AFC Emley Club History

How It All Started.

AFC Emley – Club History

The original Emley AFC's history stretches back as far as 1903 in the small Yorkshire village. They were somewhat successful in Yorkshire non-league football over the years, winning several championships. They were perhaps most famous for their FA Cup run in the later part of the 1990s which saw them playing against West Ham United.

Things started to go wrong for the original club in 2000 after the Northern Premier League Premier Division announced new ground regulation rulings. Emley were unable to improve their ground, and moved to Wakefield to avoid being thrown out of the league.

This move and the name change to Wakefield & Emley F.C. in 2003, alienated the fans from the humble village of Emley who had supported the club throughout the years. The final straw came when the Northern Counties East League discontinued its reserve league. The reserve team had continued to play at the old Welfare Ground in Emley even after the first team move to Wakefield.

As the reserve team was disbanded, several fans and former officials formed the new and current club under the name A.F.C. Emley in 2005, back in their home village. During their first season, the new club finished third in the West Yorkshire League Division One. A year later the club was successful in an application to become members of the Northern Counties East Football League Division One.

For the 2008-09 season, AFC Emley appointed Ian Banks the experienced ex professional footballer as 1st team manager assisted by Grant Crookes.  The club occupied a place in the top five of the league for most of the season but inconsistent form towards the end of the season saw them finish in 8th place.

In 2009/10 the team once again finished up in 8th position after a promising first half of the season.  They did however enjoy runs to the quarter finals in the League and Sheffield Cup defeating Unibond League side Worksop Town on the way.  The newly formed reserve side performed better however finishing 3rd in the WRCL 2nd division and winning the League Cup under the leadership of Darren Hepworth.

Emley parted company with Banks and Crookes in May 2010 and appointed up and coming manager Darren Bland to the post as they looked to build on this and challenge for Promotion to the NCEL Premier division.

Bland’s tenure was shortlived as his side made a mixed start to the season which saw the side record good runs in both the FA Cup and Vase but poor form in the league.  The manager resigned in November, leaving to take up a coaching role with Sheffield United.

Reserve team boss Darren Hepworth stepped in to steady the ship and was soon offered the job on a permanent basis and  turned round the sides fortunes with a string of impressive results which elevated them from 17th to a highly respectable 8th place.     

Meanwhile, Nicky Bramald and Ray Dennis took over second team affairs, narrowly missing out on promotion to the WRCL Premier with a 3rd place finish.  

The club goes into the 2010/11 season full of optimism for the future and aiming to better 3 consecutive 8th place finishes.

Wikipedia entry for Emley AFC.

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