CURZON Ashton have confirmed that they will play a series of three pre-season friendlies, all against higher-level opposition in late July and early August as they prepare for the 2024/25 National League North season.
Fans of the sixth-tier club will surely be hopeful that football streams are made available for this fixture.
The Nash will take on AFC Flyde on July 23, Altrincham on July 30 and Halifax Town on August 3.
All three fixtures will be played at the Tameside Stadium, and player-manager Craig Mahon will hope to build some positive feeling with supporters through these fixtures.
Mahon led his side to a 7th-place finish in the National League North last season and qualification for the playoffs. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deliver a promotion into the fifth tier, as The Nash lost on penalties to Chorley in the quarter-finals.
As Curzon look to go one step further next season and achieve promotion, three friendlies against theoretically superior opposition should make for great preparation, and if The Nash can get some positive results from those games, the fanbase will quickly be behind the team ahead of the new season.
Fellow Lancashire side Flyde finished 18th in the National League last season, comfortably avoiding relegation but not giving their fans much else to cheer about.
Meanwhile, both Altrincham and Halifax made the playoffs and came close to reaching EFL football. Halifax bowed out in the quarter-final stage against Solihull Moors, while Altrincham were defeated by Bromley in the semis.
Bromley went on to beat Solihull in the final and will be playing league football next season.
Last season’s exploits came as somewhat of a surprise to Curzon Ashton fans. After several mid-table finishes, the leap into the playoffs was not entirely expected. However, with that behind them, the club will now look to push on and expectations will be higher at the Tameside Stadium this year.
These three pre-season friendlies against National League sides could prove to be the best way to get the team firing early and get the fans in the stadium firmly behind the players.