Aldershot Town host Braintree Town on Tuesday, 30th September in a midweek clash that marks the third fixture at the EBB Stadium in eleven days.
Founded in 1898, ‘the Iron’, nicknamed as such due to the club’s origins as a team of local steel-framed window company workers, are amid their second successive season in the National League, after an unforgettable play-off campaign in 2024 required Braintree to be on the correct side of THREE periods of extra-time, including a dramatic 3-2 victory away at local rivals, Chelmsford City.
With ten points from 12 games, the Essex-based side currently find themselves 20th in the National League table, just outside of the relegation places.
RECENT LEAGUE FORM
Whilst certainly not without significant moments of positivity thus far, it appears from the opening two months of the campaign that Braintree may once again find themselves amongst the candidates for a lower-reaching finish. However, with obvious individual talent in the squads alumnus, combined with having the second lowest average age in the division (23.9), expect the Iron to improve exponentially as a largely changed configuration both gels and grows in unison.
- 27/09/25 – Braintree Town 1-2 Gateshead (Terrell Works)
- 24/09/25 – Boston United 2-0 Braintree Town
- 20/09/25 – Eastleigh 1-3 Braintree Town (Terrell Works, Tom Blackwell 2)
- 13/09/25 – York City 2-3 Braintree Town (Terrell Works 2)
- 06/09/25 – Rochdale 2-0 Braintree Town
With Rochdale still maintaining their 100% home record going into October, defeat at the Spotland Stadium would raise no significant concerns, rather it would be their next match – a home tie against York – that would risk exasperating the Iron faithful, having let a two goal lead slip across the second half.
Fulham loanee Terrell Works sent the crowd into raptures with a pair of close-range finishes either side of half-time. However, after a magnificent free-kick from Alex Hunt halved the deficit, 20-year-old Works spurned a golden chance for a debut hattrick, spooning the ball over the bar from five yards out. Joe Grey’s header went through the hands of goalkeeper Mason Terry to level the scoring, before a 93rd minute penalty from Ollie Pearce compounded the hosts’ misery, a 3-2 loss putting the Iron into the relegation zone for the first time this term.
They would receive brief reprieve in Hampshire, as the side produced a comeback victory of their own to beat Eastleigh 3-1 on the road. Enjoying a start to life in Essex, Terrell Works struck yet again, as his thumping half-volley on the edge of the box hit the back of the net after a clever corner routine to level the scoring. The Silverlake Stadium would then lay witness to two superb solo goals from Tom Blackwell, the first of which from a seemingly impossible angle.
The week just passed saw two statistically close affairs result in further losses, as Boston United and Gateshead beat the side 2-0 and 2-1 respectively, with the only concrete positive of the pair being a further goal from Works making it four in four for the young forward.
IN THE DUGOUT
Despite being the eldest of the National League’s 24 incumbent managers, Steve Pitt is arguably among the division’s least experienced, having managed just six games at step-three or higher prior to his appointment in December 2024.
Rather, the 64-year-old’s appointment as Iron’s head-coach represents the culmination of a largely semi-professional career in football that saw him excel in a variety of backroom roles in the depths of non-league.
A quantity surveyor for much of his working life, Pitt’s meticulous discipline in planning and structure first shone through as he joined fellow Essex-based club FC Clacton as manager in May 2010, following the club’s promotion to the ninth-tier, where he achieved survival in his one and only full season with the club. However, aside from exceedingly brief stints with Bishop’s Stortford and Leiston in 2013, he wouldn’t take on a further managerial role until 2022.
He would instead earn a glowing reputation as a director of football, first joining Heybridge Swifts ahead of the 2015/16 season, before a five-year tenure with Chelmsford City which correlated with a period of extended success for the club, marred only by three successive seasons of play-off heartbreak.
Having earned an impressive reputation in the Essex area, he would be appointed as Angelo Harrop’s assistant manager at Braintree in the summer of 2022, eventually contributing in part to the club’s return to the National League two years later. Despite leaving the club prior to Harrop, he was brought back into the club as his successor in 2024, where having successfully navigated the club away from relegation contention last term, he remains at the helm.
FORMER SHOTS
James Vennings – The 25-year-old midfielder twice joined the Shots on loan from Charlton in both 2012 and 2022.
The one-time England C international has since gone on to make over 100 appearances in the National League across stints at Bromley and Braintree, claiming his first Irons assist last time out against Gateshead
Lewis Walker – The name will ring familiar to Shots supporters, but perhaps not necessarily thanks to his goalless 14-game loan spell from QPR in 2019.
The son of Nottingham Forest legend and namesake, Des, scored at the EBB in very recent and high-profile memory, claiming Woking’s opener in April’s fateful FA Trophy semi-final victory.
MATCH HISTORY AND LAST TIME OUT
The sides first met in 1999, where the Shots came out 3-1 home winners against a then-seventh-tier Braintree in the second round of the FA Trophy. With 17 further matchups between then and present-day, it is the club from Hampshire who boast the greater record of the two.
Games played: 18
Aldershot wins: 10
Braintree wins: 6
Draws: 2
Aggregate score: 28-19
Record Shots victory: 4-0 (Isthmian Premier, 2002)
Record Boston victory: 3-1 (Football Conference, 2014)
Spoils were shared last time out, as a quartet of first half goals from Kyrell Lisbie, James Henry, Josh Barrett and John Akinde saw a January matchup at the EBB Stadium finish 2-2.
TICKET INFO
Tickets are available HERE, and are priced as follows, please note prices will increase at 3pm on the day of the match, these are noted in brackets:
- ADULTS – £23 (£25)
- MILITARY PERSONNEL – £21 (£23)
- SENIOR (Over 66) – £21 (£23)
- DISABLED – £21 (£23)
- YOUNG PERSON (18-20) – £21 (£23)
- 15 AND UNDER – £8 (£10)
- UNDER 11 – FREE
- FAMILY TICKET (Two Adults, Three 15 and Under) – £48 (£52)
We strongly encourage buying tickets in advance or online to save queues in the Ticket Office before the game.
The Club Shop/Ticket Office is open for all supporters with cash and card accepted.
IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT
Live updates will be available from our social media platforms X (@OfficialShots), Instagram (@aldershottownfcofficial), and Facebook. After the game, highlights will be available on our YouTube channel.
The game can be streamed via DAZN’s National League TV coverage. Click HERE to purchase a match pass.
There will be live commentary of the game provided by BBC Radio Surrey – listen online HERE
