Willington 0-1 Newcastle University, Wednesday 10th November 2021

Willington 0-1 Newcastle University, Northern League Division 2, Hall Lane, att. 131

Wednesday night in Willington and it was the first outing of the season for the thermal underwear. A bit chilly on the willie in Willie, so to speak. It didn’t work, I was cold throughout, though the early cuppa kept my hands warm, for a bit. Only later did I notice 2 massive holes in the crotch area of my jeans. Is that what it is to be middle-aged? Your jeans wear out from the nether regions. I still remember the days when the knees went on a pair of trousers. Such is life.

I really like Hall Lane, the ancestral home of Willington AFC. Once upon a time it held 5,000, and in the club house, a poster advertised the forthcoming (1973!) FA Cup game v Blackburn. There were 4,600 there that day to witness ‘Willo’ drawing nil-nil. Tonight there’s 131, and even this is an improvement on the 82 who witnessed the local derby v Esh Winning the previous Satdy. Perhaps the weather was inclement. Only one of the 6 turnstiles is open, and even then I didn’t have to wait.

Hall Lane is one of my favourite Northern League grounds, which is handy, since I’ll have to come back again this season to see Durham City, who groundshare (pending them not going bust in the meantime, a distinct possibility). This evening is a landmark visit too, as I reach the halfway stage of the Northern League for this season, my 20th ground of 40. (I thought I’d do the Maths for those who can’t.)

Hall Lane has a tidy social club as you enter the stadium and a few steps of terrace odwn the touchline, towards the halfway line and snack bar. Crinclke cut chiops appear popular. I didn’t even know they were a thing anymore. I can’t have had any in over 30 years. Are McCain still the purveyors of the finest oven chip? I really wouldn’t know. I plumped for a sausage sandwich and a cup of tea, a winning combo if you’re hungry and cold, not that they complemented each other.

I then walked back on myself and stood behind the goal, aloof from any semblance of crowd. There’s a couple of steps behind the goal and, more centrally, a small stand with a few (metal) steps. In the opposite corner was Willo’s vocal element, a rather loud bloke who wished inopportune upon various opposition players, while interspersing his sentences with words beginning with ‘f’ or ‘c’. Perhaps he was related to the Willo captain, who never stopped all night. I may have heard a sentence of his without any variation on the Anglo-Saxon ‘f***’ but I doubt it.

Opposite, centrally, is a lovely old stand, low strung roof, plenty of girders to prevent you seeing the action, as well as a floodlight or 2. So I sat here 2nd half. Can one be both ‘snug’ and ‘freezing’? To my left is another small stand behind the goal, this time with no step inside. Not sure how we’re gonna fit in 4,600 these days, but I don’t think that’s a major worry for Willington.

Tonite’s opponents are Newcastle University, much younger, and meeker in character. The Willington captain made more noise all night than the entire uni team. I’ve seen the Uni 3 wice already this season and I firmly expected a comfortable away win. Not a bit of it. With the Willo captain bellowing on, no-one on the home side dared shirk a challenge, or not track back. I’ve not seen a game this season with the amount of tackle sin this game. The ref generally let things go, but when an awful tackle from behind resulted in a free kick and mild talking to, I feared for the health of the players. ‘Someone’s going to get hurt’ I said to a bloke in the bogs at half-time. And sure enough, within 2 mins of the second half, one went down injured – ironically, he’d twisted his knee with no-one near him. The ref started getting his cards out too. Presumably somebody ‘had had a word’ at half-time. The captain got his obligatory yellow for a late bout of handbags.

Willington gave as much as they received in the attacking department, their stand out player being the left winger. I’ve no idea his surname, but I know he’s called Wayne, as he admonished himself for not doing better…’Awww, Wayne!’ Maybe this is a Willo thing. The captain had a go at the centre halves (twice)…while playing centre half. Though the one who did need shooting was the centre forward who sliced wide on the half volley when clean through. Willo’s chance to equalise was gone.

The game was decided in the 50th minute of a 1st half with barely any stoppages, as the home keeper parried a free kick straight into the path of another student. Maybe trigonometry is his speciality, as he didn’t get his angles wrong. Anyway, they held on and by the scenes at full-time, you’d think they’d won promotion already. Their quest for that goes on, but there was no doubt they’d been in a battle.

The Damage:
£5 ent
£1 prog
£2 sausage bap
£1.20 tea
= £9.20

The Tunes:
BBC 6Music (Marc Riley / Gideon Coe)

Heaton Stannington 1-1 Newcastle University, Saturday 30th October 2021

Heaton Stannington 1-1 Newcastle University, Northern League Division 2, Grounsell Park, att. 244

In the month when Newcastle United were taken over by Saudi Arabia, it was nice to visit the Geordie capital to see a successful side who play in the famous black and white stripes – Heaton Stannington, Northern League second division league leaders. However, I could’ve picked a better Saturday, as the Mags were also kicking off at 3 against Chelsea. Traffic was slow on the A1…and (shock, horror) parking was a nightmare in the city centre. I eventually found a back street where parking was free between 11:30-15:30; perfect for a trot into the city, before driving out towards Heaton, about 4 miles out. You could feel the buzz in the city too, as hundreds marched towards St. James’s from the railway station, including a fair amount of Chelski.

