An Unlikely Rivallry

Armthorpe Welfare  0  Selby Town  4

Northern Counties East League – First Division  

It was the most unlikely of rivalries.

We are going back to the mid-Nineties and Belper Town were vying to get out of the Northern Counties League and into the promised land of the Northern Premier League.

The 95-96 season was to prove a real roller coaster of a campaign for the Nailers, and ultimately, despite battling on many fronts, promotion was denied on the final day of the season by Ossett Town, which in turn allowed Stocksbridge Park Steels to be promoted.

One team though proved to be a real nemesis, and that was Armthorpe Welfare, not only were they a tough team to beat, it just seemed to bring the worst out in the supporters. I can remember getting stuffed 5-3 at the Welfare Ground, with home players goading the Belper fans and vice-versa, and that lead to some unpleasant scenes when punches were being thrown through the back of the net between supporters and players after Belper had scored.

The return game at Belper finished 1-1, and that caused even more controversy. This time, a shocking refereeing display by Paul Pawson, combined with more goading and baiting, saw a Belper Town fan (Alan Grace) receive a twelve month ban from the ground due to his alleged behaviour, which included ducking under the players barrier to confront the referee at the final whistle.

His ban was a serious cause of debate, I was on the committee at the time and stood up for him. You see, I know for a fact that several Belper fans behaved far worse than he did on a regular basis, myself included, but because Alan was loud, he stood out, and at that stage the club, I felt, were just waiting for the chance to jump on him.  An administration mix up meant he was unable to present his case, and consequently, once banned, he never set foot in the ground ever again, to this day. He remains the only supporter to ever be banned from Christchurch Meadow.

The following year, the season Belper finally got promotion, the game at Armthorpe finished 1-1, but when we won 1-0 at Belper, that victory felt like we’d won the league there and then, it was massive.

So why did it flare up like it did? I think it was two fold, firstly, Armthorpe were a decent side, and they were incredibly streetwise, so on the pitch Belper found them a tough nut to crack and also somewhat intimidating. Couple that with the fact that the Welfare players knew exactly how to wind the fans up, you had the perfect storm.

What I would say is that the rivalry definitely got to Belper far more than it did Armthorpe, I don’t think Armthorpe gave it much of a second thought other than on match day, whereas at Belper we’d be talking about it weeks before it took place! Put it another way, when we did get promoted, guess who were the first club to invite us to visit in pre-season for a friendly, yep, you’ve guessed it!

So, it was August 1997 and Armthorpe Welfare beat Belper Town 5-2 in a friendly (we still couldn’t beat them at the Welfare Ground!), and that was the last time I set foot in the place, over twenty two years ago, a re-visit was long overdue.

Armthorpe Welfare came out of the Doncaster Senior League in 1983 and within a couple of seasons they’d gained two promotion and found themselves in the top flight of the NCEL. They stayed in that division from 1985 right through to 2017, an incredible run in all fairness, and in terms of success, the nearest they came to a win and promotion was in 2010 when they finished third, after leading the league for a considerable spell of the season.

Relegation came in 2017, and for the last couple of seasons they’ve struggled a little in the First Division, but this time around they are sitting in a healthy position, and will clearly be looking to return to Step 5 football.

Armthorpe is a village to the East of Doncaster, just off the M18. The old Markham Main Colliery was a huge employer in the village but in 1996 the mine closed and the area fell into depression economically. Nowadays it’s considered one of the more affluent areas of Doncaster and with new industry and services moving into the area (taking advantage of the land that surrounds the village), it’s seen as an up and coming place. It was noticeable as I drove into the village just how busy it was along with main Church Street, not just with cars, but with shops and amenities.

One thing hasn’t changed though, parking isn’t easy! The Welfare Ground sits behind Morrison’s on the main road, and with minimal car parking at the ground you have to find space on the road, or as I did, take advantage of the shopper only free parking at the B & M Store!

The ground hasn’t changed an awful lot either, from memory. The Philip Mitchell Stand still sits just inside the turnstiles with it’s bench style seats, while behind the West goal (where the infamous altercation took place!) is an area of cover. The rest of the ground is hard standing, while the players change in a brick built building that sits at an angle to the corner flag.

The old floodlight pylons, that came straight from the pit yard, are a throwback to yesteryear, while the pitch was in very good condition considering the recent bad weather. What was new was the club house that sat behind the stand, I don’t remember that from my last visit.

It was a bloody freezing night, and in fairness, the loyal locals were hardly warmed up by the display from the home side. Visiting Selby Town were by far the better team, they were much quicker while the passing and movement was way ahead of what Armthorpe could produce on the night.

Charlie Clamp gave the well supported visitors the lead in the first half, while goals in the second half from Liam Flanagan, Jon Vass and Casey Stewart rounded off a comprehensive 4-0 victory, that saw Selby move just behind Armthorpe in the table into sixth place.

So, after twenty two years, no arguments with the home players, no punches thrown in the back of the net, and no being chased out of town by the angry locals. Armthorpe was welcoming, it was hospitable and it was a very enjoyable evening.

Maybe the problem was us after all!!