Nostell Miners Welfare

Nostell Miners Welfare FC was founded in 1928, after the purchasing of a plot of land to play on for £400, the location which they remain at today. There had previously been a Nostell Colliery FC during the 1800's and early 1900's. Both clubs played for many years in local Wakefield football.

The club are based in Crofton which is about five miles from Wakefield in West Yorkshire. After a few years in the West Yorkshire League the club were promoted into the Northern Counties East League in 2006. According to locals, crowds were far greater before their promotion but the club had to charge admission to matches so many stayed away.

'The Welfare' became consistent performers in the leagues' Premier Division, going on to lift the Presidents Cup in 2009 after defeating Scarborough Athletic in the final.

Nostell Miners Welfare FC will play in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division in season 2014-15.

My visit

Nostell Miners Welfare 2 Scarborough Athletic 1 (Saturday 8th August 2009) Northern Counties East League Premier Division (att: 344)

I had been looking forward to the opening day of the season for some weeks previously. I travelled up the day before to stay in York with my brother Nick, his wife Rachel and my nephew and niece Sally and Stanley. I was in a reasonable mood as I caught the train to Leeds. I would have been spot on but the performance of the England cricket team at Headingley had set me back. To cheer myself up I got stuck into some imperious Tetley's in The Templar in Leeds.

I caught the train to Wakefield before taking a taxi to Crofton. The driver was very friendly and helpful giving me a history of the area. They hadn't had it easy, that was for sure, with Wakefield being very quiet on an evening compared to days in the past. Nostell Pit had closed in 1987 with the terraced houses nearby that housed the workers been demolished soon after with the area being renamed New Crofton.

The complex where Cougar Park stood was the Crofton Community Centre and had obviously received plenty of money. I entered through the centre entrance and paid my admission fee at a desk by the door. Inside the centre had many different rooms including a large bar and function room. A history exhibition of the pit was on show. Having tasted the Stones in the bar, I'd have probably been wiser giving myself a history lesson. To get to the pitch we left by a door at the back of the club, past the immaculate rugby ground and bowling green and through a gate where a turnstile was ready to be put to use.

Around 300 Seadogs were in the crowd to see the teams first game in their new division with expectations high. Cougar Park was a very pleasant venue especially in the beautiful weather. Tuesday nights in January may well be very different! The ground is open to the elements on three sides where there is a combination of path and grass. The forth side where all the facilities were had a steep grass bank with a covered shelter running half the pitch with room for standing and a couple of rows of seats, which I was told were obtained from the McCain Stadium, Scarborough along with the turnstile. There was also standing room on the other half of the pitch at the top of the banking.

"The Welfare" went ahead with a great finish before Graham Botham drew Boro level with a good goal. There was calls top send Botham to Headingley! Welfare had a player harshly sent off while neither side looked like securing a win, although Boro had far more of the possession. In injury time Nostell broke away and scored the winner.

This sparked ridiculous over the top celebrations from the home keeper, Sam Dobbs. When the clubs clashed in the two legged final of the Presidents Cup, the season before, Dobbs continually time wasted and stretched the laws of the game at every opportunity. He repeated his performance on this occasion. Unfortunately a small minority of Seadogs in attendance continually abused him and he gave it back. Sadly he also mouthed off to many people not involved. It left a bad taste in the mouth, especially on the opening day of the new season. Personally, if people really have to go to such lengths to win, I'd rather let them get on with it. It certainly isn't the way I fell in love with the beautiful game. It was such a shame as the people off the pitch at the club couldn't have been more hospitable.

I was going catch a bus back to Wakefield when a Boro fan Richard, stopped to give me a ride as he lived just past Leeds. I found a pub and bought a pint to try and calm down. I put on Test Match Special and England had miraculously not lost a wicket. By the time I'd downed a couple of pints they'd lost five wickets.

I got aboard the train to London and found my seat had braying Surrey fans in front of me with drunk Leeds United fans (who'd just beaten the mighty Exeter City) behind. It said it all when I found solace from the two passengers opposite who were in Australian shirts.

Nostell Miners Welfare 3 Scarborough Athletic 4 (Saturday 22nd September 2012) NCEL Premier Division (att: 202)

This was the last day of my fortnight holiday and I was determined to enjoy myself while hopefully seeing an away win. The previous two weeks on the road watching Boro had filled many of us with hope, but Nostell had tricky fixture written all over it.

I arrived at Wakefield by train after a having a look at the ground of Hemsworth Miners Welfare on the way and having a fine fish and chips lunch. My old mate Guy Watson was waiting for me when I arrived in readiness for some pre match refreshment. We tried a couple of pubs in the town before taking a taxi out to Crofton where the ground was located. I had to use the map app on my IPhone to direct the driver!

The clubhouse was full of thirsty Seadogs and the pre match mood seemed good. We wandered outside and took a position in the sun behind the goal. 

Boro started brightly and played some fine football before going one down against the run of play. There was no real surprise when Tony Hackworth went through to equalise soon after. However, Boro's defence did have a habit of creaking, but even so I was a bit peeved to see a Nostell forward being left totally unmarked from a set piece to restore the lead. Indeed, only some poor finishing and good work from Steve Wilson in the Boro saved a heavier deficit at half time.

Guy commented how well he thought Boro had played and that we were by far the better side. I was also confident of a win, but I also knew that we could well let at least another in at our end. That said, I wasn't expecting Welfare to go 3-1 up. It was time for a serious shake up. The Boro fans did their best to rouse the team, who were not being helped by some strange refereeing decisions. The excellent Scouse PA man quipped that while we paid our players, they looked after the refs. I think he was joking!

At this point manager Rudy Funk really earned his money by making some changes that initially looked strange to us. As a consequence the midfield was beefed up and more challenges were won as Boro got stuck in and put Nostell under pressure. Paddy Miller scored a fantastic free kick and then Ryan Blott did similar after yet another late challenge went in from the agricultural home side.

The atmosphere was now at a fever pitch as the 170 or so Seadogs roared the team forward. Hackworth played in the now advanced Miller who finished beautifully to send the crowd wild with delight. The team held on without any problems to register a superb win.

At full time the players were cheered up the steps, and once beyond the fence a slight altercation broke out. It may have had something to do with the home team taunting the Boro line up by calling them overpaid prima donas. It would appear that the defeat rather hurt them.

We adjourned to a euphoric bar and awaited Tom Claisse, who drunk with Guy in Leeds and his companion Paddy Miller. Tom kindly gave us a lift back into Wakefield town centre so that we could have a wander before our trains home. 

I was glad to get to Doncaster where I had to wait for a connecting train and to get some food to keep me going. On the train to London there were several Stevenage fans heading home from a draw at Donny. They were naturally very pleased with themselves, but as I pointed out; "Enjoy it lads, as your just a non league club enjoying a few days in the sun".