The York Vale League

Posted by John Winn

The York Vale League embraces 40 clubs with 52 teams spread over five divisions. Its catchment area stretches from Malton in the north to Goole in the south and Tony Hutton et al described an enjoyable visit to a number of the league's grounds in 'Off The Beaten Track', their diary of the 2006 season.
Having been to Trent Bridge and Lord's this last week I decided to stay fairly close to home yesterday.I hoped I would have more luck than last year when trying to visit grounds in this league for, on a lovely sunny midsummer's day, I arrived at Hopgrove Sports Field on the outskirts of York to find it deserted. A phone call revealed that Stockton and Hopgrove's scheduled opponents, Carlton Towers, had been unable to fulfill their fixtures and had withdrawn from the York Vale League.
From there I had intended to go to Westow, a short journey up the A64.What I had not anticipated was that thousands of others had also decided to pass an hour or so negotiating the infamous Hopgrove roundabout. It may be that some were en route to Westoe but more likely that on such a hot day they had packed buckets and spades rather than bats and pads, with Scarborough as their destination. I gave up and took in some grounds in The York Senior league.
This year I chose a cooler day and went anti-clockwise round the York Outer Ring Road and despite a flutter of apprehension when I saw signs directing traffic for York Races the afternoon went smoothly. Just to confuse readers I began by calling in at Bolton Percy, midway between York and Tadcaster, who actually play in The York Senior League. This is a gem of a ground with, unusually for club cricket, a pavilion with a players' balcony and a neat scorebox whose sloping roof would not look out of place in The Tyrol. The match in progress was a YSL Division Two match between Bolton Percy and Pocklington.
While I was there the church clock struck two, time to move onto Bishopthorpe where the home team were playing a HPH (sponsors of The Vale League)Cup match aginst Stockton and Hopgrove. This KO competition is restricted to those teams finishing in the top sixteen of the league in the previous season.The ground is shared with the local football club and its principal disadvantage is that the cricketers are unable to watch the game from the dressing rooms. The home team were making unspectacular progress but had not lost any wickets when I left.
Just a few miles away at Copmanthorpe, again in The HPH cup, the visitors were York University Staff who were in the field. Like Dringhouses that I visited last week one boundary of the ground is formed by the east coast main line. A helpful member of the batting side acquired me a league handbook and I had a most interesting conversation with former league chairman Peter Northfield who had read 'Off The Beaten Track' and who expressed interest in the blog. Peter had been involved in the publication of a booklet to commemorate the league's 75th anniversary and he kindly put me in touch with the league secretary who is going to send me a copy. One problem the league is facing is a shortage of people willing to take on the key administrative jobs on a permanent basis. The league officials for this season include an 'interim' chairman and an 'acting'treasurer. To emphasise the seriousness of the situation an article in the handbook by Martin Jarred, the league's Media Officer, appeals for more help with the administration of the league.
As last week I finished off at Ouseburn where the first eleven beat Burton Leonard by two wickets to make it six wins out of six. There was added interest in this game from the presence of two former Ouseburn players in the visiting eleven. To tidy things up Bolton Percy had the better of a draw against Pocklington and now stand second in their division and Bishopthorpe and Copmanthorpe both progressed to the last eight of the cup competition.