WEEKEND PREVIEW: LEAGUE TWO GETS UNDERWAY

After a long summer of preparation, squad building and pre-season football, the talking finally stops this weekend as the 2026/27 Cheshire Football League Two campaign gets underway.

Eleven clubs will compete in League Two this season, with the opening Saturday bringing five league fixtures and an early opportunity for every side involved to put the first points on the board.

For Mersey Valley, the new campaign begins on the road with a trip to Warrington Rylands Development as Jon Hudson’s rebuilt squad gets its first competitive test.

A New League Two Season

With every team beginning their campaigns this weekend, there is inevitably an element of the unknown surrounding the opening day.

The division features a mixture of reserve and development teams alongside established open-age sides, while the opening weeks should begin to provide a much clearer indication of the early contenders.

Mersey Valley head into the season following a summer of significant change.

After a difficult 2025/26 campaign, Hudson and his staff have reshaped the squad while retaining an important core from previous seasons. A lengthy pre-season has been used not only to integrate the new arrivals but also to introduce a clearer playing identity and higher standards throughout the group.

There have been encouraging performances, difficult moments and plenty of lessons along the way, but a 7-1 victory in the final pre-season fixture provided a positive conclusion to the summer.

Now the competitive football begins.

Valley travel to Cardinal Newman Catholic High School for a 2pm kick-off and a first competitive examination for the new-look squad.

We spoke to manager Jon Hudson ahead of the opening game of the season.

The season finally starts tomorrow. After such a long pre-season, how are you feeling?

Excited more than anything. It feels like we have been preparing for this weekend for a very long time.

Last season was difficult and I think everybody involved with the team understands that. We knew we couldn’t just turn up again this season and expect things to be different. We needed to change things, improve the squad and improve our standards.

We’ve done a lot of work, but ultimately none of that earns you a single league point. Saturday is where the real test starts.

How satisfied are you with where the squad is going into the opening weekend?

We’re in a much better place.

I don’t think we’re the finished article and I wouldn’t want anybody thinking that because we won our final pre-season game comfortably everything is suddenly perfect. It isn’t.

What we do have now is competition. We’ve got players who understand what we’re asking from them and we’ve got a group that I think wants to push each other.

There will be setbacks during the season. The important thing is how we respond to them.

Warrington Rylands away is a difficult place to begin?

Definitely. We’ve not had particularly good experiences going there over the last couple of seasons, so nobody is underestimating the challenge.

They’re a young side and that always creates a degree of uncertainty because you don’t necessarily know exactly what personnel you’re going to face.But ultimately the focus has to be on us.

We need to compete properly from the first whistle, trust what we’ve worked on and make sure our standards don’t drop regardless of how the game develops.

After everything that happened last season, does tomorrow feel significant?

Yes, but it’s also only game one.

I’ve been very open about how disappointed with myself and the team last season. I was determined that we weren’t going to simply accept it and carry on.

We’ve made changes. We’ve worked incredibly hard over the summer and I believe we’ve got a squad capable of having a really positive season. But we haven’t achieved anything yet.

Tomorrow is the first opportunity to show that the work we’ve done has moved us forward. That’s what I’m looking forward to seeing.

Opening Weekend Fixtures

Saturday 5 September 2026

Cheadle Heath Nomads Reserves v Haydock | 2:00pm
Upton v Moore United | 2:00pm
Warrington Rylands Development v Mersey Valley | 2:00pm
Pilkington v Wythenshawe | 3:00pm
Barnton Reserves v Congleton Town Reserves | 4:15pm

Maine Road Reserves are without a league fixture this weekend and are instead in Manchester FA Saturday Challenge Trophy action.

For Mersey Valley, the destination is Warrington.

The preparation is finished.

The 2026/27 season starts here.