The 2025/26 Enterprise National League season is on the horizon, with Sutton United all set for another competitive and exciting year at the top tier of non-league football.
In this four-part series, we will delve into each opponent the U’s will face throughout the campaign across the next four weeks, building up to the first day of the season where Steve Morison’s side will take on York City.
Aldershot Town
Nickname: The Shots
Founded: 1992
Stadium: EBB Stadium
Distance from Sutton: 33.2 miles
Head Coach: Tommy Widdrington
Top Scorer 24/25: Josh Barrett (16)
League Finish 24/25: 16th
Last Meeting: Aldershot Town 1-1 Sutton United (18th April 2025)
Nearby club Aldershot Town entered their 12th successive season at National League level, with a 16th place finish being secured by the Shots last term.
Manager Tommy Widdrington also led the Hampshire-based side to a Wembley outing for the first time in their 33-year history, with former captain and now-Sutton player Aaron Jones lifting their first piece of silverware since 2008 when a 3-0 win over Spennymoor Town secured the FA Trophy, having beaten Wealdstone, Chertsey Town, Sittingbourne, Boreham Wood and Woking on their journey to the capital, including a notable 8-0 win over Chertsey.
The pick of the bunch last time out was star man Josh Barrett, who notched an impressive 16 goals alongside experienced forward James Henry, who was named the division’s Player of the Month back in September, while the likes of Cameron Hargreaves and Theo Widdrington pulled the strings in midfield.
The Shots have already been dealt a difficult hand leading into the new season, however, with key players Jack Barham, Kai Corbett and captain Jones all departing the club, although Widdrington has already been busy in the transfer market with Kibain Rai, Kwame Thomas, Tristan Abrahams, Ryan Hill, Archy Taylor, Jed Meerholz and Josh Brooking all making the move to the Rec this summer.
Altrincham
Nickname: The Robins
Founded: 1891
Stadium: J. Davidson Stadium
Distance from Sutton: 212.8 miles
Head Coach: Phil Parkinson
Top Scorer 24/25: Regan Linney (23)
League Finish 24/25: 9th
Last Meeting: Altrincham 1-0 Sutton United (14th December 2024)
Another competitive season for Altrincham saw Phil Parkinson guide the Robins to within four points of the play-off spots, missing out on the top seven due to a dismal run of form that saw them win just two of their final 13 games, including a 6-1 defeat to relegation contenders Dagenham & Redbridge.
Long-serving manager Phil Parkinson has been in the hotseat at the J. Davidson Stadium since the eve of the last game of the 2016/17 season, and overseen an impressive rise to the top tier of non-league football, having taken over with the club relegated to the Northern Premier League.
The departures of Regan Linney to Carlisle United and Alex Newby to York City will be a clear blow for the club, having spearheaded Altrincham’s impressive attack with 23 and 15 goals respectively, although Jimmy Knowles is an exciting recruit from Accrington Stanley to help plug the gap.
Tom Crawford and Elliot Osborne were also both ever-presents in the heart of the Robins’ midfield, and struck up a key partnership in the Parkinson’s engine room that drove them to within touching distance of the play-offs.
Boreham Wood
Nickname: The Wood
Founded: 1948
Stadium: Mangata Developments Stadium
Distance from Sutton: 28.4 miles
Head Coach: Luke Garrard
Top Scorer 24/25: Kwesi Appiah (24)
League Finish 24/25: 5th (National League South)
Last Meeting: Boreham Wood 0-0 Sutton United (2nd April 2021)
Boreham Wood bounced straight back to the fifth tier with a 1-0 victory over Maidstone United in the National League South Play-Off final, with key man Charles Clayden producing the crucial blow over the Stones to seal a swift return to a place they had spent the last decade in, prior to relegation in 2023/24.
Club legend Luke Garrard returned to the dugout at Meadow Park to replace Ross Jenkins in September 2024, having departed the Wood at the end of the previous season, and guided them back to the National League alongside a reliable group of players consisting of captain Jack Payne, goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore and long-serving players Femi Ilesanmi, Cameron Coxe, Chris Bush and Érico Sousa.
Having kept the bulk of their quality from their relegation season, including Clayden, Kwesi Appiah, Tom Whelan and Charlie O’Connell, the Wood continued to bolster their ranks throughout the campaign with the likes of Abdul Abdulmalik, Jon Benton, Callum Reynolds, Josef Yarney and Matt Rush joining the club, and became key figures as they secured their place in the fifth tier for the 2025/26 season.
Boreham Wood were condemned to the play-offs after missing out on the title due to an indifferent run of form midway through the campaign, but gained momentum during the final stretch with five wins from their last five games, and secured their place in the semi-final with a dramatic 4-3 win over Dorking Wanderers in the eliminator round that saw them come back from 3-1 down with ten minutes to go, including a 96th minute winner from Ilesanmi – who had scored an own goal just 15 minutes prior.
This was followed by a winner from former U Rush away at Torquay United to seal their place in the final, with Clayden putting them in the National League with a brilliantly-struck effort just two minutes after half time, with some trademarking defending from Garrard’s side getting them over the line at the death.
The sides last met in Sutton’s title-winning campaign in 2020/21, with Boreham Wood the ones to make the journey from one end of the Thameslink to the other – a goal in each half from Louis John and Will Randall gave the high-flying U’s a well-deserved 2-0 win at Gander Green Lane.
