Out With the Ancients, in With the Anchors!

No disrespect, but some non-league clubs just don’t have a very interesting history. They once won the Nowhere and District League and the Northing Challenge Cup and not much else. The kind of stuff a club might mention in the obligatory page entitled ‘history’; these teams almost always seem to add into their matchday programme, if they have one, just to give it some actual content. 

You could probably have made this argument about Stockton Town not so long ago. But even ignoring the fact that there is currently no such page in their programme, doing so now would require ignoring their recent meteoric rise. Plus, even though their history may be relatively short, there is definitely a noteworthy past to some of the previous clubs that have had a home in the town. I can assure you I have definitely come to a place with a real footballing pedigree - and that’s even ignoring the EFL Championship side that sits 7 miles away in the town next door.

The North Eastern town of Stockton-on-Tees sits beside Middlesbrough along the River Tees and is definitely the lesser-known sibling of the two in both a footballing and none footballing sense. Stockton is arguably to Middlesbrough what Salford is to Manchester.

Teesside has traditionally had a lot of heavy industry, and the smoke or smog from its many factories, including the famous ICI plant, gave rise to the phrase Smoggie, a derogatory term for people from the area. Whether or not this reputation is still justified is perhaps debatable, however, as this is a metropolis that has changed a lot over the years, with regeneration having transformed many parts of Middlesbrough and Stockton. This includes Stockton’s Northshore development on the banks of the Tees and the accompanying rather impressive Infinity footbridge that crosses the river. Very different from Middlesbrough’s iconic Transporter Bridge, which formed part of the areas industrial past. 

On the other hand, there has recently been a lot of negative media coverage from Teesside stemming from an incident on the A66 which passes through the area. Joyriders driving the wrong way down the road crashed into a police car, causing seven fatalities, including the deaths of two police officers. This has led to plenty of stories about local disorder and county lines drug gangs. Bearing all this in mind, I am a little unsure what to expect when I alight the train at Stockton station on a warm August bank holiday, ready to watch their local football team in action.

Initially I find myself at a small terminus tucked out of the way by sheltered accommodation - all a bit inconspicuous. The station is only a short walk from the town centre, but I head in the opposite direction towards Stockton Town Football Club and their MAP Group UK Stadium home. It is roughly a 25 minute walk, and along the way I walk past bungalows with neat front gardens, a couple of smart looking churches, and much larger houses hidden behind big gates. All very gentile and in places perhaps even a little opulent. It could be that this is the well to do part of town, but either way, the Stockton I see certainly does not fit all those stereotypes.

I am also unsure what to expect when I arrive at the stadium, which is, for a club of this stature, unusually situated at a local sixth form college. This is next to a Sainsbury’s supermarket. Nicknamed the Anchors due to the town’s seafaring and shipbuilding heritage, Stockton Town, the team that plays here at the college, are currently members of the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football, or step 3 of the non-league pyramid. This is the club’s third season playing at this level, having had four promotions in the previous nine years to get here and comes having only been playing senior football since 2009, when they joined the Teesside League.

For a team that has seemingly come from nowhere, however, attendances are more than respectable. Last season they averaged 724, albeit down from 879 the previous one. Having said that, Stockton Town may have only been around for five minutes, but the town itself does have some real footballing heritage,

Formed in 1882 and nicknamed the Ancients, Stockton FC were the original pioneers of football in the town and three times winners of the once prestigious, now long gone, FA Amateur Cup. They also finished runners-up in the same competition a further five times. Those Amateur Cup final victories came in 1899, 1903, and 1912.

Stockton lost their first two finals to Old Carthusians and, interestingly, the first came two years after their current EFL Championship neighbours Middlesbrough took home the trophy in 1895, whilst the second came a year before Middlesbrough’s second and final triumph in the competition. The Boro, as they are also known, would soon turn professional and join the Football League, where they eventually became the big name we know today.

20,479 spectators turned up at Middlesbrough’s Ayresome Park ground for the 1912 final against fellow Teesiders Eston United, who would sadly fold in 1929. A 0-0 draw was followed by a replay at the same venue on a Thursday afternoon, and although many would have been at work, 12,531 were still in attendance to watch Stockton hold on for a 1-0 win after taking a fifth minute lead. 

Stockton reached the final for the last time in 1933, when they lost to Kingstonian in a replay at Darlington’s old Feethams ground in front of a crowd of 16,492, after having seen over 20,000 at the initial game at Champion Hill, Dulwich. 

Five times winners of the Northern League, then a top amateur division, the club later joined the professional (and semi-perofessional) game where they won the old North Eastern League in 1951, finishing a point ahead of Middlesbrough Reserves who played in the division at the time. The following season they reached the third round of the FA Cup where they lost at Notts County.

Stockton FC’s Victoria Ground is now long gone, demolished in 1975, but in another part of town sits the Norton Sports Complex, home of Norton & Stockton Ancients. The club were originally founded in 1959 as Norton Cricket Club Trust by members of a local cricket team who had wanted a sport to play in the winter after the cricket season ended. In 1980, however, they became Norton & Stockton Ancients when the original Stockton FC were wound up and their remaining assets transferred to the cricket club. Stockton had struggled after the North Eastern League disbanded in 1958, moving between several leagues after being denied re-entry into the Northern League. 

The new club would actually join the Northern League themselves but resigned midway through the 2016-17 season. From 2019, they did briefly field a team in the Wearside League, but currently, they only field a senior team in the women’s game, something Stockton Town also do, I should add. 

