Ambling: Football in the Lake District at Ambleside United.

Words: Mike Bayly

Images: Mike Bayly

A large queue of people wait to board the 555 bus outside Windermere railway station.

Based on snippets of conversation and telltale attire, a large proportion are tourists.

A helpful local provides directions to a family heading for the Beatrix Potter Attraction in Bowness. “I used to travel everywhere around here by horse” she adds cheerfully. Two elderly gentlemen in straw boaters smile at this revelation.

I feel like I’m journeying into a P.G. Wodehouse novel, rather than my actual destination of Hillard Park, home of Ambleside United.

Our bus departs and chugs alongside the mountainous vista of Windermere Lake. The Lake District is a breathtaking part of England. Pre-eminent poet William Wordsworth resided in nearby Grasmere in the early 1800s, declared it “The loveliest spot that man hath found.”

©Mike Bayly/ Terrace Edition. Ambleside United.

An estimated 16 million visitors descend on this National Park every year to enjoy fell walking, mountaineering and water sports, explore timeless bosky villages or discover the world of Peter Rabbit.

I don’t ask my fellow passengers why they are here: a decade of using the London Underground conditions you to keep a low profile on public transport. However, I suspect I am the only one travelling to Ambleside specifically to watch a football match.

Ambleside United were formed in 1896 as Ambleside FC, using “Jimmy Jackson’s field” for a pitch. Their current ground, in use since at least the mid-1940s, was purchased by the club in 1980 and renamed Hillard Park in the 1990s in honour of benefactor Ada Hillard, whose generous donations funded construction of the clubhouse.

United compete in the Westmorland Football League (WFL) Division 1, having secured promotion from Division 2 last season. Initiated in 1892, the WFL typically consisted of clubs representing the historic county of Westmorland, which became part of the newly formed Cumbria in 1974.

More recently, the WFL has welcomed clubs from outside the competition’s traditional boundaries, such as Lancashire-based Millhead FC. While many clubs have departed or folded over the years, it is testament to the WFL’s popularity and endurance that the 2023-24 season constitutes 47 teams across four divisions.

An impressive roll call given the parlous decline of amateur Saturday leagues in other parts of England.

Before the game, I meet with United’s young chairman, Dan Nevinson. Nevinson’s grandfather played for Ambleside in the 1950, and features in one of many historic team photos on the clubhouse walls.

Among the treasure trove of memorabilia on display is a framed note detailing the club’s first match in 1896. The founders would undoubtedly be proud that the club continues to represent the town, and through its extensive junior section offer playing opportunities for boys and girls down to the age of six.

Nevinson explains that most of the Ambleside first team are made up of local lads, including a good proportion who have progressed through the youth system.

There is a real sense of history, community and family here. I chat with Alan Smith, who started as club secretary in 1966 and remains a trustee, working on match reports, social media and maintaining United’s informative website. We are joined by Dave Routledge, another volunteer who helps with ground maintenance and whose son, Graham, is first team manager.

A further football connection can be found in Routledge’s other son, Martyn, who co-authored The Beautiful Badge, a history of UK football’s club badges that won ‘Illustrated Book of The Year’ at The Telegraph Sports Book Awards in 2019.

Situated in such a dramatic part of England, Hillard Park is popular with ground enthusiasts for the views it affords.

From a photography perspective it would be remiss, at this point, not to mention that Ambleside’s football alumni includes one of the godfathers of football photography, Stuart Roy Clarke, who ran the ‘The Homes of Football’ exhibition in town for almost 15 years.

Evening kick-offs in August bathe the landscape in golden hour light, creating a distinctive warmth and contrast that can’t be replicated by the midday sun.

By the second half, the game had succumbed to shadow, the dusk briefly illuminated by a helicopter hurtling overhead. I have no idea of the model: my knowledge of the genre is limited to old episodes of Airwolf.

Leaving Hillard Park after the final whistle, I am overcome with an immense feeling of gratitude. That Ambleside United has prospered for almost 130 years is credit to generations of well-wishers and volunteers. Without individuals of this calibre, the amateur game would cease to exist.

As someone who travels across Britain documenting football culture in the lower leagues, I owe an eternal thanks. It is their perseverance and love for the game that allows me to be a football tourist.

©Mike Bayly/ Terrace Edition. Dave Routledge and Alan Smith.

You can follow Mike on Twitter and Instagram: @Mike_Bayly

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