Sunday 5th April 2026 ko 11.00

Northern League Division Two

BILLINGHAM TOWN 0

BILLINGHAM SYNTHONIA 2 (Healy 18 Irvine 90+2)

Att 758

Entry £6

Programme £2

GroundhopUk’s first organisation of the Northern Hop was nothing if not ambitious, Easter Sunday is often the most difficult day to get clubs to play on, but while I’m not party to conversations in League circles, we got 3 committed host clubs and when you’re turning up for your 8th game of the weekend that is a godsend!

We found ourselves in Middlesbrough’s environs for a massive local derby, even if Synthonia are groundsharing at Stockton Town these days. The Middlesbrough connection is important, Gary Pallister started his career at Billy Town before a stellar career at Boro’ then Manchester United.

The surprise of Bedford Terrace is that it is hosting only Step 6, and that they’ve never played any higher than the Northern League. Put simply, the ground would grace a far higher level of football; I suspect the reason is the comparatively isolated footpint the Northern League occupies. The ground gave Town the ability to take full advantage of a hop crowd, which unquestionably they did, but one aspect of it, really impressed me.

They invited “Andy’s Man Club” to have a stall in the clubhouse. If you didn’t know the charity exists to fight the epidemic of male suicides by encouraging men to meet a talk through their problems. A friend of mine I know attends meetings, and 12 years ago we lost groundhopper James Rennie to suicide. As far as I am concerned when as Oxford United fan we lost Joey Beauchamp it became even more personal. What Billy Town did was put the topic front and centre of precisely the target audience. Well done, thanks, and I hope other clubs will do similar.

Billy Town have attracted a similar type of Ultras group we saw often on the Scottish Hop. Based in the stand, they made one side pretty much a no-go zone for the first half. They were though, in perfect position to take advantage of the fact that there’s no love lost between the two sides. They clearly thought that the league table wouldn’t lie, and they’d be cheering a home win.

Of course derbies often don’t go by the form book, so Synners collected a morale-boosting 3 points. I spent stoppage time convincing a young German groundhopper to head to Crook Town rather than Gateshead. He was rather uncertain given the differential between two clubs’ statuses, but I suspect all but the most dedicated “Heed” fan agreed with me!