CHESHIRE LEAGUE ONE – PREVIEW

The new season gets underway this weekend, and it promises to be a very interesting League One campaign with seven teams leading the way as favourites to claim the two promotion spots to the Cheshire Premier League.

BILLINGE

A mixed bag last season, 11 wins and 14 defeats saw them finish in 10th place, but never in any danger of relegation.

A great run early season with 9 wins in their first 15 games saw them in the top 5 and looking good for a promotion challenge, the run included 5 straight wins before a disastrous second half of the season with just 2 wins in the final 15 league games.

If they can rediscover that early-season formula, they will be a difficult team to beat next season, and it looks like it’s been a busy summer off the field for the club.

CHEADLE HEATH NOMADS RESERVES

After a good summer building a new team, it was a great start for the young Nomads who sat in second place early season after 4 wins in their opening 6 games, but back-to-back home thrashings 8-4 by Egerton and 9-3 by FC St Helens Reserves knocked the stuffing out of them and they never recovered.

With a new manager having to deal with the departure of former Mersey Valley players Charlesworth, Topping and Tinsley, it has been a difficult pre-season, but the club have got a very strong youth programme and will be up for the challenges next season.

CLAY BROW

Only their second season as a Cheshire League club, and they followed up promotion from League 2 with a solid season and a 7th place finish.

Will be hoping for another big season from striker Samuel Dahl, who hit 15 league goals last season.

An ambitious club with a very good junior and youth section will be another side with ambition to progress into the Counties.

CONGLETON TOWN RESERVES

Another Reserve team with a very successful 1st Team, who play in the Northern Premier League. The Reserves struggled at times last season and ended in 11th place, just 8 points clear of the bottom two, so the club will be looking for a much stronger campaign this season.

Much stronger at home, winning 8 compared to only 1 win away from home all season. They used an incredible 55 players last season searching for the right formula.

DATEN

Made a great start to the campaign and looked good for a return to the Premier League, but faded and finished in 6th place.

A good cup run to the semi-finals of the JA Walton before a surprise defeat to League 2 Lymm Rovers capped a disappointing second half of the season.

They’ll be looking to star striker Krystian Staniszewski, who scored 26 goals in 25 games last time out. No one won more home games last season either, so they’ll be a tough team to beat again this time around.

EGERTON

Rumours of a huge investment and a strong playing squad make Egerton one of the clear favourites next season after a 5th place finish last year.

Golden boot winner James Simms, who hit 28 goals in 22 games, was the key man to their season last year. They drew too many games last season against the teams struggling down the table.

Have some experienced players in their squad and will be a tough team to beat if they can find that consistency.

KNUTSFORD

Possibly pre-season favourites after two near-miss campaigns to return to the Premier League.

Three Defeats to Wythenshawe Reserves, FC St Helens Reserves and Bollington Town in their final three games last season cost them promotion, and they’ll be determined to put that right in 2025/2026.

A new committee running the club they are in a strong position, and if they can find a consistent goalscorer, last year’s top marksman was Greg Mathers with 9, they will be a difficult team to beat.

SANDBACH UNITED RESERVES

Another team within a strong football club and a team that looks to develop players for their first through the Reserves.

A mid-table finish after a slow start, but they finished the season in style, winning their final 4 games and only conceding two goals.

Four players hit double figures, and they had no problem scoring goals, so they will be hopeful they can continue their end-of-season form into the new campaign.

Lewis Baker will be their key player after an impressive 16 goals and 17 assists last season.

ST HELENS TOWN

Promoted as Champions from League 2 with only one league defeat all season, many are backing them to repeat this with back-to-back promotions.

Arguably the biggest club in the Cheshire League, they have a fantastic set-up and have a return to the Counties firmly on their agenda.

The performances of their key trio – Liam Diggle, Marc Gibson and Charlie Simpson will be key. When they perform, they normally win games!

A very strong pre-season with victories over Premier League teams will give them confidence ahead of a mouth-watering opener against Egerton.

STRETFORD PADDOCK

For Paddock, read as above – a huge club with huge potential who will be confident of back-to-back promotion after finally getting out of League 2.

Home form is huge, they turned Hyde United’s ground into a real fortress, only losing one game all season – the highlight was an incredible victory over Lymm Rovers, beating them 9-2.

Another club with an excellent youth set up, they regularly played 16-year-olds in their team last season, and if they can start well, then another strong season could well follow.

STYAL

It was a very difficult season for Styal, a management change early season through all their plans out of the window, and they really struggled to put together a strong run of form.

It was a late-season surge that saw them pull away from the relegation zone, crucial away wins at Sandbach United Reserves and Wythenshawe Reserves were enough to move them clear of Malpas.

They’ll be hoping to keep key players Rob Black, Joe Knight and Alex Jackson at the club, playing on one of the best playing surfaces in the Cheshire League.

UPTON

Another team that struggled for consistency last season, and they relied on home form after only winning two league games on the road all season.

Over 60 players were used during the season only one player scored more than 4 goals all season!

A good pre-season will give them confidence for a better season, backed up by a good development and junior section, another side that needs a good start.

WINSFORD TOWN

Missed out on promotion by 2 points after a brilliant first season following their promotion from Cheshire League 2 in 2023/2024.

Their last league defeat was in November 2024 when they lost to eventual champions Bollington Town, a run that is now 15 games. It was drawn games that cost them, but they will be determined to make the step up this season.

A strong squad with a mix of experienced players and exciting young prospects, if they can continue their fine league form, they will be another team pushing for a successful campaign.

WINSTANLEY WARRIORS

Not a situation Winstanley thought they would find themselves in, and they’ll be hoping for an immediate return to the Premier League.

A hugely ambitious club with a great set up with plans for Counties football eventually to arrive at Little Lane, so the new season will be a big test for the club.

A new manager and an exciting young squad have been put together, but in such a tough division could be a difficult first season back in League 1.

WYTHENSHAWE RESERVES

Another team that can feed into a very strong, successful first team, but have struggled for consistency over the last few years. Last year, they had an encouraging campaign, finishing 8th, with the same wins as defeats.

Scoring goals wasn’t a problem with 64 scored; however, 67 conceded was the reason they couldn’t push higher up the table.

A managerial change in the summer has caused a few problems, but with a strong youth structure at the club, they will be hoping for another strong season.

PREDICTION 2025/26

We asked manager Jon Hudson for his predicted top 5 ahead of the new season.

“It’s very difficult as until you’ve seen that first month you have no real idea of how teams have recruited but based on the summer, the rumours I’ve finally picked my 5!”

St Helens Town
Winsford Town
Egerton
Knutsford
Stretford Paddock

“As for us, I never make predictions or set targets this early, we take each game as it comes and when we have a clear picture of the league we will set our own targets. I know how hard this league is going to be and I’m looking forward to the challenge”.