Arngrove Northern League Division Two
7th April 2007
att. 20
Prudhoe Town lies in the Tynedale District, just south of the River Tyne in the southern part of Northumberland, bordering with Tyne & Wear,the town isn’t pronounced the way it appears, it isn’t a two syllable word Prud-hoe but a singular “Pruddah”, the name actually means ‘proud heights’ where as Prud-hoe sounds like some sort of gardening implement.The club was originally founded in the neighbouring village of Ovington in 1959 and played in a local farmers field in the Hexham & District Amateur League,they moved to a new home in 1969 at Eastwood Park and with it a new name Prudhoe East End,from there on the club progressed rapidly through three of the local leagues before election to the Northern Alliance in 1984-85.
In 1987 the club moved to their present residence at Kimberley Park,which was built on the land of a former council tip (cue..what a load of rubbish! joke) and it takes it’s name from Kimberley-Clark(now SCA Hygiene) the nearby factory which makes paper products,like Kleenex tissues and toilet roll,when I see the name Kimberley-Clark the first words that spring to mind are “is a slag” after seeing this sharp observation written on a toilet roll dispenser below the company logo in bold black ink,at a former place of employment.
‘The Citizens’were twice runners up in the Northern Alliance on the second occasion in 1988 they took promotion into the newly expanded Northern League Division Two,they’ve managed to gain promotion to the First Division twice,but were relegated the following season on both occasions in 1994(the year they changed their name to Town)and 2002.
Entrance to the ground is gained via a lane which runs off Broomhouse Road,there is plenty of traffic constantly coming and going but this has nothing to do with the football club,to the left of the lane is the local landfill and quarry site,the ground is further on to the right,and is instantly noticeable by the eight tall floodlight pylons.
A ground that was once a tip,is anything but that,the first impression is that it’s very tidy and is well maintained,three sides of the pitch are surrounded by grassed banked standing areas,these along with the pitch itself look immaculate,there’s a wooden fence that borders the grounds surroundings and there isn’t a splinter out of place.
There is a main stand which has approximately 250 dark green seats,the nearby clubhouse, refreshment area with a small covered terrace and changing rooms are painted the same colour to blend into one,there is another unused stand which is half built and seems to be wrote off and is used as a storage area.
Prudhoe Town gave a battling display in their bit to avoid the Northern League wooden spoon,a goal midway through the first half from Brandon right-back Craig Macklin capitalising from a loose ball from a corner separated the sides at half time. The second half continued in the same vain with Prudhoe unable to make the most of their possession with poor quality in the final third and it didn’t come as a surprise when United gained the advantage winning a penalty after Michael Fort was brought down in the box,he got up dusted himself down and coolly slotted home before limped off injured,Town pulled a goal back but were unable to get the much needed equaliser as Brandon finished the game comfortably,to take the three points back home to the Welfare Ground.
As we near the end of the current season, it’s uncertain whether this is the end of the road for Prudhoe Town.They submitted their resignation from the Northern League a few months back,but the feedback from the club is that it’s a precautionary measure as they await news regarding the relegation situation.With the FA now confirming that Durham City and Blue Star will definitely progress into the new Unibond League regional division then this may result in no clubs relegation from the ANL,so this could be the clubs saving grace,because the whisper I heard today is if Prudhoe lose their Northern League status then they won’t carry on at all,which is a shame because to make a decision like that and lose another local club would be rubbish!
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