Sheffield Wednesday will kick off their preparations for the 2024-25 Championship campaign on Saturday, when they travel to the Impact Arena to take on Alfreton Town in a pre-season friendly. The Owls will set to kick on after their dramatic second-tier survival last term, while their hosts fell short in the quarter-finals of the National League North playoffs in their last competitive action. © Reuters Alfreton Town head into their first friendly of the pre-season campaign on Saturday in preparation for the upcoming National League North season, in which they will set out to win promotion to England's fifth tier after falling in the playoffs last time around.
After a fifth-placed finish and a playoff quarter-final exit in 2023, the Reds set out to go one better and seal a return to the National League last term, and they again finished the regular season in fifth spot with 80 points on the board, their highest tally since winning the same division in 2011, setting up a meeting with Boston United in the first round of the playoffs. Billy Heath 's side had home advantage in that one-legged tie, but they would fall short of reaching the final four again in agonising fashion, with the 90 minutes and extra time both finishing goalless before the Derbyshire outfit succumbed to a defeat in the penalty shootout with the visitors converting all five of their spot kicks and Harry Perritt being denied in his team's fifth. As a result, Alfreton Town now turn their focus to a 10th strai.