The men’s team had a fairly uneventful history but did draw a club record crowd of 1,526 when they faced FC United of Manchester in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup in 2010. Stockton Town are due to start their own FA Cup campaign the following Saturday after today’s bank holiday Monday fixture I am here to attend, but today is a league affair and local derby to boot! Nearby Redcar Athletic are the visitors.

For those of you familiar with non-league and grassroots football, you will know that more often than not, turning up to a school for a match means a 3G cage at step 7 or below, somewhere I personally wouldn’t go out of my way to visit. You certainly wouldn’t expect to find a step 3 Northern Premier League ground, unless, of course, you came to Stockton. 

It is a bit surreal walking through the school gates at Stockton Sixth Form College knowing that you are heading to an actual proper football ground on site. But walking past picnic tables, the college buildings right in front of me, I turn left and head towards the stadium, where I pay a £14 entry fee and, once inside, £2.50 for a matchday programme.

The ground has two seated stands on the near side of the pitch with a total seating capacity of 600. The seats in the larger of the two stands look far less faded in colour, so perhaps that stand is newer, unless of course the seats have recently been replaced. It is funny what things stand out to you, though. 

 

Aside from two small and very basic covered standing sections at one end, it is a case of standing around the pitch at ground level for most spectators. In between the two seated stands is a wooden hospitality building, whilst at the far end past those stands are portakadbin type buildings which house changing rooms, toilets and a refreshments kiosk for food and drink. Another ‘can bar’ is situated further along beyond the hospitality structure. The ground has a 3G pitch, which means it can handle a lot of use, and no doubt students at the college have access to it outside matchdays.

With the college buildings sat in the background behind the stands, the stadium actually feels a little more homely than one might think given what it is. This is a straightforward, simple but efficient affair, clearly of a team that has had to build a lot in a short space of time to meet the growing demands of each new promotion. However you feel about the aesthetics, though, it more than does the job.

Today’s opponents are Redcar Athletic, who themselves have had a meteoric rise similar to that of Stockton Town. Redcar have had four promotions in the last eight years and two consecutive ones before this season. Sitting two divisions lower, cross-town neighbours Redcar Town have also had two promotions in the last five years. But it is today’s opponents Stockton, who sit 13 miles west, that are their closest rivals in the league this season for what should, hopefully, be two hotly contested Teesside derbies starting with today’s Bank Holiday affair.

Redcar currently sit third in the table with 15 points from their opening seven games whilst Stockton have just four. Stockton will need big improvements in their league form to repeat the previous two seasons' feats of reaching the play-offs. They were losing semi-finalists in both of those two play-off campaigns, but three seasons ago Stockton were actually promoted via the play-offs when a record home crowd of 1,800 saw them defeat Dunston UTS in a final on home soil. 

Before that most recent promotion to English football’s seventh tier, Stockton had spent three seasons in the Northern Premier League’s East Division, which forms part of its second and bottom tier. This came after moving up from Division One of the EBAC Northern League in 2021, when they were awarded promotion based on combined results from two unfinished COVID-19 seasons. 

Their two prior promotions came in 2015-16 and 2016-17, the latter of which was followed by a trip to Wembley the subsequent year for the FA Vase final. That final sadly ended in a 1-0 defeat to Thatcham Town, with roughly 4,500 fans having travelled down from Stockton for the match. 

For today’s match, there are 1316 paying spectators in attendance, including what feels like a healthy number of away fans. The most vociferous home fans congregate under one of the two small covered standing sections that sit at one end of the stadium. Interestingly, there are signs by this small section of the stadium stating ‘home supporters only’. Does that mean the other well over three quarters of the stadium is the away end? I guess not, but in no other completely unsegregated non-league stadium have I ever seen a home fans only area like this. 

Before kick-off, there is an impeccably observed minute of silence for those deceased police officers I mentioned earlier. Once the game gets underway, there is not much to shout about in the first half, with the most notable chance coming bang on half-time when the visitors hit the post. The second-half is a different story, however, and Stockton are completely outclassed by a rampant Redcar side who surprisingly only score twice. Goals in the 66th and 77th minutes settle the game and give the visitors a comfortable 2-0 win. 

Despite events on the pitch, the home fans seem in a rather playful mood and chants of “We are going down!” follow Redcar’s second goal. This is soon replaced by “The only way is Up!” Sometimes you just have to make light of a bad situation.

Back at the train station after the game, a group of young Redcar fans are in high spirits. The Stockton support, meanwhile, will most probably be drowning their sorrows. But despite today’s result, those locals in attendance can still be proud of what their club has achieved in a short space of time. Those amateur glory days of clubs past may be long gone but, despite today’s on-field setback, football, it seems, is still alive and well in this town.

By Hook or by Crook: My Visit to Watch the Former Amateur Cup Stars Who Once Humbled Barcelona

FC Barcelona 2-4 Crook Town is probably not a scoreline you have heard before. To be fair, unless you are an avid follower of North East non-league football, or keen historian of the amateur game, Crook are possibly not a team you have heard of either. 

As for Barcelona, well, they are a world-famous side, and as one of the globe's biggest names, their major trophy haul is seemingly endless - If you haven't heard of these Catalan giants, there is clearly something wrong with you. 

But Crook Town? Whilst some might assume they are no different to all the other seemingly innocuous sides in English football’s ninth tier, or step 5 of the non-league pyramid, their history definitely tells otherwise. That long past does, unbelievably, include a 4-2 victory over that aforementioned Spanish superclub too.

I am here in Crook, a former pit village cum market town in County Durham, to watch not just a side who previously conquered Barcelona, however (beat them twice actually), but a team who have also played in front of over 100,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium. Indeed, the club who would later entice a similarly sized crowd to watch them during a tour of India actually took the field at the home of English football that day alongside none other than today’s opponents Bishop Auckland. This match is also very much a local affair, with Bishops based just a little over 5 miles down the road. 

Crook seems a rather unremarkable place, and perhaps it is; certainly somewhere you wouldn't normally go out of your way to visit. But for those that do, sat amongst the County Durham coalfields, it is just a 30 minute bus ride from the historic cathedral city and university town of Durham. Adored by American writer Bill Bryson, Durham conveniently has a railway station on the East Coast mainline. This is the route I take myself for my matchday arrival.

Hardly a popular travel destination, Crook is, nonetheless, not without its pleasantness. The cheery market square and war memorial that sits opposite are a little reminiscent of a bygone era, and perhaps looking a little worn in places. However, the nearby refurbished 1980s build Civic Centre portrays a community that has tried to change with the times at least a little.

It is near here that you will find a plaque commemorating arguably Crook’s most famous son, Jack Greenwell. Born in the town on 2 January 1884, Greenwell was the son of a coal miner and would become one himself alongside playing amateur football as a wing half for Crook Town. He would soon leave this life behind in 1912, however, and join FC Barcelona. 

In an era when travelling outside your region was probably considered an adventure for many, such a move was somewhat astonishing. How it came about is not certain. Some claim Greenwell met representatives from the club whilst guesting for nearby West Auckland Town when they won the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy in Turin, a well told story where the County Durham side won what some claim to be the original World Cup. This story falls down, however, when you consider that Barcelona never participated in said tournament. 

After a playing career at the club, Greenwell would go on to become Barça’s longest serving manager before moving to South America. In South America, he led Peru to Copa América glory for the first time, a feat they have only reproduced once, and later coached in Colombia. It was Greenwell who helped organise Crook’s first tour of Catalonia, Spain, in 1913 (two more would follow over the next 10 years). During Crook’s visit, FC Barcelona were beaten 4-2, with two further draws against the same opposition completing the original three match tour. 

At the time, bullfighting was the most popular pastime in Spain, and opposition to the foreign game of football was so high that when King Alfonso XIII suggested he would attend the games, he was met with death threats and reconsidered. 

Football, of course, did, before long, take off big time in Spain and I’m sure many in Crook would like to think their little County Durham outpost played its part in that. Crook also became the first English side to tour India in 1976. But, although a crowd of around 100,000 turned out to see them lose 1-0 to the Indian national team at Eden Gardens cricket ground in Kolkata, football has yet to supplant cricket as the sporting religion in that part of the world.

Whether the proprietor of Crook’s Indian Cottage takeaway is aware of the club’s travels throughout the subcontinent, I do not know. But I do not stop to ask as I walk past on my way to Crook’s Sir Town Cowie Millfield ground, a stadium named after a local businessman most famous for his stint as chairman of Sunderland AFC. Cowie would later become president of Crook Town, where he helped them survive through a difficult time of financial upheaval. This historic footballing abode is easy to spot when I arrive just minutes after leaving the town’s marketplace centre.

Once inside the ground, having paid £8 entry and £2 for a programme, I survey my surroundings. Ahead of me are steps up into the main arena. I head up and find views of the pitch from behind the goal. I am positioned atop several rows of uncovered terracing with covered standing to my left. This covered section comes in the form of a seemingly ancient stand complete with a wonky roof that makes it look like it could be listed under the category ‘condemned’. Thankfully, it is not. A real gem if ever I have seen one. 

Beyond the terracing, there is a raised seated grandstand that also hails from days long gone. I feel like I’ve gone back in time many decades and keep myself stationed there for a good few minutes as I take it all in - what a treasure I have stumbled across here. 

The other two sides of the ground consist of not much more than grassy banks. Now largely barren, these would once have been rammed with spectators for the big Cup ties that used to enthral these parts. My eyes, however, can’t divert away from the black and white television era structures to my left that make this stadium so captivating. 

You can sense straight away that this ground probably has some real history behind it. But, as keen historian of the game, I already know this certainly to be the case.

I head back down the stairs and turn right towards the clubhouse where memories of past glories adorn the walls as that history really begins to come to life. This illustrious past includes not just visits to Spain and India but also exploits in the old FA Amateur Cup that saw trips to Wembley Stadium and five historic cup final wins. This includes four triumphs over a 10-year period between 1954 and 1964. 

Crook were a top side nationally in the days of amateur football, a long ago period of prestige of which many present day fans are probably not aware. A time, however, that is nonetheless fascinating and almost at odds with the arguable greed of the modern game. Sat parallel to the professional (and semi-professional) game until 1974, when the distinction between the two was removed, strictly amateur football was not part of the same structure. Those once lauded Corinthian ideals made it for many years possibly more prestigious than much of its professional counterpart, at least below the first and second divisions, I would argue anyway. 

The Northern League, in which Crook Town and indeed today’s opponents Bishop Auckland both played and still do (although Bishops have played at higher levels in more recent times), was once upon a time highly respected within the amateur game and several of its teams had much success at a national level.

Crook first won the Amateur Cup in 1901, but it was their second triumph some 53 years later which is the most compelling of their five amateur final successes. Their opponents in that final, Bishop Auckland, same as today, had already won the Amateur Cup seven times and would win a further three to complete what became a record ten. But the mammoth 1954 final would eventually see the Bishops succumb to defeat against Crook after 330 minutes of football in front of what today would be seen as unbelievably high crowds for amateur sport. 