Traffic was difficult to Heaton too, and I was lucky to waltz into the ground a minute before kick-off. Walking through the main entrance, I was surprised to see one and a half sides of the ground being car park, with a big green box in the corner acting as both changing room and refreshment kiosk. ‘Stan’ enjoy the biggest crowds in the second division, regularly playing in front of over 200. Same again today, for a tasty looking clash against Newcastle University, who’re quite possibly the best side I’ve seen in this division this season. Can it be described as a ‘derby’? I dunno. Yes, the students might attend an establishment in the city, but they play their games 10 miles away in Prudhoe. Not that I noticed any ‘away’ fans.

Opposite the car park end is a grassy area and the back fences of some 1930s semis. Same along one touchline, where a couple of householders look like they’ve cheekily added extra garden plots inside Stan’s ground. This touchline appeared to be where most of the canines hung out. I counted 8. Is this a record? (I saw another couple on the Main Stand side later.) This touchline also had a slightly raised bank, offering a better view of…not much. The 1st half was as bad as last night at Tow Law. Was it all the Autumn leaves covering the pitch? Or 2 teams giving each other too much respect?

Half-time, I walked around the pitch, past a tiny main stand and into the clubhouse, which had the look of a proper pub inside. Given the chill in the air and the poor nature of the football, it would have been easy to stay in here and watch England cruise to victory in the 20/20 against Australia. But I was here for the football. I took my pint outside. Shoulda got a half, cos that’s all I drank. I do like an IPA, but not a Volt IPA. Second time in a month I’ve not been able to finish the one pint I allow myself to have (when driving). What should be a treat….

Next to the Main Stand and outside the clubhouse is a 3 step terrace with propped roof. ‘Excuse me, there’s only one Barnsley fan allowed in here.’ A fellow Reds fans had spotted my Barnsley hat and it was nice to chat rubbish as the game went on. ‘Worst we’ve played all season’ said the Heaton adoptee. Yes, it was poor fayre. The students went one up with a back post header from a corner. Stan looked devoid of ideas before a sweet one touch move which had hithertofore remained hidden, brought them level, the pullback hit high into the net. Stan then created a couple of chances, but overall, a fair result. The students looked the better side but lacked the creativity in the final third. Still, I’d be out of here faster than the average fan at St. James’s. Hopefully I’ll be back on that there A1 before the Geordie hordes!

The Damage:
£5 ent
£3 Volt IPA
= £8

Programme: I know they existed, I saw them. But I never saw any on sale. Oh well.

The Tunes:
BBC 5Live (Nadine Shah)
BBC 6Music (Gilles Peterson)

Newcastle University 3-1 Washington, Thursday 2nd September 2021

Newcastle University 3-1 Washington, Northern League Division 2, Kimberley Park, att. 49

Ground #10 in my quest to see all 40 Northern League grounds in a season, and it’s a return to Kimberley Park on a Thursday night. (Top Northern League groundhopping tip: Newcastle Uni, Easington and Esh Winning tend to play midweek games on a THURSDAY night.) The only ground I know named after a firm who make sanitary products, Kimberley used to be a big local employer. And it’s a nice name for a football ground. Unfortunately, Prudhoe Town FC are now defunct, and it’d be a shame to waste a good ground, so now it’s the home of Newcastle University FC, 11 miles or so away.

And what a great way of enticing sporty students to come to Newcastle – the chance to play in the Northern League, against ‘proper’ teams, rather than college opposition. Tonite would be the turn of Washington, 2nd off bottom and struggling. Surely an easy win for the students? Well, not quite. Despite dominating possession and chances, the Uni were one down at half time when a hopeful long ball resulted in the centre half and keeper colliding, leaving an open net. You just don’t see this type of goal often enough at professional level.

2nd half was proper one-way traffic, and it’s to Washy’s credit that they put bodies on the line (literally: one of the Uni’s shots came off a defender lying prostrate). Time and time again attacks came to nothing as Washington defended in numbers. On the occasion a ball was cleared to a Washy forward, it came straight back. Wing backs on the overlap were always free, but somehow the final ball kept eluding the Uni forwards. Then, into the last 10 minutes, a low (mishit?) corner cannoned off possibly someone’s shin and flew through the crowd into the bottom corner. The Washy levy had broken, and 2 quick goals followed. I had to feel for them.

