Holker Old Boys - Rakesmoor Lane

Holker Old Boys FC

Rakesmoor Lane

Hawcoat

Barrow-in-Furness

Cumbria

LA14 4QB

01229 828176

Official Website

NWCFL Page

Twitter

Ground Number: 1577

Saturday 29th August 2026

Holker Old Boys 4-2 Daisy Hill
NWCFL D1 North

HOLKER OLD BOYS - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1936 as Holker Central Old Boys and was initially an under-16 team for former pupils of the Holker Central Secondary School. They joined the adult North Western League in 1939, before joining the West Lancashire League Division 1 (the modern-day Premier Division) in 1967. Mid-table finishes were the order of the day at first, but in 1973, they finished bottom and were relegated to Division 2. A 4th place finish in 1976 was good enough for promotion back to Division 1. Relegation came again in 1979, but promotion followed in 1981 with a runners-up spot behind Haslingden. In 1986, Holker achieved their best finish so far when they finished as runners-up to B.A.C Preston. They went one better in 1987, whereas they were once again runners-up to B.A.C in 1988. In their last season in the West Lancs, they finished 4th in 1991. That year, they joined the North West Counties League, struggling in the second tier for a couple of seasons before winning promotion with a 3rd place finish in 1994. Five years were spent in the top tier, with a best finish of 11th in 1996. Relegation came in 1999, and they have been in the second tier ever since. It has been known under various guises - Division 2, Division 1 & Division 1 North. Holker have come close to promotion on three occasions. In 2015, they finished 5th and lost in the playoff semis to Hanley Town. In 2022, they were runners-up to Bury, beat Nelson in the semi-final, but lost to Golcar United in the playoff final. Finally, in 2025, they finished 4th but lost to Droylsden in the playoff semi-finals.

Holker Old Boys' best FA Cup run came in 2004 when they beat Hall Road Rangers and Silsden before losing to Harrogate Town in the 2nd Qualifying Round. They have not played in that competition since 2015, but have remained regular participants in the FA Vase. The 2023/24 season saw their best run when they beat Padiham, Whickham, FC Isle of Man and Squires Gate before losing to Bury in the 4th Round. In terms of local cups, they have won two Lancashire Amateur Shields. The club played on local fields until 1971, when they moved to their current home with floodlights installed in 1993. In 2003, a home match against F.C. United of Manchester was moved to Craven Park, the home ground of Barrow Raiders rugby league club, due to the anticipated size of the crowd; the attendance of 2,303 was a club record. The biggest attendance at Rakesmoor was 1,240 for a local cup game with neighbours Barrow in 1995.

MY VISIT

When the West Lancashire Hop was announced, I fully intended to do the whole hop. Yes, the three on Saturday were all Division 2 grounds, but they seemed like decent clubs, with grounds as good as most in the Premier Division. But then PuffPuff started his usual 'you should do Holker Old Boys', and for once, it was actually a decent suggestion. I'm not a fan of changing plans usually, but this one made sense. Holker Old Boys were out on a limb, and there wasn't too much it could be paired up with on a hop - only grounds in the Northern League that either I or the hop had done, not that it stopped Newton Aycliffe hosting games in 2014 and again next year. Hop organiser Chris and his helpers at GHUK had done their best to avoid hoppers drifting off to other games by scheduling so that drifters would have to miss two games, but I'd expect that many faraway hoppers would take the opportunity to visit a distant ground at a higher level. There was no guarantee that I'd be able to make any future hops, so I thought I'd take the plunge. I'd actually been to Holker before a game at Barrow in 2013. I was not as organised with my hopping back then and certainly would have planned a more organised trip were I doing it now with the games fitting into a smaller area - I think a week of games came in at over 1,300 miles!.

From Caton, it was just over an hour for me to drive Colin, Shaun & me to Holker Old Boys. It was a lovely scenic route, but I think I might have been caught speeding on the A590, a change to 40mph from 60mph on the average speed camera road; I only noticed when I saw the 40 painted on the road. I might even miss out on a speed awareness course, which is a pisser, as I've been a good boy since New Year's Eve 2022 when I got done on the way back from Airbus UK on a similar type of camera. We were there just after 2; the setting was very rural, entry was £5 as was a pint of Somersby Apple cider with a club glass included. I sat in the bar and attempted to get my earlier blog up. The free wifi was super useful with the mobile signal being patchy. Colin had already upset Richard this weekend with his behaviour towards drivers, and he started moaning that 'I never help him out' despite me giving him getting on for 300 lifts and doing a fair few revisits. Apparently, I only go to games that I want to do. A cheeseburger wrap for £6.50 put me in a good mood; this really was excellent, tasty and well worth the money, right before kickoff. 

Holker Old Boys were in 5th place and had won four, drawn one and lost two of their games so far. In their last game, they drew 1-1 at Halewood Apollo. Daisy Hill were in 10th and had won two, drawn two and lost one. Last time out, they lost 2-1 to Woolton. It was an even game that kicked off a minute early. Holker took the lead on 20 minutes, a swift break and a close-range finish from Brandon Collins. Daisy Hill equalised on 26 minutes, a smart move and a low shot from the edge of the area by William Shawcross. The officials made a couple of controversial calls around the half-hour mark, first disallowing a close-range Holker goal for offside and then sending off one of their players for touching heads in a non-aggressive manner following a heavy but legit tackle. The Daisy Hill player was also given his marching orders for his part in the incident. Holker made it 2-1 on 40 minutes, Jamie Hodgson with a very well taken goal with tidy control and a low finish from twenty yards out. On 50 minutes, it was 3-1, a nice lob from outside of the area, Hodgson getting his brace. Holker were reduced to nine men thanks to a ridiculous dive by Nathan Reid, who did Tom Daley proud with no one near him and earned himself a second yellow. He walked off without protest, and even the Holker manager's protests were only brief. Daisy Hill had a good spell, but lacked the finishing touch. Holker Old Boys put the game beyond doubt on 89 minutes, a very quick break and a patient move at the end of it as they held up the ball and waited for the opportune moment for Tom Dawson to take his chance from around ten yards following a passing move. In injury time, Daisy Hill made it 4-2 with a tidy finish from Gerald Junior McCullen, but it made little difference to the outcome. The game ended with both managers being sent off post-match due to their unhappiness with the decisions made. 

