Wearside League Wanderings - part seven



Three clubs have been elected into the Wearside League for the 2012-13 season. I’ve already visited Harton & Westoe Colliery Welfare Ground in 2009, which was featured in WLW part three. Seaton Carew from the Durham Alliance and Richmond Town from the Teesside League make up the trio of new clubs.

319 - Earls Orchard

Richmond Town 2v3 Newton Aycliffe

Pre-Season Friendly

28th July 2012

Richmond Town were elected to the Wearside League this summer after an exceptional four trophy haul last season, winning the Teesside League, MacMillan Bowl, Lou Mooure Trophy and the Saturday County Cup.
The club has had a few name changes throughout the years, known as Richmond AFC in 1945, then in the 1960s under the handle of both Cameron United and Young Conservatives before reverting to the town’s name with the added Town suffix.

 Described as the most romantic town in the north, Richmond is a market town and administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire in North Yorkshire. It is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park on the River Swale and is the most duplicated UK place name and one of 57 Richmonds worldwide. The much loved town was giving the honour of the UK town of the year in 2009.

Richmond was founded in 1071 by the Breton Alan Rufus, on lands granted to him by William the Conqueror. The town’s main feature is Richmond Castle, completed in 1086, which consists of a keep with walls encircling the cobbled Market Place - one of the largest in England.

I’m not quite sure if I’ve ever visiting Richmond, maybe I did when I was a bairn and so with this in mind, this picturesque part of Yorkshire was chosen as the destination for my annual birthday day out on the lash with Zippy and Jimmy Jimmy - a day of beer, ale, booze with a bit of football included to break up the day.

The Eryholme-Richmond branch train line closed in 1969, so our route to Richmond was via train to Darlington followed by a 30 minute bus journey, so we arrived at 1.30pm.
The bus stop is outside the Bishops Blaize pub so naturally this was our first port of call and we received a warm welcome. The manager was a Newcastle supporter and as it was my birthday, I was giving a ‘Chemical Reaction’ cocktail on the house. We then had a five star pint of Hobgoblin in the City Tavern before heading to the match.

 Earls Orchard is an historic venue, not only has it hosted football for over 85 years but the field was once an ancient joisting ground, where the Earl and his court would watch the knights in action on the field below from the castle balcony. The position of the Earl’s viewing point can still be seen as the joist holes are clearly shown on the castle wall.
The ground is found south of the town by the river, fully railed off with a pair of dugouts and a pavilion which was opened by Jack Charlton in March 1975. If the club decide to progress up the leagues in the future there is plenty of land and space for development.

The pre-season friendly fixture with Newton Aycliffe attracted a decent gathering with quite a few travelled across from County Durham. The Northern League side shaded it over the ninety minutes, taking the lead through Stewart Owen before half time and going further ahead in the second half with a brace from Gavin Barton. The Aycliffe number nine was on hand to net a rebound after an initial shot came back off the post in the 50th minute, then fifteen minutes later he was left unmarked to stab the ball home from a corner kick to make it 3-0.

The hosts showed a lot of spirit and made the score line more respectable with two late goals. With a quarter of an hour remaining Atkinson took advantage of a mishap from the ‘keeper and in the final minute Simms cut inside from the left and fired a low shot into the far corner from a tight angle, to finish off a decent workout for both clubs.

Afterwards we headed back up to the town, having our tea in the Richmond branch of Wetherspoons – The Ralph Fitz Randall and also calling for a pint in The Turf Hotel and the Golden Lion before catching the 1854 bus back to Darlington.

The night out in Darlo was canny as well, we met up with Honest Paul while Jimmy Jimmy headed back home as he had a 4am alarm call in the morning. We ticked off another two ‘Spoons pubs, but we especially liking the Old Yard Tapas, with my favourite pub of the evening being the Number Twenty 2. As I had been on the go since 545am I slept on the train back to Newcastle, where on arrival we decided to abandon last orders and go our separate ways home, thus ending another excellent birthday day out on the lash!

Matchday stats
RTFC 2(Atkinson 75 Simms 89)NAFC 3(Owen 39 Barton 50,65)
att.80(HC)
Admission and programme:none
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336 - Hornby Park
Seaton Carew 0v1 Jarrow
Wearside League
Saturday 5th January 2013

 At long last, Seaton Carew FC have been giving the green light to commence playing home matches at Hornby Park. The club have spent the first half of the season sharing with Hartlepool FC at Grayfields while ground work continued. The ground was passed fit for use from the Wearside League management committee just this week; although there is still a lot of work to be done before its completion.

Hornby Park is found on the main A178 coast road which connects Hartlepool with the mouth of the Tees, with the Teesside industrial landscape on view further down the coastline. Seaton Carew is a small seaside resort situated 2 miles south of Hartlepool town centre, named after a Norman French family called Carou who owned land in the area.

