Leftfield

Beverley Town  0   Swallownest   1

Northern Counties East League – First Division

It came a bit out of leftfield if I’m totally honest.

The Humber Premier League has not been a prolific provider of clubs to the National League System over the years, I can recall the ill-fated Hull United a few years ago making the move but that was more of an overnight success / flop than the promotion of an ambitious established club.

So when it came to light that Beverley Town had applied for promotion back at the turn of the year when the lists were revealed, for those not local or in the know, it was somewhat unexpected.

Research suggested this was indeed an ambitious and established club, with clear plans to meet the criteria to gain the promotion they were looking for. It was indeed one to keep an eye on, as opposed to being a highly speculative attempt which had no substance or indeed, no chance of succeeding, which of course we sometimes see in the South for example!

Beverley Town were founder members of the HPL back in 2000, and over the years have been one of the more successful outfits. The championship was won in both 2013 and 2014, while two consecutive third placed finishes were achieved in the years preceding the COVID disruptions. When 2020-21 was cut short they had won 14 of their 15 games, while last season they recorded a second placed finish. Second place was indeed enough, along with the appropriate ground grading, to get them into the Northern Counties East League.

So, they go on the visit list, and once the fixtures were released I spotted quite a handy looking midweek possibility in late September, but, a late change of plan on the Tuesday after August Bank Holiday saw an about turn, for indeed the boys From Swallownest were due in town and it was simply unmissable!

I’ve never been to the town of Beverley before, located just North of Hull, I’ve been to a couple of places pretty close to it for football, notably Bishops Burton (Westella & Willerby), Hutton Cranswick (Hutton Cranswick United), and Dunswell (Hall Road Rangers), but Beverley, nah!

The run from Sheffield was a veritable doddle, M1, M18, M62 and then a long straight road through North Cave took me to the edges of the town. I have to say though, what a lovely town it is, in hindsight it would have been a good place to go on a Saturday with Mrs H where we could have wined and dined in the many bars and restaurants, but anyhow, she will have to make do with Crosby in October! Beverley Minster certainly caught the eye with the sun shining on it, but that would have to wait until another day, the Norwood Recreation Ground was calling!

Upon arrival, I have to say I was very impressed with both the facility and the work the club has done. You drive down a narrow lane and if early enough you can get a parking space just before the driveway that runs up to the club buildings and football pitch. Admission is paid at the bottom of the driveway and as you walk up, immediately to the left is the cricket field. On the right towards the top is the clubhouse, while the dressing rooms sit on the right.

The pitch runs lengthways at the very top and is currently accessible for spectators down two thirds of the first side you arrive out, behind one goal and halfway along the dugout side. This is largely I suspect due to the proximity of the cricket field. A small stand has been erected in front of a large building which sits next to the clubhouse, while the most recent addition has been the floodlights.

One other thing that stood out was the warmth of the welcome. Steve and I took up residence in the bar (for research purposes, obviously), and a couple of club officials took the time to chat to us, offer us the chance to purchase merchandise, and I suspect if we’d have asked nicely enough they might have let us run out with the teams as mascots for the night!!

Now then, I don’t normally comment on footy scran, but I have to say, the catering on offer was quite superb from the van. A local company have been bought in to provide the snappage and the loaded chips with cheese and bacon were not of this level of football! It’s worth a visit for that alone, oh, and I almost forgot to say, admission was a mere £3.50 for Step 6 football, which is as cheap as it absolutely gets.

Beverley have had a decent start to the season, but I have to say against Swallownest they were a touch laboured. In front of a very good crowd of 272 (they got 334 for their first home game), the visitors Jack Haslam scored after eighteen minutes, and despite having a good proportion of possession, an equaliser couldn’t be found.

The future does look to be bright for Beverley Town, and having decided to take a slightly different route back to the M62 via the Western edges of Hull and the tip of the Humber Bridge, it was a chance to reflect on the fact that sometimes what goes on in terms of non-league football and it’s structure can be very predictable, occasionally you can get a very pleasant surprise.

I would urge you to head to the East Riding and see that surprise for yourself.