West Men Preview | Prestwich Heys (H)

West Men vs Prestwich Heys

• Saturday 31st October 2026
• 3pm kick-off
• FA Vase, Second Round
• Brookburn Road, M21 8DP for parking - note there is no parking at Brookburn Road or the nearby Chorltonville Estate, see our Matchday page for further detail.
• Admission, pay on the gate
  • £8 Adults
  • £6 Concessions (16-17, over 60s)
  • £2 Under 16s (ages 5-15)

The FA Vase is back on Saturday - our 350th game at Brookburn Road - as we make our entry into this year's competition following the postponement of our Midland League Cup tie in midweek.

Our 2nd Round opponents are Prestwich Heys, familiar foes from the last four North West Counties Football League (NWCFL) seasons, before our lateral move to the Midland Football League. They currently sit midtable in the NWCFL, having finished two places above us in seventh last season.

Our two games last season brought one win each: a 2-1 defeat at Adie Moran Park in September, decided by a stoppage time penalty, and a 5-2 win at Brookburn Road in April in front of 1,174. Heys reached the third round of last season's Vase, beating Maltby Main 8-1 and Irlam on penalties before losing at Winsford United. That run earned them a place in this year's first round, where they came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Charnock Richard. Bryson Appleton, who scored against us in April, levelled in the 84th minute and Nicholas Dre Taylor got the winner five minutes later.

We went further last season, reaching the quarter final with wins over Brigg Town, Rossington Main, Nelson and Winsford United, before a 6-5 penalty shootout defeat at Hallen, which proved to be Paul Marshall's final game as manager before he resigned. It also matched our previous best in the competition, in 2022/23, when we went out at the quarter final stage to eventual winners Ascot United, after a penalty shootout at Brookburn Road.

Prestwich Heys began life in 1938 as Heys Old Boys, a team of former pupils of a school on Heys Road, and took their current name in 1964. The Heys of the late 1960s were a strong team: they reached the quarter finals of the FA Amateur Cup in 1969/70, losing to Enfield, and won the Lancashire Combination the following year.

After spells in the Cheshire County League and as founder members of the North West Counties League, they moved into the Manchester League in 1986, where they went on to win the Premier Division four times, three of them in a row from 2004/05. They returned to the North West Counties League in 2016, reached its Premier Division in 2021 and made the third round of the Vase that same season, going out 7-1 to Harborough Town.

Prestwich Heys' best-known supporter was Mark E Smith, frontman of The Fall. Heys were his local non league side, and in 2000 he told When Saturday Comes magazine about going to see them in an Amateur Cup tie against Sutton United. He was so pleased with one of the goals that he ran onto the pitch to celebrate, and was promptly arrested by a neighbour who happened to be a part time policeman.

This weekend's FA Vase and Midland Football League Premier Division fixtures

Travelling to Brookburn Road

We strongly recommend that, where possible, visitors walk, cycle or use public transport when travelling to our stadium.

Car parking at the stadium itself is strictly restricted to players and officials. If you're a supporter and you require a parking space for accessibility reasons, please contact ollie@wdcfc.co.uk.

If you are driving to the match, please use our car park at Hardy Farm M21 8DP or alternatively the car park opposite the Bowling Green pub M21 9ES.

Please note that there is NO PARKING allowed in the Chorltonville area adjacent to the ground, which is private.

For further details of how to get to Brookburn Road, please head to the MATCHDAY page.