And so to April the First and the Marley Stadium in Keighley for this afternoon’s clash between Steeton and Holker Old Boys in the North West Counties Division One North.
Steeton AFC was founded in
1905 as Steeton Church Lads Brigade, although some believe it could have been
formed in the 1890s, playing at The Oaks in the Keighley & District League
– a league they won three times. After the Second World War the team moved to
the Craven & District League where they were famous for their ‘Bits of
Mint’ side which tasted silverware. The club also won a solitary league
championship in 1960.
In 1969 the side relocated to
the Doris Wells Memorial Field in Summerhill Lane following the construction of
Airedale Hospital, and in 1985 entered the West Riding County Amateur League
with a highest placing of runners up in the 2012/13 season.
Third in 2018 their
application to join the North West Counties Football League proved to be
successful. However the Doris Wells Memorial Field was not up to league ground
grading requirements – it was still used for reserve and youth team games – so
a groundshare with Keighley Cougars RLFC was agreed. Nearby neighbours the
Cobbydalers of Silsden AFC came to a similar arrangement when they joined the
North West Counties in 2004.
Evicted from Cougar Park in
2020, with Keighley using the stadium for ladies' rugby league matches on
Saturdays (which didn't happen due to Covid...), over the summer Bradford
Council redeveloped the Marley complex, with a 3G surface, just further down
Aire Valley Road on Marland Road. Steeton have been consistently lower to mid
table since joining the NWCFL but currently sit 6th of 18 this time around with
4 games to play - after Tuesday's 3-2 home victory over Garstang, overcoming a
2-0 half time deficit and the visitors having an injury time penalty saved......
Steeton AFC’s nickname is
‘The Chevrons’, from the French word for goat (chevre) and the club emblem
features a goat’s head, with the nearby Goat’s Head pub on Skipton Road
claiming to be the ‘Home of Steeton AFC’.
Holker Old
Boys AFC was established in 1936 as Holker Central Old Boys, initially as an
under 16 side from Old Boys of the then Holker Central Secondary School in
Holker Street, Barrow-in-Furness. The school has long since closed, replaced by
a Kwik Save supermarket which has also shut its doors.
The Cobs
(Central Old Boys), also known as The Stags, joined the adult North Western
League in 1939 and then entered the West Lancashire League in 1967. The club
moved in 1971 to a new ground at Rakesmoor, formerly an isolation hospital and
then allotments.
Holker won
the West Lancashire League in 1987 ahead of local rivals Vickers Sports Club
(now Hawcoat Park FC), and then moved to the North West Counties in 1991. The
Cobs finished 3rd in 1994 behind Haslingden (now defunct) and North Trafford
(now Trafford FC) but Haslingden failed the ground criteria so Holker were
promoted to the top tier.
The Stags
were relegated in 1999, after losing all 20 away games and scoring only 5 goals
on their travels. They have remained at step 6 ever since, with, until
recently, only a single losing play off appearance at the end of the 2014/15
season, defeated by Hanley Town. However they finished runners up last season,
losing the play off final 2-1 after extra time to Golcar United, and are
currently 7th, two places outside the play offs and level with the Chevrons,
goal difference one less, but with two games in hand.
So a raw, grey, drizzly day
peaking at 8C brings me onto Manchester Road and I come across numberplates UR
10VE X and M4RRY and Va Va Voom, plus a van advertising Pawsome Pets ☺
Beyond Style Junky and Soul
Star Holistics to the M60, and Beyond (the latest incarnation of Chill Factore
!) and then the M66, into Hyndburn, 'Home of Accrington Pals', and onto
the M65 and signs for Shuttlewoof Hall. The end of the motorway brings me
to Vivary Way and Colne. As ever the traffic is a nightmare.....
Having finally negotiated my
way through I come across the Morris Dancers pub, Hedge Hogg, the Hartley
Homes, Wycoller Country Park and The Atom Panopticon. Then the sprawling
village of Cowling, past the football club (reserves at home to Colne United
today), before arriving at the sign for Glusburn & Cross Hills (coming
t'other way the sign has the names reversed), home of Funky Monkey and
dominated by the Cirteq factory. There follows an interminable wait at Kildwick
Level Crossing....
Past Zolsha and right at The
Trawlerman onto the A629, Silsden to the left and Steeton to the right, The
Doris Wells Memorial Field visible from the road. Then left into the outskirts
of Keighley with Cougar Park behind the Texaco garage immediately on the left
and the Marley Stadium further down. I park next to a scrap metal merchants on
a rundown, litter strewn side street and wend my way into Keighley, taking in
the impressive Markazi Jamia Masjid mosque, Blue Ginger, Ace of Fadezz and the
Boltmakers Arms. My final destination is the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
on its first day back - 75078 on duty and £14 return for the 25 minute journey
to Oxenhope.
Finally to the Marley
Activities & Coaching Centre where Steeton are in very smart green and
green and white pinstripe quarters, Holker in change yellow - £5 in and a crowd
of 104 (862 at Keighley Cougars against Crusaders in the Challenge Cup just up
the road !) and today's referee is Thomas De Prez. Inside at the top end are
two shelters - the Varley Boilers covered stand, the other one unsponsored, and
nearside the Keighley Kia & Mazda seating in front of the clubhouse.
The ground is sited on an
industrial estate, the A650 at one end, picturesque views of the countryside,
Riddlesden rising into the hills on my left and surrounded by council football
pitches - 2 local games already in progress.
On 6 minutes
a deep corner is headed back by Stags' Josh Woodend and a sumptuous half volley
from Tom Dawson puts the visitors one up. Holker continue to dominate from set
pieces, aided by a complete absence of Chevron defending, and veteran Jason
Walker should have done better with a free header.
Gradually Steeton grow into the game and on 28 Andrew Briggs is played in, forcing a good save from Jay Barker. Arale Mohamed shoots wide but the closest the Chevrons come is six minutes before half time when a cross is chested onto the post by a Cobs' defender. Jake Townsend heads over just before the break, when it was easier to score, and Holker lead 1-0 at the interval.
Early in the second period Jamie Catlow, the home custodian, gets in a faff with a back pass, and the Stags nearly double their advantage. A minute later Mohamed is played through, outsprinting full back Hakan McCracken, and scores at the near post to equalise.
It doesn't last long as a soft free kick is flagged by the nearside linesman - an official I am providing Middlesbrough score updates with during the second half..... The ball is whipped in by Will McGladdery, static home defending, and Dawson claims the final touch to put the Cobs 2-1 up.
Thereafter it's all about game management as, apart from Raeece Ellington's free kick with twelve minutes to play which whistles just past the post, Holker comfortably hold on to win 2-1. The Chevrons' play off hopes surely now over....
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