857 Parkside Academy

Willington 1-3 Tow Law Town

Friendly

Saturday 21st January 2023

My plan for yesterday was to head down to Teesside with a choice of one of two matches taking place on 3G pitches. When both games were confirmed as postponed I checked Twitter to see if there were any local matches on at all. I noticed a tweet from Tow Law Town stating that the entire Northern League fixtures was wiped out, but they had arranged a friendly with Willington at the Parkside Academy 3G.

Parkside Academy

Hall Lane Estate, 

Willington,  DL15 0QF

The Academy is just around the corner  from Willington's Hall Road ground. The pitch is just off the main entrance and has floodlights.

The match was decent considering it was just a workout between the two sides. Tow Law went ahead through Dan Marriott, before Luke Smithyman got on the end of a long pass and lobbed the ‘keeper to equalise. The lawyers again took the lead when Lyke Page fired in a free kick from the edge of the box, then scored a third early in the second half when the #4  netted the rebound after the initial shot came back off the post.

Willington 1(Smithyman 31)

Tow Law Town 3 (Marriott 26 Page 39 #4 50) 

Friendly

3.20 ko

Att.23hc

Pic of the Week Cup - Round 2

100FgC A10 David Bauckham - Luton Town v Chester, Kenilworth Road

100FgC A17 Peter Miles - Old Bradwell United v Kent Athletic - Abbey Road

100FgC FB Stephen Carpenter C.Palace U-21 v Brentford U-21 @Tooting & Mitcham - Imperial Fields

100FgC Squad#155 James Little Bayer Leverkusen v Hertha Berlin - Bay Arena

100FgC FB Shaun Cooper - Willington Hall Lane



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Wearside League Wanderings - part six

The sixth part of my wanderings around the Wearside League features two new clubs who were accepted into the league for the 2011-12 season, both coincidently faced north-east Non-League legends Willington.

293. Hill Top Ground

Gateshead Leam Rangers 2v0 Willington
Wearside League
Wednesday 17th August 2011

Leam Rangers formed as a youth football club in 1993, the brainchild of current Club Secretary Rob Houghton. The club secured a lease on council land at the top of the Wealcroft on Leam Lane Estate in the southern end of Gateshead. The Hill Top Ground was transformed from an overgrown grassed wasteland to a canny little ground with good facilities, which is now suitable to host Wearside League football.

The club now run 22 boys and girls teams from ages 6 to 18 as well as two senior sides. The Leam played in the Durham Alliance between 2009 and 2011 until a successful application to step up to the Wearside League last summer. The club still have a youth side in the Durham Alliance which is used as a stepping stone to the senior squad.

The redevelopment of the ground is due to the hard work and dedication of Mr Hughton with the help of willing volunteers. He even took a bricklaying course to build a dressing room, as the kids were using metal storage containers without the use of a washroom or toilet.

The ground now has a pleasant club house in between new changing rooms and refreshment bar after a successful application for funding was made to the Football Foundation. The entrance has the club name adorning the metal gates and the pitch is fully fenced off with new hard standing on the nearside. The far side has a pair of stone dugouts and the grass bank is a popular spot for spectators.

Gateshead Leam Rangers opened their first Wearside League campaign with two away defeats and I was in attendance as the Hill Top Ground hosted its very first game at level 7 of the Non-League pyramid against Willington.

The Leam produced a gritty and determined performance to mark the occasion with a first victory of the season. A goal in each half by David Lucas secured a comfortable win, the opening goal coming after only 7 minutes, the striker nodding home a peach of a cross from Liam Barnett(see pic below), then the duo again combined on the hour mark when Barnett was tripped in the box and Lucas despatched the penalty kick to chalk up the Leam’s first three points.

The Leam have a great set up and the club’s progress means that Rangers are now the closest club from my home at Gallowgate View, so I’ll be able to frequently pop down and check on the team’s progress.

The 100FgC was again in attendance on Non-League Day on the 3rd September, with both Michael (Squad #119) and Andy Hudson(squad#173) watching the game with Peterlee Town.
You can read the lads in depth reports on Leam Rangers at;
The Accidental Groundhopper (Michael)
Ganning Away (Andy)

Matchday stats
GLR 2(Lucas 9, 60pen) WFC 0
att.70approx
Admission £2
Programme 50p

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298. Ford Quarry

Sunderland West End 2v3 Willington
Wearside League
Saturday 8th October 2011

Sunderland West End formed just this year when The Jolly Potters merged with Wearside League outfit Houghton Town. The Jolly Potters were a successful side in the Wearside Combination League, winning a hat-trick of league titles and the Alan Hood memorial trophy twice, since forming in 2006.

