Tag Archives: Northern League

Sing about the Six Blade

27 Sunday Oct 2013

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Friday 25th October 2013 ko 19.30

Wearside League

SILKSWORTH COLLIERY WELFARE 2 (Gill 58 77)

RYHOPE COLLIERY WELFARE 6 (O’Neill 30p Butler 54 Hall 56 Winn 65 Pounder 74 Yip 90)

Att 168

Entry, Programme, and 60th Anniversary Shipowners’ Cup Final Programme £4

Sometimes, coincidence can be a wonderful thing. With the Northern League staging a 4-game groundhop in Newcastle the next day, any club staging a game in the area the evening before was always likely to see a glut of southern-based hoppers. 4 clubs did; in the Northern League there were games at Shildon and Spennymoor, and a few saw Middlesbrough beat Doncaster in the Championship, but for me the most intriguing was Silksworth CW.

Silksworth is a district of Sunderland, and I passed the Stadium of Light on my way to the Bobby Gurney Memorial Park. Gurney was born in Silksworth as his father worked at the local pit, now where the local leisure centre. Bobby was spotted playing for Bishop Auckland in 1925 and signed for Continue reading →

The Learning Curve

12 Monday Aug 2013

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Saturday 10th August 2013 ko 19.00

Northern League Division One

PENRITH AFC 2 (Rigg 35 71)

NEWTON AYCLIFFE 4 (Earl 19 21 Owens 59 86)

Att 380

Entry £5

Programme £1 (?)

Team Sheet 20p

The trip east from Whitehaven was memorable for the views of Bassenthwaite Lake, and given that I arrived at Penrith AFC a good hour before kick-off I wish I’d stopped for a few photos.

You are now in the Eden Valley, just north of the River Eamont, and since you’re less than 3 miles north of the boundary of the Lake District National Park, the view from the main stand at Frenchfield Park is spectacular! Even behind the goal, the cows took an agricultural, if slightly dismissive view of proceedings. Continue reading →

Rum

11 Sunday Aug 2013

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Saturday 10th August 2013 ko 15.00

Northern League Division 2

WHITEHAVEN AFC 2 (Donald 23 64)

CHESTER-LE-STREET TOWN 1 (Grant-Soulsby 77)

Att 208

Entry ?

Programme £1

Badge £2.50

It was very much a case of “Gentlemen start your engines,” as the match finished at Celtic Nation. The road out from the ground was narrow and congested, and I knew from experience that Carlisle city centre can be a nightmare to negotiate. Hop organiser Harvey Harris looked frustrated. sat in the courier seat of the coach as a stream of cars passed by, his coach blocked in by a single pesky, inconsiderate car. He finally got away about 10 cars behind me, but once out of Carlisle it was a straightforward enough drive west to Whitehaven.

The coastal town is possibly best known for being the most complete example of planned Continue reading →

Viva Cas-Vegas

01 Monday Apr 2013

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Friday 29th March 2013 ko 11.00

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

GLASSHOUGHTON WELFARE 2 (Ball 66og Woollard 90) Young missed penalty 79

NOSTELL MINERS WELFARE 0

Att 307

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

Tucked up snuggly as I was at the hotel, when the alarm went off I dashed to the window to judge the scene outside. It looked cold, but was it cold enough to freeze a pitch? At breakfast one of the coach party tried the classic acid-test all hoppers use. He went outside and found Continue reading →

Sans Pareil

16 Sunday Dec 2012

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Saturday 15th December 2012 ko 15.00

FA Vase 3rd Round
SHILDON AFC 3 (McCabe 66 Owens 75 80)
PARKGATE 1 (Lee 8)

Att 157

Entry £7
Programme £1.50
Badge £3
Tea 80p

There’s something slightly unworldly about many Northern League grounds, a by-product of the North-East’s domination of the amateur game in the early part of the twentieth century. You’re just over the border from Teesside into County Durham here, the land of the Prince Bishops, appointed to the two roles as a bastion against Scottish incursions from the north. Shildon is the cradle of passenger steam railways too, the first passenger train drawn by steam was built here, and departed on the new Stockton & Darlington Railway. The trackbed is still there, now a footpath- I wonder whether you can walk the entire length?

That sense of history extends to the Dean Street football ground, nestled in amongst the terraced houses. Continue reading →

When Three Into One Does Go

14 Sunday Oct 2012

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Saturday 13th October 2012 ko 15.00

Northern League Division Two

CROOK TOWN 3 (Hodgson 10 Davis 55 Byrne 76)

NORTH SHIELDS 1 (Nolan 65)

Att c160

Entry £4

Programme 50p

Badge £3

So many choices, on “Non-League Day,” including a Mancunian triple, but I’d heard good things about Millfield, so gambled on it being worth three games elsewhere. Carry on dear reader and you’ll see why Lee and I got it absolutely right.

On the face of it, Crook is a rather unprepossessing market town, in agricultural County Durham. In fact, its the town’s football team that is the principle source of fame for Crook. For older readers the club’s exploits in the FA Amateur Cup may be how you know Crook but if you’re from Catalonia the reason for knowing them is that they had a part in the establishment of Association Football as principle sport ahead of bullfighting in the region, and in particular the rise of the collossus that is Continue reading →