The North Sea coastal town was once a fishing village but grew in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a seaside holiday resort for wealthy Quaker families from Darlington, effectively founding Seaton Carew as a seaside resort

 The complex has a social club, cricket pitch and two rugby pitches with the football ground located at the bottom. The changing rooms are next to the clubhouse so there’s a long walk to the pitch through a clarty field, so a footpath is a must, along with the other planned ground improvements which includes floodlights and more work on the perimeter of the pitch. So far there is a pair of dugouts on one side and the pitch is fenced off.

 

Hartlepool Town were a successful club in the Durham Alliance who were granted promotion to the Wearside League last summer and on acceptance changed their name to Seaton Carew F.C.

So far the team have won five of the opening 20 games and made their “home” debut against Jarrow FC. The match was quite an open affair with both teams missing a hatful of chances. I met up with squad#121 Paul Johnson at the game and he commented that the players were having more success at booting the ball over the crossbar than the rugby players on the neighbouring pitch.

The game looked to be heading for a 0-0 until the breakthrough arrived ten minutes from time when Jarrow’s number 8 latched on to a through ball and rifled a right foot shot past the keeper into the far corner of the net. The result was a bit harsh on the hosts as a draw would have been a fair result, but they were punished for wasting too many good chances.

I drove down to Seaton Carew but the ground is easy to get to, as the rail station is a 10 minute walk away, with regular trains on the Northern Rail line between Newcastle and Middlesbrough so if you fancy a day out at the coast and a bit Wearside League football then Seaton Carew is the ideal destination.

Matchday stats
SCFC 0 JFC 1(TBC 80)
att.56(HC)
Admission:£1 raffle donation
Programme:none

My Matchday - 2ST3G's

As the new season approaches, football pitches should be in prime condition at this time of year, but our traditional wet summer has played havoc with the regions grounds, resulting in clubs looking at alternative venues to host pre-season matches.

The most reliable surface to guarantee watching football are 3G pitches, two of which can be found in South Tyneside with both venues hosting games on the same day with convenient staggered kick off times. The question is though, can you count these grounds as a tick? My personal view is if two clubs in the non-league pyramid play a game in an enclosed pitch then that’s good enough for me, so a definite YES.

 Hebburn Town hosted West Allotment Celtic at the Clegwell Community Association 3G pitch which is the home base of Hebburn Juniors, found around a mile from the Hebburn Sports & Social Ground.

The match was an entertaining encounter with Hebburn playing some great passing football on the carpetesque surface, however it was Celtic, who themselves are traditionally a good footballing side, that took the lead with a two goal blast from Dean Lee and Liam Hudson before half time.
McBryde was introduced at the start of the second half and temporary halved the arrears before a mistake from the ’keeper allowed Hudson to make it 3-1 on the hour.
Hebburn finished the game strongly and McBryde was twice on hand to complete his hat-trick with a late brace to earn his side a well deserved share of the spoils.

I met up with Squad#121 Paul Johnson at the game and also have a bit craic with Squad#173 and Hebburn Town wordsmith Andy Hudson during the match.
The 1.15pm kick off meant there was enough time for me and Paul to jump in the car and take the 15 minute drive(probably quicker if you know the way) to the Mortimer 3G pitch in South Shields for our second match of the afternoon which was due to start at 3pm.

Mortimer Comprehensive has already hosted a few pre-season friendlies so far this season and today it played host to Birtley Town against Wearside League outfit Sunderland West End, which meant both today's game saw a team in green and white hoops playing a team in red shirts and black shorts.

On route to the ground I somehow missed the coining for the A194 so we arrived just after the start to learn that the game had kicked off a few minutes early and West End had already taking the lead with a goal from McQuillan.
However the teams made up for us missing that early strike with a goalfest as Birtley overturned the deficit with goals from Stafford and a 25 yard free kick from Allsopp to lead 2-1 at half time.
West End then conceded two penalties, the first one a bit harsh, but Marron confidently stepped up to strike both his penalties in the same spot, before Telford made it 5-1 on 67 minutes.
Fryatt got one back for the Wearsiders before Allsop made it six with the best goal I’ve seen so far(I know its only 5 games) this season, picking the ball up on the half way line he strolled past each defender as if they weren’t there before a cheeky chip over the advanced keepers body.
There was still enough time for another consolation goal by Fryatt before the final whistle and when I added it all up it came to a 6-3 win for Birtley Town.
The game appeared to be a bit of a rout on Birtley’s behalf but West End didn’t play too badly and they were handicapped by the fact their goalkeeper was on his honeymoon and didn't have a replacement, the position between the sticks occupied by the teams right-back!
So overall an enjoyable afternoon with two competitive and very entertaining matches with a total of 15 goals scored and best of all it cost us nowt!
 
