The Hope Valley amateur football league returns

The new season is now fully underway in the Hope Valley Amateur Football League, with fresh faces and a fresh constitution.

Those who follow the Hope Valley Amateur Football League will have noticed some major changes over the summer, with the league opting to merge both the A Division and Premier Division together, following on from a drop in entrants due to teams folding and changing their respective leagues.

This merge was sanctioned by the Derbyshire FA, with the condition that any team within the league that possesses a reserve and/or development team, must register players solely to that team for the season unless the standard player transfer protocols are met.

The first test of this rule was witnessed on Friday evening as Hayfield First Team faced off against their reserve side in the season opener. Hayfield Firsts will be looking to build off a fantastic season last year which included an appearance in the Derbyshire Cup final where they narrowly lost to CMA outfit Wirksworth Ivanhoe.

The game itself was a true testament to the talent the club possesses as an entity, with the first team winning the fixture by just three goals. Joe Armstrong resumed his usual goal scoring dominance with his brace, as Oliver Wyatt sealed the deal just before the final whistle to give the first team all three points.

Tideswell welcomed Buxworth Reserves to the Cathedral of the Peak this weekend and made a clear statement of intent on their opening day. The home side seemingly ran riot notching six past Buxworth, as well as keeping a clean sheet. The 6-0 victory places Tideswell at the top of the table for now, a place that they will no doubt wish to stay in for the remainder of the season.

Dove Holes saw their first team move across to the Staffordshire Football League this summer, upgrading their status in the HVAFL from ‘Reserves’ to a stand-alone club in this league. Following on from a couple of years of dominance in the A Division, they met a familiar opponent in Youlgrave United. Ultimately Dove’s strength has not disintegrated over the summer, as they ran out 7-2 victors over Pommie on their season opener. Charles Gould opened his goal account for the season, with Aaron Hodgkinson netting a brace on the first day also. The headlines were stolen by Ryan Bradd, however. With the Dove hitman soaring into the golden boot race lead with his four goals that secured Dove all the points.

Chinley have returned to the HVAFL this season and are a much-welcomed addition to the league’s constitution. Their first test came at the hands of the Derbyshire Junior Cup finalists, Hathersage, who had impressed in pre-season across their schedule. Chinley welcomed Hathersage and did not make it easy for the visitors, as they completed their debut weekend with a comfortable 3-1 against the A Division veteran’s. Both teams will no doubt be ones to keep your eyes on this season as both clearly have quality and could upset some of the favourites up the top of the division.  

Buxworth Firsts kicked off their campaign by welcoming the 19th Hole to Western Lane. The 19th Hole struggled in the Premier Division last season but have clearly worked hard throughout the summer as they defeated the home side 3-2 to take all three points back to Buxton. Andrew Ramwell and Chris Williamson’s goals for Buxworth weren’t enough to shut out Cameron Wallace’s hat-trick for the 19th Hole, with the player giving Dove’s Ryan Bradd an early run for his money in the golden boot race.

Blazing Rag were up next, and hosted Calver who had a fantastic season in the A Division last year. The first game of the season is vital as teams look to make a statement and/or see where they are at physically, and Rag have clearly knuckled down this summer as they won the fixture narrowly 3-2 to take all three points. Jack Madin’s brace wasn’t enough for Calver who put up a spirited fight, but Blazing Rag will be ecstatic with their opening day result.

Darley Dale Lions have returned to the HVAFL after a few seasons in the CMA, with their first test coming at the hands of Bamford away. Bamford possess incredible talent and experience, putting the Lions on high alert from the get-go. Bamford took the lead after ten minutes, before Scott Parker equalised for Darley nine minutes later. Bamford were keen to stay in front and made it 2-1 just after the first quarter of the game, before Darley’s Noah Glover pounced on a stray back pass to Bamford’s keeper to level the score at 2-2 before half time. Dylan Webster gave Darley the lead in the second half with his penalty, before Bamford equalised straight from kick off to even the game out for the third time. Both teams left with a point and will be content with their start.

As always, all of the leagues fixtures and results can be viewed using the FA’s dedicated website ‘Full-Time’.