Middlesbrough SC - The Acorn Centre

Middlesbrough SC

Heythrop Drive

Middlesbrough 

TS5 8QB

Sunderland Over 40's FA Full Time

Ground Number: 1344

Saturday 14th September 2024

Middlesbrough SC 1-3 Sherburn Village
Sunderland & District Over 40's League Premier

THE SUNDERLAND & DISTRICT OVER 40'S LEAGUE

The Sunderland and District Sunderland Mill View Social Club Over 40s League is an Amateur Football League for men over the age of 40 in the Sunderland and surrounding areas. The league was founded in 1999 and currently has 72 teams competing across five divisions. These range from Richmond Town down in North Yorkshire to Woodhorn Lane in Ashington as the furthest north side. Games are played at 10:30 on a Saturday morning, making a good potential double for groundhoppers. A variety of grounds are used from basic pitches to proper football grounds. I spent a couple of hours researching the league one afternoon, all of the information is to the best of my knowledge and was subject to the FA Full Time site holding the correct information.

CLUB	DIVISION	GROUND	NOTES	VISITED
Bedlington United	Division Two	Gallagher Park	Multi-Pitch Complex
Billingham	Premier	Stockton Riverside College
Billingham The Station	Division Three	High Grange
Blakelaw SC Juniors	Premier	Leisure United Blakelaw	Basic 3G
Blyth & Forest Hall Flying Scotchman	Premier	Leisure United Blakelaw	Basic 3G
Blyth Town	Division Four	Gateway Park	Blyth Town FC?
Boldon Colliery Old Barrel	Premier	Boldon CA Sports Ground
Catchgate	Division Three	Annfield Plain Park
Consett	Premier	Consett Academy
CSSC Newcaste Darsley Park	Division One	Blue Flames Sporting Club	Multi-Pitch, some railed
Darlington DRSM	Division Two	Longfield Academy
Darlington DRSM 2nds	Division Three	Longfield Academy
Dubmire Club	Division One	Leyburn Grove	Multi-Pitch Complex
Durham County	Division Three	Esh Winning Cricket Club	Semi Enclosed Park
Easington Colliery	Premier	Easington Welfare Park
FC United Of Newcastle	Premier	The Langdale Centre	Railed Pitch	YES
Ferry Greyhound Vaux	Premier	Dean Bank Recreation Ground	Semi Enclosed Park
Hartlepool	Division Four	Greatham Sports Field	Semi Enclosed Park
Hartlepool Cricket Club	Division One	Grayfields Recreation Ground
Hartlepool Jacksons Arms	Division Two	Brierton Sports Centre	Multi-Pitch Complex
Hartlepool Tech	Division Two	Grayfields Recreation Ground
Hebburn Town	Division One	Hebburn Sports Club	Hebburn Town (back pitch probably)	YES
Heighington Bay Horse	Division Two	Heighington Playing Field
Houghton Comrades	Division Four	Leyburn Grove	Multi Pitch Complex
Marden	Premier	Blue Flames Sporting Club	Multi Pitch, some railed
Middlesbrough SC	Premier	The Kings Academy	Multi Pitch Complex
Newcastle East End	Division One	Swan Hunter Recreation Ground	Multi Pitch Complex
Newton Aycliffe The Cobblers Hall	Division Three	Greenfield Academy
North Shields The Three Sails	Division Three	Collingwood View Rec
Pelton Crown Inn	Divison One	High Handenhold Village Park
Penshaw Catholic Club	Division One	Herrington Recreation Ground	Multi Pitch, some railed
Peterlee Helford United	Division Four	Acre Rigg Social Club	Multi Pitch Complex
Redcar Newmarket	Division Three	Rye Hills Academy	Multi-Pitch, some railed
Redcar Old Boys	Division Four	King George V Playing Field	Basic Pitch
Redcar Town	Premier	Mo Mowlam Centre	Multi-Pitch Complex	YES
Richmond Town	Division Two	Earls Orchard
Seaham Harbour Cricket Club	Premier	Dawdon Park	Railed Pitch
Seaton Carew CSC	Division Two	Seaton Carew S&S Club	Basic pitch
Sedgefield	Division One	Sedgefield Community College
Sherburn Village WMC	Premier	Sherburn Village Park	Railed Pitch
Shildon AFC	Division One	Hackworth Park
South Shields	Division One	Harton & Westoe MW	Ground with stand
South Shields Buzzers	Division Four	Hedworthfield CA	Multi Pitch Complex
South Shields Catholic Club	Division Three	Bents Recreation Ground
Stanley	Division Two	Lintz Football Ground	Railed Pitch
Sunderland Grindon Broadway	Division One	Herrington Recreation Ground	Multi Pitch, some railed
Sunderland Grindon SC	Division Four	King George V Playing Fields	Basic Pitch
Sunderland Humbledon Plains Farm Project	Division Two	Thornhill School
Sunderland Ivy Legends	Division Four	Wearmouth YAV Cricket Club	Basic Pitch
Sunderland Jetpatcher	Division Three	Silksworth Park	3G with viewing area
Sunderland Last Orders	Division Two	Nissan Sports Complex	Multi-pitch, potential ground	YES
Sunderland Pennywell Comrades	Division Two	King George V Playing Fields	Basic Pitch
Sunderland The Cambridge	Division Three	Thompson Park
Sunderland The Doxford Lad	Division Two	Leyburn Grove	Multi-Pitch Complex
Sunderland The Doxy Lad	Divison Four	Silksworth Park	3G with viewing area
Sunderland The Philladelphia	Divison Four	Herrington Recreation Ground	Multi-Pitch, some railed
Sunderland Wear United	Division Two	Silksworth Park	3G with viewing area
Sunderland Wearmouth	Divison Four	Wearmouth YAV Cricket Club	Basic Pitch
The Milbourne Arms Holywell	Division Two	Bates Welfare	Railed Pitch	YES
Thornaby Town	Divison Four	Thornaby Academy
Trimdon	Division Three	Sedgefield Community College	Basic pitch
Walkergate	Division Three	Fossway Recreation Ground
Washington Athletic Youth	Division Four	Usworth Colliery Primary School
Washington EMS Contracting	Premier	Glebe Park	Railed Pitch
Washington JFC	Division One	Nissan Sports Complex	Multi-pitch, potential ground	YES
Wearside	Division Four	Ashbrooke School	Basic Pitch
West Moor	Division Three	West Moor Community Centre
West Rainton Shack	Division Three	West Rainton Rec	Semi Enclosed Park
Whitburn & Cleadon	Division One	Cleadon Lane New Fields	Multi-Pitch Complex
Willington Quay Saints	Division Two	Rising Sun Sports Ground
Wingate	Division Three	Wingate Welfare Park	Semi Enclosed Park
Woodhorn Lane	Division One	Hirst Welfare Centre

