39. Nissan Sports Complex-Washington

Washington 2-5 Northallerton Town
Northern League Division Two
3.12.2011

Admission: Adults: £4   Concessions: £2
Programme: £1
Attendance: 45
Capacity: 1,100
Seated: 200
Covered: 400
Town: Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Shop: No
Floodlights: Yes

4. That is the number of changes I would have to make in order to get to the Nissan Sports Complex a mile outside of Sunderland in order to watch my beloved Northallerton Town play Washington in a Northern League Division Two. Had Northallerton not been involved I may not even have bothered. Thank God I was still paying child fares on the trains and had an Arriva North East bus pass. Despite the number of modes of transport I would need to use, I didn't need to leave until 10:20 when I caught a bus to Richmond followed by a connection to Darlington where I caught a train up to Newcastle. Although I believe you can get buses to the Nissan Factory from Market Street in Newcastle, the excellent Andy of Kent website informed me that it would be easier to get a short Metro over the Tyne to Gateshead Interchange where direct buses ran from. The Bus Station at the interchange is nothing less than a rabbit warren with very little signage as to where to go. Thankfully my stand was at the end of a corridor so the stand letter was clearly visible. Although the buses were supposed to be every nine minutes it took fifteen minutes for one to arrive and when it did, the bus driver dropped people off and completely ignored those waiting to get on and drove off, how rude! However the next bus was not delayed and therefore arrived just minutes later. It seems that the bus stops at Nissan Factory are seldom used at that time of day especially on the weekend and the bus driver seemed surprised that I wanted to go there, asking me again just to make sure he had heard correctly. The journey was without problems and I arrived at the complex with 45 minutes until kick off. From the bus stop you have to enter the facility, go past a security barrier, walk through a car park (all Nissan Cars), go past another security barrier before going through another car park to finally reach the ground.

Admission is payed at a pay hut, from where the colourful programme can also be purchased. To your left are some buger vans that were closed today (do they open at all for football) and to your right is the imposing sports centre. To reach the clubhouse you have to go up the stairs once inside and through a set of doors. It was very warm and welcoming inside, particularly on a cold day like today. There is also a window at the far side which you would be able to watch the match through if a cardboard Nissan advert were not in the way. You reach the pitch behind the east goal. This is open hard standing, with a couple of picnic tables. The side to your left contains the dugouts and more hard standing, as does the far end. The side to your right has the main stand which features three steps of terracing at the bottom and 200 blue plastic seats in the top section.

Perhaps Washington experienced better support at their previous ground, which they had to vacate due to vandalism, or maybe it was just the cold that was keeping people away. Either way, only 45 turned up to watch this fixture with half making the trip from North Yorkshire. The level of support showed as well, as any that were supporting Washington stayed in the main stand, although in terms of health they were the sensible ones. We took our place behind the east goal in the freezing cold as the match kicked off. We were all instantly warmed up though as Peter Bulmer lobbed a brilliant shot over the home keeper (who was making his first appearance today) to give Northallerton the lead in the first two minutes. It was all uphill for Washington as Steve Butterworth made it 2-0 5 minutes later. Washington hit the bar with a freekick on 20 minutes but Northallerton made it 3-0 when Chillingsworth headed across the keeper after 26 minutes. Washington pulled a goal back through Tate on 37 minutes, but Northallerton regained their 3 goal advantage on 44 minutes when Bulmer scored a penalty. With 20 minutes to go in the match Anderson made it 5-1 as the ball tricked over the line as Washington failed to clear. Washington made it 5-2 with 4 minutes to go when Dan Young found the net. As soon as the final whistle went I dashed into the rain to catch a 17:00 bus back to Gateshead, hoping I could make a 17:51 train from Newcastle back to Darlington. Unlike previous away days though I wouldn't have a defeat hanging over me this time as I made my way home.

The programme for me had the appearance of a Chinese takeaway menu, with text dotted around the front cover and an image of the social club in the background. The programme has 36 pages of which 17 are ads. The programme includes a page to write team lineups next to a page with a list of players and officials, a welcome from the club, match report from the last game, Northallerton player profiles, league results grid, league table, club results and appearances chart, First Division table, Northern League news, history of Northallerton Town, history of Washington and general information about the club. An average programme for level 10 and fair value for £1.

Washington matchday pictures