A hero's welcome awaits as boss comes marching home

RUNCORN LINNETS v Chasetown

Pitching In Northern Premier League West Division

Tuesday, January 6th 2026 (ko 7.45pm)

APEC Taxis Stadium, Stockham Lane, Murdishaw, Runcorn, WA7 6GJ.

Match Preview

A new era dawns at APEC Taxus Stadium as Michael Ellison's second stint as Runcorn Linnets manager gets underway with the visit of Chasetown.

It will be like turning back the clock in more ways than one - this was the fixture, which saw our Northern Premier League West fixture under Ello back in August 2018.

But it's to the future that we now look with our NWCL title-winning manager, after the unexpected events of New Year - a 5-0 home defeat by Witton Albion and the bombshell resignations of manager Brad Cooke and assistant Rob Sadler.

Linnets fans will turn out in force to give Ello a hero's welcome on his homecoming to APEC Taxis Stadium, where he has already spent nine years as a player, captain and boss.

Despite our last result, the team is in a healthy position just outside the play-offs.

History tells us that we are in for an exciting ride as Ello looks to work his magic again after his earlier, well-documented Linnets exploits and, of course, winning the NPL West title with Widnes last season.

The sense of deja vu will only be heightened by the fact that Chasetown have already been here this season - for a game in November, which was postponed just before kick-off as a freak cloudburst left the pitch flooded.

Although beaten 2-1 on that inaugural visit in 2018, Chasetown have an good recent record on our ground.

They have won both subsequent matches at Murdishaw while curiously, we have triumphed on all three trips to their Scholars Ground.

We are in the lap of the Gods again when it comes to the weather.

Hopefully, it won't scupper us again as we target a return to the top five.

Victory in one of just two Tuesday night fixtures in the division would take us back above Vauxhall Motors and Shifnal into fourth spot.

Linking past and present

Peter Wylie is the sole survivor of our original West Division squad, which defeated Chasetown in our inaugural NPL West fixture on Tuesday, August 21st 2018.

After making his debut that night, Peter is on 239 Runcorn career appearances - ranking him third in  all-time list behind Matt Atherton (313) and Kyle Hamid (261) - Ello being joint fourth with Mark Houghton on 212.

Murdishaw meetings

Tuesday, August 21st 2018

NPL West Division

RUNCORN LINNETS 2

Kurt Sherlock, Kris Holt

Chasetown 1

Jack Langston

Linnets line-up: Dylan Forth, Louis Corrigan, Aaron Morris, Peter Wylie, Michael Simpson, Ronnie McCarthy, Kristian Holt, Kyle Hamid, Freddie Potter, Paul Shanley, Kurt Sherlock. Subs: Kieran Nolan, Adam Gilchrist. Not used: Niall Watson, Jimmy Moore, Danny O'Brien.

Attendance: 373.

Saturday, August 12th 2023

NPL West Division

RUNCORN LINNETS 1

Levi Chiduku (68)

Chasetown 2

Jack Langston (48)

Luke Yates (50)

Linnets line-up: Bayleigh Passant, Harry Hagan, Peter Wyllie, Jacques Welsh, Sean O'Mahony, Antony Kay, Will Saxon, Joe Lynch, Ryan Brooke, Lewis Doyle, Eden Gumbs. Subs: Alex Perry, Kenny Brown, Levi Chiduku. Not used: James Short.

Attendance: 613

Saturday, November 2nd 2024

RUNCORN LINNETS 2

Naim Arsan, pen (37), Will Saxon (60)

Chasetown 3

Joe Dunne (48), Lewi Burnside (50), Kieran Fenton (77)

Linnets line-up: Bayleigh Passant, Sam Barratt, James Short,, Lewis Doyle, Peter Wylie, Harvey Washington, Will Saxon, Jacqus Welsh, Jaden Jones, Luke Wall, Naim Arsan. Subs: Eden Gumbs, Lewis Nolan, Lewis Crane. not used: Alex Ellams (Gk), Karl Clair.

Attendance: 520.

Picture by Peter Gallagher-Headley

Form guide

Chasetown are eighth in NPL West but level with Linnets on 42 points, having played 24 games - one more than Linnets. We are separated by Stalybridge Celtic, who have played 25.

Since their wasted journey to the APEC on Tuesday, November 12th, Chasetown have been unbeaten on their league travels, win the last two aways.

Victories at Wythenshawe Town (3-2) and Stafford Rangers (2-1) followed draws at Congleton Town (2-2) and Clitheroe (1-1).

Their overall record on the road is P11 W4 D3 L4 F15 A19 Pts 15

Our five-goal defeat by Witton Albion on January 1st was our heaviest at home under Brad Cooke and only our second league reversal of the season at the APEC.

We shipped half as many goals as we had in the previous 10 league homes.

It was also a first time we had failed to score in front of our own fans in the league at the APEC. We are without s goal in our last two NPL games after the 0-0 stalemate at Bootle on Boxing Day.

Our goal difference is down to +16, still the fifth highest in the division, our overall home record being P11 W8 D1 L2 F29 A15 Pts 25.

How to get here 

By car - postcode for APEC Taxis Stadium is WA7 6GJ.

By train - Runcorn is served by two railway stations, Runcorn (Liverpool Lime Street to London line, also with services from Chester and Birmingham)  and Runcorn East (trains to and from Manchester, Chester and North Wales). Both stations are served by buses running close to the stadium, although Runcorn High Street bus station (10-minute walk) offers a wider choice for passengers using Runcorn Railway Station.

By bus - the ground is a short walk from the Runcorn Busway - alight at Orniston Bollingbroke Academy (Halton High School) and follow pathway on the opposite side of the busway from the school to Murdishaw Avenue and cross into Stockham Lane. Many local services (including Shopping City circular) run on the busway as well as those from Widnes, Warrington, Liverpool and Chester.

A local taxi service is provided by APEC Taxis (tel 01928 575757).

Parking 

There is a large free car park on site.

Bar and catering

The licensed clubhouse bar offers a range of alcoholic and non-alcholic drinks while hot food, tea, coffee and soft drinks and confectionery are on sale from the tea bar.

Club shop

Don't forget to drop in on matchdays - described by Non League Review on TikTok as a little Aladdin's Cave. You can visit online too!

Admission 

Adult - £11

(£2 discount for Halton Leisure Card holders)

Concession (Over 65s) - £8

Juniors (18 and under) - £2

Picture by James Eastup