Sunday, 26 September 2021

Sherburn Village WMC - Sherburn Sports Centre



Sherburn Village WMC FC
Sherburn Sports Centre
Durham City Gymnastic Club
Off Gray Avenue
Sherburn Village
Durham
DH6 1QX




Ground Number: 1002
Saturday 25th September 2021
Sherburn Village WMC 4-1 Hartlepool FC Blues
Sunderland Over 40s League






SHERBURN VILLAGE WMC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The formation date of the club is unclear, but their full name is Sherburn Village Working Mans Club. They were promoted to the Premier Division in the summer following their Division 1 title during the 2020/21 season, remaining unbeaten all season. Records only go back as far as 2008/09 but they were originally in Division 1 before being relegated after finishing bottom in Division 1. They spent five seasons in Division 2 before they won promotion back in 2017 after a 5th place finish. The village of Sherburn has a population of around 9,000. The former fishing village has a population of 3,500.


MY VISIT

When I decided to extend my trip in the northeast by a couple of days, the Sunderland Over 40s League was a huge factor in this. It was one of those rare things in a Saturday morning game. The only other league that I know that operates at these times is the Midland U21 League and it is always welcome to see a couple of games in one day. The question was, where to go.  To do this, I plotted all the possible games on a map - that was ones that were played on at least a railed pitch. The I did the same with the afternoon fixtures in the FA Vase and picked out some potential doubles. In the end, it came down to what was nearest to my hotel in Darlington and that was Sherburn Village in the morning and Willington in the afternoon. I discovered that I could do the whole trip on a North East Explorer bus ticket for £10.90 and this included getting back to Newcastle for my overnight coach too - even if it did take a bit longer than the train.


The day of the game came and I woke up at 7.15, fifteen minutes ahead of my alarm. I had a shower, got dressed and got my things together. Wary of the unreliable buses, I jogged into town and typically, I saw my bus go past. At least I made the stop for the bus to Durham which arrived as scheduled. I was going to charge my power bank on board, but typically the sockets weren't working. The bus was in Durham just before 10 and as I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, I got myself a meal deal from Tesco. The Hoisin Duck Wrap, Thornton's brownie and juice drink were excellent value for £3. I then got the 24 bus towards Hartlepool which got me to near the ground at 10.20. I met John from the club, who was a great bloke, as were several of their members who made me feel very welcome. He told me that they'd been oversubscribed for the game, 22 players wanted to play and so he had to turn four away to assemble a squad of 18. There was also a guy at the club who liked groundhopping. He had been to over 150 following Sunderland home and away as well as some great grounds such as the Maracana in Brazil. 


In their six games so far, Sherburn had done fairly well. Last week they won 3-1 at Blyth Masons Arms and had also beaten Penshaw Catholic Club 3-0 and won 4-2 at Killingworth YPC. On the flip side, they'd drawn 2-2 at Easington Colliery CIC and had lost 1-0 to Ferryhill Greyhound Vaux and 1-0 at Pelton Crown Inn. They sat 6th with visitors Hartlepool FC Blues in 2nd. They had been in brilliant form with wins over Sunderland The Times Inn (5-3 & 4-1), Penshaw Catholic Club (2-1), Marden (4-0) and Easington Colliery CIU (2-1). Their only defeat had come on the opening day against Pelton Crown Inn as they lost 2-1. Sherburn were in a Barcelona style red and blue striped kit, whilst Hartlepool were in the green. The hosts were quick out of the traps and they were ahead within five minutes when a cross from the left was bundled home. It was 1-1 five minutes later, a well-worked move, a ball from the left and a finish from ten yards. Sherburn retook the lead on 17 minutes when a ball into the box was finished from around the penalty spot. After 28 minutes, it was 3-1, this time it was another cross into the box which the visiting keeper missed and a Sherburn man powered the overhead kick home. A 40 minute half and a quick turnaround resulted in the second half kicking off at 11.15. The game was sealed on 15 minutes when a cross from the left was headed home. It could have been 5-1 a few minutes from time, the ball hit the bar and bounced down on the line but the goal was not given. It had been a good game of football, witnessed by 25 although the number swelled later on. The Sunderland Over 40's League is an excellent Saturday morning competition, providing good opportunities for seeing two games in one day. I couldn't have wished to do it with a better club than Sherburn.


