Yorkshire Amateurs - Bracken Edge

Yorkshire Amateur FC

Bracken Edge

Roxholme Road

Chapel Allerton

Leeds 

LS7 4JG

0113 262 4093

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Ground Number: 1210
Saturday 12th August 2023
Yorkshire Amateur 0-4 Retford United

NCEL D1

YORKSHIRE AMATEUR FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was founded in the November of 1918 and for the first two years played at Elland Road, between the demise of Leeds City and Leeds United taking over the lease. A nomadic couple of years followed before they set up home at their current home, Bracken Edge. The club has played in the Yorkshire League on and off for the vast majority of their history. Highlights include the Division 3 championship in 1978 and the Division 2 championship in 1932 & 1959. Their best finish overall was 5th in Division 1 in 1962.

 The league was disbanded in 1982, merging with the Midland League to form the Northern Counties East League. Various reorganisations occurred during the league's formative years and by 1985, Yorkshire Amateur found themselves in the 4th tier Division 3. This was soon absorbed into Division 2 and subsequently into Division 1 in 1991. For the next six seasons, the club finished 4th or 5th before results tailed off. Yorkshire Amateur would remain here until 2018 when they won promotion as runners-up behind Knaresborough Town. A 5th place finish in the NCEL Premier was a great debut season and then their performance over the two pandemic-interrupted seasons earned them promotion to the NPL Division 1 East. A 10th-place finish marked a great 2021-22 season but ground grading saw them demoted back to the NCEL Premier. Management and players left and that resulted in a bad season with the team finishing bottom of the league. They start this coming season in the NCEL Division 1.

Yorkshire Amateur have twice reached the FA Cup 1st Round - firstly in 1931 losing 3-1 at Carlisle United and then in 1945 when it was a rare two-legged affair. They beat Football League side Lincoln City 1-0 at home but lost 5-1 in the away leg. Recent success has been harder to come by with the last nine ties and the last win a 2005 win over Bedlington Terriers. The FA Amateur Cup semi-final was reached in 1932. They beat Wimbledon 5-2 in front of a record attendance of 3,569 in a Quarter Final replay before losing 2-1 to Marine at Filbert Street, Leicester. The FA Vase 3rd Round was reached three times but little success was had in the FA Trophy.

In local cups, honours include the NCEL Wilkinson Sword Trophy in 1999, the Yorkshire League Cup in 1933 the Leeds and District Senior Cup and the West Riding Cup six times. Famous names to turn out for the club include former Football League secretary Alan Hardaker. West Bromwich Albion's 1990s keeper Stuart Naylor also played for the Ammers as a youth player as did their midfielder Garry Strodder. The club is based in Potternewton, a suburb and parish between Chapeltown and Chapel Allerton in north-east Leeds.

MY VISIT

This game was decided upon on Sunday night. I had drawn up a list of options for this coming Saturday, but all were pretty uninspiring. I had just about settled for a trip to Downton near Salisbury which worked out at 16p a mile on public transport - cheaper than driving. However, it still wasn't great value the pubs were not exactly brilliant so I looked further afield. National Express coaches have been very useful in combatting rip-off train fares before and now that I've discovered a way to get 20% off via my work union. It was about the only thing they were good for as they provide very little in the way of service or help for a couple of issues I've been having at work recently. I'd be restricted to big cities mainly but a return from London -  Leeds was secured for under £20. With the coach departing from Finchley Road, it would save me both time and money at this end too. My choice of match was Yorkshire Amateur v Retford United, the ground a 45-minute from Leeds Coach Station.

The week had gotten off to a stinking start when on my way to work on Monday someone smashed into the rear corner of my car and drove off without exchanging details. There is a large level of degenerates in the wider world, but especially in High Wycombe. Luckily, a nice lady showed a rare decent side of people by stopping and agreeing to be a witness but with no evidence of the other drivers' details, it was not a good situation. I tried to report the incident to the police online, but their form was not working. I then called my insurer as they have no online reporting facility and although the initial guy was very helpful, there was a long wait time on hold and I spent 70 minutes on the phone in all, having to pay my excess of £350 as the other driver was untraceable. I cheered myself up somewhat by ordering some of my favourite cider for the coming weekend. The week saw a couple of revisits and a whole lot of ballache with a visit to the unhelpful police station and sorting out repairs via the insurance. As the weekend dawned, I still couldn't believe that someone had just gone off without taking responsibility for their actions. Though given that High Wycombe is a dumping ground for the dregs of society, I shouldn't be surprised.

