Pontefract
Collieries FC is a non-league club formed in 1958 who are based in the West
Yorkshire market and mining town of Pontefract. The club competed in local
football until joining Division Three of the Yorkshire League for the 1979-80
season.
In 1981-82 ‘The
Colls’ were crowned as Division Three champions before becoming founder members
of the Northern Counties East League the following season, where they won the
Division Two North title at the first time of asking.
Pontefract
became Division One champions in 1983-84 to reach the Premier Division from
where they were relegated twelve months later. Not to be deterred the team bounced
back and won promotion again in 1985-86.
The 1995-95 season saw the Colls drop down a level under manager Ged Elliott, who along with previous bosses, Paul Cooper and John Brown did so much to help establish the club. Jim Kenyon arrived at Beechnut Lane to take the club back to the Premier Division at the first attempt.
Colls dropped
back down to Division One at the end of the 1998-99 campaign despite the best efforts of Peter Daniel. Steve Kittrick was appointed as manager before he was replaced by Gary Batley. Daniel returned for the 2002-03 campaign before he was replaced a year later by Roly Lanes.
Simon Houghton arrived as team boss for the 2008-09 season before Brendan Ormsby was installed as team boss in early 2011. Nick Handley and Duncan Bray became joint player-managers leading to a runner-up finish in 2014-15, which saw their Premier Division status
restored at Beechnut Lane.
The duo moved on as manager in December 2015 to be replaced by former club keeper Craig
Parry. The new boss couldn’t save the team from relegation a few months later,
before regrouping took place which saw a return to the Premier Division in 2016-17.
The momentum
continued as Pontefract became champions of the Northern Counties East League
in 2017-18. Michael Dunn, Vaughan Redford, Kane Reece, Aaron Moxam and full-back Jack Greenhough provided the goals to send Colls up.
Pontefract were
promoted to Division One East of the Northern Premier League for the 2018-19
season where a fine season saw them finish as runners-up before being denied promotion
with Eli Hey top scoring.
Ossett
United were defeated 3-1 after extra time in front of 486 fans at the renamed
sponsored Harratt Nissan Stadium before Brighouse proved too strong going away
with a 3-0 win in the final which attracted a gate of 836.
The
competition was re-organised for 2019-20 as Colls were placed in Division One
North-West where they were in fourth place when the COVID-19 pandemic ended the
season. Parry and his management team departed for Worksop Town after the
decision was made. Andy Monkhouse was his replacement.before he was replaced by Craig Rouse in January 2021.
He took the side to the Division One East playoffs in 2023-24 which ended in semifinal defeat away to Dunston UTS. Rouse was replaced by his assistant Jimmy Williams ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Pontefract
Collieries FC will play in the Northern Premier League Division One North-West
in the 2020-21 season.
My visit
Tuesday 16th
September 2008
My visit to
Skinners Lane as the ground was called at the time came on my way to watch
Scarborough Athletic play at nearby Glasshoughton Welfare. I was staying over
in Leeds, so I took a train to see where Wakefield FC played before taking the
train to Pontefract Tanshelf.
From there
it was a ten-minute stroll to the entrance of the ground where a gent was
pottering about doing a few jobs. He was fine with me taking a few photos and
had a chat about where I was heading for my evening’s entertainment.
The ground
was no thing of beauty but had all the requirements with a seated stand and a small
cover behind a goal. Once done I headed to the Park Lane bus stop where the 410
service took me past Pontefract Racecourse, under the M62 and past Xscape to
Glasshoughton in time for fish and chips and pre-match libations.
