by Peter Scherer
Mickleover continue their pre-season build up with a Tuesday evening visit to Matlock Town.
Our hosts have played four games so far, all at home, with draws against Belper Town and last Saturday hosting Rotherham, and have lost to Barnsley and Quorn.
Ryan Cresswell is the Gladiators manager, assisted by former Sports player and assistant manager Ricky Ravenhill.
In our last meeting we lost 2-0 at home last season at home in the FA Cup, having both been relegated from the Northern Premier League in 24/25. Our last league meetings were a 2-0 win at home and a 0-2 defeat in the return game.
Matlock were pushing hard for promotion back to the NPL Premier last season, they finished second in the East Division but lost out in the play-offs.
Goalkeeper Alfie Roberts recently arrived from Ilkeston Town, having previously spent two years with Belper Utd. He was a youngster at both Nottingham Forest and Derby County, during which time he was loaned to Barwell and Newcastle Town.
Centre back Jo Cummings is a new signing from Halifax, where he spent the last three years, including a three-month loan at Alfreton last season. He started out at Sheffield Utd before heading south with Charlton Athletic. After a loan at Guiseley he joined Scunthorpe and has also played for Radcliffe, Sheffield FC, Spennymoor and Boston Utd too.
Pierce Bird is a centre back too with League Two experience. Notts County originally signed him from Dunkirk, during this time he had loans at Leek Town, Alfreton and Grantham, before joining Eastleigh on his release. After a loan at Boston Utd his next stop was Kings Lynn, followed by a loan at Halifax before moving to Fylde. He’s played for Buxton and Eastbourne too and spent last season at Kidderminster.
Left back Jeremie Milambo was a Bradford City youngster, who went to Farsley Celtic following his release. After a loan at Ossett Utd he played for Albion Sports and Whyteleafe, before going to the Republic of Ireland with Waterford. Since returning to England he has played for Bowers & Pitsea and Ossett and came to Matlock in November 2024 after 10 months at Liversedge.
Joe Leesley is a midfielder or left back too and returned to Causeway Lane a few weeks ago after leaving for Alfreton 11 ½ years ago. He then moved to Harrogate and was loaned to Stockport, Stevenage and Boston Utd, who he then joined on a permanent basis. He moved on to Darlington, Kidderminster, Scunthorpe and Worksop, where he spent the whole of last season.
Defensive midfielder Fouad Bachirou came to our hosts in October 2024, with masses of international experience. From a youngster with Paris St.Germain, he played for Morton in Scotland, Ostersund and Malmo in Sweden and then had a year with Nottingham Forest before going to Cyprus with Omonia Nicosia. He is also a full international having played 41 times for Comoros.
Declan Eratt-Thomspon can play centre back or central midfield. He arrived from Ilkeston at the of last season, having played his junior football at Sheffield Wednesday and Stocksbridge.
Defender Tom Senior is graduate of Barnsley’s Academy. He previously had loans at Guiseley and Grantham and also had a spell at Mickleover.
Central midfielder Jed Abbey started out in the Wolves Academy, before joining Telford following his release. Alvechurch and South Shields followed before an 18 month stay at Alfreton. He started this year at Marine and came to Matlock a couple of weeks ago.
Midfielder Ben Sault is well-remembered at Mickleover as one of our 23/24 play off team members. He came to us from Kettering, having previously been at Boston Utd, Oadby and Lincoln City and joined the Gladiators at the start of last season, after a year at Buxton.
Brandon Bradbury has recently arrived from Hallam, where he spent the last six years after leaving Chesterfield.
Left sided midfielder Tom Elliott came from Buxton at the start of last season. He started at Worksop and has also played for Nuneaton, Darlington and Hednesford.
Experienced midfielder Josh Waldram has recently arrived too from Brighouse Town, where he had been captain during his two-year stay.
Ryan McLean is a winger recently arrived from Buxton. From Shrewsbury Town’s youth team he moved to Newcastle Town and Hereford, before joining AFC Wimbledon, where he played in league two. He was loaned to Kidderminster and Yeovil before going to Buxton at the start of last season and has also been loaned to Harborough Town.
Another winger is Jesurun Uchegbulam. He played youth football at AC Milan, before starting his UK career with Stockport Town. He first came to Matlock in July 2021 from Mossley and moved on a year later to Chesterfield. Rochdale, Oldham, Eastleigh and Eastbourne followed before moving to Chelmsford City in November 2025. After a loan at Buxton he joined The New Saints in Wales at the beginning of this month, but never played a game, before quickly moving to our hosts.
Striker Keke Jeffers is another new arrival. Stoke City signed him from Bradford City and loaned him to Torquay and Ashton Utd, before he went to Carrick Rangers in Northern Ireland following his release.
Fellow striker Conor Washington came from Derby County at the beginning of last season. He has made over 350 senior appearances before gong non-league, scoring over 70 goals. After starting at St.Ives Town, his CV reads Newport County, Peterborough, QPR, Sheffield Utd, Heart of Midlothian, Charlton Athletic and Rotherham, before his two year stay at Pride Park.
Kick off is at 7.45 and remember it’s street parking with restrictions.