The club play at Ford Quarry which is in the South Hylton district of Sunderland The ground is off St Lukes Road, where a road bends down the bank and leads you to the ground entrance. The junction isn’t easy to spot as I drove past it a couple of times until I noticed the pitch at the bottom of the hill.
The Ford Quarry ground was officially opened by Sunderland Council Leader Paul Watson on the 3rd August, when a charity game took place between Sunderland West End and Northern League side Sunderland RCA in aid of The Peter David Lane Trust Fund. The ground has large changing room facilities, a fully fenced off pitch with a pair of metal dugouts.

After I saw Willington lose at Leam Rangers, they suffered a heavy home defeat against Ryhope in the following match. Since then they’ve won eight league fixtures off the belt and stretched it to 9, but only just, after snatching a late winner to deny West End a point.

West End took the lead in the 9th minute when Stubbs capitalised on a defensive mix up to shoot home from a tight angle, but Willington quickly responded, seven minutes later Yorke nodded home from close range, then just before half time Lee beat the offside trap and having plenty of time to pick his spot with a neat finish.
The second half saw West End have plenty of possession with the visitors leaving their two main strikers mooching around the half way line, relying on the long ball tactic to catch the home side on the break.
There was a long stoppage after 75th minute when one of the West End players went for a 50-50 ball and fell over and banged his head against one of the stone posts on the perimeter fence. After a 5 minute delay the player got to his feet and thankfully was ok - “I’m alreet, I just knocked me’sell oot that’s aall” was his insouciant response as the game went on without him.

Just as it was looking as if we had witnessed a goalless second half, the match finished with a dramatic climax. West looked to have grabbed a well earned draw in the 90th minute when a cross shot from Coomber found the top corner off the net, then in the 6 minutes of added on time the game swung back and forth with both teams desperate for a winner.

The winning goal duly arrived in the second minute of stoppage time. The home keeper who played a blinder all afternoon produced two terrific saves from close range, until the ball was unfortunately parried into the path of Lee who was left with an open goal to simply walk the ball over the line to make it nine league wins on the bounce for the men from County Durham.

Sunderland West End are another good addition to the league and matches like this one are a credit to the Wearside League - a cracking game and well worth the two quid admission fee!

Matchday stats

SWE 2(Stubbs 9,Coomber 90) WFC 3(Yorke 16, Lee 42,90+2)
att.47(HC)
Admmission £2
programme:none

My Matchday - 211 Hall Lane

Willington 3v4 Easington Colliery
Wearside League
18th April 2009 Willington is a former pit town whose colliery closed down in 1967, it’s situated seven miles south-west of Durham city on the A690 road towards Crook.
Willington Temperance were formed in 1906, originating from the Temperance Club in the town, playing in the Auckland and District League. In 1911 the club dropped their surname and moved from their West End ground, purchasing land from Lord Boyne on Hall Lane, where they immediately spent £200 on levelling, draining and relaying the pitch. This was the same year the club switched to the Northern League, where they played for the next 94 years, becoming league champions on three occasions in 1913-14, 1926-27 and 1929-30.
The club also won the League Cup eight times, but their greatest cup success came in the FA Amateur Cup. In 1939 the club reached the final, their opponents were the all conquering Bishop Auckland, after being the better side in a goalless ninety minutes, they lost out in extra time, eventually succumbing to three unanswered goals in front of 20,200 at Roker Park.
In 1950 they reached the final for a second time in a repeat of the final eleven years earlier, Bishops were making their 13th final appearance and it proved unlucky for them, as Willington walloped their County Durham neighbours 4-0, in front of 88,000 at Wembley Stadium.
The Northern League formed a Second Division in 1982-83, in that season the club finished bottom of the new top division, they then spent their remaining life in the Northern League amongst its second tier. The club ran into trouble off the field in December 1996, being were very close to folding after running into a variety of problems, resulting in team manager Malcolm Smith taking over the reigns as acting chairman and a new administration put together, who worked hard and kept the club afloat.
On the field things didn’t improve either, the side struggled at the foot of the Second Division, then after finishing bottom in 2004-05, the club stepped down to the Wearside League, being replaced by Darlington RA and Ryton, coincidently the other club to drop out of the Northern League that season were today’s opponents Easington Colliery.

