Newport County’s pre-season kicks off this Saturday as the Exiles take the short trip to The Creek Community Stadium, home of Bristol Manor Farm.
Newport take on Bristol Manor Farm in their first of four-pre-season fixtures where the squad will be looking to prepare for the upcoming season.
Chris Todd will also manage his first game as Newport manager since being appointed as interim on Sunday.
New Signings
So far this summer, Newport have made seven new signings who will all be looking to make their debut and show their worth under Todd.
Harrison Biggins is one of the seven signings who has already showcased what he can do after impressing under Fuchs’ spell during the second half of the season.
Kieron Evans, Cameron Norman and Kyle Cameron have also returned to South Wales where they will be looking to contribute towards the backline.
Former Forest Green Rovers players Yahya Bamba and Christian Doidge have arrived in Newport alongside non-league sensation Shaquille Gwengwe who believes he can bring his goalscoring talents to County.
The Opposition
Last season, Bristol Manor Farm finished in 15th place with a total of 48 points but will be looking to improve their league finish for this upcoming season as they look to earn promotion to Step three football. In their final game of the season they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Winchester City away from home with their last win being three weeks prior as they defeated Larkhall Athletic 2-0.
The Farm are regulars in the Southern Football League Division One South as they have remained in step four of non-league since 2017. Since their promotion, Bristol Manor Farm have had some of its biggest success across cup competitions as they reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup for three years running between 2018 and 2020 but could not get past National League opposition. The Farm have also been able to reach the FA Trophy first round twice as well as winning the GFA Cup in 2025 after a 3-0 victory against Bishops Cleeve. None of the non-league sides success would have been complete without their former long-serving manager Lee Lashenko as he ended his tenure at The Farm in April 2025.
The Bristolian side are not strangers to having EFL opposition at the Creek, having played Bristol City back in 2017 but suffered a heavy defeat to the Robins.
Shared Shirts
There has been one player who has played for both Newport and Bristol Manor Farm which is current Port Melbourne Sharks striker Lewis Bamford. Bamford made one appearance with The Exiles in the EFL before joining Cinderford. However, the Newport-born striker would later join Bristol Manor Farm and would stay there for a season before he returned back to Cinderford.
