On Saturday afternoon, The Berry Street Garage Stadium hosts a highly anticipated Merseyside Derby a preliminary round of the FA Cup clash between Bootle and City Of Liverpool.
By Brendan Doyle
After suffering two 2-0 defeats to fierce rivals City Of Liverpool last season, Bootle are out for redemption and a place in the next round of the Emirates FA Cup by doing so. Last season Bootle made an exit in the competition in the extra preliminary round in a 3-1 defeat away to Prestwich Heys, however, a win today would not only mean bragging rights on derby day but also advancing to the next round of the FA Cup and a step closer to Wembley!
Today’s visitors will rightly be coming into today’s fixture full of confidence due to beating Bootle 2-0 twice away here at The Berry Street Garage Stadium on Boxing Day and again at The DCBL Stadium back in April. Not only did The Purps twice triumph on derby day last season, they also reached two finals, the Liverpool Senior Cup final losing 2-0 to Marine and missing out on promotion in the play off final for a place in the Premier Division of The Northern Premier League suffering a 2-0 defeat to Prescot Cables. The Purps supporters undoubtedly had a very exciting campaign last season watching their team, and a win today could start off an also exciting cup run for City Of Liverpool.
City Of Liverpool Fact File:
Founded: 2015
Ground: The Halton Stadium (also known as The DCBL Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is an all seater multi purpose rugby league, NFL and football stadium in Widnes, Cheshire which holds a capacity of 13,350.
Manager: Paul McNally was appointed City Of Liverpool boss in September 2022 and led The Purps to their highest ever finish in 5th place and reached the Northern Premier League Division One West play off final last season. McNally spent almost four years at Skelmersdale United and guided them to the Northern Premier League from the NWCFL Premier Division in the 2021/22 campaign via the Play Offs, and memorably also took United to the FA Cup 1st Round in 2020. He spent three years at Litherland Remyca and achieved promotion to The North West Counties Premier Division in 2018 finishing runners up. In his first season in management McNally led Cammell Laird to second spot and promotion in the North West Counties Premier Division in his first season, losing just 3 games.
Recent Honours:
North West Counties Premier Division Champions 2018/19
North West Counties Division One Play Off Winners 2016/17
North West Counties Division One Challenge Cup Winners 2016/17
North West Counties League Challenge Cup Winners 2016/17
Tickets are still available, and a reminder that this game is an all ticket encounter. Buy Tickets Here. The game will be segregated so please purchase tickets according to whether a Bootle fan or a City of Liverpool fan, and bags will be searched. A reminder that NO alcohol is allowed to be brought into the ground. You can read more on the ground and its regulations through our Ground Regulations page Here.