Norton & Stockton Ancients - Norton Sports Complex

Norton & Stockton Ancients FC

Norton Sports Complex

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Norton

Stockton-on-Tees 

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Ground Number: 1346

Sunday 15th September 2024
Norton & Stockton Ancients 5-3 Doncaster Rovers Belles

Women's National Plate Preliminary Round

NORTON & STOCKTON ANCIENTS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1959 as Norton Cricket Club Trust by members of Norton Cricket Club seeking a winter pastime and joined the Teesside League. In 1975, Stockton FC who played in the Northern Alliance went bust and in the following years, the two clubs joined forces and became Norton & Stockton Ancients. This gave them the impetus and facilities to join the Northern League in the newly established Division 2. They remained there for many years, finishing in the top half more often than not. In 2009, they finished as runners-up to Horden Colliery Welfare and earned promotion to Division 1. The following year, 2010, saw the best finish in the club's history when they finished 8th in Division 1. The club were relegated in 2013 but would return two years later after a 3rd place finish. The joy was short lived however as they were relegated in their first season back. Worse still, financial issues would cause the club to fold part way through the 2016/17 season. A few seasons were spent out of football before they returned to football in the Wearside League in 2020. They've been there ever since, finishing as runners-up to Darlington Town last season.

Norton & Stockton Ancients had their best FA Cup in 2010, reaching the 3rd Qualifying Round against FC United of Manchester. This game provided them with a record attendance of 1,526. They also reached the FA Vase Quarter Final in 2010. They won the Durham Minor Cup in 1968 and went on to win the North Riding Amateur Cup three times and the Teesside League Cup once. Their women's side were established around 2014 and play in the tier 4 FAWNL Division 1 North where they have played since 2017. Their best finish of 7th came in 2023. Prior to that. they were in the North East Regional Womens Football League, coming up from the Premier Division when they finished as runners-up to Barnsley.

MY VISIT

Originally on this Sunday, the plan was to go to Stockton Town Women as it was one of the few that I needed to finish down to step 3 of Non-League. This was to be doubled up with something in the Stockton Sunday League, although at the time, I didn't know what the fixtures were . Much changed in the six weeks since I made the booking, not least the dwindling number of new grounds in the FA Cup. Stockton and after a bit of deliberation, I decided to visit on Saturday instead and visit Norton & Stockton Ancients on Sunday. Having originally planned to be up in the Newcastle area on Saturday, it would be an early start and I managed to book a good value train ticket on the Trip.com app. It also tallied with my train home, having left plenty of time after in case of any changes.

I also wanted to take in a Sunday League game, the choice was huge. They were all at basic fields though and so I selected Coxhoe Club, halfway between my hotel and the afternoon game as I thought it was being played at Coxhoe Athletic FC. The club were nice and helpful but informed me that they now play at a local leisure centre. This was my plan for a few days but it was quite tight making kickoff for the main course. I also could't be arsed with doing another blog. With that in mind, I decided to revisit Thornaby FC, a ground that I had gone to in 2017 for a Sunday League team called Fox Covert. It would be a nice chance to get some daytime photos and I might even give the blog a quick spruce up.

I awoke at 6 on the day of the game and had a bit of time in bed before my 6.25 alarm. I had a nice shower and got dressed before going down for breakfast. It was an impressive spread for before 7 on a Sunday and I had egg, beans, bacon, black pudding and sausage, totally filling me up. I left at 7.05 and was at the Metro station ten minutes later. I got the 7.25 to Newcastle. The unlimited travel for £5.90 was good yesterday but the £4.50 for an 8 mile journey not as good value. I could have got a smart card to make the journey cheaper but it's only available by post and I didn't realise until the day before. It's a shame they've not adopted contactless payment yet like the London Underground. It's also wasted money as my ticket is not checked and there are no barriers. Still, better to be honest. I'm in Newcastle and have walked to the station, well in advance of my 8:31 train. There's time to stop at Sainsbury's for a bottle of Irn Bru and then I'm still on the platform with 20 minutes to spare despite the unusual layout of platforms at Newcastle. It was certainly wise to leave time to spare.