On a bumpy pitch which is desperately in need of a short, back and sides, the game produced plenty of goals mainly the result of defensive lapses than outstanding skill. The opening goal arrived after only 3 minutes, Crawford stayed onside before rounding the keeper with a confident finish, then in the 10th minute Box was free in the box, having an easy tap into an empty net after his strike partner had drawn the keeper and squared the ball to the unmarked number 10.
The game then produced three penalties in the space of 20 minutes, the first was awarded to Easington, Emerson saw his spot-kick saved but the ball rebounded kindly to the striker who made no mistake with his second effort. Minutes later the same player was fouled in the box, this time he opted not to take the kick, leaving the responsibility to Tarn, who showed him how it should be done, blasted his shot past the keeper to make it 3-1.
Five minutes before half time, a clumsy challenge gave Willington a chance of a free shot at goal, Blenkinsopp converted the pen to bring the home side back into the game, then just before the break a long throw seemed to miss out everyone in the box until a header from Banks(who is claiming it)hit a defenders leg, beating the goalie at his near post. 3-3 at half-time, time for a breather, so I appreciated the cup of tea and slice of cake in the hospitality room, which gave me a chance to catch up on the names of those first half goalscorers.
As is usually the case after a 45 minute goal glut, the goals tend to dry up after the half time bollocking, alas only one more goal to report, this went to Easington, with Tarn getting his second goal of the afternoon, picking the ball up just over the half way line and running though on goal, taking his chance with a cool finish.

Willington were reduced to ten men on 84 minutes, when one of their substitutes who had only been on the pitch no more than ten minutes, did something which I missed, but whatever it was, it upset the referee so much, that he didn’t even take his name, just ordered him OFF! The Easington bench gave the lad a bit stick and he replied with every vulgarity and obscenity that is possible in the space of two sentences! Overall a great game, full of blood and thunder - a credit to the Wearside League
I received an email from Willington’s club secretary Geoff Siddle at the turn of the new year congratulating me on the website, but making the point of one glaring admission from the blog, that of Willington FC. Hall Lane is a ground which has somehow escaped me throughout the years, I have intended visiting in the past, but with one thing or another just having got around to it.
I’ve worked out that there’s 72 Non-League grounds (to step 7) in the north-east covering Northumberland down to Teesside, now that I’ve finally ticked off Willington before the ground’s 100th birthday, I only have four left to complete the set.
The Hall Lane ground is leased to Willington FC, but strangely the Main Stand is owned by the council. The stand dominates the ground, mainly due to blue roof façade with the clubs name in big bold white letters, inside there are blue wooden benches bolted onto five blocks of steps, with white supporting walls and six supporting pillars at the front, the stand has a centre parting which once upon a time would have been the players tunnel, but now leads back out to nothingness.
The social club is next to the turnstile entrance, with a toilet block(future bog blog) further along hidden in the corner, the changing rooms with refreshment bar are at the entrance side on the halfway line, this also has a couple of rows of wooden benches on the front steps, which tends to be the main spectator area as well as the hard standing behind both dugouts.
There’s also a small covered stand behind one goal which is parallel with the 6yd box, where there’s traces of terrace steps at either side, while the far side goal is partial hard standing with a grass bank for a raised up view.
If you take a look at the my pictures of the ground, you’ll see that this is a classic old venue which has seen better days, like in its heyday when the ground was full to the rafters when 10,000 crammed into Hall Lane in the FA Amateur Cup. Geoff took over as Club Secretary in and new year, the team had one point in seventeen games, winning for the first time this season in late January against Boldon. The club have shown a dramatic improvement since then, changes in the dugout have seen the team move off the bottom of the table and now the club are looking forward to starting from fresh next season and challenge at the top end of the league, thanks to Geoff and the Willington lot for making me welcome and best of luck in the future.

Matchday stats
WFC 3 (Box 10, Blenkinsop 40pen, Banks 44) ECFC 4 (Crawford 3, Emerson 21, Tarn 23pen,58)
Admission £2
Programme:none
Att. 22(HC)

Ground no.211 - Matchday Web album(16 pictures)