Emley AFC vs Knaresborough Town. 08.09.23
Joe Marshall- @joemarshall_
The strongest argument for Yorkshire truly being God’s own county is the fact that it is the region that brought us football. Although the game was invented in Sheffield, the love for the sport runs deep throughout the county. This is showcased by the ultra competitive Northern Counties East Football League, a competition that contains dozens of teams from the Yorkshire and its neighbouring counties.
My Friday night football fix came from the NCEL Premier Division, as two of its strongest sides went head to head in an all-Yorkshire affair.
Emley
Emley is a small village located a few miles southeast of Huddersfield. With a population of less than 1,500 it is by far the smallest town, village or civil parish to be represented by a team in the NCEL.
Naturally, public transport links are a bit of a stretch. Getting there would require taking the train to Huddersfield and jumping on a connecting bus. By car, the journey is much more straightforward. From Manchester, it was a case of leaving the M62 at Exit 25 and navigating the twisting backroads towards the village.
Arguably the most iconic feature of the village and surrounding area is the 1047-foot Emley Moor transmitting tower. The structure is one of the north’s most recognisable landmarks and eclipses all other buildings in the country in terms of height, boasting a 19 metre advantage over The Shard. Along with the pewit (the lapwing bird that gives Emley AFC their nickname) the tower features in the centre of the club’s crest.
Fantastic Media Welfare Ground
Emley AFC’s home is the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground, located on Upper Street in the centre of the village. Parking was accessible on nearby roads, but as per the visitor’s guide on the club website, supporters should park respectfully.
The centrepiece of the Welfare Ground is its 330 seater main stand, it’s white seats radiant in the setting sun. The stand is flanked by the players’ changing rooms and the clubhouse on one side, and the club shop and food stall to the other.
The Welfare Ground reminded me very much of another of my favourite grounds; Hallam FC's Sandygate ground, thanks not only to its central main stand, but also the cricket pitch which lies opposite. Behind the goal closest to the turnstile, you will find a terraced area which runs for almost the full width of the pitch, known as the Richard Hirst stand. Although there isn’t an awful lot going on behind the other goal, the ground has a total capacity of 2000, more than 500 more than the population of the village, so I think they’re covered.
I was hugely impressed with the traditional aesthetics of the ground as well as the way that it has been looked after. The stunning sunset bathed the ground in a warm glow as we entered, but the ground holds a beauty of its own through its charming character. Despite the traditional feel, you can tell that it is well kept and maintained with pride, with no litter and everything freshly painted. The extremely practical perimeter walls around the pitch are perfect for pint balancing!
Fantastic Media Welfare Ground Experience
Visitors to the ground are greeted with a kind welcome. With an admission price of £6 for adults, the cost is in line with the rest of the league and equates to good value. Sadly, I was unable to purchase a programme as I arrived, as I got to the turnstiles before the batch arrived, and returned once they had sold out! Fortunately, Emley also provide the programme as a readable online version. Having both a physical copy and an online edition only reaffirms that Emley are a traditional club with a modern focus. For those lucky enough to get their hands on a physical copy, they cost £1.50 and contain 28 pages of quality content, broken up very rarely with advertising.
Beyond the main stand and food bar, the club shop and Pewit bar is available for supporters to buy drinks and merchandise. The club shop contains a wide variety of items, and I have to say I am a huge fan of both the home and away kits. The claret and blue home shirt is reminiscent of a certain London-based Premier League side, but more on them later…
The clubhouse is also located next to the main stand. It isn’t the largest clubhouse in the world, but it is as well kept as you would expect, and if you’re lucky enough to get a window seat, you’ll get a good view of the pitch.
Where the Welfare Ground really earns its stripes is in its culinary department. I had a delicious steak pie, chips and gravy, costing £6 with a can of coke. The menu boasts all of the usual non-league food, with no frills and no pretentious attempts to be featured on Footy Scran!
Emley AFC History
Emley AFC currently reside in the Premier Division of the Northern Counties East Football League, but this unassuming status doesn’t tell half the story of the club’s past, which includes cup runs, silverware, trips to Wembley, name changes, new homes, fresh starts and some more claret and blue..
They were formed in 1903, and initially competed in the Huddersfield and District League, a competition they won 10 times between 1914 and 1969. Success in this league and the Yorkshire League led to Emley joining the newly-formed NCEL in 1982.
Emley achieved a period of success in the 1980s. The decade saw them clinch two league titles (1987/88, 1988/89), as well as embark on a record FA Vase run which took them to the final in which they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Colne Dynamoes (1988). Other silverware also came their way in the shape of the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup which they won twice in the 1980s (and 9 times overall). Emley are in fact the current holders of this trophy, having won it last season, defeating Maltby Main in the final.
Emley supporters at Wembley for the FA Vase final (1988). Credit: The Pewit Papers
The successful 1980s saw Emley start the next decade in the Northern Premier League. They were promoted as runners up of the NPL Division 1 in 1991, meaning they spent the rest of the 1990s in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The 1990s were full of consistent if not spectacular mid-table finishes, with the occasional flirt with promotion. This period of mid-table consistency ended spectacularly in 2001, when they finished with a staggering 101 points. Incredibly, this was only enough for second place behind Stalybridge who amassed 102, meaning they missed out on promotion.
