Thursday, 4 June 2009

Thackley



Thackley FC are a village football club based a few miles outside Bradford and just a couple of miles from Eccleshill United. They were formed in 1930 and play at the beautifully rural setting of Dennyfield.

The Dennyboys played predominantly in local football in the West Riding Amateur League, which they won five times and then the  West Yorkshire League, where they were crowned champions on a couple of occasions.

Thackley joined the Yorkshire League in 1967, where they won the Division Two title in 1973-74 before becoming founder members of the Northern Counties East League where they have been stable members ever since, finishing as runners up to Stocksbridge Park Steels in the 1993-94 season. The League Cup was lifted in 2011-12 before retaining it the following season.

In season 2014-15 Thackley FC will be playing in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division.














My visit

The following is my brief description of my visit as part of a West Yorkshire groundhop in September 2008 that appeared in the Scarborough Athletic fanzine, Abandon Chip.

I had just been to Eccleshill United who are based in Wrose in the city of Bradford, before embarking on my next club, Thackley.












My bus took me through the pretty village of Idle before dropping me in Thackley. The walk up to Dennyfield football ground is a football fans dream. There are two excellent pubs within a couple of hundred yards, a cricket ground with clubhouse before the lane narrows near to reaching the ground. A nature trail and country walks are advertised opposite. Hopefully we’ll get to visit there at the start or end of next season to see everything in its full glory. Dennyfield itself has all the facilities down one side with a mixture of standing and seating, not unlike Bracken Edge (Yorkshire Amateurs). It is a very aesthetic place to spend a Saturday afternoon but I reckon it can be bleak in the deep mid winter.













How to get there

If you travel by train there is the choice of alighting at Bradford Interchange station or Shipley, which is closer but with less frequent services. Then it's a bus ride to Thackley Corner. Dennyfield is a five minute walk up Ainsbury Avenue.













My tip

If you are visiting in good weather, get there early to enjoy the scenery, the pubs and even a few minutes of cricket on the walk up to the ground. It's a lovely part of the world.


















No comments: