TT No.102: Mike Latham - Saturday 27 October 2007: West Riding County Amateur Football League Division One: Littletown FC 0-2 Crag Road United.  Attendance: 20 (h/c); No admission/programme; FGIF Match Rating: 3*  

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There are very few grounds still surviving that staged senior football in the 19^th century and a visit to the historic Beck Lane ground of Littletown FC was long overdue for me.

Situated deep in the heart of the Heavy Woollen district of West Yorkshire Beck Lane was once home to Heckmondwike Rugby Club, formed during the 1870s who turned professional and joined the breakaway Northern Union (the forerunner of today’s Rugby League).  They played for three seasons, between 1896 to 1899, as a senior club at Beck Lane, before losing their senior status to Hull Kingston Rovers.  The rugby section folded in 1903 and the club switched to soccer.

Heckmondwike’s most famous player was John Sutcliffe, who won England international honours at rugby in 1889 before switching codes to play as a professional soccer player with Bolton Wanderers, Millwall Athletic, Manchester United and Plymouth Argyle.  Regarded as one of the finest goal-keepers of his generation, he became a dual international and won five England soccer caps.  Sutcliffe was the last man to achieve this feat.  He returned to play for Heckmondwike in 1913 just before the outbreak of the first world war.

A number of clubs used Beck Lane before it was taken over by Huddersfield Town in 1933 and used as a training base and venue for reserve and youth team games.  In 1957 a young Dennis Law played for Town in an FA Youth Cup-tie that attracted a crowd of over 5,000.  More recently Littletown FC of the West Riding County Amateur Football League have played there.  In 2001 Beck Lane staged the longest penalty shoot-out in soccer history- the tally had reached 17-17 in Littletown’s game against Storthes Hall when the game was abandoned due to the failing light.

Beck Lane is still clearly a ground of some substance.  It is fairly easy to find if you follow the directions through Cleckheaton from the league’s excellent website and is only ten minutes’ drive from J26 of the M62 motorway. In the valley bottom and surrounded by a mixture of housing and local industry it has the sort of brooding ambience that immediately makes the traveller feel as though he arrived somewhere of vast historical importance. A white pained fence surrounds an excellent playing surface and three sides the ground have ash bankings that help give an enclosed feel.  A smart covered standing area runs either side of the half-way line along one side and the covered dug-outs face one another on the half-way line.

There is plenty of parking inside the ground and the dressing rooms are located in a building by the entrance.  The beck, or stream, runs along the far side of the ground and a club official, armed with a pair of Wellington boots and a net on the end of a long pole was ready to fish the ball out of the fast-flowing waters.  Though no catering facilities were available there is an excellent Morrisons Café just a few hundred yards away to be found by walking through the adjoining railway tunnel.

Club officials were friendly and welcoming and a decent game went the way of the visitors thanks to two second half goals, the second a spectacular strike from fully 30 yards. A visit to Beck Lane, despite the lack of catering and programmes comes highly recommended. 

contributed on 30/10/07