In 1968 Emley entered the FA Amateur Cup and along with a successful bid to join the Yorkshire League the following season sowed the seeds of the many years of success that were to follow.  The Amateur Cup was a prestigious competition for amateur clubs.  Established in the late 19th Century it was dominated by teams from the North East and the South East, both regions where the amateur game was strong.  Teams from those areas had won the competition on all but 2 occasions in its 75-year history.

Emley had to battle through four qualifying rounds to reach the first round, beating Brook Sports, Keighley Central, Harrogate Railway and Ossett Albion on the way.  In the first round they were drawn at home against one of the Northern League giants of the time – Evenwood Town.  They would go on to finish fourth in the league in 68-69 and won it the following two seasons.  Emley, still plying their trade in the Huddersfield League were very much underdogs.

A crowd of 1360 watched the game on a cold, misty and frosty December day.  Emley were missing one of their star players, Ian Kettlewell, who was injured, robbing them of a major creative influence.  The game got off to a cautious start on the hard pitch, both teams worried about their unknown opponents.  The game was something of a midfield battle, with few clear chances created by either side.  Emley’s confidence grew and from a Morley cross, Pamment put the ball in the net.  But he had used his hand and the referee disallowed the ‘goal’.

The game was goalless at half-time, but Emley and the partisan crowd felt Emley could win this.  As the second half progressed, Pamment was a always a threat and a thorn in Evenwood’s side.  Finally the breakthrough came when Whiteley collected the ball in midfield and crossed from the left for Pamment to finish and put Emley ahead.

Evenwood came back at Emley and Casson had to pull off two excellent saves to keep maintain Emley’s lead.  Then came the killer goal.  Pamment broke away on the left and, returning the favour, passed to Whiteley who’s shot beat the advancing ‘keeper.  The crowd was delirious and thoughts of reaching Wembley crossed their minds!

But, Evenwood were not finished.  With ten minutes remaining, Weirs picked up a poor clearance and fired a fierce shot past Casson.  Emley were able to resist the pressure though and played out the remainder of the game for a famous victory.

Team: Casson; D Hall, Ellam; Wood, J Hall, Matley; Wilson, Whiteley, Pamment, Barnard, Morley.  Sub: Ogden

Headlines and photographs courtesy of Huddersfield Examiner and the Huddersfield and District Chronicle