After a week of consecutive home games the Blues now set their sights on gaining further points - this time away from home at the SFC Stadium at Irongate, home of Bamber Bridge Football Club.

Last season the only thing separating the two teams was goal difference, both teams finished the 24/25 campaign on 52 points. Brig had bettered Leek town at the SFC Stadium in a 3-1 win, however the blues then took all three points in the Home fixture with a solitary Lucas Weir goal.

Both teams will be looking to do everything in their power to see out a busy August with as many points on the board as possible. Bamber have started the season with four points from a possible nine and Leek Town registered their first three points of the campaign at the weekend with a 1-0 home win over Morpeth.

Leek Town manager Josh Brehaut explained in his post-match interview over the weekend that he is hoping that the Blues fans can be a big factor in how the team performs on the pitch, so will be hoping that travelling blues fans this can be in fine voice to help push the team towards another good performance.

The True Blue Army will assemble at?
The Blues will head North West to Bamber Bridge, just outside of Preston. The quickest route for travelling fans will be approximately 1 hour 20 minutes up the M6 Northbound all the way up to Junction 22 (Win wick Interchange) From Junction 22 at Bamber, the ground is just a few minutes away..

How much to get in?

Adult - £12
Concession 16-18 & over 65 & EFL & Premier League season ticket holders18-21 - £8
EFL & Premier League Concession (over 65) - £5
£2 Children 11-15 (must be accompanied by an adult)
Free Children u11(must be accompanied by an adult)

The Opposition?

Bamber Bridge FC – Brig
Formed – 1952
Ground – SFC Stadium at Irongate
Gaffer – Jamie Milligan

Their Website?
Bamber Bridge

How are they doing?
It has been a steady start to the new season for Brig. One Win, One Draw and One Loss have shaped the start of their campaign. They were convincing in their 2-0 win over Guiseley in the opening game of the season, however followed that up with a loss away from home at Warrington Rylands. Over the weekend they did take the lead on 27 minutes away at Cleethorpes but saw all three points turn into just one after Cleethorpes equalised on the 78th minute.

Their Main Man?
Brig will be hoping that making Ewan Bange a permanent member of the squad will help to provide the much needed goals to push them higher up the table this term. He has had three loan spells with the club, most recently towards the end of last season where he netted 7 goals in 12 games. He has already started the season in fine form finding the net on 2 occasions so far.

Their Gaffer?
Former Everton, Blackpool & Fleetwood midfielder Jamie Milligan joined as first team manager after previously spending a number of seasons at Bamber Bridge as a player and coach. He was part of the promotion winning side of 2017/18 and also scored the opening goal in the 2-1 victory over Grantham Town in the 2017 League cup final. Jamie was appointed as Manager in the Autumn of 2019 and adds a wealth of experience of coaching to the role. During the 2022/23 season, Jamie guided Brig’ to their best league finish (3rd place) for 26 years, as the club agonisingly missed out on promotion via the Playoffs.

Bamber Bridge – Have we met before
The Blues vs Brig is a fixture steeped in history. There have been League, FA trophy and FA Cup fixtures between the two clubs dating back to the 1993/94 season. I that 32 year period there have been 20 fixtures played.

Leek Town have edged Bamber over the years, winning 9 of the 20 fixtures. There have been 5 draws and Brig have won 6.

There have been 62 goals scored in these fixtures, 37 for Leek and 25 for Bamber. The highest scoring game on record was an 8 goal FA Cup preliminary classic back in 1993. Leek hosted and the Blues won 5-3 with help from a Darren Twigg Hat-Trick

Purely based on head to head games between the two clubs, we could be in for a cracker of a game with an XG of 3.1