38. Daren Persson Stadium-North Shields

North Shields 2-0 Northallerton Town
Northern League Division Two
19.11.11

Admission: Adults: £4 Concessions: £2
Programme: £1
Attendance: 111
Capacity: 1,700
Seated: 135
Covered: 220
Town: North Shields, Tyne & Wear
Shop: Yes
Floodlights: Yes

Northallerton own hadn't made the best start to the season, however we hoped we could rack up an importnat 3 points at North Shields today. I left the house at 11:20 and was on the 13:00 from Darlington to Newcastle. Upon arrival I decided that rather than take a 2 minute Metro from Central Station to Monument where I would chang, I would instead walk to Monument, from where there is a Yellow Line service to South Shields (via the Coast). Alight at Meadow Well from where it is a 10 minute walk to the stadium.
North Shields is an area of Tynemouth in Tyne and Wear. It is 8 miles east of Newcastle city centre and is well associated with fishing. The town's history started in 1225 when a fishing port was created to provide fish for the local area. In 1847 a rail link was created to Newcastle. In the 17th century, Clifford's Fort was built as defence against the Dutch. North Shields also contained a number of ship yards. The Meadow Well area has recently been built and experienced 3 days of riots in 1991. As a result housing has been improved in the area. Ralph Gardner is a hero in the town. When North Shields was forbidden from allowing ships to dock there he refused to close his brewery which was used to provision the ships. He was imprisoned and in 1655 he petitioned Parliament against the unfair demands of Newcastle.
From Meadow Well station walk up Ripley Avenue before turning right down Waterville Road. It is then a left up Silkey's Lane with the ground on the right. You walk through the car park to get to the pay hut which doubles up as the club shop. At this end are a number of portacabins housing toilets and a tea bar with plenty on offer. the side to the left has 3 steps of terracing up to the half way line where there is red brick stand containing 5 rows of benches with each row holding about 27. The far end is hardstanding while the side to the right has two small shelters holding about 40 each. The dugouts are in front of these.
North Shields FC were founded in 1896 as North Shields Athletic playing in the South Shields & District League. In 1900 the club moved to Appleby Park. In 1908 the side moved to the North Eastern League. After World War I the side continued to play in The North Eastern League under the name Preston Colliery. In 1928 they were relegated to Division Two and changed their name to the current North Shields. In 1936, 12,800 packed Appleby Park for the local derby with South Shields. In 1950 the side won the North Eastern League.In 1958 the side joined the Midland League. But rejoined the North Eastern League in 1962 before joining the Northern League two years later. 1969 will no doubt be seen by many as North Shields Football Club's greatest ever season. The side won the Northern League and the FA Amateur Cup. They beat Sutton United 2-1 in the final at Wembley. In 1989 the side joined the Northern Counties East League. They won this in 1992. They then joined the Wearside League Division Two and were promoted in their first season. In 1995 they changed their name back to North Shields Athletic and won Wearside League Division One in 1999 before changing back to North Shields. They won the Wearside League in both 2002 and 2004 resulting in rejoining Northern League Division Two. In 2009 Anthony Woodhouse arrived as player-manager from Whitley Bay. Since then the club have challenged for promotion every season.
This match saw the two best supported sides in the league do battle. I arrived early to an empty ground. However 15 minutes before kick off the North Shields supporters arrived with about a dozen flags. I then heared the singing of Northallerton supporters coming up the road and good bit of banter ocurred between the Northallerton 'Casuals' and 'Red Ultras' over the fence as the away supporters waited to pay admission. For the first half the Red Ultras stood on the terrace while Northallerton supporters were behind the entrance goal. However the supporters realised that this was the league's only chance for a real atmosphere at a game. So, as the ref blew for half time, the Northallerton supporters moved over to the other end of the terrace and a banter competition ensued throughout the second half. However me and a few others Town supporters weren't interested in this so we switched ends as usual. North Shields started strong and took the lead with a good shot from the edge of the box into the top right corner. Colin Anderson then hit the post for Town not long before half time. It was then that I realised the posts were cuboids and not cylinders. If they had been cylinders the ball may well have deflected into the goal. The score was 1-0 at half time and the Northallerton supporters still had plenty of hope. It looked as though the equaliser would be scored when a penalty was given. However it was a weak attempt from Peter Bulmer and the home goalkeeper made a comfortable save. Not long after North Shields went on the attack and found a gap in the Town defence meaning the ball was comfortably slotted past Stephen Craggs into the net. The game finished 2-0 and the Town supporters went home wondering how different the scoreline could have been had they taken their chances.
The programme is a good 40 page effort. The cover is full colour with match details and an action shot. The programme includes a view from the editor, pen pics, club history, club honours and merchandise, match report, player sponsorship,'on this day', groundhoppers section, the chairmans blog, centre spread of club results/fixtures, visitors history, visitors pen pics, next away game, football news story, club lottery, league news, player statistics, recent results, top scorers, league tables, team lineups and form tables. The issue also features 13 pages of ads.
North Shields is a great club to visit for the atmosphere and people. However the ground is very plain and is pretty pathetic when you compare it to Appleby Park. However it serves its purpose so that is good enough. No doubt the club will want to expand it in the future.

North Shields matchday pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117159223503887715169/NorthShields#