In charge of Crook Town at the time was a certain Joe Harvey, who would later manage Newcastle United and oversee their Inter-Cities Fairs Cup success in 1969, a forerunner to today’s Europa League. His Crook side found themselves 2-1 down at the break in their big final, but a second-half equaliser followed by a goalless extra-time meant a replay. No penalty shoot-outs in those days.

Those who hadn’t made it down to Wembley had the option of BBC radio updates in between that day's rugby union commentary or second-half television pictures for those lucky enough to own a TV. However, 20 special trains and 250 coaches had taken supporters from the North East down to Wembley, and many of the 103,992 in attendance turned up for the replay. This took place two days later on a bank holiday Monday at St James’ Park, Newcastle, with 56,008 making the short trip up from County Durham - a record for an Amateur Cup tie outside London. 

Bishop Auckland had been favourites for the initial match, and despite many drawing the same conclusion for the second game, they were 2-0 down after 4 minutes. However, two second-half goals for Bishops saw another 2-2 draw, with extra-time again proving a stalemate.

It was decided that if still tied after a third match, both teams would share the trophy, but, in the end, this did not happen. Despite a 6pm kick-off on a Thursday, some 36,727 were in attendance at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough, to watch, finally, a game that did not end in a draw. Described as ‘irrepressible’ in the following day's Yorkshire Post, Crook were 1-0 up at the break and, with no further goals in the second-half, eventually had their hands on the trophy. This mammoth tie had at long last come to an end. Indeed, before this second replay the Shields Evening News wrote: 'The BBC must be wondering when the final is really going to end,' before adding 'Never in the history of broadcasting has so much been said about two amateur football teams.'

Back home, 15,000 people from Crook and the surrounding pit villages were present to greet the winning side. There was not much time to celebrate, however, as many of the players had work the next day, followed by a league match at West Auckland Town in the evening before a rearranged Northern League Challenge Cup semi-final with Shildon the day after. Modern professionals don’t even know they're born!

It is stated in the matchday programme that away from reaching Wembley finals, Crook regularly drew 10,000 plus crowds for big home cup ties. This is definitely something modern day health and safety would not allow at their modest sized venue - not even close. But whilst it was an Amateur Cup tie with Walton and Hersham in 1952 that drew Crook's record attendance of around 17,500, there were also bumper crowds for big FA Cup ties at their Millfield home too. In 1955-56, a 2-2 draw with Derby County, which was unfortunately followed by defeat in the replay, drew over 9,000. Nine years later, Carlisle United were beaten 1-0 on home soil before Crook lost at home to Oldham Athletic by the same scoreline in the next round. Both drew similar crowds to the Derby match. 

Now long in the past, however, Crook’s former glories seem somewhat outlandish and rather distant. 

Although they’ve previously made it as far as the third round in the FA Cup, unfortunately, 1976-77 was the last time Crook made even the first round proper. They will need to win a further five ties to make it that far this season, starting with a preliminary round tie that I am here to watch today. This comes having beaten Pickering Town in the extra-preliminary round, when the very first ties of this season's competition took place a few weeks earlier. 

To some it could feel like a fall from grace, but in reality it is as much due to circumstance that Crook have ended up in the footballing landscape in which they currently reside.

Post-amateurism, the Northern League, in which, as mentioned, Crook still play amongst fellow North East sides, struggled to find its place in a new footballing world. Indeed, the league decided to remain separate from the main pyramid system until 1991, when it became a feeder league to the Northern Premier League. Here, now split across two divisions, it covers the 9th and 10th tiers of English football. By the 1990s, the league had lost much of the previous prestige that had even seen several of its clubs reject invitations to join the Alliance Premier (now National League) upon its formation in 1982. 

Crook Town probably sum up the league’s decline as much as any club, and perhaps it is no coincidence that this decline occurred against a backdrop of coal mine closures in the 60s, 70s, and most notably the 1980s. This seemingly pushed County Durham, and much of the North East as a whole, into a downward spiral that lasted for a far from insignificant period of time.

Today’s attendance is a far cry from those bumper crowds of the past. But the 621 that do turn up is a more than respectable figure for a preliminary round FA Cup tie between two ninth-tier sides, even if it is a local derby. Indeed, a later online check by myself suggests this was the fourth-highest gate of the round, with 136 ties taking place across the country.

That crowd figure includes a significant number of away fans, which creates a rather jovial atmosphere between the two sets of supporters. The home contingent's repertoire of songs includes a version of the well known Allez, Allez, Allez chant, which in this case starts with the lyric “We’ve conquered Barcelona”, a nice reference to the club's touring past. I cannot, unfortunately, make out fully the chant two lads stood next to me in the second-half bellow out, but it ends with “Peru! Peru! Peru!”, surely a nod to the exploits of certain Mr Greenwell.

I am stood on the terracing behind the goal for most of the game and the visitors are attacking towards me in the first half. Also in attendance is a local youtuber I recognise who has a channel called Football Explorer. Chatting to him, having met once before, I discover that whilst researching online beforehand, he actually managed to find my online In Love With Football blog. I didn’t realise it was that popular!

One event from Crook’s noted history that I have thus far failed to mention is the infamous Crook Town affair of 1928. The incident, which gained national media attention at the time, saw the club suspended for breaking the strict amateur rules of the day by making illicit financial payments to their players. Fans during that era will have quickly wanted to forget about those dishonourable events, and the same can certainly be said about today’s game, which, unfortunately, does not go well for them.

