Match Information
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Louth Town 2-0 Yorkshire Amateur
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When: Saturday 25th November 2023
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Kick-off: 3pm
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Where: The Welton Group Stadium, Main Road, Saltfleetby, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 7SS
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Competition: Northern Counties East League Division One
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Attendance: 45
It was a very cold weekend with widespread frost imminent. Therefore I studied various weather forecasts on Friday evening and it seemed eastern areas of the country might avoid a big freeze.
Louth Town were subsequently really helpful in confirming their game would definitely go ahead. In fact, at 8am on Saturday morning they tweeted me a photo of the perfectly playable pitch. So that instantly cemented my fixture of choice.
Incidentally, the club were formed in May 2007 filling a void locally after the demise of now defunct senior outfit Louth United FC. Eventually, United’s traditional home ground at Park Avenue was redeveloped so Louth Town relocated seven miles away to the current Marshlands facility in Saltfleetby during 2016.
Earlier this year, promotion was achieved to the Northern Counties East League Division One at Step 6 of the national Non-League Pyramid having clinched the Lincolnshire Football League Premier Division title.
Bearing all these assorted ingredients in mind, I set off on my 250 mile round trip via the A1 and A16 to Saltfleetby which is a village housing less than 600 residents. Funnily enough, today’s opponents Yorkshire Amateur AFC were extremely alluring to me for a truly quirky reason. Let me explain!
When I was at school in the 1970’s, I decided to visit every Football League ground. To plot my formidable task, I had the giant ‘Bartholomew’s Football History Map of England and Wales’ attached to the wall above my bed.
Measuring 119 by 84 centimetres, it depicted the locations, colours, names of home grounds and years of formation for all 92 League clubs. In addition, some Non-League sides were displayed too yet these were bizarrely picked totally at random.
Yes, there were fairly prominent teams from outside the Football League on my map such as Altrincham, Barnet, Scarborough and Telford United.
But for reasons best known to the publishers, Yorkshire Amateur were also listed even though they operated at what was a comparatively low level in the Yorkshire League Division Two. Their entry was number 159 playing at Bracken Edge, Leeds.
Anyway, the map appeared in a BBC1 TV ‘Swap Shop’ report filmed at my house once I finally completed the 92 grounds in 1981. And ever since then, the name of Yorkshire Amateur has always stuck firmly in my mind!
Ground Description
Situated on the main road passing through Saltfleetby. Like most club venues newly promoted at Step 6, it is a work in progress to meet stringent National League System grading requirements.
Amongst the extensive improvements, a 50-seater prefab stand was installed in mid-September whilst new floodlights opened a few weeks later at a cost of £60,000 within the rapidly developing set-up.
Much appreciated funding support came through the Football Foundation. Covered standing was already available for 50 supporters set back behind the clubhouse goal.
Programme Details
An online edition published in advance. Attractively entitled ‘The White Wolves’ reflecting Louth Town’s nickname.
The 20 pages incorporated sponsorship details, the manager’s notes, the histories of both clubs, player photos, results, statistics and the league table. Up to date printed teamsheets were provided on the day too
The Match
It was 11th versus 20th in the divisional rankings and a home win would have satisfied football betting odds. Following a hard-fought scoreless first half, Louth Town started to take control and Kieran Perry duly nodded them ahead on 52 minutes.
At this point, I overheard an interesting conversation in the stand. Someone walking past asked a man intently filming the action on his phone: “Did you capture the goal?” And he excitedly replied: “Yes I did! It was scored by son so it can go on his Instagram page!”
Then 13 minutes later, Bradley Coulam sealed the points for Louth courtesy of a tight angled finish to settle any possible Live Betting discussions.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Tony Incenzo*