MAP OF THE CLUBS

PREMIER - DIVISION 1- DIVISION 2 - DIVISION 3 - DIVISION 4

 

PREVIOUS WINNERS

SEAS	PREMIER	DIV 1	DIV 2	DIV 3	DIV 4
2008-09	Norton & Stockton	Blackhall Hardwick	Sunderland Hylton CW	Hartlepool Raby Arms	Easington CIU
2009-10	Sunderland The Times Inn	Blyth Town	Sunderland Oddies	Easington CIU	Sunderland The Times Inn
2010-11	Millstone Rangers	Newcastle Blue Star	Robin Hood Murton	Esh Winning Cricket	St Mary's College
2011-12	Marden	Darlington Shuttle & Loom	Wearmouth Urban Printz	St Mary's College	Richmond Town
2012-13	Marden (2)	Hebburn Town	Billingham Town	Steels	Boldon Colliery
2013-14	Sunderland Steels Kings Bros	Billingham Town	St Mary's College	Wearmouth CW	Wallsend Winstons
2014-15	Marden (3)	Penshaw Catholic Club
2015-16	Marden (4)	Sunderland Wearmouth Colliery	Thornley Harry's Bar	Sunderland HPFP	Newcastle East End
2016-17	Marden (5)	Sunderland Hylton CW	Wallsend BC	Newcastle East End	FC Burnmoor
2017-18	Marden (6)	Blyth Masons Arms	St Mary's College	FC Burnmoor	Hartlepool Jacksons Arms
2018-19	Marden (7)	St Mary's College	Dubmire Club	Sunderland Wearmouth Colliery	Sunderland Hall Farm
2019-20	CANCELLED
2020-21	Ferryhill Greyhound	Sherburn Village	Seaham Harbour CC	Forest Hall	Newcastle Blue Star
2021-22	Ferryhill Greyhound (2)	Consett	Newcastle East End	Newcastle Blue Star	West Moor
2022-23	Ferryhill Greyhound (3)	Easington Colliery	Newcastle Blue Star	Shildon	Houghton Comrades
2023-24	Ferryhill Greyhound (4)	Blakelaw Juniors	Washington	Sunderland Pennywell Comrades	Sunderland The Cambridge

