Phillips praises Matlock support

In spite of them being placed in third bottom spot when the BetVictor NPL Premier Division ended prematurely, Matlock Town’s attendances have risen from an average of 447 in 2018/19 to 473, an increase of 5.82% on the previous campaign.

Had the 2019/20 season finished, that average figure would have almost certainly been nearer the 500 mark, especially as a crowd approaching 1500 was expected for the visit of FC United of Manchester and there were also attractive and potentially crowd pulling Saturday home matches against Nantwich Town, Stafford Rangers and Lancaster City.

922 watched the Boxing Day home defeat by Buxton which was Matlock’s highest crowd but an impressive 729 turned out on a sunny Non League Day on October 12 to watch probably Matlock’s best all round home performance in a 3-1 win over Mickleover Sports.

“It just shows what the potential here is and what we need to do and that’s to get a winning team on the pitch” said Phillips.

“The support here’s tremendous and I’d like to thank all the fans for their backing. With the way the climate is at present, watching non league might be an even more attractive proposition than it is now and if people can come here and watch a winning team then all the better.

"Getting that extra hundred or so in, buying a pie and a pint helps with funds and helps me in being able to getting a better team out there for them to watch.

"It’s also a decent ground, there’s a great atmosphere with a good crowd in as I found out in my first game against Hyde and having a good crowd in spurs on the players.”

Meanwhile, the club's fundraising efforts have reached almost £12,000.