A 176-year-old York cricket club which started the year at risk of folding has closed out 2024 with a league promotion - and now has a ‘real presence’.

As reported in The Press, Bishopthorpe Cricket Club (BCC) survived after an appeal for new players at the start of the year led to a bumper new fixture schedule, fresh infrastructure at the club and investment from within the village.

On the field, the first XI were promoted after ending the season in fourth place in Yorkshire Premier League North Galtres Division Four, a BCC Riversiders social XI was formed and behind the scenes, local sponsors came on board along with funding from the parish council.

Ed Townend (right) was one of the players behind the club's call to arms in February (Image: Kevin Glenton)

In October, the club won a ‘Connecting Communities Award’ at the Yorkshire Cricket Board and England Cricket Board (ECB) Cricket Collective awards.

Player and committee member Ed Townend shared some of the highlights which brought things together in 2024 and also sounded a note of caution that the club faces ongoing pressures to survive in an environment where participation in weekend competitive sport is falling across the country.

He said: “From the outset the idea was to have a cricket club that could last a season.

“There were pressures about the future of the club and finding out during the call-to-arms campaign that the club was 176 years old made a huge impact on our efforts.

“Our aim was to try to get three or four players and to ensure we respected the league format and the other teams in it.”

The call-to-arms was publicised on Bishopthorpe village noticeboards (Image: Kevin Glenton) After the initial ‘meet the players’ evening at a Bishopthorpe pub and a series of nets with the new intake in March, the foundations were laid.

However, when the occasional opponent turned up at the Ferry Lane ground short of numbers themselves, it gave Ed and the committee a reminder of the challenges faced by players and families whilst trying to consistently field teams.

Ed said: “It’s just not our club that’s feeling it.

“BCC is still under pressure and we try to take steps to address that.

“One of those things is to take out a block-booking of nets at the Mount School on January 22 (2025).

“We want to provide some coaching and attract new players.

“We’ve appointed a captain for the Riversiders XI as well.

“There is a club development plan for the committee too.

“And we’re launching an ECB initiative at the club called All Stars Cricket for five-to-eight year old children where they get an eight week session of fun, activities and skills development.

“Parents have already shown a willingness to get involved after we put out an expression of interest.”

The Ferry Lane club is 'not alone' in looking to maintain the consistency of numbers week in week out, said Ed (Image: Kevin Glenton) Ed added that the foundations in the village of Bishopthorpe are also being strengthened.

Estate and letting agent Martin and Co came on board as lead sponsor and The Coffee Pod in Sim Balk Lane put on the club teas on matchdays.

Ed said: “The best response for me to the call-to-arms was probably the way the village got behind the cricket club.

“We have a number of players turn up who live in the village, and that call-to-arms locally was great.

“Other support came in - even our new chair Lisa Thornton is on the parish council, who themselves were very supportive and put their hands in their pockets.

“They got us a new pitch roller and matched funding donations made by villagers which were coming in - a tenner here, and £20 there.

“I think it was great that we saw the village respond to that and that the cricket club is a presence there.”