Boston United
Nickname: The Pilgrims
Founded: 1933
Stadium: Jakemans Community Stadium
Distance from Sutton: 167 miles
Head Coach: Graham Coughlan
Top Scorer 24/25: Jacob Hazel (13)
League Finish 24/25: 19th
Last Meeting: Boston United 2-1 Sutton United (29th March 2025)
The appointment of former Plymouth Argyle defender Graham Coughlan proved to be the turning point in Boston United’s season, with the Pilgrims sealing their place in the National League for another season after winning the National League North Play-Offs in 2024.
Having replaced popular predecessor Ian Culverhouse back in November, Coughlan took on a side sitting in 23rd at the time of his appointment, seven points from safety, but went on to guide them to an incredible turnaround to mark their first ever campaign at fifth tier level.
He was named National League Manager of the Month for March 2025 following a run of 20 points from nine matches, leading the Pilgrims outside of the relegation zone having been 12 points from safety at the start of the month, and they eventually secured safety against all the odds in their penultimate match of the season, with Keaton Ward and James Gale scoring the goals to seal a 2-1 win over Gateshead.
Ward had played all but two games throughout the campaign prior to his move to Altrincham this summer, and was a reliable presence in the Pilgrims team, while the performances of a defence made of Cameron Gregory between the sticks, and a backline consisting of Jai Rowe, Tom Leak, Zak Mills and Cameron Gregory were key to the club’s change of fortunes. Furthermore, Jacob Hazel’s 13 goals were invaluable in their fight to avoid an immediate return to the sixth tier.
Brackley Town
Nickname: The Saints
Founded: 1890
Stadium: St. James Park
Distance from Sutton: 87.4 miles
Head Coach: Gavin Cowan
Top Scorer 24/25: Connor Hall (18)
League Finish 24/25: 1st (National League North)
Last Meeting: Brackley Town 3-1 Sutton United (3rd February 2018)
A newcomer to the National League, Brackley Town sealed promotion to the fifth tier for the first time after a 5-0 win over Farsley Celtic on the final game of the season as goals from Danny Newton, Tyler Lyttle, Connor Hall, Tommy O’Sullivan and Scott Pollock sparked ecstatic celebrations at St. James Park.
West Germany-born gaffer Gavin Cowan led the Saints to 92 points in the National League North, winning 29 of their 46 matches and scoring the third most amount of goals in the entire division (75), along with the third best defensive record (42).
Hall and Matt Lowe proved central to the Saints’ attacking play, both notching double figures with 18 and 13 goals respectively, while defender George Carline and midfielder Morgan Roberts were both named in the division’s Team of the Season.
Sutton have never met Brackley in a league capacity, having only previously faced the Saints in the FA Trophy Third Round back in 2018; goals from Lee Ndlovu, Aaron Williams and James Armson set them on their way to a comfortable victory despite a consolation goal from Tommy Wright, with Brackley going on to beat Stockport County and Wealdstone in the latter stages of the competition, before overcoming Bromley on penalties to lift the trophy.
Braintree Town
Nickname: The Iron
Founded: 1898
Stadium: Rare Breed Meat Co. Stadium
Distance from Sutton: 77.6 miles
Head Coach: Steve Pitt
Top Scorer 24/25: Kyrell Lisbie (13)
League Finish 24/25: 17th
Last Meeting: Braintree Town 0-0 Sutton United (4-5 on pens) (1st April 2025)
After two years and over 100 games in charge at Cressing Road, Braintree Town opted to part ways with manager Angelo Harrop in November with the club sat in 20th place, a move that was met with an indifferent reaction after the now-Chelmsford City boss had guided the Iron to promotion the previous season.
The Essex-based side opted to replace Harrop with an internal appointment, putting assistant Steve Pitt in full charge of the team, who went on to lead the Iron to safety with a 17th place finish, ending the campaign four points clear of the drop and securing notable wins over promotion hopefuls Gateshead and York City and eventual league winners Barnet in their pursuit of survival.
The form of the Lisbie brothers proved to be a key part of their successful campaign, with nobody in the team scoring more than Kyrell’s 13, while his identical twin Kyreece joined on loan from Colchester United for the second half of the season and scored twice in seven appearances, with his good performances earning a recall to the Colchester Community Stadium in April.
Experienced forward John Akinde led the line for the Iron last season having signed from League Two side Colchester, with his ten goals proving to be invaluable to Braintree’s survival alongside Jermaine Francis (8) and Chay Cooper (4), while a strong defensive unit allowed them to get over the line consistently, with goalkeepers Lucas Covolan and Henry Gray keeping a combined 14 clean sheets between them, ranking in the top five in the entire division.
This was aided by the strong performances of George Langston, Louie Annesley and Ryan Clampin, along with Matt Robinson, James Vennings and Marley Marshall-Miranda offering significant cover in midfield, and proved enough to secure a second successive season in the National League.
Sutton supporters will have fond memories of their last clash with Braintree, or at least the final stages of the early April evening in Essex, making the second trip of the season to Cressing Road for the National League Cup Semi-Final. A drab 0-0 draw was followed by a penalty shootout, in which Jack Sims saved three spot-kicks against his former side to put Sutton into the driving seat, with Eduino Vaz converting the decisive kick from 12 yards to send the U’s into their first final since 2022’s EFL Trophy Final against Rotherham United.
