In late May 2014, in that dreaded
period of footballing doldrums between the final games in the Northern Alliance
and its feeder leagues, of whom more later, and the start of the pre-season
friendlies at the beginning of July, when your only hope of competitive
football action is an expensive train ride to Scotland to watch a kicking
festival in the Juniors between Carnoustie Panmure and Craigmark Burntonians
or, worse still, the World Cup and other international inanities, I received a
request from a fellow by the name of Paul Mosley. A good lad is Paul; some of
you may know him as a referee and linesman in the Northern League, but he’s
also the official appointments and fixture secretary for the Tyneside Amateur
League, not to mention the ex officio press
officer, who submits a lengthy and well written summary of each week’s games to
the Whitley
Bay Guardian. I’ve the utmost respect for any official, other than
Howard Webb of course (how can you grow up in the shadow of Orgreave and still
join the South Yorkshire Police?), so I listened to what Paul had to say. Incidentally,
I’d recommend those of you who believe that once you get below the Premier
League, football exists at a level one step removed from either keepy-up
tournaments underneath flickering sodium streetlights, or mass games of 3 pots
and in, played on post WWII bomb sites by innumerable scrawny, skinned-kneed
tykes in raggy ganseys who could be Billy Casper’s body double, should pay
attention to this article.
The Tyneside Amateur League was
formed in 1949 and stands at level 14 of the English football pyramid acting,
in effect, as a feeder league to the Northern Alliance Division 2. At a similar
level are the Newcastle Corinthians League and the North Northumberland League
(Duns is in Northumberland?). In its 65th season, the Tyneside
Amateur League boasts 15 teams in a single division; some as historic and
venerable as the descendants very first winners of the league title, Hazelrigg
Welfare, now Victory and some as neophytic as Lindisfarne Custom Planet
Reserves, formed in July 2014. Regardless of history, all clubs also play in 2
knock-out competitions, the Neville Cowey Cup (named after the league’s
treasurer and stalwart volunteer) and the Bill Upsall Trophies Tyneside Amateur
Challenge Shield, as well as taking part in either the Northumberland FA or
Durham FA Minor Cup, depending on their geographical location.
Like all leagues at this level,
football is a struggle; finding players, pitches and volunteers is a thankless
struggle that can expand to fill the whole of one’s life. Often, the outcome
isn’t a happy one; witness well established Stocksfield of the Alliance Premier
Division who folded a fortnight into the season, citing a dearth of players. If
it is difficult at that level, especially for a club who run a successful
Sunday side and dozens of junior teams, how much worse must it be for those
several rungs down the pyramid? Perhaps this is why so many teams now choose to
play under the umbrella of more established clubs as a nominal reserve side for
Ponteland United, Chemfica or Gosforth Bohemians for instance. Indeed, the old
South East Northumberland League was subsumed into the Tyneside Amateur League
as Division 2 in 2002/2003, but that’s gone now.
It is an undeniable fact that
there are fewer clubs now than in days of yore; the North Northumberland League
was formed in 1898 and is running two divisions of 9, drawn from teams between
the Wansbeck and Tweed, following Shilbottle’s promotion to the Alliance. The
Corinthians League, founded a century later in 1999 for teams largely made up
of graduates from Newcastle and Northumbria
universities (even if Newcastle Medicals and the rather well educated
West Jesmond actually play in the TAL), also has 19 teams spread across 2
divisions. You are entitled to wonder, as I always did, why the Tyneside
Amateur League and Corinthians exist in such close geographical proximity to
each other, especially at exactly the same level in the pyramid. Good question
and one that ought to be cogitated over by the brains trust at Philosophers
United in the Corinthian League. Prosaically, the short answer is, we are where
we are, though that may not be the case in the future, which is where I came
in.
Catching me unawares, not being
tied up with Benfield’s programme or editing new Newcastle fanzine The
Popular Side at the precise second Paul contacted me, I was honoured
when he asked me if I would consider taking on the role of Tyneside Amateur
League chair with immediate effect. About to clear my throat and offer up a
short but gracious acceptance speech, I had the wind knocked from my sails when
he announced I was being offered the role because he couldn’t think of anyone
else. Naturally I accepted the offer immediately and now have the duties of
chairing the league meetings on the first Friday of each month at Four Lane
Ends Club (the last one was over in 17 minutes), as well as making a speech and
handing over the trophies at the end of the season finals. It sounds alright to
me; I just need to get to see more of the teams in action.
At the present time, all 3
leagues offer something for the curious on-looker or willing volunteer to cast
their eye over. The TAL has a historical pedigree; in the last dozen years top
scorers have included such luminaries of the local game as Trevor Ford Femi
Akinbolu and Over the past few seasons, when I was involved at Percy Main
Amateurs, we used to host TAL cup finals, generally on the very last Saturday
in May. There was always a healthy crowd, often bolstered by groundhoppers and
other inquisitive sorts, and the quality of the game was often surprisingly
high. Witness how Longbenton came so agonisingly close to promotion from
Alliance Division 2 after making the step up from TAL last season, for
instance. In recent years Blyth Isabella, Killingworth and Whickham Lang Jacks
(now Whickham Sporting) have made the step up and not been disgraced. They are
doing their bit for local football; are you?
In an era when it is easy to
become either divorced from the reality of the grassroots game because of the
superabundance of live matches, or disenchanted from the whole sport because of
the excesses of the Premier League, I feel it is beholden on us all to at least
try and give something back to the game that gave us so much, at least in years
gone by. Watching Gateshead instead of Newcastle is all well and good, but
there’s a whole world of amateur football out there which deserves praise.
Tyneside Amateur League games
kick off at 2.00pm and cup ties at 1.30; give one of them a go at some point.
You’ll be glad you did. Think about
this; my very first Tyneside Amateur League game saw a scoreline of High Howdon
SC (now of the Alliance) 2 West Jesmond (still of the TAL) 11. Not bad for
free!!
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