THE GROUND

RAKESMOOR LANE is an excellent ground with plenty of character. The scenery is fantastic and the ground slightly ramshackle but well kept. The main seated stand is in one corner behind the goal and holds about 150. There is a small area of cover on one side, but otherwise, it's open to the elements. There was no merchandise there that I saw. The bar is pleasant and offers a reasonable range of drinks; the highlight is the excellent food bar with a great cheeseburger wrap. Car parking is plentiful, and despite the isolated location, there are buses available.

Caton United - Caton Sports Field

Caton United FC

Caton Sports Field

2 Hornby Road

Caton

Lancaster

Lancashire

LA2 9QS

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1576

Saturday 29th August 2026

Caton United 1-5 Langho

West Lancs D2

CATON UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1898 and is based in the Lancashire village of Caton, near Lancaster. They have played most of their history in the North Lancashire & District League, where I found few records before 1990. The mid-part of that decade was good to them with the Premier Division title won in 1994 & 1996. Around the turn of the millennium, they dropped down to Division 1, winning that title in 2004 to return to the Premier Division. They finished bottom of the league in 2009 and struggled in Division 1 before being promoted back as runners-up behind Arnside in 2011. Caton stabilised in 2014; they were runners-up behind Carnforth Rangers before winning the title in 2015. Two years later, they were runners-up again, this time behind Cartmel & District. The title was won again in 2022 before a 3rd place finish in their final season. They joined the West Lancashire League in 2023, starting out and remaining in Division 2 and generally finishing in the lower reaches of the table. Their best finish since joining was 10th in their debut season.

Caton-with-Littledale is a civil parish in Lancaster, near the River Lune. The parish lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and contains the villages of Caton, Brookhouse, Caton Green, Littledale and Townend. In the 2021 Census the population was 2,851. The original settlement of Caton was renamed Brookhouse after Brookhouse Hall and is separated from modern Caton, originally Town End. Archaeological, place name and other evidence attests that Norse invaders settled in the area in the tenth century (Wainwright 1975). Caton is supposedly named from the Norse personal name Kati (Ekwall 1960), meaning 'cheerful ', and ton. Geoffrey Hodgson (2008) argues that the Viking invasion of the area accounts for the relatively high frequency of the Hodgson surname in Caton and elsewhere in Lonsdale. The village of Caton has a health centre, pharmacy, Co-operative store, petrol station, Ford dealership, funeral director, the Station Hotel and the Ship Inn. It is also home to a cake shop specialising in custom-made cakes and other bakes. On 12 April 2008, a formal twinning agreement was signed with the village of Socx in France.

MY VISIT

From our game at Coppull, it was around fifteen minutes back to the hotel. Shaun went to the bar, but I had plenty of supplies back at the room and had a couple of pints whilst typing my blog. Colin watched 'The Great British Sewing Bee' on his tablet, which holds about as much interest to me as his wrestling. Each to their own though, as I am interested in the most random of stuff. Another Sean, a different one with a different spelling, had been good company at the game, although I had to concentrate to understand his scouse accent. The hops are always very convivial, with plenty of familiar faces.  I had a couple more, having intended on a quieter night, so would be taking it easier for the rest of the weekend. I got to sleep around 11.30. 

Colin's alarm went off at what I thought was 8, but it was actually 6. Still a three-hour lie-in, compared to work, but it took me a while to wake up. I got up at 7 and did some work on my blog before getting ready. I had been to the Henry Tate Wetherspoons in Chorley, but the other two hadn't, so we headed there for breakfast. Leaving at 8.45,  we arrived at 9. We parked in the car park opposite the Wetherspoons. Whereas cash only was like something out of the dark ages, the £2 charge to park certainly wasn't. It was the usual breakfast muffin, black pudding and energy drink for me. We left and got to the parking near the ground at 10.15. It was a few minutes' walk to the ground where entry was a fiver and I bought a couple of £1 cakes. It was a lovely setup, and the club had pulled out all of the stops to make the most of the day. 

Caton United were second bottom of the West Lancs Division 2, having won one and lost five of their games so far. Last Saturday they were beaten 6-1 by Garstang Reserves. Langho were 10th and had won two, drawn one and lost three. They'd won their last two games, beating Charnock Richard Reserves 6-1 last Saturday. It was 1-0 to Langho on 9 minutes, a right-sided high cross bundled home from within the six-yard box. It was 2-0 on 57 minutes, another high cross; this time the keeper misjudged it, and it went in. A minute or so later, it was 3-0, a low shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner. Caton pulled one back with a header on 70 minutes. On 74 minutes, it was 4-1 to Langho; a cross from #14 was tapped in right on the line. Right near the end, as the hoppers were gathering near the exit, it was 5-1 with a shot from just outside the area.

 

THE GROUND

CATON SPORTS FIELD is an excellent setup for step 9 of non-league. The pitch is railed on three sides and is scenic. At the ground when I went were breakfast rolls, cakes and a bar as well as pin badges and club cups. Nearby was a pub, various takeaways and a, Co Op. The car park at the ground is pretty small, but there are plenty of alternatives.