Saturday 4th April 2026 ko 18:30

Northern League Division Two

TOW LAW TOWN 1 (Bates 27)

RYTON & CRAWCROOK ALBION 1 (Anderson 31)

Att 509

Entry £5

Programme £2

When any fan of football in the North East mentions Tow Law it’s elevation is always mentioned. It is 997 feet above sea level, and the football ground in Ironworks Road is extremely exposed so the epithet tends to be that it is always cold at Tow Law. On that basis I did fee that my visit there in September 2014 may have been under false pretences. It was lovely and warm, I didn’t even wear a coat! That was unlikely to be the case this time round…

To coin a phrase from “The Terminator” there was a storm coming, and just about the last place you wanted to be was Ironworks Road. The wind howled off the Wearside Hills, and if you were on the terrace on the near side there was nowhere to hide from it. The club did everything they could with what they had. Some rough ground was used as a car park, and a social media campaign made sure people could park legally once that was filled.

The ground has no kitchen as such, and even the burger van struggled with demand. The bar was packed to the gunnels so a can bar was step up near the turnstiles. It was a tough night to be a volunteer, swamped with spectators in a gale, so all credit to all they did. From an organiser’s perspective, the success is lovely, and it does give everyone involved a heads-up on what it takes to host well. Tow Law managed it, but I’d like future hosts to do it with a little less stress!

The game was a credit to both sides; how can you play good football on top of a hill in a gale? Perhaps the draw was fair under the circumstances.