Written by Emma
Ground #57
Saturday 10th February 2024
NCEL Premier Division (Step 5)
Knaresborough Town 0 – 1 Bottesford Town
Attendance: 181
Entry: £6
Knaresborough Town FC were formed in 1902 and started life in the York league where they were immediately successful wining the title three years in a row and getting promotion to the Northern League. In 1938 the club resigned from the league but then reformed again in 1951 spending the next 50 odd years floating around the local divisions. After finishing third in the West Yorkshire League Premier Division in 2011/12 the club were promoted into the NCEL Division 1 and six years later won the league earning promotion to their current step 5 level.
Today we took the short hour and twenty minute train journey to Knaresborough. With a plan to hit up some pubs before the game we made sure we arrived with plenty of time. After wandering down to the riverside to see the viaduct the first stop was the local ‘spoons The Crown Inn. After this we took a very short walk to The Royal Oak before stumbling across the road to Market Tavern. Both of these pubs were near the square in the Town centre which was very picturesque. We finished our pre-game pub crawl at The Cross Keys, which is possibly my favourite pub of the day and even though it is February I couldn’t help but have a Broadoaks Mulled Cider! Christmas in February – what a dream!
We were impressed to see that the market tavern contained its very own ‘Knaresborough Town FC corner’ with a signed shirt and club badge on display near the pool table and darts board. It’s great to see a pub supporting their local non league side.
With time ticking away we made the 25 minute walk from the Cross Keys to the ground where we would see Knaresborough take on my home town team Bottesford Town. The game started evenly with both sides struggling to create any clear cut chances. That was until the 36th minute when a breakaway saw a cool slotted finish into the bottom corner which gave the visitors the lead.
Into the second half we went and once again it was cagey with very little between the 2 sides. On the hour mark there was a huge chance for Knaresborough but the ball was dragged wide with an open goal at the forwards mercy.
With 5 minutes to go Bottesford should have sealed it but a 1 on 1 was hit straight at the keeper. It looked as though the visitors would be made to instantly regret this miss as Knaresborough immediately went up the other end and equalised, but to the delight of the 30 or so travelling fans the linesman’s flag was up!
The hosts continued to push for an equaliser and in the last minute won a corner. The keeper came up and the ball was hit towards goal. The shot was blocked on the line and as soon as the ball was cleared away the referee blew for full time. It was a great victory away from home for the Poachers who’s solid defensive performance was rewarded with just their 3rd clean sheet of the season. This victory takes the club 11 points clear of the relegation places while defeat keeps Knaresborough frustratingly just below the play off places.
Now to rate our day at Manse Lane:
Location: 6/10
Knaresborough is a market town in North Yorkshire, probably most famous for its railway viaduct that goes over the River Nidd. It is a place we have been wanting to visit for a while now so when we saw Bottesford were playing them away I immediately booked us a train ticket there. We arrived into Knaresborough train station and immediately went down to the riverside to see the famous via duct. From here we walked back up into to the town (warning: the hills are very steep) and went to a few pubs before making the 20 minute walk towards the ground. You access the ground via an industrial estate which we did have to look up on google maps a few times as there was no signs for this. There isn’t much parking at the ground, but as it is in an industrial estate there is plenty of parking on the roads nearby.
Kit: 8/10
Knaresborough Town’s kit was red, with a white pattern on the front and a sponsor that stood out well. Teamed with black shorts and red socks with black stripes this looked smart, with a black number on the back to fit in.
Facilities: 7/10
The clubhouse had plenty of seating and a large TV showing the football. With a dartboard in the corner too there is plenty to keep supporters occupied before and after the game. We both liked the brick built bar which was was well stocked, with friendly faces ready to serve you.
Look: 4/10
The ground contains two small stands, the first of which being a covered terrace to the left of the turnstiles behind the goal. On the far side of the ground is a small seated stand which is home to all of the grounds seats.
There is hard standing around three and a half sides, with part of the ground off limits to spectators due to lack of space past the dug out. The ground is quite basic for the level although was more than adequate for a crowd of this size.
Food and Drink: 6.5/10
On arriving at Manse Lane we immediately went into the club house to warm up and see what the bar had to offer. There was an excellent selection of drinks and when I came to the table, I sat down and noticed Max had got me a drink and it was none other than A STRONGBOW DARK FRUIT. Extra half point is in the bag.
Now we have to admit we did share some chicken strips at the Wetherspoons (another one ticked off on the app) in town before the game as we were hungry, but we had to see what the ground had to offer so ordered a cheeseburger each. These were very tasty with plenty of cheese, sadly no onions were offered so was a bit disappointed but was a good non league burger and was exactly what you’d expect.
TOTAL SCORE 31.5/50
We hadn’t had much luck recently with planned games. With frozen pitches one week to waterlogged pitches the next we were starting to wonder if we would ever get to a new ground again! With the rain once again falling all week leading up to this one we had all but resigned ourselves to a football-less day out in North Yorkshire. Luckily though the Knaresborough pitch had handled the downpours well and we managed to tick off our first new ground of the year.
We enjoyed our day, exploring a beautiful town before seeing a bit of non league football and that’s what Saturday’s are all about. We can’t wait to see where we will end up next!
If you would like to see where this places Knaresborough in our Non League Leaderboard click here: NON LEAGUE
If you’d like to see the football league grounds we have visited click here: The 92
Emma’s Ground Guide 