Aroundtown Magazine July/August 2022

SPORT
“
Jamie Vardy, has become the poster
boy of non-league football, going from
playing in the reserves squad at a ground
once owned by Samuel Fox’s Steelworks to
becoming a Foxes hero at Leicester City.
”
to the ground at Bracken Moor.
Along with the first team, they also
have a reserve team who play in the
Sheffield and Hallamshire County
Senior League, as well as two under
18 development teams and over
200 junior players ranging from
under-eights to under 16s.
Ian is hoping to close the gap
between the junior players and first
team by creating a pathway that
he hopes will see more lads from
the Stocksbridge area make up the
senior sides.
The Steels’ most famous product,
Jamie Vardy, has become the poster
boy of non-league football, going
from playing in the reserves squad
at a ground once owned by Samuel
Fox’s Steelworks to becoming a
Foxes hero at Leicester City.
The standard of non-league
football has improved in the last
25 years that the Steels have been
in the Northern Premier League.
Players at semi-professional level
have often been released by
professional academies or wind up
their careers there.
Stocksbridge have had some
success in getting players through
to the EFL, such as Lee Mills who
was bought from the club by Wolves
for £15,000 in 1992, and more
recently Harrison Biggins who plays
for Doncaster Rovers.
“Most footballers will want to play
at the highest level they can for the
most money they can. We don’t
have the same budgets other clubs
do so there will always be player
who move on to more lucrative
deals. But the current squad we
have are here to play for footballing
reasons. We’ve got a strong nucleus
of players from last season but have
also got some new signings with
young players who are hungry to
play at this level,” Ian says.
Let’s face it, football is best
enjoyed live – you can’t recreate
the atmosphere on the terraces
at home on the sofa. With sports
TV packages and season ticket
prices rising, many football fans are
throwing their support - and turnstile
money - to lower league clubs.
Since the pandemic, attendance at
non-league games have been on
the rise with record crowds seen at
some clubs.
Ticket prices might be
considerably less than at
professional clubs, but another big
draw is that fans are close to the
action right by the touchline.
Graham says: “We’ve got some
good lads at this club who play to
a good standard of football in good
surroundings. It’s promising to see
non-league crowd attendances up
across the region, helped on by the
pandemic, as that support makes
a massive difference to clubs like
ours.”
Running a football club isn’t a
walk in the park. Graham tells us
how transport costs, maintenance
of two pitches, plus training costs
for all four teams are reaching
£40,000 a year. If commercial and
sponsorship revenues drop, as
they have done for a lot of clubs
since the pandemic, a far greater
proportion of club revenue has to
come from match-day ticket sales
and catering.
It’s thanks to a hardworking
team of committee members and
volunteers that Stocksbridge Park
Steels have been able to retain
their position within non-league
football. The Steels are a family,
first and foremost, with many of the
volunteers having an affinity with
the club. Secretary Mick Grimmer,
now 75, is also the groundsman
but played for the club in the 1970s.
President Pete Kenney, 87, is also a
past player.
Graham says one of their
main goals moving forward is to
strengthen relations within the
community and encourage families
and younger people to get involved
with the club. Bracken Moor Sports
and Social Club has a clubhouse
on-site where they work with local
suppliers and businesses for
catering and real ales.
Home game tickets are £8 for
adults and £5 for concessions, with
under twelves getting in free with
a paying adult. But they also offer
a season ticket and membership
package to cut costs down even
further.
The 2022/23 season starts on
13th August with home games
played at Bracken Moor Lane,
Stocksbridge, Sheffield, S36 2AN
For more information or to see
the full fixtures and results, visit
www.stocksbridgeps.co.uk
aroundtownmagazine.co.uk 43