Matchday stats
317 Clegwell 3G
Hebburn Town 3(McBryde 51,83,87) West Allotment Celtic 3(Lee 29 Hudson 32,59)att.45(HC)
318 Mortimer Comp.3G
Birtley Town 6(Stafford 18 Allsopp 30,76 Marron 52pen 65pen Telford 67) Sunderland West End 3(McQuillan 10 Fryatt 75,85) att.43(HC)
 
2ST3G's - Matchday Web album
(15 pictures 1-6 @Clegwell 7-15 @Mortimer)

Team GB @Riverside Stadium

As the Riverside Stadium hasn't featured on 100FgC, I've put together an album of pictures from the Team GB warm up matches featuring both women and mens teams which took place on Teesside last night.

Riverside Stadium - Matchday Web Album (27 pictures)

Matchday stats
Team GB Women 0-0 Sweden Women
Team GB 0-2 Brazil (Sandro 12 Neymar 35pen)
att.24,000
Admission:£30
Programme £5

Gateshead Stadium - Academy 3G Pitch

Whickham 2v1 Dalbeattie Star

Pre-Season friendly

Saturday 14th July 2012

Over the last two months we’ve witnessed the most horrendous conditions, which must surely rank weather wise, as the worst summer of my life (so far). When the footy season closes I look forward to the football free weeks but as each Saturday has been a wash out, I would have been better off at a match in its traditional winter setting, as days at the coast and sunny afternoons in the beer garden never materialised.

 So after a shit summer I’ve been dying to get out and about watching the beautiful game again and after a couple of false starts over this past week my new football season finally got under way with a non-league Anglo-Scottish affair between Whickham from the Northern League and South of Scotland League outfit Dalbeattie Star.

Whickham’s Glebe Ground is also used for cricket so pre-season “home” games are usually played at an alternative venue. You may remember the lads from NE16 kicked off my season a few years back when I saw them play at Farnacres and this time, as they were hosting a club from outside the north-east, the club played it postponement safe by booking the 3G surface behind Gateshead International Stadium.

The pitches were installed in 2007, found behind the East Stand by the grounds of the Gateshead College Academy for Sport. To show the exact location of the ground I hired a helicopter on the morning of the game and took a photograph from above. As you can see from the picture below the fully enclosed pitches with floodlights are found just outside the “Heed Camp”

 The two clubs met on this corresponding Saturday last season with Star hosting the game which they won 2-0, however they were unable to complete the double as Whickham revenging last year’s defeat at Islecroft Stadium.

Wearing a change strip of sky blue the hosts took the lead on 39 minutes when a corner kick was met with a flicked header at the near post by Craig Rook, which was likened to Wynn Davies and Andy Carroll by the Whickham staff on the sidelines. The advantage was doubled a few minutes later when Atkinson was on hand to fire a shot low and hard past the ‘keeper before The Star halved the deficit with the last kick of the half, with a neat close range volley from Milligan.

  There were no addition goals in the second half but a couple of none sending offs. The referee requested the substitution of the Dalbeattie number nine for his constant dissent and in the closing stages a late tackle by a Whickham player saw a similar outcome.

I’m pleased that the new football season is here and watching a game at what I would class for myself as a “cheeky” new ground. Overall it was a decent game and a good work out for each side with the biggest surprise being apart from it spitting in the closing stages, the rain somehow just managed to hold off till after the full time whistle.



Matchday stats

WFC 2(Rook 39 Atkinson 43) DSFC 1(Milligan 45+1)

Twenty 12 -Thirteen Preview

Now that the calendar has flipped over into July and the international summer feast of football is over - I can now officially declare the start of the 2012-13 campaign, so I would like the begin by wishing everyone a Happy New Season!

During the "summer" there’s been a few minor alterations to the website. The main changes are above ^ ^ ^ with all internal links found in page form including all my blogged match days in the A-Z index.

Having finally managed to get ‘The 92’ monkey off my back last season, I’m no longer tied to chasing Football League grounds this season, meaning I’ll have the pleasure of visited more non-league grounds with my main priority being the four uncharted Conference grounds(Newport on a Tuesday night!…Eddy) along with visiting Scottish League venues plus hopefully some European adventures. Future changes at my place of work however may mean my travelling could become restricted, but on the other hand I could be coming into more time off, I’ll just have to wait and see what fait has in store.

In this Jubilee year there is a brand new stadium added to the Football League list, when I say jubilee, I of course mean the 35th anniversary of Punk Rock’s zenith. In 1977 Mr. Rotten sang about “An imitation from New York” so as a tribute and to recognise this important anniversary I’m changing the great man’s lyrics slightly with ‘An invitation to New York’ The NY in question being Rotherham United’s New York Stadium.

I’ve booked trains to visit the stadium on 18th August for The Millers opening home League Two fixture against Burton Albion. Hopefully some of my fellow members of the 100FgC Squad can join me as this is an ideal matchday venue. The stadium is situated in the town centre, 5 minutes from Rotherham Central station with the added attraction of 3 ‘Spoons pubs and a couple of GBG listed pubs to be had. That last sentence has hopefully persuaded some of you to head to South Yorkshire and join me.

Full details about the event can be found on the 100FgC (fan)Club Facebook page