37. Glebe Sports Ground-Whickham

Whickham 1-2 North Shields
Northern League Division Two
12.11.11

Admission: Adults: £4 Concessions: £2
Programme: £1 (40pp)
Attendance: 118
Capacity: 1,400
Seated: 200
Covered: 200
Town: Whickham, Tyne & Wear
Floodlights: Yes
Shop: No

With the rest of the family booked on a tour of the Sage today, I decided to go elsewhere. The game I decided upon was Whickham v North Shields in the Northern League Division Two. The ground is well served by public transport with bus 97 from Gateshead Metro Interchange stopping on front Street, from where it is a 10 minute walk to the ground.
Whickham is a middle class town that consists of the ancient townships of Winlaton and Stella. The population is 16,000 and the town has Gateshead to the east, Blaydon to the west and Newcastle to the north.
From Front Street it is a walk west along Front Street before turning left into Rectory Lane. It is then a right into Holme Avenue before a left into Rose Avenue. The ground is at the end. A pay box is in the southeast corner of the ground where you pay admission and can pick up the programme. As you enter the changing rooms are to your left while the near side is grass standing only. The far end and far side are hard standing. The facilities are all behind this goal with a 200 seat stand to your right consisting of benches. This was occupied by the vocal North Shields supporters and their many flags today. At the far side of this end is the Corner Flag Cafe where a number of hot and cold drinks and snacks can be purchased.
Whickham were founded in 1944 as Axwell Park Colliery Welfare and played in the Derwent Valley League. In 1974 the club joined the Wearside League as Whickham FC. They won the league in 1978 and in 1979 the side were semi-finalists in the FA Vase where they were knocked out by Almondsbury Greenway. In 1981 they made it to the final where they beat Willenhall Town 3-2 at Wembley whilst finishing as runners up in the Wearside League. In 1984 they were semi-finalists in the Vase again where they lost to Stansted. In 1985 they were runners up in the Wearside League. They then won the league for a second time in 1988. They joined the Northern League Division Two the next season where they won promotion to Division One. In 1992 they were relegated back to Division Two, only to win the league in 1995 and return to Division One. They were relegated back in 1997 and have remained there ever since.
Going into this game, North Shields looked like promotion favourites while Whickham had their own ambitions of returning to Division One. However it was Whickham who struck first through Wrightson. North Shields were then left with an uphill battle. However they were not going to let it get to them and goals from Paul Gordon and Scott Blandford gave the Reds three points and sent the 25 Shields supporters happy.
The programme is 40 pages long and is part-colour. The cover features match details and a photo of the stand. The programme includes details on North Shields and Whickham, a message from the secretary, a history of Whickham FC, pen pics, player statistics, team lineups, a centre spread with fixtures/results, player sponsorship, history of North Shields, North Shields player profiles, juniors information, northern league history, league fixtures, form table, league review, league table and more sponsorship. There are 16 pages of ads.
It was an enjoyable day in Tyne & Wear, although it may be better visiting in the Summer as the ground is very exposed at the top of a hill.

Whickham matchday pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117159223503887715169/Whickham#