The hosts find themselves 2-0 down at the break, and it doesn’t get any better in the second-half as Bishop Auckland score a third on 55 minutes. The scorer of the latter two goals is Gary Martin, a new recruit from National League North Hebburn Town 25 miles up the road. His career has taken him to countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, and Norway, but I find no record of him having ever faced Barcelona. 

At 3-0, the Bishops goalkeeper, who has little to do prior to the third goal, finally finds himself called into action. But the hosts’ short lived period of dominance fails to produce a goal. The visitors seem happy enough with a 3-0 win, and that ends up the final score.

Perhaps today’s opponents aside, not many teams at this level have a history that can match Crook Town’s. One suspects Crook themselves will fail to match their previous adventures in the years to come but, nevertheless, there is still a place for them in the football pyramid. Their current small but loyal band of supporters will also no doubt continue to turn up at this wonder of a football ground come rain or shine. An arena the likes of which are mostly long gone. But thankfully, this one is not. 

Plenty of Happiness When I Caught the Lurgan Blues

“Glenavon Won’t Get Carried Away With Glens Victory” was the Monday morning headline in one Northern Irish newspaper. But still sat bottom of the league, having just doubled their points tally from a dismal 3 to a still paltry 6 with as many as 15 games already played, the obvious question is, why on earth would they? 

Sitting seven points behind second-bottom Crusaders, this would be a perilous position for anyone, and an impressive 3-1 win does not change that. Glenavon have flirted with relegation a few times in recent years; however, things aren’t usually this bad. After all, this is a club who have only been relegated from the top flight once in their entire history and, when that happened back in 2004, they made an immediate return at the first attempt. 

It shouldn’t be like this! Then again, no one is too good to go down whoever they are.

In 1951-52, Northern Ireland’s Glenavon FC became the first side outside Belfast to win the Irish League, and that includes the years before the south gained independence and its clubs left to form their own championship - a very significant achievement. Five years later, in 1957, they also became the first provincial side to complete the league and cup double. Their success did not last, however. In fact, their third and, sadly for them, last league title came just three years after that famous double. But despite sitting eighth in terms of league titles, just behind mid-Ulster rivals Portadown, Glenavon do have 10 second-placed finishes to their name. Also, that 1957 Irish Cup triumph was the first of three in five years and seven in total. The club also have one Irish League Cup triumph to their name and two County Antrim Shields. Don’t let their current plight fool you, Glenavon are a well-established top-flight side and one of Irish football’s notable names.

Glenavon are based in the County Armagh town of Lurgan, a rather charming settlement about a half-hour drive from the capital, Belfast, or 40 minutes on the train. 

Northern Ireland’s largest lake, Lough Neagh, sits just under a couple of miles from the edge of Lurgan town. But the town itself boasts Northern Ireland’s largest urban park, complete with its own lake, albeit man-made, and this is impressive enough in its own right. It may be about 375 times smaller than the vast lough nearby, but considering it sits less than a ten-minute walk from the high street, it is certainly bigger than you’d expect. One might call it a hidden gem. Then again, it’s very easy to find if you know where to look.

Just outside the park is Brownlow House, a Grade A listed 19th-century building built in 1833. It was the ancestral home of the Brownlow family, of whom politician Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan was head. The house hosts various events and is majestic to look at.

Aside from its splendid park and the historic residence that sits next to it, the town also boasts an excellent, rather bustling High Street. This retail haven comes complete with loudspeakers serenading shoppers with pop music as they walk down the street, something rather unusual for an outdoor shopping space. Kinda cool though.

This thoroughfare has an excellent mix of chain and independent stores, including an exceptional little second-hand bookshop that the proprietor calls Lurgan’s best kept secret. Rather apt considering it’s hidden away in a pretty small, almost deserted, shopping arcade and could easily be missed by passers-by. The place actually goes by the name High Street Shopping Arcade, and it looked like it was completely empty when I walked past. I almost thought it was closed down. If so, it would have been one of the very few places on the high street that was, however. I’ve already used it, but bustling is definitely the word - unless you can find a better one in your thesaurus.

One other thing very noticeable about the town is how neat and tidy it is. That could also be said about the several other places in Northern Ireland that I’ve visited, however. It is almost as if, after all the country’s violence and troubles of the past, the locals really come together to go the extra mile and take real pride in their towns.

In Lurgan, they also take pride in their football club too. 

Glenavon may not be the most successful side in Irish football history, far from it, but they do still have a very rich history with numerous successes along the way and as I said earlier, just one lone season outside the top-flight.

The Lurgan Blues, as they are known, joined the Irish League in 1911, replacing Dublin side Bohemians, now 11-time champions in the Republic of Ireland. As also noted earlier, their most successful era came in the 1950s and early 60s. Glenavon’s double-winning side of 1956-57 was spearheaded by former Belfast Celtic forward Jimmy Jones. A rough challenge from Jones in a heated Belfast derby away at Linfield on Boxing Day 1948 angered the home support so much that it saw Jones beaten by a baying mob at full-time and lucky to be alive whilst suffering from a broken leg. That incident culminated in Belfast Celtic withdrawing from the league for good. But unlike Belfast’s then premier Catholic side, Jones, a Protestant, would return to football and score 269 goals in 222 games for Glenavon.

Winning the double gained Glenavon a place in the newly created European Cup, then in its third season. That foray into Europe ended at the first hurdle, however, when a 0-0 draw away at Denmark’s AGF Aarhus was followed by a 3-0 home defeat in front of over 30000 at Windsor Park, Belfast. Not as bad as three years later, though, when their European Cup campaign was over before it even began. The club were drawn against East German side Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt, now FC Erzgebirge Aue, but the tie never took place. 

