Holt United - Holt Sports Centre

Holt United FC

Holt Sports Centre

Kelling Road

Holt

Norfolk

NR25 6RT

01263 711217

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Ground Number: 1213
Friday 25th August 2023
Holt United 3-1 Castle Acre Swifts
Anglian Combination D1

HOLT UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1894 and a year later, they were founder members of the North Norfolk & Norwich League. In 1924, they joined the Norwich & District League, winning it five times in seven seasons up until 1931. They went on to join the Norfolk and Suffolk League, finishing as runners-up in 1938, a few years after going on a long unbeaten run. The following year Holt were champions before the Second World War halted proceedings. Holt United would go on to join the Anglian Combination, finishing as runners-up in Division 2 in 1966 and Division 1 runners-up a year later. A long spell in the Premier Division ended in 1977. They moved to their current ground in 1986, but four years later dropped into junior football. Holt United rejoined the Anglian Combination at Division 2 level in 1997 but were relegated to Division 3 in their first season back. It took them time to recover but by 2001, they were Division 3 champions. In 2003, a runners-up spot behind Horsford United was good enough for promotion to Division 1. A 3rd place finish in 2008 saw Holt United promoted to the Premier Division, but their stay would last just one season. Worse was to follow in 2017 when they were relegated to Division 2. It would take them until 2022 to win promotion back, this time as runners-up to Aylsham. Last season saw Holt achieve a credible 7th-place finish in Division 1.

Holt United have entered the FA Cup twice, in 1949 & 1950 but lost both games. In 1977, they enjoyed a mini-run in the FA Vase, winning 3-2 at Fakenham and 2-0 against Chatteris Town before an 11-0 hammering at Stamford in the 2nd Round. They were also Norfolk Senior Cup runners-up in 1929 and Norfolk Senior Amateur Cup finalists in 1957. In terms of local honours, they've won the Norfolk Junior Cup three times. the Anglian Combination Junior Knockout Cup in 2003 and the Cromer Lifeboat Cup on three occasions. At present Holt United has four men's sides, the first team playing in Division 1 and the Reserves playing in Division 5 of the Anglian Combination. The A team plays in the North East Norfolk Division 2 and the Colts in Division 3. The Youth section of the club this coming season will have eleven teams from Under 8 to Under 16.

The market town of Holt is located in Norfolk, 23 miles north of Norwich. It has a population of around 3,800. Holt has a heritage railway station; it is the south-western terminus of the preserved North Norfolk Railway, known as the Poppy Line. The most likely derivation of the name Holt is from an Anglo-Saxon word for woodland, and Holt is located on the wooded high ground of the Cromer-Holt ridge at the crossing point of two ancient by-ways and as such was a natural point for a settlement to grow. The town has a mention in the great survey of 1086 known as the Domesday Book. In the survey, it is described as a market town and a port with the nearby port of Cley next to the Sea being described as Holt's port. A mid-air collision over the town occurred on the night of 19 August 1968, involving a Victor Tanker from RAF Marham and a Canberra bomber from RAF Bruggen in West Germany. This followed an electrical storm that had disabled radar systems. All seven airmen on board were killed. A memorial stone hangs inside Saint Andrew's Church.

On 1 May 1708, Holt was devastated by a fire which destroyed most of the medieval town in three hours. The fire started at Shirehall Plain and quickly spread through the timber houses of the town. The church was also badly damaged with its thatched chancel destroyed, the lead melted from the windows and the flames spreading up the steeple. Contemporary reports stated that the fire spread so swiftly that the butchers did not have time to rescue their meat from their stalls on the market. The damage to the town was estimated to be in the region of £11,000. The town subsequently received many donations from all over the country to aid reconstruction. The most famous person from Holt is the rower Matthew Pinsent.

MY VISIT

I booked this Bank Holiday weekend off ages ago, attracted by the lure of the South Wales Alliance Hop. I'd been very envious last season when the hop party visited some beautiful-looking grounds, notably Merthyr Saints. At the time, I was stuck in work and being a Sunday, it was not pleasant. I vowed to book this years up, though I was to be disappointed. The Welsh FA killed the weekend by placing the opening round of the FAW Trophy on Saturday and those games were a lot harder to change when not under the remit of the league. They were also uncommunicative when hop organiser Chris contacted them to seek clarifications. He then told us not to cancel the time off work as there would be a Central Midlands Alliance Hop. However, despite his best efforts, away teams refused to play at anything other than the standard time, a short-sighted and selfish chance as their clubs would have benefited in the future. So the whole thing was cancelled, but being a Bank Holiday, there would still be a healthy choice of games.

