Celtic’s opening league game is away at Vauxhall Motors. Last season, Vauxhall finished fifth on seventy-four points, four points and one place above Celtic. Kick-off 3pm.

Vauxhall finished in the play-offs, losing against Hednesford Town. A rare away loss for the Wirral-based outfit, although their run-in form had seen them drop from second to fifth. In their last ten games of last season, they won two, drew five and lost three. Their last home match saw them succumb to a 3-1 defeat to Widnes, whilst their last match finished goalless at Congleton. We played Vauxhall in that run in, and they needed only one point to finish fifth, making for an ugly game.

Vauxhall had the fifth best attack and the fourth best defence last season, scoring thirty-eight at home and thirty-five away with an average of 1.7 goals per game. They failed to score in seven games, four at home (two of those in their last three home games), and kept five of their thirteen clean sheets at home. Nick Rushton finished third in the league’s golden boot chart, and topped Vauxhall’s with eighteen goals.

Vauxhall won this fixture last season after a spot of cheating by Dominic Hoppe got Javid Swaby Neavin sent of with the red card overturned on video evidence. Celtic had got back into the game after a disastrous opening five minutes, but the red card changed the game and Vauxhall scored late. We haven’t won at Vauxhall since a 3-1 win in 2014 with goals from Matt Regan, Kristian Platt and Ryan Crossdale, this was also our last win over them. In our last five visits, we’ve drawn one, won one and lost three. In our last ten meetings, we’ve won three, drawn two and lost five.

Vauxhall beat Warrington Town in their final friendly of the season, beating them 3-1 in Ellesmere Port. In that match, Vauxhall’s line-up included: Reece Trueman, Vita Mbolokele, Dom Hoppe, Toby Jones, Adam Hughes, Finlay Heath, Conor Harwood, Josh Quarless, Joe Malkin, Nick Rushton and Xenon Behula.

Celtic lost their last pre-season friendly away at Hyde, losing 2-0, with Celtic’s line-up including: Charlie Monks, Jordan Butterworth, Kyle Brownhill, Jack Byrne, Jack Tinning, Charlie Doyle, Liam Tongue, Jack Irlam, Ellis Horan, Benni Smales-Braithwaite and Max Leonard.

Celtic need to get off to a good start, but our record against Vauxhall is below par. Both teams are slated for the play-offs, so it is a difficult start.