Goole

Goole AFC is a non-league football club from the town of the same name that is situated forty-five miles inland on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The club was formed in 1910 as Goole Town FC becoming founder members of the Yorkshire Combination before joining the Midland League in 1912.

Following the end of the Great War, Town left the Midland League to join the Yorkshire League. During their spell in the competition, Goole were crowned as champions on three occasions, before returning to the Midland League in 1948.

Town's highest finish in the Midland League came in 1950-51 when they finished in third spot. A fine run in the 1956-57 FA Cup saw victories against Harrogate Railway Athletic, Farsley Celtic, Gainsborough Trinity, Wigan Athletic and Workington led to a third-round encounter against Nottingham Forest. The Reds proved too powerful and brushed Goole aside 6-0 at the City Ground.

Goole Town became founder members of the Northern Premier League for the 1968-69 season, where they remained usually in mid-table until they were relegated to the league's Division One in 1993. Worse was to follow as the club were demoted to the Northern Counties East League at the culmination of the 1994-95 campaign.

Unfortunately, financial problems took hold in 1996 when the club folded to be replaced the following year by Goole AFC which is generally seen as a continuation of the same club. John Reed was appointed as manager, taking the reborn Vikings to the Central Midlands League Premier Division title in 2007-08.

Third place in 2008-09 while in the Supreme Division was enough to win promotion to the Northern Counties East League, winning the Division One title on the first attempt. Mike Norman, the Leeds businessman who brought football back to the town had passed away. His son Richard took over before handing the club back to the people of the town.

In November 2000 Peter Daniel replaced Reed, who had been in much demand from other clubs. After ten months Steve Richards was appointed as manager before he was succeeded by player-manager Nigel Danby as the 2004-05 season brought more success to the Victoria Pleasure Grounds as the Premier Division was won and the club was promoted to the Northern Premier League.

Plans to upgrade the VPG to Conference standards were put together in 2008. Although an option was available to move the club to the proposed new Westfield Banks Sports Academy, which would enable the local Council to sell the VPG and put funds into the new venture. 

The club entered administration in 2009 before Danby who had been joined by joint manager Mick Norbury departed early in the 2009-10 season with Karl Rose their successor. He remained in charge until May 2011 when former hero Reed returned for a second spell at the helm.

After a slight league restructuring, they were moved from the Northern Premier League Division One South at the end of the 2011-12 season, to the Northern Division. However, they were placed once more in Division One South in the summer of 2013.

In October 2013 the London-based property businessman Baron Bloom bought the club and immediately installed David Holdsworth as manager with Curtis Woodhouse as his assistant while providing an increased playing budget. Holdsworth left Woodhouse in sole charge in January 2014.

Bloom sold the club for £1 in December 2014 with Woodhouse following him out of the door a month later. Lee Morris was appointed as manager in February 2016 to replace Alan Semley. The new man lasted seven months in charge. Rose returned to the VPG as Goole were relegated back to the Northern Counties East League at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

Steven Jeff lasted a matter of months as the new manager before he was replaced in December 2018 by the pairing of Matty Bloor and Terry Barwick. Another duo, Lutel James and Les Nelson replaced them in February 2020 while two seasons were abandoned owing to the worldwide pandemic.

Mark Pitts and Simon Portrey then took over the reins in a difficult time for the club before being replaced by Mike Carmody in January 2021 as Goole looked to reduce their playing budget. Simon Houghton was next in the hot seat from November 2022 as plans were announced for a major redevelopment of the Victoria Pleasure Grounds.

An artist's impression of the redeveloped
Victoria Pleasure Grounds

Carmody enjoyed a second short spell in charge before Paddy Kenny and Nathan Helliwell were given the manager's job in October 2023. Helliwell was left to take charge alone before he departed in August 2024 with Reon Potts taking his place.

Meanwhile, major finances were secured for the ground redevelopment which would see the venue shared with Goole Vikings RLFC who gained acceptance into the professional setup for the 2025 season.

Goole will compete in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Goole Town 0 Scarborough 0 (Saturday 16th September 1972) FA Cup First Qualifying Round (att: 1,800)

Goole Town and Scarborough had a fierce rivalry ever since they both became founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968. Many players have played for both clubs over the years, most notably Jeff Barmby, father of Nicky Barmby who was signed by Boro from Goole after he was a Hull City junior in 1969. 