The weekend would have been further complicated by yet another train strike, so maybe it was better that it was cancelled sooner, rather than the late changes that were made to the Hellenic Hop for similar reasons. Friday had a wealth of choice and I'd really have liked a weekend away, starting off with West Auckland Town on Friday night. However, the school holidays making hotels pricey and the train strike seeing coach prices treble, it was a non-starter. It was a possibility that I could go with Dan for his trip to Yorkshire and boy did he keep going on like a stuck record in an attempt to get me to go. But the logistics did not work out. I'd have to drive 80 miles to Braintree for a 6 a.m. start and the match choice was not inspiring me. Instead, it was me doing the driving. I offered both Dearne & District and Holt United to him. Despite the slight chance of seeing Dan get a slapping in Yorkshire from an angry Chesterfield fan after a Twitter spat, Chris elected to go to Holt United.

That was fine by me, even if the roads were not as good. That said, I switched out a long day the following day for something more local as I'd not be back until around 1 am. The last couple of days at work were a mixed bag. Wednesday was easy but Thursday was a long hard slog with the shift being nine hours. It was getting near to Bank Holiday weekend, so as expected, the class of customers plumbed down and the number of out-of-control children shot up. I was glad to get out at 6 and unusually for a Thursday, had a couple of pints to unwind once I'd got home. The day of the game came and I went out for a relaxing walk before coming home for a few hours. I left just before 2, stopping for petrol on the way. The roads were terrible and I didn't get to Chris until 3.30. It was a simarly slow trip to Holt with us barely touching any decent roads on the way. We were there at 6.30 to find our Chinese takeaway of choice closed for redecorating. Instead, we went to a chippy and kebab shop called Nelson Fries 4 All. It was OK but nothing special with me having the special shish and chips. From there, we drove to the ground, paying £2 for entry, programme and raffle.

 

Holt United were unbeaten in their two games so far, They'd kicked off the season by beating Thetford Rovers 3-0 before drawing 2-2 against Fakenham Town Reserves. Castle Acre Swifys had played just once so far, a thumping 5-0 win at Bradenham and Mattishall. The visitors had travelled just over 25 miles to tonight's game. Last season, Holt United finished 7th whilst Castle Acre Swifts were promoted after finishing 3rd in Division 2. The visitors started the better side, forcing a good save from the keeper early on. Castle Acre went 1-0 up after eleven minutes, a ball over the top found Dan King who used his pace to advance down the right, draw the keeper and then slot home from a tight angle. Both sides then had half chances, the better falling to Holt. Holt equalised on 49 minutes, despite Castle Acre Swifts starting the second period brightly. Holt United thought they had grabbed a second around 65 minutes, claiming the ball had gone over the line following a goalmouth scramble. The visitors claimed offside, the referee awarded a corner which came to nothing. On 74 minutes Holt did go ahead, a deep cross from the right was superbly headed home by #17. Holt United delighted their noisy and raucous support by making it 3-1 on 81 minutes. Another goalmouth scramble, this time #15 bundled the ball into the roof of the the net from a few yards out.

It had been another great night of football although Castle Acre Swifts will have felt hard done by. There was a healthy attendance of 105 at the game, though it was nowhere near the over 700 that turned up at Dearne & District for their game. That certainly shows the appetite for Friday Night Football is there and slowly but surely, clubs are learning. This did not extend to groundhopping events as yet another hop, this time the Witney & District, was pulled due to lack of interest from clubs. It was a shame. but cancelling things seems to have become a lot more common since Covid. Once more, it was a slow start to the journey, but once we hit the A47, we got moving. I fancied a drink or something to eat but I tried three '24 Hour' places and had no luck at any of them. I dropped Chris off at midnight, getting home an hour later. I had some cider and a ready meal before typing my blog. I was pleased that I'd stuck to a local game tomorrow as I didn't fancy an early start.

THE GROUND

HOLT SPORTS CENTRE or KELLING ROAD PLAYING FIELDS is an excellent venue for the eighth step of non-league. There's a small stand with a standing area and the pitch is railed along the sides. It is also floodlit. There is a second pitch with a smaller stand, the club appears to have moved the pitch to install floodlights. The bar is also decent with a basic range of drinks and a good range of food in the cafe. The small but pleasant town is around a 15-minute walk away and offers a range of places. Parking is plentiful at the ground, but tighter in town.