Saturday's Opponents: St Helens Town

The second chapter of Cup Month arrives in the form of a visit from Division One's St Helens Town on Saturday in the 1st Qualifying Round of the FA Vase.

I so want to avoid using a pedestrian statement like "not to be confused with the town's rugby league team" but it's hard not to, considering how both round and oval-shaped balls are kicked on the same pitch - Knowsley Road.

They were founded in 1903 where they joined the Lancashire Combination League as founder members of Division Two. They left this league in 1914 and were re-formed by local businessman George Fryer in 1946. Like Cheadle, they were one of the founder members of the NWCFL and, get this, can proudly boast that they are the only club to have remained in Div 1 for the entire history of the league.

We are privileged to play St Helens Town in the FA Vase as they are one of the very few NWCFL teams to have actually won it! Their moment of glory came in the 1986-87 season when they defeated local rivals Warrington Town 3-2 at Wembley Stadium...and that was after starting at the Extra-Preliminary Round stage; St Helens played 11 games in total to get to the final! No mean feat.

Oh, and legendary Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann started his career at St Helens Town!

Away from the history, I think it would be fair to say Cheadle have got another chance of cup progress tomorrow, being on home ground and all that...plus St Helens haven't made the best of starts in Div 1 (but to be fair to them they've only played three matches).

Come on Cheadle!