Widnes FC will play their first pre-season game this coming Sunday, as Danny Meadowcroft’s side host Vanarama National League North side Altrincham at the Select Security Stadium; with the game kicking-off at 2pm.

Widnes will receive a good test against Altrincham, who will be eager to test themselves on the Select Security Stadium’s 4G artificial playing surface, which will be a feature in a number of away games in The Robins’ upcoming league campaign.

Meadowcroft and his assistant Brian Pritchard are expected to field a side consisting mostly of new signings and trialists, with the names of who are yet to be confirmed. Faces familiar to Widnes supporters are also likely to be included in Meadowcroft’s squad.

The friendly is Widnes’ first of a six-game pre-season schedule, with a home game against local rivals Warrington Town, and trips to Congleton Town, Vauxhall Motors, Knutsford and Halebank to follow.

The opposition

Altrincham, like Widnes, also begin their season with a new management team in place. Neil Young was appointed as manager in early May, less than 24 hours after Altrincham’s relegation from the National League was confirmed following a 3-0 defeat to Braintree Town on the final day of the league season, condemning Alty to a 22nd place finish; five points adrift from safety.

Altrincham’s relegation came following a two-year spell in the National League following promotion from the former Conference North in 2014 after a 2-1 win over Guiseley in the play-off final after Greg Wilkinson netted a 119th minute winner.

The two managers will be very familiar with each other, as Young managed and signed Meadowcroft on two different occasions when the now Altrincham boss was in charge of Colwyn Bay and Chester.

Altrincham players to watch

Altrincham forward James Lawrie has netted 31 times in 138 games for The Robins, having been capped at youth level for Northern Ireland before receiving his senior debut under Nigel Worthington in 2009. Lawrie has three caps for his country.

Midfielder Simon Richman has Football League experience with Port Vale, having made 48 appearances for The Valiants before departing in 2010. He joined Altrincham in 2011, where he has gone on to make 136 appearances. Richman also has international experience to his name. The midfielder was as an integral part of the Great Britain Universities' team which won the silver medal in the world games in Kazan, Russia in 2013.

Goalkeeper Andrew Dawber is a new signing at Moss Lane. Initially, Dawber came through the ranks at Accrington Stanley where he attracted interest from Manchester United, with whom he trained at their Carrington training base. He left Accrington in March 2015, having made six senior appearances, and joined Fulham on a one-year deal, where he played for their Under-21 side before signing for Altrincham in May.

Widnes assistant manager Brian Pritchard is expecting Altrincham to provide a stern test for the hosts.

He said: “I’m expecting Altrincham to offer us quite the test both mentally and physically, as you’d expect from a higher level club.

“A lot of these players will have never played against a team from that high of a division so it will be a good test for them to determine where they are in terms of their own progression as a football player.

“We’re looking forward to it and hopefully, we’ll have a decent gate there as well.”

Admission Prices

Entry to the stadium will be gained through the South Stand’s turnstiles, rather than the Stadium Fitness entrance which has been the norm for the past two seasons.

The Club is delighted to be offering the following discounted prices for the game:

Adults: £1
Concessions: £1
Under-16s: FREE when accompanied by a paying adult

Can’t make it to the game? There will be full coverage of the afternoon’s proceedings on Twitter: @Widnes_FC.