Before the equaliser, the Uni lads were becoming fraught, especially the assistant coach who traded a few choice words with the Washy centre half and captain. The away side were also racking up the bookings. It was all a bit feisty and I was loving it. The constant near misses only stoked my hope that the strugglers would hold out, but it was not to be.

A pity the crowd was so low as well (49). Not quite a seasonal record (the forlorn Durham City, sharing at Willington, had an earlier crowd of 43) but unsurprising, given the Uni’s own ‘traveller’ status. There were problies 20 more in the adjacent social club, and afterwards I noticed they had a match on. I got home to discover England were playing. I’d sooner be at Kimberley Park, with its stand several metres from the pitch, a small terrace at the entrance (again, several metres from the pitch) and a few chairs and tables underneath a propped cover. They even have a refreshment hatch, presumably shared with the social club, offering chips amongst other fayre. Not bad when there’s hardly a soul here!

The Damage:
£5 ent
£1
= £6

The Tunes:
BBC6 Music (Steve Lamacq / Marc Riley / Gideon Coe)

Newcastle University 1-0 Willington, Monday 14th September 2020

Newcastle University 1-0 Willington, Kimberley Park, Northern League Division 2, att. 75

Welcome to ....

In 1950 Willington had their finest hour, beating Bishop Auckland in the FA Amateur Cup Final 1-0 in front of 88,000 spectators at Wembley.  Tonight, they’re playing in front of 87,925 less in a Northern League second division fixture at Newcastle University.  It’s extreme, but it shows how far away ‘the good old days’ are for Northern League clubs.  Newcastle Uni meantime weren’t even a glint in their father’s eye back then; this is their second season in the Northern League (if we count last season’s expungement).  Mind, this Uni team is not to be confused with the OTHER Newcastle uni (Northumbria) whose side, Team Northumbria, were members of the Northern League for around 10 years up to 2018.  Never the twain, etc…but what an intriguing derby that would have been.

Looking towards the Main Stand.

The Uni play at Kimberly Park, in Prudhoe, a town about 6 miles east of Newcastle.  Or east of Gateshead, if we’re being pedantic (it’s the south side of the Tyne).  It’s the former home of Prudhoe East End, who were Northern League themselves up until 1994.  Quirkily, the ground is named after local employer Kimberly Clark, makers of those horrible paper towels you had to dry your hands on in junior school.  Are they still a large Prudhoe employer?  No idea.  Anyway, it’s great that the student get to play in a ‘proper’ stadium, even if it’s miles out of Newcastle.

Why's the stand so far from the pitch?

I parked up in a housing estate nearby, not realising the ground had a car park.  Despite the low number of spectators, the car park was still busy, so maybe I made the right decision, even if I did worry about finding my car in the same state as I’d left it.  A fiver in, which seems de rigueur in the Northern League second division, though the gateman did offer to let me in for four quid after a pound coin I dropped rolled under the shed.  I insisted on retrieval though.  Maybe I was a Catholic in a former life.  I couldn’t handle the guilt.

Looking towards the action.

As you walk in there’s a social club on the corner, with a cover attached.  Tables and chairs outside were a continental touch and you could watch the game from here if you wanted.  Looking into the social club, the only photos I could see were of Newcastle United, which was reason enough not to go in.  Another was I was driving, so no alcohol for me.  Adjacent was a tea bar and if you were hungry (I wasn’t) you could even get a hot dog.

Tables and chairs outside the snack shack.

The ground was a basic affair, with only one small seated stand beside the pavilion.  This was some way from the pitch and from the opposite side it looked like there was another stand beside it.  This was even further from the pitch, as if belonging to a former stadium on the same site.  There was no terrace to speak of on the other 3 sides, though there was grass banking if you preferred a higher perch.

I’d decided to stand opposite the pavilion/social club side, where the height of the barriers depended on the slope of the pitch.  There were also a few away fans in attendance, as they kept referring to Willington as ‘Willo’.  Why not ‘Willie’ I wondered.  ‘Come on Willie!  You can do this!’

Behind the goal.

I also wondered about the University team.  Did they all have to be students?  I asked one of the subs.  ‘No, not in the Saturday team’.  (I knew what he meant; the Northern League team.  Tonight was a Monday.)  Most were though, with only two players not.  I mused whether a new intake of students meant the subs were even less likely to get a game.  Perhaps I should have kept that to myself.

The students won, 1-0.  As I write this I can’t remember the goal.  I do remember the best player being a powerful student who came on as sub…but couldn’t hit a barn door to save his life.  I think he got the goal.  So he did hit a bar door, once.  Shoulda scored a hattrick at least.  And he was the best player…

Looking toward the social club.

The Damage:

£5 ent
£1 tea
= £6

The Tunes:
Grey Area (Little Simz)

Kimberly Park panorama.

Is there a reason the dugout's missing a pane?

Half time teamtalk.

A stand, or utility shed?

A bench behind the goal.

Dazzling Kimberly Park.