 

Work should have been easy on Friday with a simple six-hour shift. But it was full of people with screaming children and bad body odour. At least the bosses were decent as ever, but I was glad to get out at just after 3. I went home, got cleaned up and changed and had a much-needed drink. After the week I'd had and not having had a drink from my favourite cidery for ages, I especially enjoyed my first pint of Ross-On-Wye Ellis Bitter Blend. A couple more pints set me up for an early night and improved my mood. I awoke early on the day of the game but got back to sleep before my 6.30 alarm. Various bits needed doing and so there was no time for breakfast before leaving at 6.55. I grabbed an ice cream sandwich and energy drink out of the garage and drove to Amersham station. It was then a brief wait for the 7.22 to Finchley Road. It was there just after 8. Usually, I only use the station to switch over to the Jubilee Line to go to Borough Market but it was far easier to get here than Victoria Coach Station, my usual pickup point.

 The coach turned up on time but was quite full. I got the next best thing to a double seat - the back seat which had a decent gap between the one next to it. It filled up even more at Milton Keynes where we spent longer than I'd have liked. Another stop for a change of driver meant more waiting but it appeared not to affect the journey time. For over 3 hours, we had the constant soundtrack of a parent and her darling 'Tommy' arguing in a whiny nasal Essex tone.  Happily the foul creatures got off at Sheffield so I could take the headphones off should I wish. I also booked train tickets to Norwich for next Saturday at a reasonable £25 return from London. These will be used to visit Mulbarton Wanderers v Bedford Town in the FA Cup.

 

I got to Leeds at 12.35. I headed towards the Whitlocks Ale House which was easier said than done with very slow mobile Internet. Eventually, I found it by accident although they didn't have any of the Little Pomona cider they had advertised on Untappd. I headed instead to my first Wetherspoons, the Hedley Verity, trying to avoid the manic cyclists and street sellers. The Hedley Verity Wetherspoons was not the greatest, my Strongbow took 16 minutes to get to the table after sitting on the bar for ages but the chicken wing basket was OK. The next Wetherspoons was the Stick Or Twist, another one in a student area. This was far more modern, no guest cider again but a new try in Kopparberg Sweet Vintage Pear. It was out of the city centre, via a Carribean district and a nice Park to the ground. Entry was a well priced £6 and the ground was decent.

Yorkshire Amateur had continued their disappointing form this season, losing 6-0 at Wombwell Town on opening day. They'd drawn 1-1 at home to Louth Town but then lost again 5-2 at Nostell Miners Welfare. Retford United were top of the league having beaten Wakefield 3-0, won 2-1 at Dronfield Town and drawn 3-3 against Harrogate Railway Athletic.  A nice club off the pitch, but not great on it. It was a lovely volley that found the top right-hand corner for Retford after 14 minutes, the goal credited to Nick Guest. Yorkshire Amateur had a brief spell but Retford United were awarded a penalty for a trip. Mark West dispatched the spot kick and it was 0-2 on 27 minutes. On 33 minutes, some poor defending by the hosts saw Guest get his second, sweeping home following a ball from the left. The second half saw little action but I was in superb company with Retford United fan Terry. Retford scored a 4th ten minutes from time, Tom Roebuck finishing from close range. 

Half time had seen me get a decent hot dog and chips for £3.50 and a pint of Aspalls for £3.80. We left at 4.55, Terry kindly giving me a lift into town. The Hop was my intention, but that only did Aspalls. The Becketts Bank Wetherspoons was my third of the day and though busy, service was quick. I had a pint of Black Dragon for £4.28. And then a pint of Stan's Big Apple for the same price. Wycombe had lost 3-0 at Lincoln, there was a right noisy table next to me and it was Sunday tomorrow with all the sub-humanity that comes with that day. Oblivion would have been nice but I had a coach to catch and more importantly, a short drive home later. The coach left late, just after 7. The driver had put in an unscheduled 45-minute break, so it was gonna be hit or miss whether a lot of us made our onward connection. Even worse, it was busy, so I had to share a double seat but the person next to me was pleasant thankfully.

THE GROUND

BRACKEN EDGE is a lovely rustic old ground . There are seats for 150 , plus standing for a couple of hundred more. The tea bar is superb and the bar is decent too. There is a small car park at the ground, otherwise street parking. It;'s around 45 minutes walk from Leeds City Centre.