A non-league odyssey through Yorkshire for author Steven Penny

For the Yorkshire author’s plans to write a follow-up to Soap Stars and Burst Bubbles – a non-league classic penned 20 years ago – by revisiting grassroot clubs looked doomed when the country went into lockdown in 2020.

But Penny – a former sports journalist on The Yorkshire Post who has visited 500 different football grounds, including more than 150 across Yorkshire – was not to be denied.

The result is Towering Tales and a Ripping Yarn, his pilgrimage around Yorkshire’s non-league grounds during the Covid-hit 2020-21 season.

So what prompted Penny to actually write a book during a global pandemic?

“After several years living and working in East Anglia I’d been working evenings and Saturdays so hadn’t had chance to see much football,” Penny told The Yorkshire Post.

“A return to my roots in Yorkshire and more free time gave me the chance to start revisiting some of my old haunts.

“I wrote the stories up on the Tyke Travels Facebook page to a fair bit of interest. I was asked if I’d written any books so decided to republish Soap Stars and Burst Bubbles, which I’d written 20-odd years ago.

“That went well so I thought I’d write a follow-up revisiting the clubs I’d featured in that publication – much had changed, with many clubs in completely different situations to where they had been.

“My first love, Scarborough, were long since gone and replaced by Scarborough Athletic, Harrogate Town had leaped from non-league obscurity to the Football League, while North Ferriby had shot up to the National League and fallen all the way back down. It seemed as though there would be some terrific tales to tell.

“Unfortunately, Covid then hit and football went into lockdown.

“I still wanted to write a book but my options were limited. Professional football was being played behind closed doors and most non-league football had been cancelled.

“That just left the ‘loophole’ – matches on unenclosed park fields.

“That was below the level I’d watched most of my football in the past and, to be honest, I started to go more for the chance to get some fresh air and break out of lockdown.

“However, it slowly emerged that even at real grassroots level there were many fascinating stories to tell and that some of the game’s true legends had enjoyed their formative years on the playing fields of Yorkshire.”

Names like Denis Law, Frank Worthington, Gordon Banks, Dean Windass and Dominic Calvert-Lewin come up in his outings.

Penny’s adventures started with an It’s OK to Talk Shield encounter between Wombwell Main and Dodworth Miners Welfare at Hough Lane in August 2020.

Supporters were still banned, but there was fair few ‘dog walkers’ who paused to watch the action.

Ten months, dozens of games and many miles later, Penny ended his journey at Ripon’s Mallorie Park in June, to watch Brighouse Sports beat Ripon 
City 3-1 in the West Yorkshire League.

Did he find it difficult to find live games to watch?

“Once I had established which leagues would be continuing and which short-term competitions had been arranged, it was just a case of monitoring fixtures and going to where I could get,” said Penny.

“There were some problems at first with ‘cross-border’ travel frowned upon.

“Living in South Elmsall at the time, it meant officially I could go to anywhere in the Wakefield District – as far afield as Ossett and the outskirts of Leeds – but not to Doncaster or Barnsley, just a couple of miles away.”

Towering Tales and a Ripping Yarn is clearly a labour of love for Penny, who is no stranger to White Rose football.

“I was brought up in Scarborough and at the time they were probably the most successful club in non-league football – I enjoyed three trips to Wembley with them before I was 13 – so there was no need to travel further to watch League football,” he reflected.

“When Boro did eventually reach the Football League, things soured for me.

“Gone was the friendly welcome of non-league football and in its place came hostility, being herded into cages with no chance to visit the local area and our coaches were often under attack by local yobs.

“That sent me back to non-league football and I wrote the programme at Selby Town for several years, visiting all the teams in the Northern Counties East League over the course of a few seasons.

“That eventually led to a series of yearbooks I wrote – Tyke Travels – covering non-League football across Yorkshire.

“That love of the game below the professional ranks has stayed with me and I’ve now chalked up about 500 different grounds, including more than 150 across Yorkshire’s Ridings – from Barnoldswick to Easington and Redcar to Kiveton Park.”

But surely writing a football book – from the touchline, rather than the spare bedroom – in the Covid era was tough.

Penny said: “The lockdown restrictions were weird at the best of times.

“At first, matches could be played on ‘open’ fields but spectators were banned, although walks in the country were allowed – hence a lot of people suddenly deciding to take their dogs for long walks around football pitches!

“I remember a dog walk of my own on Frickley Country Park and seeing a small group of men watching from on high as Frickley Athletic played a match behind closed doors.

“Beyond the main stand I could see a cricket game in progress with the boundary jam-packed with spectators – obviously Covid could distinguish between followers of the two sports!

“Some of the rules were ridiculous. As the pathway out of lockdown began to take shape, attendances at matches in ‘proper’ stadiums were restricted – despite those clubs being able to monitor how many people came in, to ensure proper social distancing and that adequate sanitising was in use.

“At other grounds, spectators were banned, but the grounds were not enclosed so fans could gather outside the boundary and watch from a distance – the most ridiculous was at Sculcoates, who play inside a ‘cage’ at a sports centre in Hull. Fans were asked to leave the pitch side but just gathered outside barely feet away to watch through the fence.

“Meanwhile, on ‘park fields’ fairly large crowds could gather unregulated.

“It was all very frustrating.

“It also meant that I spent several wasted hours, ensuring I got to grounds early enough to avoid being locked out, should capacity be reached.

“I thought I’d missed out at Glasshoughton one evening when the crowd was restricted to just 150. The car park was full and there was a long queue of people waiting to get in.

“‘No chance’ I thought, quickly checking to see where else I might be able to drive to. However, once I joined the throng, I realised most of them were waiting to go into the leisure complex next door!

“Similarly, later in the season, I’d got a ticket for a charity match at Doncaster Rovers but still had to join a long queue snaking around the car park.

“It was only as I neared the front that I realised it was a queue for the Covid test centre! The football entry was round the other side of the ground!”

Towering Tales and a Ripping Yarn is available from Amazon – £11.99 paperback or £9.99 ebook – https://tinyurl.com/ToweringTales

Soap Stars and Burst Bubbles, is also available from Amazon – £10.99 paperback, £9.99 ebook – https://tinyurl.com/BurstBubbles