THE GROUND

SHERBURN PARK is a great venue to watch a game ar. The pitch is fully railed and is on a couple of bus routes out of Durham. There's plenty of parking too and it's a pleasant place to watch a game. I'm not sure about food and drink places nearby though, so it might be better to bring your own.

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Friday, 24 September 2021

Darlington Railway Athletic FC - Brinkburn Road


Darlington Railway Athletic FC
Brinkburn Road
Darlington
County Durham
DL3 9LF






Ground Number: 1001
Friday 24th September 2021
Darlington Railway Athletic 3-0 Shildon Reserves
Wearside League D1






DARLINGTON RAILWAY ATHLETIC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established after the end of World War 1, initially playing in the Darlington & District League. They played in the Northern League between 1919 & 1925, their best finish during their first spell being 6th. They returned to the Darlington District League, a competition that they've won five times during their history. After spells in the Teeside and North Riding Leagues, they joined the Wearside League in 1990. Starting in Division 2, they finished 3rd behind South Shields Cleadon and Usworth Village to win promotion to Division 1. However, they only stayed for a single season before forming and refolding. Rejoining the Darlington & District League which they won in 1999, they were transferred to the West Auckland and District League which they won in 2001. They returned to the Wearside League which was now a single division, winning it in 2005. Promotion to the Northern League followed and in their first season, they finished 3rd behind Consett and Northallerton Town to win promotion to Division 1. They finished rock bottom in their only season here, returning to Division 2. Despite a couple of 5th place finishes, they never looked likely to return and after a couple of second-bottom finishes in 2017 and 2018, they were relegated to the Wearside League where they remain to this day. Finishes since returning have tended to be around mid-table.

In the FA Cup, Darlington Railway Athletic had just one victory from five campaigns. That came in 2007 when they thumped Yorkshire Amateur 6-0 only to lose 4-0 at Consett in the Preliminary Round. In the FA Vase, their best run came in their maiden campaign of 1978. They beat Wallington 3-1 and Leeds & Carnegie Polytechnic 2-0 before losing 3-0 at Whickham in the 2nd Round. In terms of local cups, they have won the Wearside League Cup in 2003, the Darlington & District League Cup in 1951 & 1958, the Durham Amateur Cup in 1975, the Sunderland Shipowners Cup in 2005 and the North Riding Cup in 1970. They attracted their record attendance of 585 for a 2012 friendly against Darlington 1883.

The town of Darlington is located in County Durham and has a population of just over 92,000. Famous people who have lived in Darlington include comedian Vic Reeves, entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne and footballers Tom Craddock and Neil Maddison. Other football clubs in the town include Darlington 1883, known since 2017 as Darlington. They were the phoenix club for the former football league side and are pretty much a continuation of the former club. There's also Darlington Town who also play in the Wearside League. They play at the Eastbourne Sports Complex in the town. There's a couple of rugby clubs in the town - Darlington Mowden Park play at the 25,000 seat Darlington Arena, the white elephant that sent the original Darlington FC to the wall. Darlington RFC are the new Darlington FC's landlords at Blackwell Meadows. There are also a couple of cricket clubs, Darlington Railway Cricket Club play adjacent to the football club.


MY VISIT

Originally, I thought I was going to be heading home on Thursday night, as there were no games listed for Friday night. That was until a week before the game when I got my usual Football Traveller magazine and saw that Darlington Railway Athletic were playing Shildon Reserves on Friday night. After checking on the league website and with the club that the game was on, I made plans to extend my stay up north by a couple of days. The day of the game came and I awoke at 8 am after another decent nights sleep. I had a bath but my feet were playing me up, having walked 12 miles yesterday. I think that my shoes are getting a bit loose due to wear as all my skin was hard and sore. I was once again taking advantage of my room being available until 12, researching Willingeton's history for tomorrow and also putting the final touches to my travel plans. I left my hotel at 11.45 and walked to Taco Bell, hoping for some lunch. However, not wanting to miss my train, I opted out, heading to Savers to get some foot cream and a drink. 