Sadly, this season coincided with new ground grading regulations in the Northern Premier League, which deemed three sided grounds unacceptable. The cricket pitch at the Welfare Ground was the sticking point for Emley, and they were subsequently relocated to Wakefield to play at Belle Vue, and their name was changed to Wakefield & Emley. By 2006, Wakefield (Emley was now dropped from the name) were relegated back to Division One, and by 2014, the club dissolved altogether.
By this point though, a lifeline had already been thrown, and the new Emley AFC were thriving. Having brought back to life in 2005/06 by a group of supporters, they club began again in the amateur ranks. After a single season in the West Yorkshire League, they took their place back in the NCEL, initially in Division One. They spent over a decade at the same level until they were promoted to the Premier Division in 2021. Despite two consecutive curtailed seasons, their strong records over the cut-short campaigns were enough to grant them a place at the next step of the pyramid. In further good news a year later, the rich history, honours and records achieved and described above were all attributed to the current club, meaning Emley have a true right to call themselves one of Yorkshire’s most successful non-league sides.
Through all of these twists and turns, the Pewits most high-profile moment in the sun came in the 1998 FA Cup Third Round, when the then Northern Premier League side travelled to London to face West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground. They put up a valiant effort in the 2-1 defeat, with the Hammers’ goals coming from Frank Lampard and John Hartson.
The Match
Emley AFC’s opponents for the evening were NCEL League leaders Knaresborough Town. The side from North Yorkshire came into the game in good form, with 5 wins from their previous 6 league games before their clash with the Pewits.
Before the game, supporters were treated to the most enthusiastic team announcement I’ve ever heard! The announcer’s rallying of the crowd to cheer each player and his occasional sarcastic comment made one of the most tedious parts of a pre-match build up something actually worth listening to!
Emley started the brighter of the two sides, with home advantage feeling very important. Kicking away from the Richard Hirst stand in the first half, the Pewits created a couple of early opportunities before a brilliant finish from Iyrwah Gooden gave them an 11th minute lead. A cross from the right hand side came to the busy forward who found the net with an audacious volley. This set the “ultras” in the Richard Hirst into action, and a chorus of “Watching Iyrwah Gooden, putting on a show!” came belting relentlessly from the terrace.
The ultras were tremendous and unrelenting in their support throughout the evening. In my various non-league travels, I’ve seen plenty of groups of young supporters try to create and atmosphere, but fall too easily into the trap of becoming overly negative and confrontational, spending more time berating the opposition than actually backing their own team. The Emley fans were a breath of fresh air, and continuously backed their players, they were a genuine credit to the club.
Emley’s bright start almost saw them take a 2-0 lead when Knaresborough gave the ball away, but the Pewits took too long to punish them and delayed getting a shot away, allowing Knaresborough to recover.
Emley doubled their lead from shortly after from the penalty spot. The spot kick was won by Gooden, who again was too quick for the Knaresborough defence. After bursting into the box, he found himself on the floor after a tangle of legs, and the referee had no hesitation in awarding the penalty. James Walshaw stepped up and buried the shot to make it 2-0 to the side that started the day 11 places below their opponents.
It remained 2-0 at the break with Emley’s flying start going unchecked by the visitors. The scoreline was fair on the hosts, but I’m sure most were expecting Knaresborough to come out fighting in the second half.
Fighting is exactly how the second half started began, with a scuffle taking place in the middle of the pitch, the catalyst for which I have to admit I missed thanks to being in the clubhouse a little too long!
Despite a being two goals down, the expected Knaresborough comeback failed to materialise. The home side limited the visitors to long range efforts which more often than not sailed comfortably wide of the mark. If anything, it was Emley that looked most likely to score the next goal of the game, with Gooden still looking lively.
The greatest Knaresborough chance came in the 75th minute, when a header was cleared off the line, but other than this, it was a fairly tepid second half display from the table-toppers. In fact, the most action provided by the visitors was during a reckless five minute period towards the end of the game, which saw Brett Smith sin-binned and Ewan Gregson sent off for an offence which I missed, but was described as a stamp by Emley’s Twitter account.
In the end, 2-0 was a scoreline which reflected the comfortable nature of the Emley display; a good result which moved the Pewits up to 8th. Before the end of the game, my favourite announcer informed the supporters of the evening’s attendance, which was a very impressive 360, a figure which works out as almost 25% of the population of Emley!
I’ve always believed that football should unite a community. The sport has the power to bring people together for a collective cause, and clubs that harness that spirit tend to capture audiences and bring fans back. There are few better examples of a club being truly at the heart of the community than at Emley. The ground is located pretty much at the centre of the village, meaning that residents have an accessible place to pilgrimage to every other week. The way that fans interacted with each other, regardless of age, was brilliant. The older fans and the young ultras singing in unison with the care-free jubilation that only football can provide was a reminder of the magic of the sport.
Emley is a place for the romantics, it encapsulates every tiny joy of non-league football. The ground is charming, the people are passionate, welcoming, knowledgeable and friendly and the food was outstanding. A trip to Emley is highly recommended if your football passions run as deeply as mine, and if you’ve read this far, then I’m guessing they probably do!
Final score: Emley AFC 2-0 Knaresborough Town
Attendance: 360
Admission: £6
Programme: £1.50