Spice

Houghton Main  0  Swinton Athletic  2

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League – Premier Division

Admission / Programme – No / No

What I like about the notional Step 7 of non-league football is the variety.

What I mean by that, is depending on the standards set by the respective league a club plays in, you can rock up each week at a public park and change over the road in a pub, or, you can have a shiny stadium with all the bells and whistles that would be fitting of a much higher level.

In simple terms, it’s a level of football where what you do on the pitch is all that really matters. Of course, if you want to progress up to Step 6 and the National League System then you have requirements to meet off the field (or you strategically agree a ground share!), and that’s fine, but otherwise, simply just play.

One league that epitomises all that is good about Step 7 (it’s not called that any more, Regional Feeder League’s is the new term) is the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League. Yes, some of the venues in the top flight are quite basic, and no one has an issue with that, but you also have some absolute belters.

I wrote recently about Denaby Main, but the list can go on, Dodworth Miners Welfare, Oughtibridge War Memorial, Swinton Athletic, Hemsworth Miners Welfare, North Gawber Colliery, all real gems, but one of my absolute favourites, one I like to try and get to midweek at the end of most seasons, is Houghton Main.

Houghton Main play in the village of Great Houghton, which is located almost equidistant between Barnsley and Doncaster, just off the Dearne Valley Parkway that links the M1 with the A1. It’s in an area rich with clubs, with Dearne & District, Wombwell Town, Wombwell Main and indeed the variants that play out of South Elmsall, all within spitting distance.

The ground itself lies on Middlecliff Lane, and you enter into a car park at the rear of the clubhouse and dressing rooms. The clubhouse is a smart and modern venue, and while not a RAW myself, it does seem to attract the type based on it’s offerings, and again, as you often find at venues not dissimilar to Houghton Main’s, it not only attracts those who are there for the sport, but also the locals who just want a drink.

Directly outside the building is the cricket field, but then a short walk away down at the far end of the complex is the football pitch. With a post and rail barrier on three sides and an absolute carpet of a pitch, the centrepiece is the traditional miners welfare style stand on the half way, complete with orange and black seats, spelling out the letters HMFC. It’s well looked after and colourful, and one that is absolutely synonymous with South and West Yorkshire.

At first glance you would look at the ground and think it’s a Step 6 venue in waiting, but in reality it’s probably not even close. It would need floodlights, hard standing, the dressing rooms are probably too far from the pitch, where could you take a gate? And that’s just from my limited knowledge, without getting the tape measure out in the dressing rooms! But you know what, it really doesn’t matter, I’m sure Houghton Main are more than happy where they are, doing what they are doing, as I suspect are the bulk of the clubs in the County Senior League. Long may that be the stance for this wonderful league.

We had a game though, both sides are struggling somewhat this season and in Houghton’s case, relegation is a real possibility. Things didn’t improve on the night with Swinton Athletic, one of the traditional powerhouses, coming away with a 2-0 victory. It was a good game, but the visitors just had the edge on the night.

If Houghton Main do go down, it’s not the end of the World, they can and probably will bounce back quite quickly. 

Middlecliff Lane though, a jewel in the former coalfields, a wonderful place to be on an end of season midweek night, with the sun going down and a pint in your hand. The pits may have gone, but the legacy of the sports fields lives on.

Step 7 football, epitomised by Houghton Main FC, where variety is very much the spice.