On the way to my platform, I stopped at at the excellent CentrAle, picking up three North East ciders that I'd not had before for £11ish. I got the 12.45 to Plymouth which would be arriving in Devon seven hours later and would no doubt cost a small fortune. I was only going as far as Darlington, for a very reasonable £8.50. The train was pretty busy and I'm not sure the ambience was helped by rubbing cream into my rancid feet, but needs must. My bag was getting increasingly heavy by now and ideally, I'd have sent it home in the post. But for that, I needed a box and some packing materials. I was in Darlington by 13:10 and took the 15-minute walk to Cash Converters. Here, I was hoping to pick up an elusive item, a HIFI system with an optical in socket to connect to my TV. They didn't have such obscurity, so I headed for the Tanners Hall Wetherspoons, my 209th in the chain. The app said they didn't do my favourite Spoons cider, Black Dragon, but happily, it was available at the bar. I settled down at a table, my feet thanking me. I ordered up a beef madras and chips for £6.45, this came with a bottle of Angry Orchard. Neither component was especially brilliant but they did the specified job well and I was now feeling nice and relaxed.


I did eventually procure a free box from Poundland, also buying some bubble wrap and sticky tape. As I was wrapping it up, a filthy pigeon shat on my trousers. The Hermes app was useless, it wouldn't let me send something from myself to myself. So Royal Mail it had to be, there was a huge queue, so I went self-service which was bewildering until someone helped me. The postage was a colossal £17, far more than I'm used to paying but I didn't have the luxury of shopping around. They couldn't even print out a label so I had to write out my address on a passport application envelope and attach it to the box using customs declaration labels. From there it was to Primark for some new clothes. A pair of jeans were procured for a fiver and a Gazza T-shirt for the bargain price of a quid. It was then to the bus stop, where the first scheduled bus was nowhere to be seen. The second one came and it was jam-packed. So much so that it was impossible to fit any more people on. A woman was mildly abusive to the driver, and while yes, the service was utter bobbins, he was just a bloke doing a job and deserved a break. I was at my hotel, The Grey Horse in Haughton Green for 16.30. A quick shower, my trousers in the bin and a change saw me out at the bus stop for 17.05. The 17.07 didn't show up and the 17.19 finally got to me at 17.30. I was in town 10 minutes later and then it was a ten minutes walk to The ORB Micropub. They were operating table service only, so I ordered a pint of local Kemp cider. Only they only had a third of a pint, had charged my card and then it was a huge faff for a refund. I accept that mistakes happen and the lady was very nice. But it all could have been avoided had it been pay at the bar. At least I got a freebie sample though. It was then to the Bondgate Tavern where I had a pint of Old Rosie for £3.60. It was OK but nothing new. I ordered my Parmo dinner from here. I'd fancied a sit-down meal, but like yesterday, I was pushed for time due to companies letting me down and had to do everything in a rush. I had it sitting on the bench outside and it was so huge, I couldn't finish it. Instead, I made my way to the bus stop and once again was let down. Most of the buses said 'Not In Service' or 'Merry Christmas' and I had to wait 20 minutes for the first one. I got to the ground at 19.15, getting some soft drinks on the way. £3 entry was paid at the gate and I also got a pint of Strongbow Dark Fruits at the bar for £3.80.


In their last six, Darlington Railway Athletic had been in disappointing form. On Wednesday, they had lost 4-1 at home to Wolviston and had also lost 5-2 at Windscale, 2-1 at FC Hartlepool and 2-1 at Shildon. They'd also drawn 3-3 with Shotton Colliery and won 9-2 at Annfield Plain. Shildon had been in indifferent form. In the last six, as well as their victory against tonight's opponents, they'd also won 2-1 at Darlington Town. They'd drawn 1-1 with Coxhoe Athletic but had lost 5-3 to Wolviston, 2-1 to Darlington Town, 2-0 at FC Hartlepool and 2-1 at West Auckland Tunns. Darlington RA started well on top but then Shildon had a series of corners. It was 1-0 to the hosts on 18 minutes, Phil Caley converting a penalty. Joe Peel headed home a cross for the hosts on 24 minutes, but he was adjudged to be offside. It was 2-0 on 32 minutes, it took a few moments to be confirmed but in the end, the goal, scrambled home by Luke 'Trigger' Hague was given. Shildon hit the bar in a quiet second half. The game was sealed on 75 minutes, Peel finally getting on the scoresheet as he headed home a cross from the left.


