The Main Stand following its 2024 makeoverInside the Richard Hirst standEmley win the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup in May 2023
Emley Association Football Club is a football club based in Emley, West Yorkshire, England. Known as AFC Emley from 2005 to 2019, they are currently members of Northern Premier League Division One East and play at the Welfare Ground. They are nicknamed The Pewits.
History
The original Emley club were founded in 1903 and were members of the Huddersfield District League, Yorkshire League and Northern Counties East League, before winning promotion to the Northern Premier League in 1989. In 2000 new ground grading regulations introduced by the Northern Premier League forced Emley to relocate to Belle Vue in Wakefield, although the reserve team continued to play at the Welfare Ground in Emley. In 2002 the club was renamed Wakefield & Emley, and when the reserve team (which still played in Emley) was disbanded in 2005, supporters of the original club decided to establish a new club based in Emley under the name A.F.C. Emley.[4] The following year Wakefield & Emley was renamed Wakefield,[5] and remained in the Northern Premier League until disbanding in 2014.
A new Emley club was established in 2005 and joined Division One of the West Yorkshire League for the 2005–06 season.[6] After finishing third in their first season, they were promoted to Division One of the Northern Counties East League.[6] In 2014 the club rejected a merger with the Wakefield club.[7] In 2015–16 they finished fourth in Division One, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Penistone Church 1–0 in the semi-finals, they lost 4–3 on penalties to Bottesford Town in the final after a 1–1 draw. Striker Ashley Flynn finished the season with 73 goals, a league record.[8] In 2016–17 the club finished third, missing out on automatic promotion on goal difference; they went on to lose 3–1 to Penistone Church in the play-off semi-finals.
In March 2019 it was announced that the club would be renamed Emley A.F.C. from the start of the 2019–20 season, five years after the original club was dissolved.[9] The club were transferred to Division One North of the North West Counties League for the 2019–20 season. They were fourth in Division One North with games in hand on two clubs above them by mid-March 2020, but the season was the abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were subsequently transferred back to Division One of the Northern Counties East League for the 2020–21 season and were top of the league when the season was abandoned in February 2021. In May 2021 the club were promoted to the Premier Division based on their results in the two abandoned seasons. In 2022–23 they won the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup, beating Maltby Main 2–0 in the final.
The 2023–24 season saw Emley win the NCEL Premier Division title, securing promotion to Division One East of the Northern Premier League.
The club plays at the Welfare Ground in Emley. It has a capacity of 2,000, of which 1,000 is covered and 305 seated. The ground is shared with the local cricket club is therefore three-sided; the Warburton End, which consists of a small terrace and uncovered hard standing behind one goal; the Main stand, which has a small uncovered terrace section near the dugouts, as well as housing the clubs offices, changing rooms and sports bar; and the Richard Hirst Stand (also known as The Shed), a low covered terrace behind the other goal. During the football season, a fence is erected along the cricket field side. The main stand and dugouts were upgraded during summer 2023 with new seats being brought in from the Kirklees Stadium. An electronic scoreboard was installed at the Warburton end during the 2023–24 season and new LED floodlights were installed in the summer of 2024.
Rivals
Emley have a local rivalry with Golcar United in the 'Huddersfield derby'.[10] as well a cross county rivalry with South Yorkshire-based Penistone Church.[11]
