Touching From A Distance
It’s a knocking bet that I’ll never set foot in Portland Park again. Indeed, it’s quite probable that I won’t visit Ashington during the rest of my life, which is quite sad, considering how much both the town and especially the football club meant to me for about 10 years of my life.
I have no connection with Ashington whatsoever; I was born in Gateshead in 1964, moved to Ireland aged 19, came back to Spital Tongues at 24, went to Slovakia at the age of 35 and settled back in High Heaton aged 37. However, between 1996 and 2004 I regarded myself as a fully-fledged supporter of Ashington FC. In 1997/1998, I was the only season ticket holder, in 1998/1999, I was the (largely unsuccessful) Commerical Manager, to this day I have over 100 Ashington programmes, every issue of Pit Pony Express, having contributed to the vast majority of them and most of the “musical” spin-offs from the club.
When Ashington won the Craven Cup at Brandon in 1999 with an extra time goal by Simon Waldock to beat Evenwood (RIP) 1-0, it was the first time I’d ever seen a team I supported win something. The second time was when the same competition was secured against the same opposition by 2-0, I believe, at Horden in 2003. The third time was seeing the Second Division Trophy held aloft by my son Ben at Nissan on a Friday night in May 2004. Ben’s first ever game was seeing Ashington draw 0-0 v Prudhoe in February 1998; he was 4 months short of his 3rd birthday.
During the time I followed Ashington, I arranged for game sponsorship by the Dublin Branch of the Newcastle United Supporters’ Club, who visited about 3 or 4 times. Indeed, a very good friend of mine Catherine who was killed in summer 1996 by a drunk driver, saw Ashington 0 Prudhoe 1 as her last ever game. I’ve been to games at Portland Park with my son, my wife, my dad, my parents-in-law, students I’ve taught, good friends, nodding acquaintances, colleagues, potential extra-marital interest and loony groundhoppers I met on the X31 who I persuaded not to go and watch Bedlington.
When I moved back from Bratislava in 2001, I was initially going to move to Ashington and buy a house, but circumstances changed; I started a job in Sunderland, met a woman there and didn’t get to games very often. I simply could not get to home midweek games (I don’t drive incidentally), so I became only an infrequent observer of the team. Being out of the loop seemed to mean I’d missed out on what it now meant to be an Ashington fan; I wasn’t from NE63, far from it. Of course as I’d chosen to follow a team in the Northern League Division 2, I couldn’t be accused of being a glory hunter. Perhaps I just didn’t fit in with what it meant to be one of the new breeds of Ashington fans, where a kind of ethnic cleansing operation was taking place.
Missing out on Promotion in Summer 2003 seemed to be as a result of some extraordinary sharp practice and sleight of hand by the Blue Blazers in the Northern League management committee. Whether anyone liked it or not, Thornaby and Horden were going up, regardless of the morality of their decisions. At the 2003 Craven Cup final, Ashington’s support was passionate, dignified and defiant. The Craven Cup was won, but Promotion had been snatched away; instead of complaining, there was a palpable sense of sleeves being rolled up in anticipation of going up the next year.
Of course, that is what happened; the win in the rearranged game at Nissan on a Friday night denied Benfield, the team I now support, the Second Division title. However, there had been a seismic change in the style of Ashington support in that year. At the Craven Cup final, opponents Blue Star were regularly taunted in a fairly obscene manner, pelted with tea bags and League Chairman Mike Amos had his speech problem cruelly mocked by bearded drunks in the Ashington support. It was horrible; it wasn’t the Northern League, it was like Millwall versus Cardiff. I didn’t want to be part of it any longer.
Perhaps what eventually happened was that my lack of connection with Ashington meant that my superficial identification with the team would eventually wear off? I now support the closest team to where I live and when I saw Benfield beat Ashington 6-0 last season, I felt no pangs of regret. Indeed when Ashington beat Benfield 2-1 this season, I was deeply disappointed, though mightily relieved Newcastle hadn’t lost to the Mackems the same day.
I wish Ashington well and I wish I could have been to the ground to say my farewells, but that’s how it goes. I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of a reception I’d get from the more zealous sorts. Therefore, my final memory of Portland Park will have to be Alex Lawson’s last second penalty equaliser in a 3-3 with Dunston Fed in November 2005. A decent memory to have, I must say.
Here are my other favourites -:
1.January 13th 1996: 5-2 v Shotton Comrades, my first visit
2. March 16th 1996: 3-2 v Alnwick, accompanied by 25 Irish Mags
3. August 25th 1997: 1-1 v Whickham, insane sliced 35-yard own-goal rescued late point
4. September 5th 1998: 2-1 v Horden, FA Cup game won in 119th minute by Chris Priest
5. February 27th 1999: 3-0 v Ryhope, sponsored by Irish Mags
6. September 11th 1999: 0-0 v Prudhoe, I sponsored this one, the day before I emigrated
7. April 3rd 2001: 3-1 v Eppleton, best away keeping performance I’ve ever seen
8. October 11th 2003: 1-3 v Grantham, appalling away fans
9. October 9th 2004: 3-2 v Jarrow Roofing, Alex Lawson brilliant last minute winner
10. March 25th 2005: 7-0 v Shildon, best Ashington performance I’ve ever seen
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