The train departs on time, my advance ticket cost me £4.30 initially, unusually I was able to swap it to a train two hours earlier for a 99p fee with my trip.com app when I opted for an earlier train.The £7.50 on the day fare is quite reasonable too. I get into Stockton at 9:36 and as the walk only takes marginally longer than waiting for a bus, I decide to make the journey to Thornaby FC on foot. It's not the nicest of walks along busy roads, plus the lane to the ground is longer than expected. I'm there bang on kickoff and am glad I came. The ground is much better than I remember it and there is so much to take photos of. Fox Covert lead convincingly 2-0 at the break. Middleton pull back through a penalty but the two goal lead is restored within a minute. However, Middleton fight back to share the points in an entertaining 3-3 draw. From there, it was 20 minutes walk to the bus stop where I miss the bus by a couple of minutes and have to wait 15 minutes for the next one. It was a few minutes walk to the Wetherspoons, The Highland Laddie. Still full from my breakfast, I settled on a pint of Strongbow for £2.25. From there it was just over 20 minutes to the ground, arrival bang on kickoff. £5 entry was a fair price and the ground was nice.

Norton were sitting bottom of the table and were yet to win. Their last game was a 3-2 loss at home to York and they'd also lost 6-5 to the same opposition in a cup game. Their other loss had come 3-0 at Stockport County. They'd gained a respectable 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough and also drawn 2-2 at Huddersfield Town. Doncaster Rovers Belles were one of the pioneers of modern womens football and sat 6th in the table. They'd beaten Barnsley 3-2 in their latest game. They'd also won 2-1 at York City. They'd lost 4-1 at Huddersfield Town in the cup, 2-1 at Chorley and 3-2 to Durham Cestria. It was a fairly even opening, the best chance came when a Doncaster player headed narrowly wide after 8 minutes. They were well on top, hitting the outside of the post on 21 minutes from a free kick. Norton hit the post soon after, still in the game. The second half saw Donny dominate again and it was only a good save and a bit of luck on Norton's part that saw it stay goalless. Finally the deadlock was broken on 61 minutes, an excellent corner from McWilliams and a firm header home by Ruby Barnes. Norton levelled on 67 minutes through Bianca Owens but less than a minute later Donny retook the lead through Jess Rugby-Andrew. Both goals were down to less than stellar defending and were preventable. Once again though, Norton came back and it was a decent strike by Owens for hers and her team's second on 76 minutes, a low shot into the net from 15 yards. The game was raining goals by now, a Jasmine Saxton header putting the Belles back ahead on 83 minutes. A minute from time, Owens equalised with a low shot similar to her second. Strangely, extra time was needed when most have stopped this nonsense. Just before the break, it was Norton who led for the first time, Louise Atkinson held off the defender and set up Annie Mitchell who finished well. The outcome of the game was seemingly decided on 109 minutes, Owens with her 4th, heading in off the bar. That was that, probably the best Women's game I've been to.

Sustenance at the game came via a brownie and a can of Irn Bru, a snip at £1.50 the pair. I'd learned over my pint that part of my journey had been cancelled by Northern Rail and I'd have to take an alternative train to Darlington. I also fancied a visit to Billingham Wetherspoons. Wherever I came from, a long layover in Thornaby was going to be required. Using a bus from Wetherspoons, I reckoned I could have nearly an hour in there, enough for a steak meal and a drink or two. However, extra time put this in doubt and I was disappointed that it didn't go straight to penalties. My planned visit to Billingham is scuppered, we are too tight for time. However, the Thomas Sheraton, a decent Spoons is 15 minutes walk from Thornaby where I need to be by 6.29 provided this train actually runs. I have steak, chips, onion rings and an Aspalls for just over £15 and it's great. A pint of Stowford Press completes my drinking for the weekend, it's been a far more sensible day than the past two. It's a 15-minute walk to Thornaby and I get to my platform with 8 minutes to spare. It's a dead area, the Dubliner pub that I was considering visiting closed a month ago. Now there's nothing around the station that I can see. A change at Darlington and hopefully a trouble-free journey home was hoped for.

THE GROUND

NORTON SPORTS COMPLEX is a smart and tidy ground. There are two areas of cover, a stand holding around 150 and a covered standing area for 50. There is a tea bar which offers a decent range of drinks and snacks, but food is restricted to Pot Noodles. I assume the bar is somewhere else on the sports complex. The ground is around 15 minutes from Norton Village which is very pleasant and has a Wetherspoons.