Harleston Town - The Recreation Ground

Harleston Town FC

The Recreation Ground

29 Wilderness Lane

Harleston 

Suffolk

IP20 9DD

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1470

Friday 5th September 2025

Harleston Town 1-1 Kirkley & Pakefield

Eastern Counties Premier

HARLESTON TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1885. They became members of the top division of the East Anglian League in 1952. At the end of the season, the league merged with the Norfolk & Suffolk League to form the Anglian Combination, with Harleston placed in Section A. However, they were subsequently relegated down several divisions. In 1981, Harleston won the  Division 3 title followed by the Division 2 title the following year. By 1994, though, they were back in Division 3, suffering relegation at the end of that season. A 4th place finish was good enough for promotion back to Division 3, and the club remained there until 2006 when they were once more relegated. 

2009 was the start of a rapid rise up the pyramid. Harleston finished 3rd to win promotion back to Division 3. In 2011, they lifted the title to win promotion back to Division 2 for the first time in twenty years, and they celebrated by winning that division the following year. Division 1 was won in 2014 for promotion to the Premier Division A number of 2nd & 3rd place finishes in Division 1 culminated with the title in 2018. This saw them promoted to the Eastern Counties D1, where they missed out on the title by a point to Swaffham Town. However, the club were relegated back to the Anglian Combination Premier Division as their ground failed the grading criteria by not having floodlights. Results over the pandemic seasons and the installation of floodlights saw Harleston go back up to the Eastern Counties D1 in 2021. They were runners-up to Sheringham in their first season back, making the playoffs.  After beating Framlingham Town 2–1 in the semi-finals, they defeated Downham Town 3–1 in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division. They've been there ever since, with 2023 producing a best-ever 3rd-place finish.

Harleston Town reached the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round last season, beating Heacham and Soham Town Rangers before losing to Biggleswade Town in a replay. They also reached the FA Vase 2nd Round, beating Wisbech Town, Heacham and Halstead Town before a 4-1 defeat at Tring Athletic. Local cup wins include the 

East Anglian League Knockout Cup in 1964, beating Norman Old Boys in the final. The town of Harleston is located 15 miles from Norwich and has a population of 5,000.  It is on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, close to the River Waveney. Harleston has two markets every Wednesday. The name "Harleston" possibly means Heoruwulf's or Harold's stone. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Heroluestuna. The right to hold an eight-day fair during the period of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist was granted to Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk, by Henry III in 1259. Harleston railway station closed in 1953. The nearest station is now Diss, which is ten miles to the west.

MY VISIT

I'm always up for a bit of Friday night football, and although I saw a game on the first three Fridays of August, last week drew a blank. I saw Harleston were at home either in the Football Traveller or Futbology, I can't remember which. But it was perfect in the respect that it was just about doable in midweek, but I'd not fancy a 3.50 alarm the following morning. That had been the drawback which had led me to hold off going to New Milton on Wednesday due to concerns over being tired. It was also better that I went past Colin's, as he often falls asleep and doesn't turn up near mine at the bus stop, which was a major concern for me the following morning, as it would ruin our Rushall Olympic and Eccleshall double.

From my game at Goring, it was a simple train ride back to Reading, followed by a walk to the Castle Tap. A strange place, full of headbangers like the Spinning Top in Stockport. Unlike that venue, though, I left after my pint of Little Pomona Little Miracle and half of Delirium Red in a fairly sober state and was at the bus stop five minutes early. It was a long journey back to Wycombe, during which I uploaded my blog and read about the fallout of Wycombe's latest defeat at Stevenage, where we failed to register a shot on target. It wasn't a happy fan base, but I was in a decent mood, glad that I hadn't let one result dictate my mood for the weekend. I was back at 8 and had a couple of pints and chilled before bed. Sunday and Monday were workdays with no football, but I managed to get through. The weather definitely looked to have turned for the worse with a storm and torrential rain on Monday afternoon. I watched the conclusion to an underwhelming transfer window for Wycombe, but I was so tired that I was asleep just after 9.

That, along with a yellow warning for rain and Colin struggling a bit for cash, led to us shelving plans for our trip to New Milton on Wednesday. Had it been Tuesday, tiredness wouldn't have been an issue and as much as I can cope with being tired in the morning, I didn't want to drive tired. In the evening, I went to Wycombe Wanderers v Colchester in the Football League Trophy. Bitter rivals back in the day, and I was encouraged when we started with a strong lineup. But it was the same negative, possession-heavy and shot-shy rubbish as has been standard under Mike Dodds. Colchester deservedly won 2-1 as they were better managed and wanted it more than us. It took me ages to drop off to sleep again, but thankfully, the next day was my short shift at work. The afternoon was spent doomscrolling on the Wycombe Wanderers message board, and it's safe to say fan morale is at one of the lowest points in my 34 years of supporting the club.

It was a huge ten-hour shift at work on Thursday, then it took an hour rather than fifteen minutes to get home due to a road closure. I was considering going to Amersham Town v St Albans City in the FA Youth Cup, but opted for an early night instead. This did me good ahead of another busy day at work. I left at 3.35, picking Colin up at 3.50. We had a slow start getting out of Amersham due to road pests, Cadent digging up the road, but having no one working. There were then delays on the M25 as expected, then when we got nearer the town, thanks to a slow silver Volvo SUV driving at half the speed for 20 miles. We were there at 6.40, parking next to Terry and his mate from Retford. Daniel and the Essex guys had gone the opposite way to Pontypridd, and as well as yet again getting other hoppers to do the driving and put the miles on their car. He was also pestering Colin via phone call as usual, which was ignored. We went to The Cap, where I had a pint of Village Green Medium Soul, which was local and very nice. We ordered food from Kam Moon Chinese. In my case, it was a portion of salt and pepper chips and a Malaysian King Prawn Sambal, both of which were excellent. From there, we walked to the ground, arriving at 7.30. It was £8 entry and £1 for a nice thick programme. It was a big crowd and several hoppers in attendance, including Tony from Manchester and others from Gillingham and Retford.

 

Harleston Town were in 13th place, having won one, drawn one and lost three of their games so far. Last time out, they had lost 1-0 at Ipswich Wanderers. Kirkley & Pakefield were a place higher in 12th. They had won two and lost three of their games so far.  They had won three of their last four in all competitions, including last week when they beat bottom side Woodbridge Town 2-0. Harleston started on the front foot and were ahead in the opening minute, Nathan Stone bundling home. Harleston had much the better of the first half, with Kirkley & Pakefield having chances on the break. Terry was excellent company as ever. Nathan Russell's excellent 30-yard free kick levelled things up for Kirkley and Pakefield on 70 minutes. Kirkley had scorer Nathan Russell sent off for what was deemed excessive force. Cam Russell was then sin-binned for what I presume was dissent, leaving the visitors with nine men. The attendance was 220, but seemed more. It was over double the 100 that they usually get because FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL PAYS.

THE GROUND 

THE RECREATION GROUND or WILDERNESS LANE is a decent step 5 venue. There's a decent seated stand that holds around 150, and a covered standing area. The rest of the ground is open hard standing. All of the food and drink is done in the turnstile area, though I didn't sample. Admission was fairly priced at £8, and a decent, thick programme was £1. The only slight annoyance is that the floodlights aren't the brightest. There was a reasonably sized car park. The town is a short walk away and two places well worth a visit are The Cap pub and the Kam Moon Chinese.