Silksworth Colliery Welfare FC
Silksworth Welfare Park
Silksworth Memorial Welfare Park
Blind Lane
Silksworth
Sunderland
Wearside
SR3 1AX
Ground Number: 1275
Wednesday 13th March 2024
Silksworth CW 3-3 Shotton Colliery
Wearside Premier
Wearside Premier
SILKSWORTH CW - A BRIEF HISTORY
The current Silksworth Colliery was established in the summer of 1998 but several attempts have been made to establish a side in the area. SILKSWORTH COLLIERY WELFARE appears to be established after the Second World War but league placings are lost in the mists of time. SILKSWORTH COLLIERY played from 1966 -1976 in the Wearside League but generally struggled. SILKSWORTH joined the Wearside League in 1988 and won promotion as champions of Division 2 in 1992. They lasted in Division 1 until 1995 when they finished bottom, despite finishing 3rd in 1993. The current team were established in 1998 as SILKSWORTH CA for a single season before changing its name to THORNDALE. A single season was spent in the Wearside League before they stepped back to local football and progressed through the Hetton and District, Tyne & Wear and Durham Alliance Leagues. They then played as SILKSWORTH CA again from 2007 until 2011 after learning promotion back to the Wearside League. They changed their name to SILKSWORTH RANGERS, in 2011 and struggled for a couple of seasons. In 2013, they adopted their current name of SILSWORTH COLLIERY WELFARE and this produced much improved results including a best-ever 5th place finish in 2019.
The original club played in the FA Cup sporadically from 1948 until 1962. Their best run came in 1949 when they beat Cockfield, West Auckland Town, South Hetton CW and Consett before falling to Horden Colliery Welfare in the 3rd Qualifying Round. Silksworth is a suburb of the City of Sunderland. The area can be distinguished into two parts, old Silksworth, the original village and township which has existed since the early middle ages, and New Silksworth, the industrial age colliery village which expanded northwest of the original settlement. The former colliery was situated to the northwest of the village near to the Gilley Law. The population is just under 11,000. The colliery existed from 1869 until 1971. Silksworth Ski Slope is the North East of England's largest artificial ski slope and activity centre. This is featured on the Sunderland version of the board game Monopoly. Various sportsmen have come from the area. Bobby Gurney has a mural dedicated to him in the area. The son of a Silskworth pit worker, he made 348 appearances and scored 205 goals for Sunderland between 1925 and 1950 and was also capped once by England as well as being Sunderland's all-time top scorer.
MY VISIT
I'd had an enjoyable time in Belgium, but it had been a bit pricier than I'd hoped when totting up the expenses on Monday morning, working out at £72 per game, over five games for the hotels and travel. Still, it was a good experience and you can't take the money with you. I was disappointed when I checked the Wearside League website and discovered that the West Auckland Reserves game I had pencilled in for Thursday had been moved to a 3G pitch in Sunderland. It was a club whose history I'd wanted to research and write about for ages, but it would have to wait. The rain on the walk to the station reminded me of home but the train was probably the nicest of the weekend - quiet, a single seat to myself and included in the price of my Eurostar ticket. As soon as I was on Brussels, I headed to BrewDog and had a French cider I'd not had before. It was great to be able to browse the menu and order from my table. I also ordered a burger, wings and chips This was pretty enjoyable and the cider was decent too. I then went to the Delirium Cafe for the obligatory pint of Delirium Red in pleasant surroundings. I'd not left a huge amount of time but I got the train from Brussels Central to South. From there, it was easy to reach the Eurostar Terminal. A further spanner was thrown in the works as the Thursday night game changed for the third time in a few hours. The Durham Cestrians Women's game was being played at Brandon United, where I'd originally intended to spend Wednesday. This would mean a change to my Wednesday game too, as I'd intended to go there that day.
From my train back home, I had to go to Chesham rather than Amersham, where the buses were less plentiful. I was in the door just after 6 and greeted by a delighted boxer dog that the family had been looking after for a fortnight. I had a further bottle of cider thinking that sod it, I was on holiday. I also opted to go to Wycombe Wanderers v Wigan Athletic tomorrow, owing to the amount of travelling from Wednesday onwards. Considering it came in between a load of drinking days, I opted to stay sober and drive to the game. The fact that it was raining all day and I wouldn't have a lift home contributed to the decision. The rain also stopped me from walking down Wycombe for some exercise, most frustrating. The Wycombe game was not the most inspiring but we held on to beat Wigan Athletic 1-0.
