Bishopthorpe Cricket Club: Crunch point to Clubmark

Bishopthorpe Cricket Club have an impressive story to tell. The village’s cricket team went from nearly folding to enjoying a stunning comeback with more players, sponsors and volunteers.

Like many, the cricket club’s ground, outside York, is not owned by themselves but in this case by the Church of England. Bishopthorpe is where the Archbishop of York’s palace is based, a few streets away as the River Ouse sweeps round.

Ed Townend, Vice Chair of Bishopthorpe Cricket Club, shared the rollercoaster that saw its future reach a critical point before salvation arrived. He makes the early point that a club’s future and security is intrinsically tied up with its volunteers.

At one time, Bishopthorpe’s strength on and off the field seems to have been driven by keen parents and as their kids progressed and moved on, so too did a nucleus of volunteers.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago and numbers had dwindled to such a degree that a few league matches were played with eight or nine players. It’s awkward, difficult to sustain and obviously harder to compete in the field too.

Ed told me: “We actually played in one game where we had seven players and two lads who were sons of one of our players who were 11 and 13 I think it was. They were only allowed to field third man to third man and if the ball went in the air, they weren’t allowed to catch it!”

The dreaded AGM

Incredibly, they won that match against the table-toppers but it wasn’t exactly a recipe for sustained success. Cue an AGM in January 2024 where Ed, who works in communications for the NHS, was able to harness the power of the local media like BBC Radio York, the York Press and others to promote this crunch point.

The aim? New volunteers, supporters, players, ideas and momentum to save the village cricket club and reignite its ailing fortunes. Now, if you’re a regular reader of Cricket Yorkshire, you’ll know that I have covered these stories from all angles in the last year.

Sometimes they go badly (Glasshouses and Rotherham Town, at the point of writing) and sometimes, it has a happier ending (Bullcroft Main).

For Bishopthorpe, this SOS call was answered and then some. Ed said: “We had about 35 people walk through the door which is insane. Not all of them were players. Some were people in the village saying ‘the cricket club can’t die – what can I do to help?’ “

From thoughts of folding, there were enough players to not only continue league cricket in Yorkshire Premier League North’s Division 4 Galtres for the 2024 season – they launched a new midweek social side called the Riversiders.

Ed credits a new committee formed last year as key in driving change including parish councillor Lisa Thornton coming on board as the club’s Chair. With a core of five or six volunteers, the cricket club found its feet.

“For my sins, I open the batting for the first team on a Saturday, do the match reports after the game, sort new balls out, do the comms and all this stuff. It’s become a bit more of a job than I anticipated – but something that’s really quite close to our hearts to keep this club going!”

It’s the classic club cricket tale of stepping forward to help and before you know it, you’re juggling six roles. I once attended an AGM and scratched my head at an inopportune moment only to discover I was suddenly in charge of the club’s website as well as second-team captain!

Fortunes on the field mirrored the enthusiasm with a fourth-place finish for the 1st XI last season leading to promotion with the YPLN’s reshuffle, as it gets bigger.

As we spoke, there were mixed fortunes but signs of strong availability that hadn’t existed for years. All eleven players for the Riversiders hadn’t yet played that season while the club was in the middle of a run of four home games in seven days.

In contrast, the jump up in opposition quality has been tough with Bishopthorpe yet to register a 2025 win in Division 3 Galtres after seven games. But the foundations sound as if they are there to ride out bumps in the road.

The losses have sometimes been close (one-wicket defeat to Woodhouse Grange) with landmarks to celebrate such as Mike Dale’s first 1st XI hundred (109 vs Yapham).

Besides, it’s not all doom and gloom, the Riversiders had a glorious 20-run win over Betty’s & Taylors at Bilton Cricket Club not so long ago.

Off the field, Ed told me that Bishopthorpe are progressing on various fronts: “We have now achieved Clubmark which would have seemed a million miles away last season!”

The ECB Clubmark accreditation, supported by Tom Bates at the Yorkshire Cricket Board, is yet further evidence of sustainability.

if you don’t know, it’s a mark of excellence after submitting a club development plan, club constitution, committee structure and meetings, accounts and finances, adoption of ECB Safe Hands Policy and Anti-Discrimination Code, details of the club insurance and compliance on the Safe Hands Management System (SMHS).

Award-winning Bish

The good news keeps coming with Bishopthorpe winning last year’s YCB Cricket Collective Connecting Communities Award and they are shortlisted for the YO1 Sports Awards in June.

With a first eleven and also a social side playing friendlies, re-starting juniors is important to a longer-term future. To that end, they have also launched All Stars in May and are selling sponsorship packages for the first time with hopes for a financial boost.

Martin & Co and The Coffee Pod have come on board while more will likely follow. It’s as much about mindset when the fortunes of a cricket club happily pivot from survival to growth.

The ground had been left to its own devices when the club was seemingly heading for extinction but an urgent appeal to help from the village community to fund repairs to the roller was met with donations and generosity from the parish council.

Potential on LinkedIn?

From my perspective, one of the things I notice Bishopthorpe Cricket Club do really well is their social media and outward communication. The imagery is on point with sponsors prominent, regular photography that’s a decent quality, the match reports are a good read and they also share regularly on LinkedIn.

I wrap up an absorbing chat with Ed about LinkedIn specifically because it’s a channel I think many cricket clubs don’t think about for commercial advantage. I use it all of the time for Cricket Yorkshire and have around 1,400 followers on there from ECB, YCB, brands, clubs, players, cricket fans and media.

It is a commercially-minded setting and if used as Bishopthorpe do, demonstrates all the good a cricket club is doing, which makes it easier to show prospective sponsors what you’re all about.

With LinkedIn, you might well find your next ball sponsor, ground advertiser, teamwear or live streaming backer. Food for thought perhaps either to jump into or use more regularly.

Thanks to Ed for his insight on all things Bishopthorpe. Not all stories have a happy ending but this one does – and it’s a credit to everyone quietly driving this village club forward for making the magic happen.