West Men Preview | Cheadle Town (A)

Cheadle Town vs West

• Tuesday 6th October 2026
• 7:45pm kick-off
• Midland Football League Premier Division, Matchday 13
• Ground Up Solutions Stadium, SK8 2AN
• Admission, pay on the gate with card or cash, or buy in advance via TicketSource
  • £8 Adults
  • £6 Concessions (65+)
  • £2 Ages 13-16
  • £1 Ages 5-12
  • Under 5s free

A topsy-turvy league tie at Brookburn Road on Saturday ended with three more points on the board for West - but a tough test awaits at Park Road on Tuesday.

15th-placed Whitchurch Alport were our guests at the weekend, and will have headed back to Shropshire ruing two hectic second half minutes that swung the game. A 19th minute AJ Kandeke opener was cancelled out before the half hour mark, with Latiq Roberts restoring our lead just before half time. The second period was defined by a pair of quickfire doubles: first, Alport struck in the 62nd and 65th minutes to lead 3-2. With the clock ticking down, an attempted flying backheel clearance only found the back of the Whitchurch net to level the scores, and less than 60 seconds later Billy Hasler-Cregg capitalised on a spilled shot to hammer home his first West goal and win the game in front of a crowd of 1,509. You can see a photo gallery of images from the game here.

Tuesday's hosts Cheadle Town were away at Sporting Khalsa, taking the lead in the 91st minute before being pegged back in the 94th as the spoils were shared in a 2-2 draw. Like West, Town were laterally moved from the North West Counties Football League over the summer, and have had an up and down start to life in the Midland Football League, currently sitting in 9th. However, a change of divisions was perhaps the least noteworthy of the club's upheavals in the close season.

Towards the end of May, it was announced that the club had been acquired by Stott Capital Sports Investments. The move meant that the Ground Up Solutions Stadium would also become the home of Stockport County Women, and that Cheadle Town Stingers - a hugely successful team in their own right, who were playing at the fourth tier of the women's game - would immediately disband.

There was change both off and on the pitch for the men's team too. Paul Turnbull, a Stockport County legend and manager of Stockport Town FC until they folded earlier that month, was appointed player/manager, and has brought many of the players from his former club with him. Chris Rowley, a name familiar to many West fans, has joined as assistant manager in his first official role since leaving Brookburn at the end of the 2023/24 season.

Changes of name and identity are part of Cheadle Town's DNA. Starting life as Grasmere Rovers, they took on their current name in 1983. To football fans from further afield, the club is more likely to be known as AFC Manchester, a name they used as an overseas touring side to great success in the last century. The club's official history boasts of playing 96 games in 30 countries, including a game at Mexico's Azteca Stadium.

Park Road has hosted some famous names, both before and during Cheadle Town's tenure there. Having been constructed as a training ground for Manchester City in the 1950s, it was used as a training base by a Portugal squad containing Eusebio during the 1966 World Cup. In 1993, Brazilian icon Jairzinho - who won the 1970 World Cup with his nation - used the pitch to host a soccer school, and a Manchester United XI were invited to mark the installation of new floodlights in 1995.

Despite these brushes with the upper echelons of the game, it is only in recent years that the club have begun to rise up the pyramid. Former West managers Paul Marshall and Steve Yarwood earned them their first promotion to the 9th tier in 2022/23. Finishing 5th in NWCFL Division One South with a team of players that would later follow their managers to Brookburn Road, Cheadle defeated Stockport Town and Sandbach United to go up through the playoffs.

Overall, our record against Cheadle Town reads played 14, won 8, drawn 0, lost 6. In the equivalent fixture last season, a solitary Victor Abadaki goal settled it in our favour, but Town got their revenge with a 2-1 win in Chorlton.

Midweek Midland Football League fixtures

Getting to Cheadle Town

The nearest Metrolink stop is East Didsbury, with the ground a 40 minute walk from there - though jumping on the 42B bus from Parrs Wood would be a quicker option.

From Manchester, trains run from Piccadilly to Gatley on the Styal line, taking around 20 minutes, with the same service also calling at East Didsbury. The ground is roughly a 15 minute walk from Gatley station. Please check National Rail before setting off, particularly for the return journey after a midweek kick-off.

For those driving, there is very limited parking available at the ground, and this is liable to fill up long before kick off. On street parking around the ground is a more viable option, and supporters going by car are advised to turn up with time to spare in order to find a space.

Midland Football League Premier Division table, as of Sunday 4 October

Saturday's Midland Football League results