Lomg-awaited battle with the Breck!

RUNCORN LINNETS v Lower Breck

Pitching In Northern Premier League West Division

Tuesday January 27th 2026 (ko 7.45pm)

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

Not far off four months later thanplanned, table-topping Lower Breck roll into town for this long-awaited game against Linnets.

The match was originally scheduled for October 7th but was replaced by our Isuzu FA Trophy home tie against Morpeth Town,

The rescheduled fixture on December 9th was then washed out by rain.

Breck are the only NPL West rivals we haven't faced in our 26 league games so far

The return contest is due to be played on Saturday, February 7th.

History trail

Founded in 2010, Lower Breck are up against Linnets, a club just four years their senior, in this first league meeting of two of NPL West's youngest outfits.

Only Darlaston Town are younger - although they were reformed, rather than founded, in 2014 as a continuation of a namesake  club formed in 1874.

Based in the shadow of Liverpool FC's Anfield stadium, Lower Breck claimed their place in the Northern Premier League after winning last season's North West Counties League Premier Division Play-offs as league runners-up.

They defeated West Didsbury & Chorlton 2-1 in a home semi-final before overcoming Padiham 2-0 in the final, which they also hosted.

Promoted alongside champions Bury, Breck had racked up 106 points from 46 games with 33 wins and seven draws.

They finished three points behind the Shakers and nine better off than former Linnets boss Steve Wilkes's third-placed Ramsbottom United.

Breck have picked up where they left off and arrive in Murdishaw with a five-point lead in the table.

But a Linnets victory on Tuesday would lift us from fourth placed to second and cut the gap between the sides to three points.

We've met before...but only once 

Linnets' only previous meeting with Lower Breck was in last season's Liverpool Senior Cup semi-final in which the Liverpool side ran out 3-1 winners at Anfield Community Sports Club before losing the final to Everton.

Adam Moseley had given us a fourth-minute lead but the in-form hosts powered back through Connor Millington (37 mins) and Jordan Barrow (78) before Lewis Buckley scored in the second minute of stoppage time to put the tie beyond our reach.

Buckley had a stint with our former Reserves side a few years ago. Other former Linnets in the Lower Breck squad are defenders Danny McKenna (below) and Callum Grogan.

Picture by James Eastup

Factfile

Picture by Kelly Jones

Steven Irwin (above) became the 35th player to represent us in 39 matches across all competitions this season when making his debut in Saturday's 2-2 draw against another of the promotion chasers, Avro.

Twenty nine outfield players and six different goalkeepers have appeared as a starter or substitute.

Steven is player number 463 on our all-time list and the 18th to make a Linnets debut in 2025-26.

Picture by Neil Thornton

In Saturday's 2-2 draw with Avro, substitute Harry McGee (above) scored his first Linnets goal since transferring from Lower Breck at the start of this month.

Form guide

Lower Breck have an outstanding away record, having dropped only five points over the campaign.

They have won 10 out of 12 on the road, their only defeat coming in late September when they lost by the only goal at Chasetown.

The only other side to have denied Tuesday's visitors away from home are Newcastle Town, who forced a 3-3 draw against them in November.

Breck have scored three goals in winning each of their last three aways against Congleton Town, Vauxhall Motors and Avro.

Linnets have won eight out of 12 at APEC Taxis Stadium.

Saturday's 2-2 result against Avro was our second home draw in the league.

The first was in our first Murdishaw outing on the opening Tuesday of the league season when we shared four goals against Vauxhall Motors.

We are fifth in form table with 11 points from our last six games while Lower Breck are ranked second on goal difference to Nantwich Town, both having taken 13 points out of 18.

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).

Picture by Peter Gallagher-Headley

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.

Admission 

Adult - £11

(£2 discount for Halton Leisure Card holders)

Concession (Over 65s) - £8

Juniors (18 and under) - £2