Northern Counties East League
Division 1
Tuesday 29th September 2026
Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.46
Field Olympic 6 Immingham Town 0, attendance 97
44’ 1-0 (pen)
45’ + 1, 2-0
50’ 3-0
53’ 4-0
56’ 5-0
76’ 6-0
@ Olympic Park
354 Harrogate Road
Eccleshill
Bradford
BD10 0HT
£7 Admission
Programme available, but sold out well before kick off.
Tonight saw a trip to Eccleshill, northeast of Bradford, for one of this season’s Step 6 newcomers. The ground is on the right hand side of the A658 when heading towards Harrogate. It’s a ground that formerly hosted rugby league and tonight was the first game under the new floodlights. Car parking is as you enter off Harrogate Road, with the pitch running widthways in front of you, set down below. There’s a clubhouse/changing room building outside the ground, where the only toilets were available. Once through the turnstiles there’s a tea bar serving hot and cold food and drinks. I had the pie and peas, which was tasty, but the portion size was minuscule (about half the size of a Gregg’s steak bake) and worth about a fiver less than the £7 charged! Beyond this is the pitch, which was absolutely immaculate. Spectator access is limited to the entrance side and left hand goal end only, but a raised position offers a decent view. A small section of cover and a few plastic chairs, open to the elements, offer the only facilities at present, but it’s still a work in progress. This was their first game under the new lights, which attracted around half a dozen ‘hoppers.
The match was 2nd versus 2nd bottom in the league table and although it ended up being a comfortable win for the hosts, it looked like the visitors would get something out of the game, but once they went behind they totally collapsed. The opening goal didn’t arrive until a minute before halftime, courtesy of a penalty and they doubled the lead a minute into stoppage time, with a shot from the edge of the box that took a deflection. Five minutes into the second half they added a third, following that with another two in the next six minutes and it looked like it could end up with a cricket score. Twenty minutes into the second half the floodlights went out, but after a six minute delay they came back on, initially with a bulb on each side still out, but we were back to the full complement a few minutes later. The break did Immingham a favour, knocking Field out of their rhythm, but they did score a sixth goal with fourteen minutes left, when a mishit shot fell to one of their own players and he finished with a shot on the turn.
The win sees Field now leapfrog Brigg Town at the top of the table on goal difference, both having taken 31 points from their twelves games played. Immingham remain second bottom. The journey north was fine. The only delay being on the Leeds ring road heading west towards Bradford. Seven separate sections of lane closures on the M1 coming back, along with a closure of the M25 from J17 to J16, weren’t as bad as they could have been and arrived home 01.40.
This leaves me just fellow newcomers Hemsworth Miners Welfare to complete this league now. I visited them in May 2000, but they’ve now developed a new pitch within the same complex….just waiting for them to get their floodlights up and running!
