Founded: 1921

Club Honours:

Leagues played in: Yorkshire ECB Premier League, Lincolnshire League, North Lindsey League

Contact details: enquiries.appfrodcc@outlook.com

Website: www.applebyfrodinghamcc.co.uk

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Adapted from Keith and Dennis Wadd, ‘A History of Appleby-Frodingham CC, 1921-1999’

Frodingham Iron Company was formed in 1875; Appleby Iron Company came into existence the following year. In 1918 a small band of sports enthusiasts persuaded steel-maker Maximillian Mannaberg that ‘sport in the open air and sunshine was essential for good health, team spirit and the feeling of comradeship’. It was agreed that the park area surrounding Brumby Hall House in Scunthorpe would be run by a joint committee from both companies, and that a Frodingham Works Athletics Club would be formed.

The first cricket matches were played on the current site in 1921, and the club staged its first county matches in August 1925. In 1935 the Frodingham and Appleby Iron Companies amalgamated and the Athletics Club became the Appleby-Frodingham Works Club.

In the early days a number of old railway carriages served as changing accommodation; cricket had a small wooden hut, and there was no water or electricity. In 1924 Frodingham Works loaned the athletic club half the cost of building a cricket pavilion (£100), which was ready for the start of the 1925 season. This was a wooden building which had spectator seating in front of it, a room for making teas, a toilet, two changing rooms, a kitchen, and a water supply. It served the club until 1970, when the new pavilion was opened.

Originally, at the 1926 AGM it was agreed that the cricket team would be allowed to field a maximum of 2 outside members in any match. One big issue was that players would have to clock out from work early or clock in late, depending on their shift, in order to play cricket, and were continually losing pay as a result. In the 1950s it was agreed that the club would reimburse players for lost hours at the rate of 3 shillings per hour. The club retained strict rules about outside members until the 1980s.

The Scunthorpe Cricket Festival, a major event in local cricket circles, was hosted at Brumby Hall annually between 1949 and 1961, with the aim of providing entertaining cricket and creating interest in the game. This attracted crowds of several thousand and featured some huge names in world cricket, including Sir Garfield Sobers.

It is interesting that App-Frod are known to have had a Ladies side in the 1930s, begun in the summer of 1933, though little is known about them. Between 1955 and 1961 the Ladies of the club played an annual fixture against the Gents, in which the men had to bat and bowl left-handed and field one-handed. By fair means or foul, the Ladies just managed to win each year!

The club has played in various leagues over the years, including the Scunthorpe and District League – which formed in 1934 – the Yorkshire Council from 1948 and the newly-formed Lincolnshire League in 1964. In 1978 a new Sunday League was formed by Joe Minckley of Lincoln, sponsored by the LSG group of newspapers, and App-Frod – who had previously played friendly cricket on Sundays – joined this league.

The club currently runs 3 senior weekend teams, 1 senior midweek team and 4 junior teams at Under 11, Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 levels.