Rugby league history was made at a building site in East Yorkshire on Sunday. Goole Vikings are the sport’s newest semi-professional club, an offshoot of an amateur outfit which has been operating in the Yorkshire Men’s League since 2018.
Having played a couple of Challenge Cup ties and one in the 1895 Cup – a home win over North Wales Crusaders the previous week – Sunday’s visit of Midlands Hurricanes was their first fixture in League One.
On the field, Vikings pushed one of the division’s better sides all the way, only for the visitors to snatch a 16-14 win through two tries in the last 10 minutes.
That was disappointing for the competition newcomers, but they could be proud of staging a successful occasion, in difficult circumstances.
Goole play at Victoria Pleasure Ground, which first opened in 1888. Still home of the port’s non-league football side, it has been an occasional rugby league venue over the years and is being undergoing a huge redevelopment.
When finished, ‘state of the art’ facilities will include a full-size, 3g pitch, athletics sprint track and two-storey club house with changing rooms, a cafe and 160-seat hospitality suite.
In the meantime, it’s a building site – literally. A former stand has been demolished and a large yellow digger sits on top of the rubble, providing a highly unusual backdrop.
On the other side are two small stands, one with seats, behind an athletic track. Changing facilities are in portable buildings, but there was no shortage of food and drink on offer for spectators, a busy club shop and – in a first for the sport – huge tipi behind the sticks at one end, complete with real life Vikings (or possibly enthusiasts dressed up as such), who wandered around pitchside waving axes at bemused onlookers.
Situated between rugby league heartlands in West Yorkshire and Hull, Vikings want to become the ‘second team’ for fans in those areas and there was a large Hull FC contingent present on Sunday, with Leeds Rhinos, Castleford Tigers and Doncaster colours also on show in the respectable 479 crowd.
Goole don’t yet have their own fans so the atmosphere was quite quiet, at least until the home team hit a purple patch on attack in the second half, but a couple of dozen travelling Canes supporters made their voices heard.
On a sunny day, even with building work ongoing it would be a pleasant enough place to watch rugby, but less so in strong winds and driving rain. That said, Goole did their best – there was lots going on, a friendly welcome and proceedings appeared to go off without major hitches. It was an enjoyable day out.
As for the rugby, at one stage late on it looked like Goole Vikings might pull off a notable win before Midlands staged a last-ditch match-winning rally.
Vikings took an early 2-0 lead, but were under the pump almost from the first whistle. Some poor decision-making and weak finishing from the visitors, coupled with Vikings’ spirited defence, restricted Midlands to a 6-2 half-time lead, Tom Wilkinson scoring the only try.
After the break, Midlands continued to dominate, but couldn’t take advantage of Vikings’ inability to hang on to the ball and, completely against the run of play, the hosts found themselves 14-6 ahead with 19 minutes left, thanks to two tries in five minutes by Ryan Knight and Jamie Shaul.
It might have been curtains for Hurricanes, but the pass which sent Goole-born Tom Halliday over soon afterwards was ruled forward. Midlands didn’t grab their second try until 10 minutes from time, ex-Leeds Rhinos winger Luis Roberts crossing on debut. Three minutes later, Matty Hanley touched down to seal a dramatic win.
Midlands will be confident of improving as the season goes on, but if Goole Vikings can cut out the handling errors, they will at least be competitive in their debut campaign. Unlike some new clubs, they have a solid base of players brought up in rugby league and that will stand them in good stead.
Full time at the V.P.G and the Vikings lose out to a 2 point defeat to Midlands Hurricanes.#UTV 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/0HViaZ8dWr
— Goole Vikings RLFC (@Goole_VikingsRL) February 23, 2025