Given it was the height of the Cold War, just a year before the Berlin Wall would be built, the British government refused Glenavon’s opponents visas to come to Northern Ireland. UEFA suggested playing the match at a neutral venue abroad, but Glenavon could not afford the extra travel costs that would have been involved, meaning the East Germans were given a bye into the next round. Despite all this, a friendship has developed between the two clubs in recent years. In 2022, a group of fans from Erzgebirge attended a game at Mourneview Park, whilst earlier this year, a match was arranged between the two with the Germans winning 2-0 in Lurgan.

With their three league titles all coming in that heyday period, it means the clubs' only trophy lifts since have come after cup final triumphs, with their most recent successes being Irish Cup final wins in 2013-14 and 2015-16.

Despite Lurgan having a bigger Catholic population, Glenavon supposedly have a predominantly Protestant support. This is similar to most top Northern Irish Clubs, with the obvious exception of Cliftonville. Unlike Linfield and, to a lesser extent, Glentoran, however, their supporters are not overtly Unionist in any big way - or at least it did not seem to look the case when I visited. 

The club’s name is seemingly based on the geography of the area, and is a combination of the Gaelic word "glen" (meaning valley) and the river "Avon". This gives an English translation of "valley of the river”.

In terms of rivalries, Glenavon’s most hated adversaries are Portadown, who are based in the nearby town of the same name. The pair compete in the Mid-Ulster derby. Fellow Lurgan-based sides Lurgan Town and Lurgan Celtic both play outside the top two divisions, so have little in the way of any real rivalry with their more illustrious neighbours.

My visit to Glenavon’s Mourneview Park home was for that 3-1 win against East Belfast side Glentoran, which saw the hosts double their points tally after a shock win. I arrived just over an hour before kick-off and was met with a stadium somewhat devoid of the modernity you might find elsewhere, but far from ramshackle and definitely having a touch of character about it. This, without being truly old skool like, for example, their opponent’s Oval ground. One thing that was definitely fairly new, however, was the scoreboard, and it would be impossible not to see what the score was if, say, you arrived late.

Like many grounds in the league, the stadium is three-sided. In this case, the scoreboard end is empty. I was surprised to notice that the other end consisted of terracing; however, as the few photographs I had seen beforehand suggested the ground was all-seater. It turns out the stand in question had previously consisted of seating but was converted back into terracing before the 2023-24 season. The main stand along one side of the pitch is raised slightly above ground level, whilst away fans are housed on the opposite side.

As Chris Lee points out in his excellent book Shades of Green: A Journey into Irish Football, the name Mourneview Park suggests one might be able to see the mountains of Mourne in the distance. But like him, perhaps because of gloomy weather too, I was unable to see them. The mountains are supposed to have inspired C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.

I paid a £15 entrance fee, and after a look around the club shop, decided, out of interest, to check out the catering options, having been told food could be purchased from a hatch at the back of the terracing. Options were limited and looked rather basic, so I was glad I’d brought a sandwich with me. Having said that, I’ve since read reviews online claiming Glevaon offer the best burgers in the league. Visit and find out for yourself.

Two first-half goals from Davy McDaid, the second an injury-time penalty, laid the foundations for an impressive win. Paul McGovern grabbed a third for Glevaon on 70 minutes before Glentoran scored what would turn out to be nothing more than a consolation six minutes later. The win was a second in four games for new manager Michael O’Connor in what is the former Northern Ireland international's first managerial job. He has previously made over 70 appearances for the club as a player.

Given events on the pitch, it wasn’t surprising that the home support were rather vociferous throughout the game, and their singing and chanting came complete with a drummer who managed to produce quite a din. 

The away fans took up probably over half of the 2000-seat stand they occupied. This may seem a lot for a club that normally attracts around 2500 spectators to their home games, but with Lurgan being only a 30-minute drive from the capital, I guess one should not be too surprised. 

Despite numerous searches online and even contacting the club, I have been unable to ascertain the official attendance for the game. But I can’t imagine there were any more home fans than there were away ones. The clubs’ average league attendance last season was only 1029, although their highest gate was more than 3 times that, possibly when either Glentoran or Linfield, the other half of Belfast’s big two, came to town or perhaps for their derby match against Portadown. I suppose, however, the fact that they have had lower league attendances than many in recent years makes their raucous atmosphere all the more impressive.

By the time you read this, hopefully for their sake, Glenavon might have a few more wins under their belt. But regardless of whether or not they stay up this season, the club will always be an important institution within Irish football. Not only that, but I am certain the club and the beautiful town in which it is situated will host many more visitors like me for years to come - top-flight football or not. After all, those who do make the trip will find the experience just as delightful as I have described. Of that I am also sure.

Gannin' Along the Scotswood Road...

Whilst the players might walk onto the field to Geordie Ridley’s famous, 19th-century written, Geordie Anthem The Blaydon Races, St James’ Park this is certainly not. But although fans of Newcastle United can often be heard belting out this local tune, barely more than three miles away, but some eight divisions lower, Newcastle Blue Star can claim that same ballad as their own, too. Those famous lyrics: “Gannin along the Scotswood road,” are plastered across the fence outside their stadium and why not? After all, based in the Scotswood area of the city, their Scotswood Sports Centre home, or KD Stadium for sponsorship reasons, lies barely a 15-minute walk from Scotswood Road itself.

The original Newcastle Blue Star side played up near the airport and were famed for having won the FA Vase in 1978 when they defeated Barton Rovers 2-1 in the Wembley showpiece. Sadly, in 2009, however, despite having just been promoted to the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the club folded due to unpaid debts.