I awoke early on the morning of the game. It would be the last day of seeing my Aunt's boxer dog, Barkley before he went home so I made a big fuss of him. After having a bath and getting dressed, I popped down the chemist to pick up a prescription. I'd ordered it a week ago but they'd not bothered to inform me they couldn't get any. Therefore I put in an order with another pharmacy for next week and hoped for the best. I left at 9.30, parking at Colin's and walking the mile to the station. Everything was running smoothly and I got the 10:22 train towards London. I was at Euston Square by 11.20, then it was a ten-minute walk to the Captain Flinders Wetherspoons, my 311th in the chain. For some reason, my phone slowed up, making ordering a pain. Even so, I was able to but a Katsu Curry meal with Strongbow for under £12. From there it was a 13-minute walk to Kings Cross station where I got the 12:30 train. I had bagged a great deal, getting my London to Durham ticket in the rail sale for £17. My only regret was not buying more, that said, they were mainly tickets for the winter months, so risky for football games. I checked, and the cheapest ticket from London - Durham was £69.50.
I was in Durham by 15.25 as scheduled. I went to Iceland to get some Irn Bru and crisps before heading back to the Station House Micropub. I was expecting to have to wait until 4 but it was already open and doing a brisk trade. The Cider selection was as superb as ever and first up I had a pint of locally made Elmet Durham Blend which was superb. The second was even better, a pint of Ross on Wye Five Apple Oak Cask. Sadly, time was limited but I was hoping to come back tomorrow. The 20 Prince Bishops bus would be a constant for my travelling today. First I got one back to my hotel to save time. I checked in and then got the 5.18 which was ten minutes late. A bizzare kerfuffle between the passengers and some degenerate who thought it was OK to beat up women but the bus driver and other passengers handled it well. I was glad to be two pints deep at this point as we wound our way though the route. It was a pleasant journey otherwise, past Houghton Le Spring where one of my backups was being played. I was at the bus stop nearest the ground by 6.10. I deviated from my usual choice and had Thai sweet chilli chicken and rice from a local Chinese called China Wok. It was nice but it was a bit of a longer walk than expected. I was at the ground by 7.10, paying £3 entry to the friendly club people who had a lovely little dog. I spoke to the team managers briefly before setting down to watch the game.
Silksworth CW were 7th in the table. They were unbeaten in five league games and had won their last game 2-1 at Bishop Auckland Reserves. Shotton Colliery were down in 14th but they held the upper hand in clashes between the two this season. They had won 5-3 in the reverse fixture and had also won 3-1 in the Durham Trophy. Their recent form had been a bit more patchy but they had beaten South Moor 2-0 in their last game. However, they'd suffered a 10-0 hammering at leaders Durham United in recent times. The game kicked off a couple of minutes early at 7.28. The game started with Silksworth on top but it was Shotton Colliery who took the lead on 14 minutes. A corner from the right was poked home at the back post from around ten yards out. Five minutes later it was 2-0, a low shot from the edge of the area with the visitors taking control by now. Silksworth hit the bar with a deflected free kick on the half hour as they looked for a way back into the game. Seven minutes later, a shot was cleared off the line by Shotton as Silksworth had more of the ball. Shotton had the better of the last ten minutes and it took a smart save from the home keeper to prevent them getting another. The second half kicked off at 8.30. A flurry of chances came for Silksworth at the start of the second period but it looked as if it wasn't going to be their night. Shotton grabbed a breakaway third on the hour, probably the goal of the night. A hard low diagonal shot from outside the area clipped the right hand post on the way in. Almost immediately, Silksworth pulled a goal back, a shot from just inside the area by Alex Thompson after drawing the keeper. Both sides had chances but Silksworth pulled another goal back seven minutes from time, the ball taking a deflection off of the right-hand post with Cam Fenton's shot. In injury time, it was all square, the ball put home at the back post from within the six-yard box, Chris Thompson completing a spirited comeback.
It had been an excellent game to watch and I was pleased with my choice. On reflection, I should have gone to Chester Le Street ladies, given that all the hoppers joining me tomorrow had done it. They also had a decent game with Middlesbrough winning 3-2. But I'd enjoyed my contest, I was happy for the hosts but Shotton Colliery probably edged it. The other games that were under consideration ended Richmond Town 3-2 Durham United and Belmont United 2-2 Ferryhill Athletic. So I'd have got a good game wherever I went. I fancied getting the earlier bus so jogged and halved the estimated walking time. It was knackering at first but I soon got into my stride. I arrived at the stop six minutes before the 21:47 was due. As it happened, it eventually turned up six minutes late. At one point, I was the only one on the bus. I was back at my hotel by 10.25 though and had a pint of Strongbow for £4.10. Knowing I'd had a fair bit over the weekend, I stopped at one and went up to my room. It was still pretty noisy with traffic outside so I put everything on charge and put my blog up whilst watching Corrie.
THE GROUND
SILKSWORTH PARK is a basic but pleasant place to watch a game. The pitch is fully railed and has a pair of dugouts but no cover or hard standing. It looked as if there were sometimes refreshments for the bigger Saturday games. The people there are friendly and there's a fair bit of street parking. It's well served by public transport, the 20 bus from Durham to Sunderland drops you off just under half an hour away and runs every half hour until 23:47. Nearby is a pub called Donkins but I didn't see much else around.
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