Ground record league attendance guaranteed as Bury game sells out

Runcorn Linnets v Bury

Pitching In Northern Premier League West

Saturday, March 28th ko 3pm

APEC Taxis Stadium, Stockham Lane, Runcorn WA7 6GJ

Preview

It's our biggest home game of this and arguably any NPL West  season with all tickets for the visit of leaders Bury having sold.

The top-of-the-table clash follows an APEC Taxis Stadium meeting of the teams in the the Isuzu FA Trophy which required the Shakers to travel twice.

The first attempt to play the Second Round Qualifying tie on Saturday, September 29th had to be abandoned at half-time - with scores pegged at 1-1 after rain had made the pitch unplayable.

The restaged contest took place on Saturday, October 14th with Bury opting to send an Under 21s side.

Linnets romped to a 7-0 victory, thanks to a Lewis Crane hat-trick and a double from Oskar Rosenblatt with Naim Arsan and Adam Rooney getting our other goals.

Although the 1,570 capacity for this Saturday's match is slightly reduced from the usual 1,600, a new stadium record attendance for a regular league game will be set.

The present highest is 1,020 for the match against Macclesfield in November 2022

The four-figure mark has been reached only three times for a league fixture -  in each case in the NPL West.

In 2021-22, a crowd of1,015 attended the closing game against Colne while the Boxing Day fixture against Prescot Cables in 2023 attracted 1,001.

We have already had one full house this season for our Emirates FA Cup tie Fourth Round Qualifying Round against Buxton - after two previous sell-outs in Play-offs.

Our season's best league gate to date is 854 against Witton Albion at New Year.

This weekend's game is the return of our inaugural Gigg Lane meeting on Tuesday, September 9th, the hosts having won 1-0 with a 54th-minute Rustam Stepans goal in front of 2,908.

Form guide

Runcorn will be out to protect the best home record in the division, having taken 40 points from 18 ppints.

We are facing the team with the highest return away from home.

The Skakers have scored 35 points on their travels, also from 18 games.

Linnets are unbeaten in seven league outings at the APEC - eight in all competitions - since Michael Ellison returned as manager at the beginning of January.

Shifnal Town and Witton Albion are the only visitors to have left with all three points.

We have 12 league wins and four draws at home, scoring 40 goals while conceding 20.

Bury's away record in West Division is W10 D5 L3 F31 A18.

They are unbeaten in eight league aways since losing 3-0 at Witton on November 22nd - that being their heaviest defeat in the NPL.

Bury's previous league defeats on the road came in October - in successive matches at Sporting Khalsa and Mossley.

The season so far

Most starts

Joe Ferguson 41

Naim Arsan, Matty Rain 38

Most appearances

Naim Arsan 46

Lewis Doyle 44

Matty Rain 43

Leading goalscorers

Scott Bakkor 20

Naim Arsan 10

Lewis Crane, Sean Miller 8

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).

There is a large free car park on site.

Bars and catering

The licensed clubhouse bar and tea bar will be open to Linnets supporters. The tea bar in the main stand side will also open as an extra bar selling canned lager, Guinness and soft drinks.

There will be a mobile catering facility on site along with the Madri van for Bury fans.

Admission 

Entry is by ticket only (RLFC season ticket holders present their card for scanning as normal).

All match tickets have sold - please do not attend without one.

Linnets supporters should enter via Turnstile 1, as normal, with Bury fans entering via Turnstile 2.

We hope everybody enjoys the day!