It was some 9 years later before a new club was formed using the Blue Star name. In 2018, a local businessman named Stephen Best decided to take on the Blue Star title and created a new club that would run teams from u8's right through to senior level. The senior team completed two successive promotions between 2022-23 and 2023-24, taking them from the Northern Alliance Premier Division, which sits at step 7 in the non-league pyramid (the 11th tier overall), to step 5’s Northern League Division One. A third successive promotion was denied at the end of last season when they lost the league play-off final at home to Blyth Town, who secured what was for themselves a second successive promotion. 

That play-off final drew a record crowd of 2151 to the KD stadium, which was interestingly 44 more than were in attendance a year earlier when cross-town rivals Heaton Stannington also hosted the league’s play-off final, again a club record attendance. All the more interesting as ‘The Stan’, as they are often referred to, were the opposition for a big West End versus East End Newcastle derby when I last visited Blue Star just recently. 

The game in question was an FA Cup first qualifying round tie, and having, unlike Blue Star, won their play-off final and then managed to stay clear of relegation in Northern Premeir League East last season, the Stan sat one division higher than their opponents. Blue Star would be looking for an upset. Also, the timing of their promotions means, I believe, this would be the first ever competitive meeting between the two Newcastle-based sides, at least since Blue Star’s 2018 reformation anyway. All that, and local pride was also at stake, so definitely a game of interest across the city and surrounding environs.

I arrived for the big game about 45 minutes before kick-off and admired the fairly new terracing behind one goal, which on an earlier visit had not had its roof added yet. Having eaten earlier, I ignored the burger van and also dodged the large queue at the bar as I didn’t fancy a long wait. Mind, they don’t serve any real ale here, so I wasn’t overly bothered anyway. 

There is also a hut selling cans of beer, but the main bar is inside a big marquee that sits along one side of the pitch. It has a seated stand next to it at the far end, whilst the other side of the pitch has both covered seating and covered terracing. Of course, there is also that new covered terracing at one end. To round things off, there are two small toilet blocks (not a great place to be when a goal is scored – more on that later) and, overall, the facilities are far better than what you’d find at most step 5 grounds, even if the bar does feel a little temporary. In fact, I can emphasise the overall quality by telling you that during the visit of eventual champions Redcar Athletic last season, I overheard one visiting fan exclaim in amazement, “Imagine playing in a ground as good as this every other week!”

The KD stadium can easily be reached from Newcastle city centre by getting the number 1 bus towards Slatyford, which takes about 20 minutes. As the aforementioned match in question was a cup game, if a replay were needed, then away fans wouldn’t have to travel far with it also being a derby. In fact, the number 37 or 38 buses would take you from the centre of town to Heaton Stan’s Willow Park home in a similar timeframe, probably slightly quicker. The two stadiums are just under 4.5 miles apart as the crow flies.

I couldn’t tell you exactly how many Stan fans were in attendance for the game, but there were a fair few. That number included my friend, and Heaton Stan car park attendant, Imran, who demanded to know who I would be supporting. As a Tyneside local, I have watched both clubs on numerous occasions and I informed him I would be strictly neutral for the occasion.

As for the overall total, the official attendance was 813. Although that may seem rather low compared the 2000+ here at the end of last season for the play-off final, it was still comfortably higher than the 441 Blue Star averaged for regular season league games in 2024-25 or the 449 they’d averaged so far this campaign. Heaton Stan averaged a little under 400 when at home, and in terms of numbers, both teams did very well for the levels they played at.

The game itself was hard fought, with chances few and far between. 0-0 at the break, as the second-half wore on, a replay seemed more and more likely. But then something big happened - with barely three minutes left on the clock, I went to the toilet. 

There I was stood in the toilet block doing my thing when huge cheers ripped through my ears. The Blue Star ultras behind the goal, mostly young kids, were evidently in pandemonium mode. They’d been banging their drum and making noise for much of the game, but this was another level. I came back outside just as things were calming down, and my fears were true - I had missed a Blue Star goal.

Eventually, many hours later, I would be able to watch a replay of the goal online, having already had it described to me. An angled drive from the right by pacey forward Leon Burke had flown into the net. 1-0 to the hosts.

The goal briefly brought the visitors to life, but it was too little too late and the upset was complete. The home side, currently sat a division lower, had caused an upset and beaten their city rivals to gain a place in the next round of the cup.

At full-time, I headed back to the bus stop. My mate and his Stan contingent looked miserable, but the home support definitely had huge grins on their faces.

There are many reasons to come to the city of Newcastle. I could tell you all about its famed nightlife or give you all the tourist office spiel, but another thing that attracts many is the football. Yet whilst football fans instantly think of Newcastle United, and yes Newcastle may be a one-club city in terms of professional football, delve a little further and there are plenty more footballing delights available to you. 

Blue Star are a brilliant alternative to the professional game and a cracking day out for any footballing groundhopper. However, the Tyneside area is also littered with various other clubs at differing levels in the main non-league pyramid down to step 6, or the national league system as not many realise it’s officially called. There are also plenty more options below that for those who really are keen. In Newcastle specifically, you can also add Newcastle Benfield to the list in steps 6 and above. Playing in the same division as Blue Star, their ground situated in the east end of the city is roughly a 35-minute walk from Heaton Stannington. 

Also, with it being so difficult to get United tickets these days, you may find non-league is your only option when trying to catch the beautiful game in this fine city - and if you do, you will not be disappointed!

