Thornaby 0-5 Hebburn Town
Northern League Division Two
9.4.11
Admission: Adult: £4 Children: £2
Programme: £1 (4pp)
Attendance: 30
Capacity: 1,300
Seated: 50
Covered: 280
Town: Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees
Floodlights: Yes
Shop: No
Step: 10
Saturday the 9th of April saw a huge contrast for me. Just 50 hours earlier I had been sitting in the amazing Blue Lagoon near Keflavik in Iceland. Now, 50 hours later, I found myself at the very derelict Teesdale Park where Thornaby were to take on Hebburn Town in a Northern League Division Two fixture. A shopping trip to nearby Teesside Park meant it was a good opportunity to tick off the ground without paying travel costs.
I left Teesside Park just past 14:00. If you are at Teesside Park, you can walk Pets at Home before seeing a footpath just opposite the Morrisons car wash. This takes you right up to Acklam Road. Go right along here and down the hill and the entrance to the football ground is just past the golf club entrance. You will come to a fork in the dirt track. Take the far left one for the football ground.
Thornaby have had a very poor recent history. They always seem to find themselves in a tussle at the wrong end of the table despite having some good players. I would certainly agree with some that say there is not a good enough set up in place. The atmosphere around the ground was that the place wasn't really Thornaby's and that it was just a park pitch they were allowed to use.
In 1898 the club reached the semi final of the FA Amateur Cup where they lost to local rivals Middlesbrough. The majority of the club's history came under the name of Stockton. In 1889 they were founder members of the Northern League. In 1898 the side won the Northern League, despite there only being 9 members. The club went on to win 4 more titles. The side spent 50 consecutive years in the league before joining the North Eastern League in 1939. They won this title in 1951. From 1958 to 1960 the side played in the Midland League. Before rejoinging the North Eastern League for two seasons in 1962. 1967-68 saw the side play one season in the North Regional League. They rejoined the Midland League for the 72-73 season. In 1975 the side folded. 5 years later however Stockton Cricket Club FC changed their name to Stockton FC and joined the Wearside League. 5 years later they rejoined the Northern League in Division Two. They won Division Two twice along with promotion three times, however relegation always followed within seasons later. In 1999 Stockton FC changed their name to Thornaby-on-Tees FC. They played one season under this name before reverting back to Thornaby FC. Two more promotions and relegations to and from Division One saw them in Division Two and that's where they've been since. In 1951-52 the side, as Stockton FC, saw their best ever FA Cup run. They reached the Third Round knocking out Consett, Mansfield Town and Folkestone before losing 4-0 at Notts County. Stockton FC saw 8 FA Amateur Cup final appearances. However they only managed to win 2 of these, against Oxford City in 1903 and Eston United in 1912. 1971, the club's second appearance, saw Stockton FC take Boston United to a First Round Replay in the FA Trophy after drawing 2-2 at the Pilgrims. They lost the replay 2-0. In the 1997-98 season Stockton FC Stockton FC reached the Third Round of the FA Vase after knocking out Whickham, Willington and Sheffield. They lost 2-1 at home to Burscough.
Both sides had nothing left to play for this season. However this didn't stop Hebburn romping to an emphatic 5-0 victory. To be completely honest Thornaby didn't stand a chance. If they can't beat a side at a similar place in the table to them, then one must question whether Thornaby are really cut out for this level. I noticed that former Northallerton keeper Psani was between the sticks for Thornaby, it wasn't a good day for it. Unlike Iceland where I experienced several snow showers it was a very warm day and after having my coat on all week it was a chance to re-ajust to the completely unpredictable British weather.
'Derelict' is the first word that springs to mind when you first reach Teesdale Park. I visited the ground just to take some photos a few months before and there had been nothing to enclose the ground, there was no pavement leading up to the ground and there will still some battered iron turnstiles completely stood on their own (beats the objective). However this has now all changed.
New security fencing has now been put in place, but this is clearly to satisfy ground graders. You can see right through it and it looks right onto the pitch. There is a pavement leading up to the ground under construction. At the time of visit only a few metres had been completed. There is also a pay hut in the north east corner of the ground. It is here that you pay admission and can buy the programme. As you enter there is a very peculiar stand to your left. It is uncovered and has 5 concrete steps, however the steepness of it and the flat section at the top suggests there used to be a roof and seats on it. The far side is currently out of bounds with an 8 step terrace running the whole length. This would probably hold around 1,500. The far end has a tatty stand running half the length. There is one step beneath this. The side nearest to you has the dugouts and futher down the main stand which has wooden slats on one side giving about 50 seats. The other side is concrete steps and holds about 100. The dressing rooms are behind this building and the players walk out between the seats and standing spaces.
The Thornaby programme is the worst I have ever seen charging £1 for it is outrageous. The amount of profit the club must gain from paper chasers must be huge. The programme is two A4 sheets with one side used for each. Club title and match details are on the front cover. Inside there is a Thornaby team list on the left while on the right is a brief match report of the match against Washington and managers comments. The back cover advertises the club's Facebook page and the club sponsors. To give them a little credit they do cover the essentials, but the printing is poor quality and a lot of space is wasted.
Teesdale Park is not a ground I would wish to revisit in a hurry, but with them being in the same league as Northallerton, there could be several visits yet to come.
Thornaby matchday pictures:
PS: Leading up to the 2011-12 season Thornaby FC installed 50 black and white plastic tip up seats to replace the wooden slats in the main stand as part of the club's ground improvements.
