The Welfare Ground

The Welfare Ground sits quietly in Emley, a village tucked away in the parish of Denby Dale within the Kirklees district of West Yorkshire. It is not a monument to grandeur, but a working pitch shared with the local cricket club.

The playing surface is natural grass, kept in condition by a routine of scarifying, reseeding, and fertilizing. The most recent changes to the facility were the installation of new LED floodlights in 2024. Before that, in 2023, the club received a donation of seats from the John Smith's Stadium.

The venue holds up to 2,000 spectators, though the numbers are split between the 1,000 covered areas and the 305 seated sections. It serves as the home for Emley A.F.C., a side that was re-established in 2005 after the original club from 1903 moved to Wakefield. The club now competes in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

While the exact year the ground was first used remains unrecorded, the community around it has persisted through changes. The current name, the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground, reflects a sponsorship deal with a local marketing agency, a practical arrangement that keeps the lights on.