Why a Bunch of Amateurs From Auckland Are Representing Oceania at the Club World Cup Despite the Fact the City Has a Perfectly Good Professional Side

Long day explaining there’s two clubs in Auckland.

All the best for Saturday @AucklandCity_FC , we're backing you. 💪 pic.twitter.com/XE1WCUHaRJ

— Auckland FC (@fc_auckland) June 16, 2025

In 2024, Auckland FC won the A-League Premiership, finishing top of the regular season table in their first ever campaign. Unfortunately, they would lose out in the semi-finals of the finals series and therefore miss out on a place in the Grand Final. But for the newly formed franchise, it was still, nonetheless, a rather successful season. 

Yes, Auckland has a rather prosperous professional soccer side, and they sit alongside fellow Kiwis Wellington Phoenix who have represented New Zealand in Australia’s top flight professional A-League for 18 years now. 

So how come instead of Auckland FC, it was a bunch of amateurs and part-timers in the form of Auckland City who took the field to represent the city as well as country, and of course continent, in FIFA's brand new revamped Club World Cup yesterday which is supposed the feature the world’s biggest club sides (and got walloped 10-0 in the process)?

“Long day explaining there’s two clubs in Auckland”, posted Auckland FC on X, and with many no doubt confused, I thought I’d investigate further.

For the recent history of football in Auckland, we can go back to 1999 and the formation of the Auckland Kingz who played in the now defunct Australian National Soccer League (ANSL). Auckland thus played outside of the league structure in their home nation of New Zealand, much like the situation that sees several Canadian teams play in USA’s Major League Soccer and some Welsh teams play in the English league system. 

When the A-League was formed in Australia in 2004 to replace the ASNL, the Kingz were themselves supplanted by the New Zealand Knights. The Knights lasted only 3 seasons before themselves stepping aside for Wellington Phoenix to take their place as New Zealand’s representatives in the A-League, and thus leaving the Auckland area no longer with a professional club.

The A-League would remain without an Auckland-based side until 2024 when new franchise Auckland FC, owned by Premier League side AFC Bournemouth’s proprietor Bill Foley, made their debut in the competition. But, despite finishing top of the regular season, Auckland FC were not given a spot in the AFC Champions League Elite as would normally be the case. 

Due to being based in New Zealand, which in terms of football comes under the jurisdiction of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), Auckland are unable to enter a competition ran by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) of which Australia has been a member since 2006 when they left the OFC for pastures new. This means AFC’s premier club competition is for Auckland FC out of bounds. Oceania has its own Champions League competition but, playing in an Australian League and not a New Zealand competition, there was no route into that competition either. 

“A black hole or purgatory,” is what one New Zealand sports commentator called it when discussing the matter of being unable to play in continental competitions on a local sports radio station earlier today. This is an issue very much relevant right now with it impacting representation in FIFA’s new Club World Cup currently taking place and having been shone into the spotlight with Auckland city’s performance last night. Whether or not these problems surrounding international representation for New Zealand’s two biggest clubs can ever be resolved is perhaps a discussion best left for another day. However, if the only two professional clubs in Oceania’s most successful country cannot enter Oceania competitions and therefore cannot represent Oceania in FIFA’s new showpiece, then who can? A side composed of amateurs, apparently. Here’s that story.

Football in New Zealand is split into three amateur/semi pro regional leagues and, under the current format, the top clubs from each league qualify for a championship group alongside the reserve sides of the two aforementioned A-League clubs. At the completion of this Championship group, the top two sides face off in a Grand Final to determine the champion of New Zealand.

Since their formation in 2004, Auckland City have won the New Zealand Football Championship regular season twelve times and the Grand Final eight times. The club also has thirteen OFC Champions League titles to its name and, having had the best record of any club in that competition over the past four years, they were asked to represent the confederation at this year’s Club World Cup. But, despite their domestic and continental success, on the world stage Auckland City genuinely are real minnows of the global game. Something easily reflected in their player salaries and OPTA ranking, for example.

Whilst FC Bayern Munich, the club’s opponents in their opening match, might boast Harry Kane who earns reportedly 470,000€ a week, Auckland’s players have a salary cap of NZ$150 a week or just under 80€. Even compared to their A-League city rivals the difference is stark with the average A-League player earning AU$2862 a week or just under 1600€, almost 20 times what the highest paid Auckland City player can earn. 

Another example of their status, or lack of it, are the OPTA Power Rankings, a global team ranking system for club sides. FC Bayern are currently ranked 6th, whereas Auckland City sit in 5072nd place, one place above a Portuguese 5th tier side, one below a top flight side from Burundi. No wonder Bayern won 10-0! 762nd is the ranking of Auckland FC.

Auckland City's part-timers include a primary school teacher, an insurance broker, a sales representative at Coca-Cola, a car salesman, a barber, and several students, one of whom will sit an exam from his hotel room during the tournament.

The differences between the two Auckland clubs are astounding never mind the gap between them and Bayern. 

The Club World Cup represents all confederations and continents – even ones, in footballing terms, as obscure as Oceania. So, minnows they may be, but as number one in OFC, albeit due to their country’s two professional sides opting to play in a foreign land, they have earned their right to appear on the world’s stage.

Being the weakest of all the confederations by far, the OFC has only been allocated one spot in the Club World Cup with UEFA being given as many as 12 places in the 32-team tournament. But nonetheless, there they are, Auckland City, proudly representing Auckland, New Zealand, and, of course, Oceania on that global soccer platform they have been afforded. This despite being poor relations in the own city and even playing in the same league as their professional neighbour’s reserve side. All this whilst said professional neighbours stay at home.