“Let’s Keep It Up, Otley”

6th February 2020

In the hierarchy of English club rugby, the division below the Premiership and the Championship – i.e. the third tier – is now called the National League 1. Below that, logically enough, is the National League 2, which is divided into North and South sections. On Saturday, the day after the Yorkshire Carnegie/Nottingham Rugby match in the Championship (“Arresting Decline”, 5th February 2020), I went to watch the lower league’s northern encounter between Otley RUFC and Caldy RFC.

The Otley club was founded in 1865 and – I was surprised to learn from Wikipedia – actually played rugby league for 6 seasons from 1900. It reverted back to rugby union in 1907 and moved to its current Cross Green ground in 1921. There are plans afoot for a new stadium a little way along the main road to Pool.

It had been over half a century since I had watched a rugby match on this ground: the Yorkshire Cup final between Roundhay and Wakefield on a Monday evening in April 1969. I recall that that had been – as with all matches between the leading Yorkshire clubs – an intensely ferocious affair. However, what set the match apart – not only as a rugby union game, but for any sporting contest at that time – was that it was settled in sudden-death extra time. The Wakefield full-back, a large bearded player called Chris Parkes, kicked a long-range penalty goal to give his side the trophy.

Since then, my only other visit to the sports fields at Cross Green had been to the adjacent Otley CC in 1974, when I played for a season in the First XI of the North Leeds CC in the Airedale and Wharfedale Cricket League. Our hosts had a strong side and they won the title that year. However, if my memory is correct, the record books will show that Richard Belverstone and I opened the North Leeds innings with a (rather slow) half-century stand. (I appreciate that this is something of a minor aside but, for me, this was a rare success in a season of generally low scores).

Such are my rather tenuous connections with the sports teams of Otley.

There are 16 teams in the National League 2 North, of which three will be relegated at the end of the season. This is promising to be a close-run affair. Prior to Saturday’s round of matches – when most clubs had 10 fixtures remaining – the bottom club Scunthorpe were well adrift (with 6 league points) and the next bottom (Preston Grasshoppers, 29 points) nearly so. However, there were only 9 points separating the 14th placed team (Luctonians with 43) from the side in 6th place (Sheffield Tigers with 52). Otley also had 43 points, narrowly above Luctonians on points difference. There are 4 points for a win, plus the scope for bonus points.

For Caldy, the season is shaping up in a different way. Having won all 19 of their league matches to date and with a 12-point lead at the top of the table – and a game in hand on their nearest rivals, Fylde – the Wirral-based side have their sights firmly set on securing the single automatic promotion place back to the National League 1 following their relegation last season. It looked a tall order for Otley, therefore, not least because Caldy had notched up a half century of points in the reverse fixture in October.

Otley had much of the early possession and the centre, Gavin Stead, made good progress with a couple of threatening runs. The Caldy defence was well organised, however, and when their turn came to attack, some swift and accurate passing enabled the left-wing, Ben Jones, to score in the corner. (It was turning into a good weekend for wearers of the number 11 shirt; his counterpart, Jack Spittle, had scored five tries for Nottingham Rugby against Yorkshire Carnegie the evening before).

Unlike the facilities at Headingley, those at Cross Green have a more “traditional” feel; the seating in the stand comprises wooden benches painted black and white (in contrast with the padded seats of the former’s North Stand). However, they constituted a perfectly serviceable vantage point, not least in giving some respite from a cold, blustery wind. The Otley club also offered an impressive match programme and an informative – though not exactly unbiased – MC to keep us up to date with the game’s progress. When – after Caldy had run up a 17-0 lead – the home side scored their first try, it was confirmed that it had been “after a superb bit of play”. “Let’s keep it up, Otley” was the immediate follow-up.

The half-time score of 17-7 remained unchanged until mid-way through the second half when back-to-back Caldy tries stretched out the score-line to one that was somewhat unfair to the home side. When both sides made the customary changes from their respective replacement benches, two of the Otley entrants wore the same number shirt. We were informed that the departing players had been “replaced by two Number 18s. I don’t think anyone spotted that”. “Oh, yes, we did” came the murmured chorus in reply. Otley’s persistent efforts as the final whistle approached were rewarded with their second try, through Owen Dudman, which left the final tally at 31-12 in Caldy’s favour.

The MC was magnanimous in his post-match announcement and, whilst his assessment of the season’s likely outcome is slightly premature, I would be surprised if it is not also accurate: “Well played, Caldy. We wish you all the best next season after your promotion”. He followed this, nicely, with “Well played, Otley”.

The Otley clubhouse is somewhat less grand than the previous one I had been in – at the Heriot’s Rugby ground at Goldenacre in Edinburgh the week before (“From RM Kinnear to the Super 6”, 27th January 2020) – but it serves the same functions: a communal meeting place, a place of refreshment, the location for the memorabilia of the club’s proud history. (It was on this ground, in 1979, that a Northern Division team led by Bill Beaumont registered a famous win over the All Blacks). On one of the shelves – alongside the collection of jerseys and match programmes and photographs – was an England cap that Arthur Gray of Otley RUFC had won in 1947, when he played three times for his country.

As I reported in An Ordinary Spectator, the first rugby (league) match in which I ever played was in Leeds for the Chapel Allerton Primary School against Alwoodley Primary School “B” team in 1965. I played at centre three-quarter and got punched on the nose for my trouble. In the review of the school matches for the Green Post edition of the Yorkshire Evening Post, I was reported as having provided “sound support” for our full-back and captain, Martin Gray. Martin – a good lad and a fine all-round games player in his own right – came from a distinguished rugby heritage: his father was Arthur Gray.

Did I mention that my connections with the sports teams of Otley were rather tenuous?