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Football fortresses: Richmond Town

Jousting in Earl's Orchard

By Andy PottsPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Earls Orchard. Picturesque name, picturesque place. Nestled beneath the walls of Richmond’s Norman Castle, it’s been a sporting venue of sorts since the Middle Ages, when the nobles watched from on high as jousting tournaments took place on the fields beside the River Swale.

The knights of old are long gone. Warhorses have been replaced by the tireless midfield workhorses of Wearside League football. That castle, the finest Norman fortification in the country, forms a backdrop to the efforts of Richmond Town FC; a home field with the advantage of one of the finest vistas in English sport.

As current lord of this particular manor, Richmond Town doesn’t quite fit the template of a league still redolent of the grime of the coalmines and the clang of the shipyards. In a league full of Colliery Welfare teams representing towns that still form part of the ‘red wall’ in English politics, blue-shirted Richmond stands out. The club even had a stint as Young Conservatives FC earlier in its history.

Hosting the final of the Shipowners’ Charity Cup in 2017, Richmond faced Cleator Moor Celtic. The opposition, founded in 1908 by Irish migrant workers from the heavy industries of Western Cumbria, brought a raucous crowd to North Yorkshire’s rural idyll. Loud, in-yer-face, and – in some instances – opting to hop the fence to avoid a £2 admission fee, they were out to make their presence felt. The culture clash was underlined by the catering: in place of a bar, Richmond offered a charity cake sale; the would-be Ultras found themselves at something resembling a church fete.

Cleator Moor Celtic fans descend on Richmond for the 2017 Shipowners' Charity Cup final.

Within five minutes of the start, they were celebrating. Celtic settled into the game quicker and grabbed an early lead with a long-range shot that took a deflection on its way in. The game should have been all over in the first half: Cleator Moor dominated as Richmond seemed shy of the occasion. But there were no further goals and by half time the final was in doubt.

The interval coincided with a thunderstorm and a torrential downpour. Hailstones the size of marbles came down, most of the 300+ crowd scuttled for what little cover Earls Orchard has to offer and the teams huddled in the dressing rooms. It took 40 minutes for the worst of the storm – and this was a proper storm, strong enough even to drive the exuberant Celtic fans under cover – to blow over, giving a welcome boost to sales of cake. Finally, the teams could get out and play, although there was still some intermittent mopping up needed in one of the goal mouths while play was at the other end.

Richmond Town (blue) and Cleator Moor Celtic do battle in the 2017 Shipowners' Charity Cup final.

Richmond adapted better to the delay, starting the second half the brighter. An equalizer was followed by a Celtic goal on the breakaway, both teams hit the woodwork then Richmond had a goal disallowed before levelling at 2-2. It felt like that set the stage for a home win, but two goals in the last 10 minutes handed the cup to Cleator Moor with a repeat of the scoreline from the teams’ recent league meeting.

A beautiful setting for the beautiful game, but that downpour highlighted the problem with Earl’s Orchard. Greenbelt land comes with planning restrictions incompatible with ambitions to climb the football pyramid. Richmond’s hopes of reaching the Northern League require a new home, covered seating for spectators, floodlights. Locals didn’t want that next door to the castle and the football club relocated to a purpose-built new home within the grounds of the town’s school. From a practical point of view, it makes sense; football romantics are still keeping tabs on the reserve team and looking out for fixtures played at the evocative Earl’s Orchard.

Game details

Earls Orchard, Richmond, North Yorks, England

Wearside League Shipowners Charity Cup Final, May 27, 2017

Richmond Town 2 Cleator Moor Celtic 4

Att: 300 ish (head count)

A version of this text first appeared on Groundhoppers.

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About the Creator

Andy Potts

Community focused sports fan from Northeast England. Tends to root for the little guy. Look out for Talking Northeast, my new project coming soon.

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