The new NPL Division One East season kicks off on Saturday.
Season Preview
NPL Division One East
Yorkshire Amateur
The idea of East Leeds outfit Yorkshire Amateur playing in the Northern Premier League was unimaginable until several years ago.
The journey has been remarkable and from historically always being the lowest ranked Non League side in Leeds, the Ammers are now third top team behind giants Guiseley and Farsley Celtic. The sleeping giant is slowly waking up.
History Lesson
Until promotion in 2018, the Ammers had been in Division One of the Toolstation NCEL for a lifetime.
The closest they ever got to the Premier Division was in 2011 when Paul Lines’s ultimate surprise package team were three minutes away from delivering the impossible.
The Ammers came from nowhere on “a shoestring” – thanks to a 17-game unbeaten run – to be in the promotion reckoning.
Back in 2011 Lines described it as “it is great that a team supposedly unfashionable has upset the apple-cart and gone against the regime”.
However, the heart-breaking last day 1-0 defeat to Askern Villa allowed Barton Town Old Boys – who had two games left – to over-take a week later.
That extremely rare promotion challenge felt like a once in a lifetime moment for the Ammers until the 2017 revolution.
Joint Managers
Craig Ogilvie and Neil Sibson
Both men are former managers of the club’s under 21s team. Sibson became joint manager of the Ammers with Phil Harding in June 2017 after leading the under 21s to great success.
Former Harrogate Railway manager Ogilvie, an ex-Ammers junior player, returned to Bracken Edge to replace Sibson in the under 21s role before becoming assistant manager a year later.
He became joint manager last summer.
The pair are contracted until 2023.
Opening Five Fixtures
Worksop Town (a), Bridlington Town (h), Hebburn Town (h) – FA Cup, Marske United (a), Lincoln United (h).
Notable Movement
In: Simon Ainge (Gainsborough Trinity), Amir Berchill (Nostell Miners Welfare), Ross Duggan (AFC Mansfield), T’nique Fishley, Charlie Jebson-King, Piteu Crouz.
Out: Liam Flanagan (Selby Town), Daniel Naidole (Golcar United), Leon Henry (Golcar United).
One to Watch
Adam Priestley
The Gibraltar International is back to terrorise Northern Premier League defences.
Interview
Enjoy the ride and see where it takes us.
That’s the approach history-making Yorkshire Amateur are taking as they prepare to make their Northern Premier League bow.
Some see the Ammers as potential contenders for the title but joint manager Craig Ogilvie insists his club are realistic about the new campaign.
“We’re a club who has just come up from the Northern Counties,” Ogilvie told Non League Yorkshire.
“There are some very good teams in this league and to be brutally honest with you, you could very easily finish top 13 because everyone is capable of beating everyone.
“How anyone doesn’t look at this league and say ‘wow what a good league’ I don’t know.
“There are literally no easy games.
“If you go into any of these games and not be on your ‘a’ game then you could possibly get hammered.
“There’s no favourites for me.
“There’ll be teams who will be up there but in terms of us being branded as favourites, personally I don’t see that.
“From mine and Neil’s expectations as a newly-promoted side, we’d be happy to consolidate this year 100%.
“If we can push on and finish higher and push towards the play-offs, fantastic.
“But we’re certainly not putting that pressure on ourselves and we don’t have that pressure from the club either.”
The Ammers have been relatively quiet in the transfer market.
Most of the heroes who helped win a place in the top three of the combined Toolstation NCEL Premier Division tables for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 season have stayed.
Former Harrogate Town and Luton Town star Simon Ainge and lethal striker Ross Duggan are two marquee signings.
Popular defender T’nique Fishley have returned and the Ammers have gone for untested potential stars Amir Berchill and Charlie Jebson-King with their other two signings.
Experienced Piteu Crouz is another new recruit.
Ogilvie says the Ammers deliberately didn’t want to lead a major recruitment campaign.
“There’s two reasons,” he said.
“This money tree that everyone perceives that we have, we don’t have.
“The second thing that people forget is that we already had a decent squad.
“These lads have got us to where we are.
“We didn’t get beat before last season got curtailed. We played 11 and won nine and drew two.
“From mine and Neil’s point of view, we believe in these lads.
“We have made a couple of recent signings but we didn’t want a mass overhaul of players and we didn’t feel there was a need to.
“We have good enough quality in the squad already.
“We feel these lads deserve the chance to show us they are good enough to be in this league which we think they are.”
History will be made on Saturday when the Ammers visit Worksop Town and Ogilvie admits it is a huge occasion.
“I think it is massive for the club,” he said.
“It is the club’s first game at this level and some of our players have never played at this level either.
“For a lot of people associated with the club it is going to be a great day.
“There’s still a job to do and we can’t get away from the fact that although it is a great day for the club, there’s still three points up for grabs.
“We’re going to go down there and give it a good go.
“It is nice not to be seen as favourites all the time this year which we were seen as in most games last year and the season before that.
“It is nice to play these games without that extra pressure.”
Prediction
Play-Offs Contenders
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Our work is playing an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
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