Wales

Sheffield Town  0  Swinton Athletic  5

Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League – Premier Division

Admission / Programme – No / No

I had a plan, I was going to go to Wales for a 6pm kick off, but when I checked the social media account of the team from Wales just before leaving our Doncaster branch at 5pm, I saw the game was off because the visitors from the Dearne Valley could not raise a side.

Not to worry though, right next door to Wales another game was taking place, and that was on, I could do it in 20 minutes from Doncaster…..

Confused, ok, well it gets even more confusing when I explain in more detail!

Firstly, we are not talking Welsh Wales here, we are talking the South Yorkshire variant that sits just off Junction 31 of the M1. Playing at Wales High School are Kiveton Park FC, a pretty famous club who once graced the Yorkshire League back in the day, and have indeed had it tough over the past few years. They were forced to leave their home in the village of Kiveton Park and relocate only a short distance away, it wasn’t ideal and from what I can glean it left a bitter taste, but more on that later.

Strangely though, it wasn’t the end of football in Kiveton Park though, because moving into the ground initially were Renishaw Rangers, who plied their craft in the Central Midlands League, and they morphed into Kiveton Miners Welfare, who remain today but word on the street is that they might be about to fold.

They share the ground with another team, Sheffield Town, current members of the Premier Division of the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League, and it was to be the game against Swinton Athletic that was my plan B, after of course Kiveton Park v Wombwell SA Reserves was called off late in the day.

So what cracked off with Kiveton Park and the ground in, err, Kiveton Park then?

Well, history wise, they were formed in 1881, and to cut a long story short they moved up through the leagues to the Yorkshire League, before it became the Northern Counties East League in 1982, which they became founder members of.

Ground grading issues hit them and they were forced to resign and join the Central Midlands League, followed by having a period in abeyance in the mid Nineties when the colliery closed down. A lack of floodlights hampered progress, and that combined with increasing travel costs saw them join the more locally based Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League.

It started to turn sour though, local residents began to complain about car parking, and attempts to gain grants floundered due to the clubs links with the Miners Welfare. However, the final nail in the coffin came when CISWO (Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation) indicated they were considering selling the ground off, and to facilitate that they increased the rent to a level ‘Kivo’ could no longer afford. A move to the school in Wales followed, but all of a sudden, the ground started to be used by Renishaw Rangers, and has been used ever since by other clubs. Begs a question I guess?

So right now, Kiveton Park FC are indeed in Wales, and as I’ve said, Hard Lane in Kiveton Park is being used by Kiveton Miners Welfare and of course, Sheffield Town.

Sheffield Town, so what’s the story with them then?

Well, they are pretty new to the scene, and to be fair information is a little scarce, however they were the team formerly known as Burngreave FC and at the time when they joined the County Senior League they played at Fir Vale School close to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. The Burngreave side rose through the divisions and by the time they made it to the Premier grade they took the decision to change their name to Sheffield Town (Sheffield is a City of course but someone had already got that name!). The move to Kiveton Park came at the start of the season, and to be fair, they have previously made enquiries about promotion to Step 6 so clearly with that in mind, they are ambitious.

So, do I have history with the Hard Lane ground then? Well, of course I do…..

My last visit was in 2005 for a Central Midlands League game between Kiveton Park and Newark Town, it didn’t end well for Kivo, they lost 5-0. I remember it vividly, not because of the game ,but because of my visit to the Saxon pub beforehand that is less than a five minute walk from the ground.

The Saxon at the time was an interesting venue, for a Saturday afternoon, I won’t say I felt unwelcome, but I was glad to escape with all body parts intact. I wouldn’t say it was the least welcoming pub I’d ever been to, but it would be in the top two along with the infamous Lodge at Thurnby where I genuinely felt scared!

Moving back to present day, I spotted the Saxon to my right as I went to the car park at Hard Lane, and, decided to have a little revisit, just to see if my original views were unreasonable or not!

It’s been done up, and to be fair the welcome was friendly, no issues at all with that, apart from, it appears it is a designated mobile phone free zone. Signs were up all over the place, including printed on the bar staff’s T Shirts, stating that if you want to use a mobile, you have to go outside, even for browsing, I know that because I asked!

So, I had to sit with a pint, and stare at the wall, I didn’t like it, it felt unnatural, I had no friends to talk to so I quickly left…..I suspect I won’t be back again now having tried it twice! It obviously works for certain locals in Kivo, but not for me!

Has the ground changed much since I last went? Well the old stand which is synonymous in terms of it’s style with others on Miners Welfare grounds in South Yorkshire, has been done up and now contains seats, while a former hospitality box which has been taken from Hucknall Town’s former Watnall Road ground has been plonked next to it.

Otherwise, the changing rooms are still outside of the perimeter of the ground in the far corner, and the old post and rail around the pitch remains. In fact, it remains largely unspoilt, and yes, it’s clearly seen better days, but it’s one of a dying breed, an old fashioned miners welfare ground, where large crowds gathered in the halcyon days of the Yorkshire League in the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s.

The game was pretty much a one sided affair, championship chasing Swinton won 5-0 against a Sheffield side that is battling against the spectre of relegation. Nathan Walsh gave the visitors a first half lead while Walsh again and Curtis Wilkinson made it 3-0 at half time. Goals followed after the break from Justin Greenwood and Wilkinson who became the second plater to bag a brace.

And that was kind of it, it wasn’t Wales, but it was pretty damn close…..but, it’s just a shame that a famous old venue in Kiveton Park, isn’t able to host a famous old name like Kiveton Park.

Politics eh?