By Liam O’Sullivan
New Farnley Cricket Club can look back at its 70th anniversary year with much fondness, after winning both the Priestley Cup and the Heavy Woollen Cup, and finishing runners-up in the Bradford Premier League.
The recent progression of the club has been remarkable. Many would’ve thought a repeat of last year’s successes would be difficult to top, winning both the Heavy Woollen Cup and the Priestley Cup.
However, on a special milestone for the club, they had the privilege of hosting the finals for these competitions, where they came out victorious on both occasions once again.
They not only matched their cup successes from last year, but also finished one place better in the league, ending up in second place.
Club President Steve Dalby told WLD he was proud of the club’s progress over the years. He said: “We used to play at Farnley Park for our games, but now we play at our own ground with great facilities. It shows where we’ve come from and the progression we’ve made.
“The year we’ve had is massive for the local community. We want to be a local club that plays at top levels as much as we can. We want to develop juniors and we’ve got some great coaches here, and youngsters are coming to us to develop their sporting career.”
Despite it being a seemingly wonderful year for New Farnley, My Dalby’s competitive outlook hasn’t changed following their successful season.
He added: “We’re majorly disappointed that we couldn’t win the league. It may seem like an achievement for an outsider, but it was really disappointing for us. We set out two win the two trophies and the league, but we just narrowly missed out.
“Still, it’s a massive thing to win them two trophies and we’re incredibly proud.”