After the game, I spoke to John from the club. He was a really friendly guy was also a Sunderland fan. He gave me a club t-shirt which was nice and said that he had just replaced two outgoing board members who were 78 and 75. It highlighted the problem that so many clubs have with elderly volunteers and no one to replace them. From there, I walked back to town as it was only 8 minutes slower than the best-case scenario with the buses. It was the Tanners Hall Wetherspoons again and as the Black Dragon had sold out, I had to settle for a pint of Broadoak Moonshine.  It wasn't great and got worse later on with the aftertaste. I debated having a Strongbow to wash the taste away but decided against it, instead, heading for the bus stop. It came within a couple of minutes of its due time, which was a bit of a result by today's standards. I was back at my hotel by 22:45 and might have had a nightcap, had the bar not been closed. Instead, I headed back to my room and had a Capri-Sun and typed my blog. I was glad to get everything on charge, ready for my last day, at least for the moment, in the northeast tomorrow.


THE GROUND

BRINKBURN ROAD or the DARLINGTON RAILWAY ATHLETIC CLUB is a great venue for step 7 and would suit a couple of levels above. There's cover at both ends, a seated stand holding around 150 and cover holding around the same. This once had steps but is now mainly flat standing. The bar, whilst not having an amazing range is one of the nicer in non-league, although I didn't see any food. There are a few takeaways nearby, plus a couple of shops. There's street parking and the ground is on a fair few bus routes from Darlington.

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Thursday, 23 September 2021

Esh Winning - West Terrace


Esh Winning FC
West Terrace
Waterhouses
Esh Winning
County Durham
DH7 9BQ







Ground Number: 1000
Thursday 23rd September 2021
Esh Winning 0-1 Easington Colliery
Northern League D2






ESH WINNING FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1967, through a previous Esh Winning, originally Esh Winning Rangers existed from 1889 until 1934 when they were forced to fold over rent arrears. The modern club was initially known as Esh Winning Pineapple, so-called as they were part of a local social club of the same name. They started out in the Durham Sunday League, finding plenty of success before making the switch to Saturday football and the Northern Alliance in 1981. They would spend a single season here, finishing 6th but in 1982, they would drop the 'Pineapple' suffix from their name and join the Northern League. They've remained in the second tier for the vast majority of their stay here, first winning promotion to Division 1 in 2002 when they finished 3rd behind Shildon and Prudhoe Town. They would last for four seasons in the higher tier, including in 2005 when they had a club-record finish of 14th. However, the following season they were relegated back to Division 2. Promotion would be won again in 2009, another 3rd place finish, this time behind Horden Colliery Welfare and Norton & Stockton Ancients. This time, the stay was only two seasons and since being relegated back, Esh Winning have generally struggled, even finishing rock bottom of the table on a couple of occasions.

In the FA Cup, Esh winning have reached the 2nd Qualifying Round twice, the last being in  2004 as they lost 3-2 at Lancaster City. In the FA Vase, they've reached the 2nd Round on five occasions. In terms of local cups, they won the Ernest Young Memorial Cup in 2008 as well as a host of Sunday League Honours. It was while as a Sunday club that they attracted their record attendance - 1,500 for an FA Sunday Cup game against Liverpool Fantail in 1982. Well-known players to have represented the club include George Camsell, Mark Tinkler and Lewis Wing, all of which have links to Middlesbrough. The village of Esh Winning is near Durham and has a population of around 3.700. The name comes from Esh (a victorian name for ash) and Winning (meaning to collect coal. Bobby Robson was bought up in the nearby village of Langley Park. The ground is in nearby Waterhouses which sits on the banks of the River Deerness.



MY VISIT

I'd been wondering when my thousandth ground would fall for quite some time and it was only the Thursday before this game that I knew for sure that it would be exactly a week after. I was faced with two choices - either Newcastle University or Esh Winning. I originally plumped for the former as it was the closest to Newcastle for my coach back but when I decided to extend my trip for a few days, I plumped for the latter. It was a better ground with a more established history. They were also a lot more proactive on Twitter which was a great help. I woke on the day of the game at 8.30 am, having unusually had a good nights sleep two nights in a row. After a shower and getting dressed, I went down to Greggs for breakfast. It was pretty busy and it took me over 10 minutes to get my BBQ Bacon & Chicken Toastie. I came back to my room and was going to watch some videos on my tablet but I noticed I'd hammered through the 10GB £14 data add on that I'd bought a few days earlier. So I had to make do with normal TV while I typed club history for some future blogs. I checked out and as I had four hours until I could check into the Premier Inn, I went and looked around a few shops, buying very little.


