Non-League Day: Stourbridge to welcome large crowd for No.9 Derby

The No.9 Derby – contested between Black Country rivals Stourbridge and Halesowen Town – is one of the highlights of Non-League Day 2017, and may well attract the biggest crowd of the day outside the National League Premier.

Traditionally a Boxing Day or Easter Monday fixture, fans of the Glassboys and the Yeltz were upset the matches were on a Monday and Tuesday night last year – still attracting a combined 3,702 supporters – and Stourbridge boss Gary Hackett is looking forward to welcoming people to the War Memorial Ground.

“It’s Non-League Day, so we are hopefully going to get great support down there,” said the Glassboys manager. “Anyone disillusioned with whoever they support, whether that be West Brom, Wolves, Villa or Blues, should come down and have a look at non-league football.”

After a sensational season that saw them beat League One Northampton Town on their way to the third round of the FA Cup before losing the Evo-Stik League Premier Division play-off final to Spennymoor Town in April, the Glassboys have had to rebuild a significant portion of their team in the summer.

Top scorer Luke Benbow and creative midfielder Chris Lait were two of the star men to depart, both joining Solihull Moors in the National Premier, but Hackett’s replacements have guided his side to third in the table and into a fourth qualifying round FA Cup tie with National Premier leaders Macclesfield Town next week.

“We made sure we brought in the right characters,” said Hackett. “There is still a massive room for improvement, but we are heading in the right direction as proven against Coalville on Monday (where Stourbridge won with a last-minute goal from Jordan Archer).”

And asked if the Macclesfield Cup tie will be a will be a distraction, Hackett added: “People will look to Macclesfield a week on Saturday. Our focus will be on Halesowen – we will give 100 per cent to them.”