Friday 8 January 2010

Mexborough Town





Mexborough Town FC are a non league football club in South Yorkshire from the former mining town of Mexborough.

The club began life in the former mining town as Mexborough FC in 1885. They played in the Midland League and changed their name to Mexborough Athletic in 1926, as they reached the FA Cup First Round the following season. They left the Midland League to play more locally in 1936 before joining the Yorkshire League as Mexborough Town. They returned to the Midland League in 1974 a year or so after becoming Mexborough Town Athletic and lifting the Yorkshire League title. they joined the new Northern Counties East League when it was formed in 1982.




The club went through many name changes as the club struggled as did the whole community being known as Mexborough Town, Mexborough Athletic Oakhouse, Mexborough Athletic and once again Mexborough Town Athletic before settling on Mexborough Pocket in 2008 as the club spent time in the Central Midlands League.

The club changed its name to AFC Sportsman Rovers in 2010, then Memories FC and then Mexborough Town FC once again in 2012.
 
Mexborough Town FC will compete in the Doncaster & District Senior League in the season 2014-15.

 

My visits

Mexborough Town Athletic 1 Scarborough 3 (Saturday 10 February 1973) FA Trophy Round Three (att: 1,850)

My Dad took myself and my brother Paul on one of several supporters coaches to this massive game for both clubs which was played at the local ground which was shared with the cricket club. It was pretty spartan with players getting changed in the corner pavilion. The ground was open apart from a small raised seated stand on the half way line. A nice feature were fixed stools at the edge of the fence around the pitch, the likes of which are normally associated with paddocks at racecourses.












Boro were too strong for the decent home team with a double from Mally Leask and a Colin Appleton penalty sealing the win, on the way to a first Wembley final. I remember both me and Paul moaning about being hungry but we couldn't get anything until Dad got us something before our return journey at a local shop as there was no catering facilities inside the ground.

Happy days. Little did I realise at the time I'd spend so much time over twenty years later following Boro regularly at such venues.

Wednesday 10th October 2012

I was in South Yorkshire for the majority of the day before heading to watch Scarborough Athletic play at Barton Town Old Boys that evening. I had been to a game at Doncaster Rovers the previous evening and I had just visited Oakwell in Barnsley. After changing trains at Meadowhall I alighted at Mexborough.




I was aware that the town had been through difficult times like the rest of the area since the decline of the mining industry. I also knew from reading the Wetherspoon's magazine that under age drinking and even drugs were a problem. The people who I came across were generally friendly, but I also saw one or two roughnecks.

I headed up the hill on Hampden Road, to the rear of the grounds brick pavilion that backed onto the street. The ground was locked, but I could easily see inside. The actual arena had hardly changed from what I remembered apart from those pitch side seats. There was more terracing than I'd remembered, which explained how such a large crowd had fitted in back in 1973. It was missing floodlights, but apart from that it was a decent enough venue to stage a higher grade of football.











I walked back down and grabbed some lunch at Greggs in the towns main thoroughfare; High Street. I took a stroll back down to the station to catch the train to Doncaster, ready to visit my next venue at Bentley Colliery.




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