AFC Newbiggin - Newbiggin Sports Centre

AFC Newbiggin

Newbiggin Sports Centre

Woodhorn Road

Newbiggin-by-the-Sea

Northumberland

NE64 6HG

0754 035584

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1536

Saturday 4th April 2026

AFC Newbiggin 1-1 Alnwick Town

Northern League D2

AFC NEWBIGGIN - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club is one of the youngest in the Northern League, having been established as recently as 2010. Past football clubs in Newbiggin, Newbiggin Colliery Welfare and Newbiggin Central Welfare date back to 1911, with Central Welfare having folded in the mid-2000s. They started out in the North Northumberland League Division 2, winning promotion behind Wooler in their first season. By 2013, they were Division 1 champions, winning promotion to the Northern Alliance. They were Division 2 runners-up behind Blyth Isabella in 2014 and Division 1 runners-up behind Percy Main Amateurs the following year. After a few seasons in the Premier Division, they made the decision to return to the North Northumberland League for a single season, where they won 18 out of 20 games as they stormed to the league title. They rejoined the Northern Alliance, spending the pandemic seasons in Division 2. Based on the results over these seasons, Newbiggin were promoted to Division 1. A 3rd place finish was good enough for promotion to the Premier Division in their first season. In 2025, they were promoted to the Northern League Division 2 after finishing as runners-up to Burradon & New Fordley.

 

The club is located in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, a seaside town in Northumberland, located on the North Sea coast. The town is a fishing port and formerly a part of a trade route for shipping grain. Newbiggin Colliery operated from 1908 until 1967. Newbiggin became a popular beach resort by 1828 and remains a tourist attraction with landmarks such as the Couple sculpture by Sean Henry and the 13th-century parish church. The town holds an annual music festival that raises money for charity and is also home to several religious sites representing various denominations. Fishing has always been associated with Newbiggin, although later many inhabitants were employed in coal mining. By the Victorian era, Newbiggin was Northumberland's favourite seaside town, attracting hundreds of visitors every day in the summer months.

MY VISIT

From our game at FC Hartlepool, it was a 20-minute drive to Easington, with parking again easy. It was £7 for the first revisit of my weekend and £3 for a can of Magners. I sat and checked Twitter for football news, and it sounded like a disappointing performance from Wycombe, who lost 3-0 at Stockport. The biggest crowd of the day, 770, watched Easington Colliery get a last-minute winner to triumph 2-1 against Horden in a local derby. We then drove to a takeaway, Castle Pizza, where I got Tandoori Parmo. This was consumed back at the hotel, but it was too much for me. Colin had no problem polishing off his along with garlic mushrooms and chocolate fudge cake.  No wonder he is growing fast to the size of PuffPuff. I had a couple of pints back in the room, but by 11, I was knackered and went to bed. I must have got a decent 7.5 hours of sleep for once, waking just before 7. I freshened up and got dressed before checking Twitter. I was glad to see that the Guisborough Town Women's game was confirmed as on tomorrow after it briefly showed as postponed during the week. I started writing about the history of the club for my blog. We left at 8.30 and 50 minutes later, we were at the New Moor Farm Wetherspoons, just outside of Cramlington. Knowing that they were run by the same franchise as yesterday's poor example, I was expecting a long wait and so took my laptop in. However, despite the poor reviews, they were excellent, and we were served quickly. It was the normal good muffin deal, albeit with a 50p premium, but it was a good tick. From there it was 15 minutes to the ground. Parking was already filling up, but I still got a space. I paid a fiver to get in, plus £1.50 for a programme. After I'd got some pictures of the ground before going in and working on my laptop pre-kickoff.

 

AFC Newbiggin sat 15th in the table, having won twelve, drawn ten and lost sixteen. They were on patchy form and had lost 2-1 at Prudhoe on Saturday, although they had a midweek game against Tow Law Town. Alnwick Town were in 8th and had won eighteen, drawn nine and lost twelve. They'd been on a run of four wins in a row until they lost 2-0 at Seaham Red Star on Saturday. Alnwick Town had the best of the first half and scored just before half-time. A low shot by Jaymie Shell following a defensive slip. The attendance was announced as 496 on a nippy day for April, but at least it had stayed dry so far. There was a bit of drizzle in the second half, but a strange incident on 63 minutes. Two players came together, with the Newbiggin man going down from not much of a challenge from what I could tell. The referee and linesman conferred before sending Alnwick's Usman Ogidan off. The player argued his case before storming off and pushing over a temporary barrier. AFC Newbiggin should have equalised on 73 minutes when a superb volley from just outside the area thumped the crossbar. A great ball across in the final minutes presented the hosts with a great chance to score, but the shot was blasted over the bar from close range. In injury time, Newbiggin had a header saved by the keeper, and in the follow-up fouled an Alnwick defender as they looked for an equaliser. They got their chance in the final minute. A free kick was awarded 25 yards from the goal. The shot was stopped by the keeper and then followed up to spark joyous celebrations amongst the home players.

  

THE GROUND

NEWBIGGIN SPORTS CENTRE or HOLCIM PARK is a typical new development. It's the standard basic pitch with two seated drop-in stands comprising 100 seats. It is at least spacious inside, and the club did pretty well on the food, drink and merch front. There is parking within the sports centre, or buses drop off outside. The sports centre cafe provides a comfortable, warm area on colder days.