An indifferent start has seen them pick up just 3 points from 3 opening games - And that was on the opening day of the season at title favourites Eastwood CFC, winning 4-3 in a well-publicised game which saw the Eastwood manager acrimoniously sacked shortly afterwards.

Since then, they lost narrowly at Hinckley (1-0), before suffering a 2-0 home defeat to Heanor Town - another side expected to be in and around the top of the division come April.

Formed in 2008, Nirvana have a limited FA Cup pedigree, having made their debut in the worlds oldest cup competition in 2011, and playing a total of 30 games in the competition. Their best run in the competition came in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons - when they reached the first qualifying round - and on both occasions lost in a replay, first to Barrow Town (1-3) and secondly to Gresley Rovers (1-4).

Last season they lost at this stage of the competition at Daventry Town (1-3), whilst their last victory came in a replayed game against Selston in the 22-23 season, before losing to Kimberley Miners Welfare in the Preliminary Round.

League-wise, last season, they finished in 13th position in the league, winning 14 of 38 games, accumulating 50 points. At home they recorded 8 wins, 5 draws and 6 defeats.

The Blues have reached the Qualifying Rounds in the last 6 seasons - that's the first time since 1980 we have done so, but will need to win 2 games to get to that stage this time-around - having been drawn as 1 of the 438 teams entering the competition at the very first phase.

We have crossed paths with Nirvana previously, and quite recently. In our promotion season of 21/22, we were both in the United Counties Premier Division North, and first met at Grange Park in November 2021, when in an entertaining game, Nirvana took a surprise lead against the unbeaten Blues, before we fought back with goals from Tom Marshall, Micah Jebbison - who has spent time training with us this summer, and Alex Marshall. However the action didn't end there, goalkeeper Sam Wilson - now at Ilkeston Town, was dismissed, with Tom Marshall having to step into goal. He did, however, manage to keep a clean sheet and The Blues were relieved to finish the game 3-1 victors.

The return fixture, and our only previous competitive trip to Hamilton Park, in March 2022, saw us win by 2 goals to nil. The Blues were below par on the day, but thanks to Alex Marshall's 25th goal of the season and a typical Mitch Robinson header, we secured the points comfortably. James Taylor started for The Blues that day.

Last season, we were knocked out of the competition, despite a valiant effort against Kettering Town at Grange Park - Gianluca Bucci had fired us in front, but an equaliser on the stroke of half time proved crucial and Kettering scored 3 second half goals.

The Ground
Hamilton Park is located next to a local park from which the ground gets its name. Hamilton is a new suburb of Leicester located around 4 miles from the city centre.

Parking at the ground is quite limited, although there is plenty of on street parking in the new build estate opposite the ground as well as a small car park for the park which can be used. As is often the case with new build estates there is little in the way of amenities built so there is no pub within walking distance of the ground.

The postcode is: LE5 1LU, and should take around 40-45 minutes drive from Long Eaton.

Traditionally they play in Red and Black shirts, therefore, we will be playing in our traditional colours of Blue and Black shirts.

Entry: At the time of writing, we have not received information regarding price for entry - Once we do, it will be posted on here.

We hope to see many of our supporters on Saturday, and please if you are coming along, be sure to tag us into your photo's! #YouBlues

Match details

Match date

Sat 08 Aug 2026

Kickoff

15:00

Attendance

Team overview

Team Sponsors

Away shirt sponsor - National Maintenance Services

Player sponsor - Mark Attridge - JMK Wealth Management