Pyramid Selling

 New grounds, old ground, shared grounds, temporary grounds; as ever it seems those in the Northern League are more concerned with where not how the game is played. At least in the Alliance, all we care about is the beauty of the game itself. That, and swearing, as my trips to Washington v Redcar Town and Hazlerigg Victory v West Moor and Jesmond U23s showed me last weekend...

At the next level up from Percy Main in the non-league pyramid, things appear to be in a state of constant flux. The unavoidable result of teams such as: Consett, Dunston, Hebburn, Morpeth Town, North Shields and Shildon migrating upwards to the Northern Premier League in the last couple of seasons, not to mention the disappearance of Durham City, Jarrow Roofing and Ryhope CW, is a changed and somewhat volatile constitution of the previously unchanging Northern League monolith of the Mike Amos years. For a start, the league is down to 40 clubs from 44 and it seems likely that the promotion of each season’s champions and the opportunity for runners-up to follow them via play-offs, means that both a geographical increase in the league’s footprint (Pickering Town are newcomers this season, with hints that Harrogate Railway and Knaresborough are likely to follow in the future) and a dilution of the quality of competing teams. This is especially true of the bottom of Division 2, where up to 3 sides are liable for relegation, to be theoretically replaced by one from each of the feeder leagues, in the shape of the Alliance, the Wearside and the North Riding League.

Recently, the Alliance has provided the Northern League with a rebuilt Blyth Town, now free from any malign external influences, Newcastle University and their landlords Prudhoe YC, managed by Kennie Melia, ex of Chemfica of course. All 3 clubs are doing well. The North Riding League has only offered 1 new team; Boro Rangers, who are apparently a dynamic and well run club with dozens of teams from U7 upwards, in the process of building a new facility within the town. Unfortunately, in the interim, their ground is New Ferens Park, once home to Durham City (RIP); formerly, this was a splendid arena, but a decade and more of neglect leaves it looking tired and unkempt. Thankfully, it is only a temporary base and Boro Rangers, like their South Tees neighbours Redcar Athletic and Redcar Town, will soon be a credit to the league. The one blot on the landscape for Teesside is Billingham Synthonia’s enduring ground issues since leaving venerable Central Avenue for Norton and Stockton’s old place.

As regards new clubs from the Wearside League, revived Horden, energetic Jarrow and community-based Sunderland West End are all doing well, even if the latter play at the most soulless 4G cage I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit, at Ford Quarry on the South Hylton / Pennywell interface. This was where Washington, who’ve never been a settled outfit since leaving their original home at Albany Park (now houses) for the Nissan Complex, played while waiting for their new ground to be completed, of which more in a bit. Somewhat appallingly, it is also where last season’s Wearside League winners Chester Le Street United, not to be confused with the original Chester Le Street Town team of 50 years standing, will now play their games.

In the Alliance, we are used to teams coming into the league, then discovering they lack the infrastructure, talent or enough volunteers to keep going, and subsequently disappearing into the ether after a single, inglorious season. However, this has not been the case in the Northern League, until now. Chester Le Street United were formed in 2020, as an outlet for young players studying BTEC sport qualifications at Park View Academy in the town. Yes, a glorified college team. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, as Marc Nash with Shields and Ian Bogie at Gateshead, used to harvest the best young talent at Tyne Met College for their teams. The problem is when a team entirely composed of college players, who will possibly stay only for 2 years maximum, has to deal with a fallow crop. Like a Corinthian Athletic Club, instead of only signing those born in the Basque Country, they only sign lads barely old enough to shave. Fair play to them for winning the Wearside League, which is a tough competition with little room for sentiment or compromise, meaning they are in the Northern League on merit. Of course the elephant in the room, and the reason that the wider Northern League community is up in arms, are the ground issues surrounding this club.

Initially, Chester Le Street United intended to play their games at the rear of the Riverside cricket ground. Having been there several times outside of the normal cricket season, to watch Tynemouth CC in the All England Indoor 6-a-side regional qualifiers, I’ve noticed a couple of football pitches; one grass and one 4G. As these visits have been on a Sunday morning, I didn’t notice whether there were any floodlights. I never even thought to check for cover, seats or hard standing. Apparently, the place was in order though, as it passed an advisory ground grading inspection, allowing the club to be promoted. As the deadline for any works to be completed is September 30^th after the season starts, there is nothing that can be done to prevent Chester Le Street United abandoning this ground to use the Ford Quarry hub in Sunderland. The main issue with the Riverside is that the floodlights only focus on the 8-lane athletics track surrounding the pitch, as the requisite bus shelter style covered seating and standing is in place. The 4 games they played at the Riverside were all on Saturday afternoons, so the lighting was not as issue. However, Durham CCC and the local council have no plans to upgrade the lighting at this stage, meaning the decampment to Pennywell may be at least in the medium term, if Chester Le Street United continue beyond this season of course.

