Thackley

Thackley AFC is a village football club based a few miles outside Bradford and just a couple of miles from Eccleshill United. They were formed in 1930 by members of the Thackley Wesleyan Methodist Church.

They progressed from the Bradford Amateur League in 1939 to join the West Riding County Amateur League playing at the beautifully rural setting of Dennyfield. The side went on to be crowned as champions of five occasions before they had a short spell in the West Yorkshire League.

1967 saw the ‘Dennyboys’ joining the Yorkshire League as a Division Two club, winning promotion at the first attempt but then dropping back down a level a season later. They went back up in 1970-71, but once again the rise in standards was too steep leading to relegation twelve months later.

The Division Two title was lifted in 1973-74, with Thackley remaining in the top tier of the competition before becoming founder members of the Northern Counties East League in 1982-83 as a Premier Division club. In 1975, FC Barcelona chose to use Dennyfield to train on before their European Cup tie with Leeds United.

A couple of fifth place finishes were accumulated before Thackley ended as runners up to Stocksbridge Park Steels in the 1993-94 season. John Boyle was manager from 2003 with the club being very proud of their youth system. Billy Fox was appointed as manager in June 2008.

September 2009 saw Dave Morgan become Thackley manager, taking his charges to fourth place in his first season at the helm before he was succeeded by Vince Brockie and Sean Reagan in May 2011 before Brockie became sole boss eight months later.

The League Cup was lifted in 2011-12 before retaining it the following season. Lee Duxbury took over the position in September 2014 who was succeeded by Chris Reape who remained I place before the appointment of joint bosses Mike Garrod and Pat McGuire who took the team to fifth place in 2017-18.

McGuire took sole charge in May 2018, remining at the helm until December 2022, with the pairing of Danny Forrest and Tom Greaves being give the job a month later. Forrest became sole manager for the 2024-25 season

Thackley AFC will play in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division in the 2024-25 season.

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, the home of 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.