I then took the two-mile walk to Jesmond Dene which was a pleasant park with a small waterfall. I still had time to kill and so I walked to the Tipsy Toad Micropub, which was a bit of an outlier geographically. It had a big selection of ciders, but none of them were especially decent, it was just the bigger brands with good marketing teams. Even so, I had a pint of Gwynt Y Ddraig Celtic Warrior which was pleasant, just not exceptional. From there, I walked back to my hotel, arriving at bang on 4. I quickly chucked my big bag in my room and headed off to the station. I got the 16.43 train to Durham but there were lots of delays around and we didn't leave until 16:49. This deposited me in Durham at 17:03. It was then a few minutes walk to Station House, a brilliant pub. I had a pint of Ross On Wye Michelin Blend and two halves of Ascension Red Grapes and Udders Orchard Luddite with me enjoying all of them. I'd pre-ordered my dinner of salt and pepper chips, Thai green curry and duck spring rolls from a local place and these were excellent, if pricey for the portion size. Though sitting in front of a shop and eating them with a fork was far from relaxing, but needs must. I needed cash, getting out £40 and as a result, just missed out on a bus to Esh Winning. It was another 25 minutes for the next one, but at least I was scheduled to make the game on time. The bus, happily came as scheduled and I was soon on my way. The bus got there at 6 50 and I was at the ground ten minutes later. A fiver was great value for entry. As was £3 for pie, peas, gravy and Bovril. I met a few people I knew and everyone was really friendly. I also later bought lemonade for £1.


Esh Winning had been in mixed form in the last six games. In the last two games, they'd had a couple of memorable away wins - 3-2 at Chester-Le-Street and 4-3 at Brandon United as well as an earlier 4-3 win at Bedlington Terriers. They had also lost 3-1 against Heaton Stannington, 4-0 at Billingham Synthonia and 3-0 at Horden CW. The visitors had been in decent form, their only defeat in the last 6 being 2-1 at Bedlington Terriers. They'd won 3-1 at Boldon CA as well as beating Horden CW 3-1, Redcar Athletic 2-1, Willington 2-0 and Blyth Town 4-0. Easing started on top and they took the lead on 11 minutes through Adam McGuiness who scrambled home following a cross. Esh Winning came close in a goalmouth scramble of their own on 65 minutes but they just couldn't force the ball home. Easington Colliery put together a well-worked move thirteen minutes from time but the chance was blasted over. Aside from that, two hard-working sides failed to create many clear cut chances and it was a deserved win, just about for Easington. 

It was a shame for Esh Winning who had been super friendly and a great club to do my thousandth ground with. They presented me with an old shirt at end which will serve as a great souvenir of the night. From there it was 15 minutes to the bus stop. It came on time at 10.02 and got back to Durham within 20 minutes. I could have done without some bloke coughing for the whole journey and I made sure to keep my distance. From there I walked to the train station and didn't have long to wait for my train which got me back to Newcastle just before 11. There wasn't anywhere decent open for a nightcap so I headed back to my room. It wasn't as nice as the Travelodge last night. Some clown, presumably from the hotel had screwed open the window so I had to put up with traffic noise all night. Or at least I would have had to, had I not dismantled their rather shoddy attempt at DIY using the hotel teaspoon.


THE GROUND

WEST TERRACE is set in a very remote location and has some great scenery around. There is an attractive main stand of a peculiar design as well as a couple of larger areas of cover adjacent to it. Otherwise, the only other cover is a few random little stands dotted around the pitch. An elevated view can be had from behind a goal with a large grass bank. All things considered a ground and a club that words can't do justice to, everyone was super friendly.

There is a large car park at the ground. Given the remote location, the bus services are quite decent from Durham - every half hour during the day and hourly later on with the last bus back at 11.02 with the bus stop 15 minutes walk from the ground. The food and drink at the ground is good value but if you want something more substantial, it might be worth stopping in Durham. 

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