Meanwhile, one success story is that of Washington FC. After almost two decades of rootless wandering and a hand to mouth existence, they are now a fully-fledged community club, where the first team is the top of a pyramid of teams from U7 to adult. Their new home is at the Washington Hub, formerly known as the Northern Area Playing Fields. I took a trip there on a freezing, rainy Friday night to see them host Redcar Town. I have to say that the ground isn’t really finished; no food, no bar and no inside toilets, but it will be great when it is ready. The lack of lighting in the car park from the main road to the entrance could be a serious health and safety issue on dark nights as winter bites. By far the best thing about this facility, is the superb pitch: wide, flat, well grassed and a delight to play on. While Redcar’s 1-0 win from a late rebound wasn’t the best of games, to the extent it had me asking myself after an hour whether I really liked football anymore, the decent crowd of 180, including proud home supporters and optimistic Redcar followers, enjoyed proceedings. I doubt it is an experience to be shared by those who follow Chester Le Street United any time soon…

And so, what of the Alliance? Prudhoe YC have moved upwards, as has already been noted, while Cullercoats have thrown in the towel, meaning Cullercoats Reserves are now called Cullercoats, AFC Newbiggin are at Hirst Welfare not People’s Park and Burradon are back at their original ground of the Welfare. AFC Newbiggin Central are now known as Ellington, whose original teams have left the league. In the bottom flight, there are 10 new teams in a division that is running one club short; Amble (the High School), Blyth Rangers (Cowpen Park), Cramlington Blue Star (Action Park), Gateshead Redheugh 1957 (Eslington Park), Hazlerigg Victory (Dinnington Welfare), Heddon United (Walbottle Campus) and Stocksfield (Cricket Ground) we’ve seen before in various iterations, while the U23 sides of Wallsend Boys Club and West Moor and Jesmond are of no surprise. Hence, the only truly new club is Benton, who are based at Churchill Playing Fields. For me to recomplete my Alliance set, trips to Burradon, Blyth Rangers and Hazlerigg Victory were required. While a home fixture for Blyth is still awaited, I’ve pencilled in Burradon v Seaton Delaval when the Main don’t have a game on October 22^nd, while I decided on visiting Hazlerigg at their new, albeit temporary, base at Dinnington Welfare while PMA were away to (whisper it) Wallington on September 24^th.

Having been frozen, soaked and bored at Washington 0 Redcar Town 1 the night before, I needed some excitement to fall back in love with the game. This was initially lacking as stress became the primary emotion, as it took me 4 kinds of public transport to reach Dinnington from High Heaton. I should have taken the bike. Anyway, wandering down sunlit and deserted streets in a sleepy hamlet adjacent to the airport, I soon located Dinnington Welfare. This is better. This is the kind of place I want to spend my leisure time. A scenic welfare ground in a somnolent village on the far fringes of the city, which is where Hazlerigg are playing until their new facility, paid for and to be constructed by the developers who are building 570 bespoke detached homes on former greenbelt land in the village, is finished, which could be at least a year away. However, in their defence, at least Hezzy (as they are uniformly known) and the man who makes the club a reality, Mark “Bully” Bullock, have a realistic, time-specific, manageable and costed plan for the future. The village needs a football team and Bully will ensure it has one.

One can but hope that Hezzy’s new changing facility is closer to the pitch than Dinnington’s. In a show of utter indolence, half a dozen players drove from the changers, in an attempt to conserve energy I presume. It worked, as Hezzy tore into the visitors, West Moor and Jesmond U23s from the off. As I caught up with Bully and his assistant Andy, who I’ve known for a decade or more but not seen in ages, it became clear why West Moor had lost all of their previous games and why Hezzy are near the top of the table. The home side made and missed several gilt-edged chances, before ruthlessly pouncing twice in a minute before the 20 minute mark. This really should have been game over, but a hilarious piece of comedy defending, whereby the Hezzy keeper came flying out of his area and completely missed the ball, allowing the West Moor lad a chance to tap in to an empty net, made the game a contest again. Before the break, Hezzy restored a 2 goal lead with a great low finish, then the keeper messed up another clearance, hitting his defender on the back, but breathed again as the lad who tapped it home was miles offside. Strolling round the well-grassed pitch, observing the various locals walking their dogs or pausing on bike rides, I had a strong sense of calm and relaxation. This, to me, is football: community based and played for the love of the sport. It almost stopped me pining for cricket. Almost anyway…

After the break, the ref gave a soft penalty each; West Moor scored and Hezzy had theirs saved, but class and fitness told in the end as West Moor ran out of legs and Hezzy relentlessly cut through a stretched defence and punished them ruthlessly. The final score was a scarcely believable 9-2, but it was, sadly, a fair reflection on the game. At the end of September, dappled sunlight and decaying leaves were the appropriate garland for such a game. I’m glad I was there. I’m glad I sponsored the match ball and I can’t wait to visit Blyth Rangers.