He went on to be voted Boro's greatest-ever player in 1998 by the supporters. He went Boro won their last away game at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds (VPG) to stay up in the inaugural season. I was too young to go but my Dad loved to tell me the story of a frenetic clash which saw Boro full-back, John McMurran, run straight over the ball at a free kick and kick a Goole player in the mid-drift for not retreating and time wasting.

My first time was as far as I remember for a goalless FA Cup tie. The ground was pretty basic, at least in the eyes of a youngster who was used to seeing games at the relevantly opulent Athletic Ground and Boothferry Park. 

The pitch had a black cinder running track surrounding it meaning the few rows of terracing at the Marcus Street End was a fair way from the pitch. To the left was the Main Stand side with the stand split between bench seats and terracing. Opposite was a long low cover where most of the Boro fans congregated. The Railway End was just fenced off so fans could walk on the grass behind the goal while watching the trains chug by.

I went with my Dad and Uncle Fred in his car with the pair of them stopping for a couple of pints near Boothferry Bridge before entering Goole.

Goole Town 1 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 31st January 1976) FA Trophy Second Round (att: 3,100)

The same happened when we attended the FA Trophy Second Round match. There was a massive crowd to see Trophy king's Boro in town. The game ended 1-1 with Sean Marshall scoring the visitor's goal before Jeff Barmby destroyed his old club in the replay. 

A Boro player, Dick Hewitt I think, was carried off with a jaw injury while some fans from both sides fought a running battle in the terracing around the Main Stand. I was especially excited because star winger Tony Aveyard returned without much prior warning after trials at Burnley, Man City and Arsenal. 

He was a hero of mine so I was really thrilled when my Dad broke the news when he got in from work on Friday evening. It was such a terribly sad day when he lost his life after a head injury following a match just fourteen months later.

Goole 0 Scarborough Athletic 2 (Tuesday 19th July 2011) Pre Season Friendly

I caught the train to Doncaster, where I was staying for the evening. After booking into my hotel and laughing at the Murdoch's being grilled before parliament, I had a couple of pints and a meal before taking the train to Goole. I reckoned that arriving an hour before the game was about right.

I was going to have a pint in town, but my good friend Fred had told me that Hull lads called Goole "The Wild West". I remembered this and decided to give the club some of my hard-earned cash. The walk to the ground was an eye-opener. I don't think I've ever seen so many bookmakers and takeaways in such a small area. 

Hardly anyone spoke English. I later found out that the town had a 25% immigrant population. It was awful. I continued down the old terraced Carter Street past yet another 'chippie' and a closed working men's club to the entrance of the ground. The welcome was friendly and admission was £5. 

I bought some raffle tickets and then the fella selling them apologised that there were no programmes for the match as the man in charge was stuck in heavy rain in York. I made my way past the Main Stand around the back to the clubhouse. A few Boro fans started coming in. The beer was so cold that the taste had been strangled from it but the lass behind the counter was pleasant as we sat looking at the TV. 

I was actually quite glad when it was time to go out and watch the game. As ever there was a high percentage of Boro fans in the low crowd of just 100. I had a chat with my old mates and tried to catch up with any news regarding the team and club. The financial reports for the year were slightly alarming, but it was good to hear that measures were been taken to address this.

I then had a proper look around the Victoria Pleasure Ground. Plans to upgrade it to Conference standards were apparently put together in 2008. An option had been available to move the club to the proposed new Westfield Banks Sports Academy, which would have enabled the local Council to sell the VPG and put funds into the new venture.

The Main Stand was a good structure towards the Marcus Street End, with a large enough terrace before it gave way to some raised tip-up seats. It was the same original structure with some work on it. A couple of steps of the open terrace were beyond this. The far side had a basic cover over the halfway line offering protection from the elements. The rest of the ground was flat open standing around the new running track.

I had passed the VPG regularly on the train from Doncaster to Bridlington on my way to watch Scarborough Athletic. I was on two days' rest from work after completing my night shifts and Boro had arranged a pre-season friendly sometime earlier, so I decided to take my opportunity of a return.

