18. Darlington Road-West Auckland Town

West Auckland Town 2-1 Billingham Synthonia
Northern League Division 1
9.10.10

Ground: Darlington Road
League: Northern League Division 1
Admission: Adults: £5 Children: £2.50
Programme: £1
Attendance: 141
Capacity: 1,500
Seated: 190
Covered: 270
Town: West Auckland
Club shop: yes
Floodlights: yes
Step: 9

West Auckland is a village in County Durham. It is mainly known for its coal mining in the past at West Auckland colliery. The Colliery closed in 1967. Of course though the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy is what West Auckland is known for. This was one of the first international competitions, it was won by West Auckland twice. They were allowed to keep the trophy when they won it for the second time.
The serial killer Mary Ann Cotton lived in West Auckland. Ex-Prime Minister Anthony Eden was born in the village. The Manor House Hotel was apparently one of Henry VIII's hunting lodges and 7 trees were planted behind the house to commemorate one of his visits. 2 have been cut down though.
Buses run regularly from Bishop Auckland station to the village green for about £3.00 return.

West Auckland are 117 years old, being founded in 1893. Before 1908 they played in the Wear Valley League, South Durham League and the Mid Durham League. They joined the Northern League in 1908.
As mentioned before, West Auckland played in the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy in 1909 and 1911, winning it both times. No one actually knows how they managed to get into the competition, seeming as the FA rejected the offer to put a time in the competition. The West Auckland players had to pawn their possessions in order to get to Turin where the competition took place. It paid off though and they returned home with the trophy won. They then managed to repeat the feat 2 years later and were allowed to keep the trophy.
The trophy was sold to pay off the clubs debts, but was bought back to the club after a village appeal. However the trophy was stolen in 1994 and was never found. A replica is now in the West Auckland WMC. The club folded in 1912 due to debts but reformed in 1914. They won the Northern League in 1960 and 1961. They were runners up to Walthamstow Avenue in the 1961 FA Amateur Cup. In 2009 to commemorate the centenary of the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, West Auckland played a friendly against Juventus. Juventus won 7-1.

Darlington Road is found on the A68 South of the village green. Going down Chapel Street the ground is down the driveway on the second right. You go through the commemerative gates to the Trophy and then through a set of more grim ones. You come to the turnstile where you pay your admission. Once through there is a stall selling programmes and raffle tickets. going down the side to your left there is sloping hard standing all the way down. Going behind the goal there is more hard standing. On the opposite side is the main stand which has about 190 plastic yellow seats without the backs. In the middle is the players tunnel leading to the changing rooms underneath. In front of the stand are two dugouts. Adjacent to the stand is a small covered terrace with 4 steps holding about 80 people. In the corner is the clubhouse, containing the club shop, hospitality room and the refreshments hatch selling hot food and drinks. Along the near goal is 3 steps of raised terracing. The pitch has a wall all the way around it while the ground is surrounded by a metal fence.

West Auckland went 1-0 up in this game thanks to a penalty from Steven Brown due to a hand ball after 5 minutes. However Synners equalised when Colin Iley fired home a pass from Nathan Jameson. The sides went off at 1-1. The second half didn't produce many chances until late in the game when Mattie Moffat went round two defenders to put the ball home. West Auckland got a crucial win in their bid to reach the top of the table as they beat Synthonia 2-1.

The programme produced sells for £1 at a table in front of the turnstiles. It is a bit of a newsy publication but includes a match report from the last game and player profiles. It also had a quirky 'On this day...' feature that had nothing to do with football, but oh well. All the clubs latest news was featured and the league's. The cover features a picture of a player in action while the back has team lists.

Overall I think this is a superb ground to visit with real character. The slope and main stand give it that flavour of a real non league ground. The club seemed friendly overall and replied almost instantly to my e-mail I sent ahead of the match.

West Auckland Town matchday pictures