MY VISIT

Part of my reason for taking an annual trip to the North East is the Sunderland Over 40's League. This had provided me with some great games on the past few times that I had seen a game in it and there was also the opportunity to visit an unusual ground. The people were as friendly as ever and it was a good opportunity to make the most of my time on my weekends away. The number of really good grounds were running out so initially I selected South Shields v Penshaw Catholic Club followed by a game at Boldon Colliery and I booked accommodation with that in mind. However, I then changed my mind and decided to go to the FA Cup game between Stockton Town & Marine. I needed a new game and selected Redcar Old Boys v Washington Athletic in Division 4 as the website said it was being played at Guisborough Town. I contacted the league and although it took a couple of days, a guy called Ally Wilson came back to me saying that it was most likely the pitch next door. As this was not on Futbology as a separate ground and neither team had social media, I decided against it and looked for something new.

I spent a good few hours mapping out all of the clubs on a Google My Map and checking the location of all the grounds that were hosting games on Saturday. Seven choices within commutable distance initially, they were whittled down to three where the away team had social media. It was good that the away side got back to me fairly quickly to confirm that my choice was good to go and so this was decided on Monday night that I'd be going to Seaton Carew CSC v Willington Quay Saints in Division 2, this won out over Middlesbrough SC v Sherburn Village in the Premier Division and Trimdon v West Moor in Division 3. But as is often the case at this level, venues change regularly and this proved to be the case with the Seaton Carew game, moving to somewhere less accessible on public transport which wouldn't give me as much time in Stockton as I'd have liked. So, another change was decided on Friday night to go to the Middlesbrough SC game. That too suffered a change of venue and although basic, it worked out in my favour as it was a quicker journey to Stockton.

 From my game at Boro Rangers last night, I walked the hour or so back to my room, stopping at Wetherspoons for a nightcap. It was pretty quiet for a Friday night, but at £2.39 a pint of Strongbow, you can't complain. I spent an hour watching Corrie and typing my blog before going to bed at midnight. I woke at 6 am but didn't get out of bed until 8 as there was no rush. I had a shower and caught up on things as well as buying the bus ticket I needed for £6 which would do me until I needed to go to Newcastle. It was a walk to the bus stop near Wetherspoons then a 20-minute bus to near the Acorn Centre. I popped to a shop for a bottle of Irn Bru before getting to the ground ten minutes before kick-off. It was fairly easy to find the game I needed and it was a basic but pleasant place.

Middlesbrough Supporters Club to give them their full name were 9th in the table. Their shirts were decent, better than the proper Middlesbrough team in my opinion. They were on a run of three straight defeats, their only win being an exciting 4-3 at Easington Colliery. Sherburn were in mixed form, in their last three they'd drawn 1-1 against Blyth & Forest Hall Flying Scotsman, lost 3-0 to Marden and beaten Washington EMS 4-1. Sherburn were on top, their skilful grey-haired left winger crossing for Neil Waters to slot home from six yards. Middlesbrough were level within a minute, a right-wing cross deceiving the keeper and going straight in. There was a bit of a minor scuffle between the players which the ref handled well. On 27 minutes a good corner from Middlesbrough and the header hits the bar. The game faded from there on but on 55 minutes Sherburn retook the lead when Craig Coates latched on to the through ball and rounded the keeper. Completing the scoring on the hour was Neil Patterson, heading home a left-wing cross.

THE GROUND 

THE ACRORN CENTRE is a basic multi-pitch venue with no spectator facilities. It has multiple pitches which are well kept. There is lots of parking and it's well served by buses from Middlesbrough and Stockton.