The game was a good workout for Boro under the management of Rudy Funk against the home side who played a division higher in the pyramid. Boro were in form and although Goole had plenty of the play, they didn't have a clear attempt on goal. The visitors on the other hand looked dangerous.

Bill Law gave Athletic the lead after a series of off-the-line clearances. At halftime Karl Rose, Boro's former player and now Goole manager made the excellent gesture of lending the visitors a goalkeeper after Ed Eley had strained an ankle in the first half. If only there was a bit more of this in the game.

The livewire new signing, Curtis Bernard doubled the lead in the second half showing his pace and composure when through on goal. The game slowly petered out to complete another impressive pre-season display from the Seadogs.

I said my goodbyes and made my way to Goole station for a train back to Doncaster and an early night to reserve some energy for a groundhop around South Yorkshire. The nightlife of Goole didn't tempt me to wait for the 10.50pm train!

Goole 1 Scarborough Athletic 3 (Thursday 26^th December 2013) Northern Premier League Division One South (att: 422)

The last day of my Christmas break saw Boro travel to their local derby; a mere distance of fifty miles! Paul ‘Badger’ Walker made the kind offer of giving his regular companions a free ride. I’d been in the right place at the home game the previous Saturday, so I also got an invite I couldn’t refuse.

We departed at midday on the minibus. It was like the old days as I got aboard with some older gents who I’d seen much of the country with when supporting the old Scarborough FC. It was a cold but bright and dry day as we reminisced about previous encounters with Goole Town.

It didn’t take much more than an hour before Badger was parking up on Carter Street, just up the road from the Victoria Pleasure Ground. I went to the turnstile to ensure I got a programme before catching up with the rest of the crew in the sparse Goole town centre. 

It really wasn’t much to write home about, as it was virtually deserted. We had a pint in the Wetherspoon outlet, City and County where I met my old pal Gary Griffiths before heading over the road to The Old George to watch the end of the entertaining Hull City v Man Utd clash. 

On approaching the ground after drinks a pal told me that not all was not well at the turnstiles. Despite Goole’s website and the board outside stating that admission was £7, their chairman Baron Bloom decided to charge £9, presumably after seeing the hordes of away fans arriving. 

Boro chairman Dave Holland was doing an excellent job in difficult circumstances as he placated the fans. Unsurprisingly the perpetrator was nowhere to be seen. Things were extremely heated and quite unpleasant which is the last thing anyone needs before what could be a heated derby.

The Goole volunteers were courteous and embarrassed at their predicament as most Seadogs didn’t bother buying any raffle tickets or programmes, which had also gone up 50p from the advertised price. Normally Boro fans are as generous as any I’ve come across.

Around 300 Seadogs had converged on the VCG, with the majority standing in the main covered terrace. Several songs about where the chairman could stick his admission fee were aired as the visitors began to take control of the game.

After creating several reasonable chances on a dreadful pitch, Boro went ahead after Tom Davie slotted home following a scramble on thirty-two minutes. They continued to stay on top against a poor Goole side, who had former Seadog Tom Claisse skippering them and putting in a decent shift

At half-time, a few of us adjourned to the bar, where much chuntering continued regarding the price increase. On our return, we stood on the open terrace towards the end Boro were attacking. A few local youths looked to up the ante but thankfully it came to nothing, especially after Chris Bolder headed home a fine Ryan Williams cross after sixty-four minutes.

The Vikings brought on a couple of lads who looked more suited to a basketball side, both in stature and ability. However, it did make their side more dangerous from set pieces. Jason White pulled off a fine save but Vinny Mukendi reduced the arrears from the rebound with fifteen minutes remaining. This could have caused panic, but thankfully Boro were up to the task.

After calming things down for a few minutes Bolder glanced in another header with eight minutes left on the clock to settle any nerves. The game petered out in the last few minutes before the Seadogs got a rousing ovation at full-time.

We all got back to the bus and enjoyed a slight detour on the way home, but that wasn’t to dampen our spirits after a fine day out. Meanwhile, the Boro board went about their business working with the league committee in trying to resolve the situation following the sharp business of Mr Bloom. 

In fairness, several Goole fans offered their sympathies as they were also charged £9. They were also extremely unhappy.