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Powys County Times
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Non-League club ready to enjoy promotion after dark times
Stocksbridge Park Steels are ready to enjoy their return to the Pitching In Northern Premier League Premier Division after pushing through dark times. The Sheffield club have returned to the seventh tier for the first time since 2014, and volunteer Dave Bradley believes they will present a challenge to the established order. Steels won promotion on penalties in the play-off final, beating Dunston, having secured their place in the play-offs on the final day of the regular season. 'I keep watching videos,' Chapeltown resident Bradley said of their dramatic victory, 'I can't really put my finger on it, but it is a bit surreal at the moment, even after this whole time. 'We went through some dark times in 2013-15 and over Covid as well, so to get promoted and all the hard work that the volunteers do, it just rewards it. It is a magical feeling. 'When our former chairman Alan Bethell finished in his role, we had just been relegated, and volunteers had to pull together. 'We all needed to have a reset moment, and it was going so well, then Covid hit, and we almost had to reset again. Now, three or four years after Covid, we are back where we should be. 'There's been a lot of preparation going on behind the scenes at the moment, we are going out there to enjoy it. When you speak to the manager, he has said he wants to enjoy it. 'We are definitely not going to make the numbers up, we are definitely going to be up there. We just go quietly as we do and get on with it.' Bradley, who works as a warehouse manager for Lloyd & Jones, first got involved with Steels in the 2009-10 season. Since then, he has held a myriad number of roles, now serving as the canteen manager on game day. With 15 years of service under his belt, volunteering is something the 49-year-old encourages others to do, with opportunities available on the Pitching In Volunteer Hub. Through entering their postcode, individuals can locate volunteering opportunities at nearby clubs and discover more details about which roles are available. Bradley added: 'It's brilliant, you meet different people, people come and go, but most of them stop. 'But it's nice to see people on a Saturday, you get talking to the players and people, other fans and anybody else that pops along, it is really enjoyable, most of all this year. 'Volunteers will be even more important next season. We've just been talking about the fact that we need a few more volunteers helping and coming along. 'We have managed to get a few more, but we'll still need some more volunteers. It is massively important that we get these volunteers so we can keep the club going. 'It is about going out and going to see people and talk to people. If you have a crappy day at work you can get out and talk to people who are not in your usual friend group and you can talk to them about different things. 'There are a lot of positives in there and something you will only realise when you get further down the line.'
Powys County Times
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
Non-league club ensuring Whit Friday traditions continue
Volunteers at Mossley AFC are ensuring community traditions continue as they prepare to host the Whit Friday band contest at Seel Park. The Pitching In Northern Premier League Division One West side are looking forward to welcoming brass bands from far and wide to their ground on June 13th as they play a central role in a tradition dating back to the 1800s. Mossley's Events Coordinator Nicky Iqbal is leading a team of volunteers to ensure the Whit Walks and band contest continue to bring the community together across Saddleworth and Tameside. 'It's all run by volunteers, it's all community based. It's dubbed as the greatest free festival on Earth and it brings people together. It's just wonderful,' she said. 'It's a massive celebration day, from 10am in the morning through until midnight. 'All my friends think I'm absolutely barmy. 'Why on earth would you do that for brass bands?' But when it gets to the 10th or 11th band, you're just taken away with the moment and the atmosphere.' The band contest sees brass bands from Australia to Switzerland and all over the north west, including renowned groups like Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, Fairey Band, Foden's and Black Dyke Band, compete across approximately 10 venues. Each band travels round to the venues on a coach where they perform and get marked. 'They play blind to an adjudicator who doesn't know who they are so it's a bit like a very early 1800s version of The Voice,' Iqbal explained. 'It's a good atmosphere. At any venue, at any given time, you can have about 10 coaches queuing, so it creates a really good vibe. 'At the end, all the scores are collected and then the results are announced anytime throughout the morning and up to midday, a bit like election day.' The contest follows on from the Whit Walks, another tradition in the north west, where schools and churches walk in processions with banners led out by a local brass band. 'They're both very old traditions, and you find that they don't happen much anymore in a lot of areas,' Iqbal added. 'It's unique in Tameside and Saddleworth that we've managed to keep them, but it is a trial keeping them because there's no funding for them. 'You're dealing with just over a third of the town's population coming in and out of your premises throughout the day, and it's really, really important that we keep it going.' As a result, Mossley AFC look to the support of the local community in the shape of volunteers to keep festivities going. Fundamental to those efforts are volunteers who are already involved in the football club. Iqbal is a committee member at Mossley, and is set to join the directors, after first offering to help with ground maintenance during the Covid-19 pandemic. The University of Salford business lecturer was swept up by the non-league spirit and is now using her knowledge in events, community and communication to help the club, but she hopes more will join her to volunteer at the Whit Friday Band Contest. 'With any volunteering, it's what you get back out of it and you know that you've contributed to what is the biggest event in your town. It's got about 11,000 plus people,' she said. 'The funding has been stripped back year by year, as well as the support for policing and security so you get more and more dependent upon volunteers.' Overlooking the natural beauty of Saddleworth Moor, Seel Park acts as a key community hub all year round as the club host events such as the Mossley 10k, the town's biggest fireworks display and weddings. Their support of the local population also extends to the day-to-day, with their facilities used by local running club, and provisions such as the A Team and Monday Club providing a space for disabled and disadvantaged adults. But the Whit Friday contest holds a special poignancy for those at Mossley, owing to the legacy of lifelong supporter and volunteer Paul Harrison. 'Paul and Jenny Harrison ran the band contest for decades. Paul was one of the groundsmen at Mossley, and he sadly died very suddenly of cancer three years ago,' said Iqbal. 'It's really important that we keep that event out of all events, because of what it means to the community and because of the hard work that Paul did. 'It's lovely that his family, his wife Jenny, and his daughters carry on supporting and volunteering at the band contest every year. It keeps Paul's legacy alive because he was so well respected in the town. 'It really is a community. People come to the football club now as one of those hub points where everybody comes to meet, whether it's on a Saturday or a Tuesday, to watch football.'
