to the National League the next season with a 2-1 victory over AFC Fylde in the play-off final, a journey which had seen them start from the lowest level of non-league football and eventually reach step one of the non-league pyramid.

After their promotion, problems started to occur for The Villagers, especially financially. The club was relegated in back-to-back seasons, and just as their third consecutive relegation was set to be confirmed, the club had its season expunged, after going into administration and being renamed North Ferriby FC in April 2019. They have now restarted their journey through the non-league football pyramid.

One to Watch

I believe the player Spartans have to watch out for this weekend is The Villagers' number one, Ben Bottomley.

The Villagers have kept three clean sheets in their last four matches, and a big part of that is the man between the sticks.

North Ferriby will be looking to make it back-to-back clean sheets this season for the second time and get off to a good start in their FA Trophy campaign.

From the Dugout

The man in charge of The Villagers is Chris Bolder, the former player for North Ferriby United took over as manager originally in the 2017/18 season before having spells as assistant manager at Scarborough Athletic and Matlock Town and returning to North Ferriby in 2019.

Since being in charge, Bolder has taken The Villagers to the East Riding Senior Cup final twice, one of which was unplayed due to Covid-19, and finishing as runners-up most recently in 2023/24.

The Villagers will be looking to repeat their success in this competition from 2014/15, as well as building on their league season from last campaign, where they finished just outside the play-offs.

What has been said?

Colin Myers spoke after the victory against Garforth Town.

Here's what he had to say: