A Stick Of Guisborough Rock

Guisborough Town    1   Newton Aycliffe   1

Northern League – Division One

It would be August 1980, and I was most excited, you see my Dad was going to go to the seaside with Belper Town, and there was a promise of a stick of rock!

My Dad took over the Treasurer role at BTFC in the Summer of 1979, and in his first season at the club they went on to win the Midland Counties League and the Derbyshire Senior Cup, it was exciting times!

For the opening game of the 1980-81 season they were due to visit league newcomers Guisborough Town, and apparently, it was by the seaside, so I was told. Three goals from Kevin Ormondroyd and one from Keith Dainter saw the Nailers win 4-1 against a side that had won the Northern Alliance League the previous season, and indeed reached the FA Vase Final at Wembley, losing to Stamford 2-0.

Later that night, when Dad got back, he had kept his promise, a stick of rock……

The Nailers competed with Guisborough until the 1984-85 season, which ironically was the next and last time they were to win a league championship, this time the Northern Counties East League. The visit to North Yorkshire on this occasion was clouded with a bit of controversy though.

Belper were forced to make the journey on a Thursday night, and perhaps the story is best told by the late Harry Bethell (Joint Manager) in his programme notes for the next home game.

“We battled tremendously hard on the Thursday night at Guisborough for a valuable point despite being without five senior players. However, from a management point of view the NCEL stand condemned for forcing us to travel to Middlesbrough for an evening game when both sides had a free Saturday before the end of the season. The decision to make us travel can only be described as utterly stupid and it is this sort of a decision that really spoils the good work that many of these dedicated people do for football.”

Harry and BTFC were not happy, but a 0-0 draw in the grand scheme of things was not a major concern because by the end of the campaign the title was won by nine points. Belper and Guisborough were never to meet again, as the Priorymen moved into the Northern League the following season, where they remain to this day.

So, despite a total of five visits to Guisborough, I was never to make the journey with the Nailers and it’s always been a bit of a niggle that I’ve never got to the King George V Ground. That was about to change though.

Watching football in the Northern League at the minute is a complete lottery, take the previous day for example, two of my three available games bit the dust, and the one I ended up at, thankfully as it turned out, was initially bottom of the list due to geography.

I was staying overnight in Middlesbrough, and with the pubs shut as I got back to my Travelodge, I had to make do with a cheeky four pack of Carling from Aldi, while I looked at my options for the Wednesday. I had a few choices, but in reality it was going to be one of either Redcar Athletic or Guisborough Town, but, as recent history tells us, that decision may be taken out of my hands!

The Wednesday was spent with the lovely people of our Middlesbrough branch, and to be honest I can’t recall as enjoyable a time in a branch, they were a fantastic bunch, probably helped by the fact that they made sure I had my first ever Parmo, from the highly recommended Manjaro’s on Linthorpe Road. Nice one Smoggies!

Anyway, by closing time both matches were still on, and to be fair, Redcar could wait, it was about Guisborough for me. So I jumped in the wagon and made the relatively short journey East and then South to the small town that sits right on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, and no, it doesn’t have a seafront either so the stick of rock remains a mystery!

The club were formed in 1973 and joined the Middlesbrough & District League, before joining the Northern Alliance in 1977, gaining a third, second and first place in consecutive seasons before joining the Midland Counties League. It did seem an odd move bearing in mind the club was in the Northern League footprint, but, within five seasons they’d made the logical move, albeit starting in the bottom division.

By 1987 they were in the top flight, and for twelve consecutive seasons they never finished outside the top seven. However, it got tougher and they had a spell back in the Second Division until gaining promotion back in 2011. Since then they’ve had three seasons when they finished third twice and fourth, but, in the last three seasons they’ve been in the lower reaches.

We know about the Vase final, well they also reached the semi-final in 1997, losing to North Ferriby United over two legs (I was at the second leg on Humberside), while in 1988 they reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup, playing Bury at Ayresome Park, losing 1-0 in front of a crowd of 5,990.

I arrived in Guisborough well in advance of kick off, and with the crowd limit set at 300 in these parts I knew I had no worries getting in, so I decided to have a walk into the town. A very nice place it is too, the ground itself is set right on the Northern edge, next to the bypass, and a ten minute walk South and then East takes you to Westgate which is the main street where some nice looking shops, bars and restaurants are located. Going further along Westgate you come to the museum and of course the famous priory after which the football club is nicknamed.

Back at the ground, once through the turnstiles, I have to say I was very impressed. The first thing that struck me was just how well appointed and tidy the King George V stadium is. The clubhouse was closed due to the current climate, but the West side of the ground contains this facility, the dressing rooms and a tea bar, while sat in front of the clubhouse was the main seated stand.

Opposite the main stand on the East side is some covered terracing with a high roof, while behind both goals is hard standing, albeit the North end has a lofty grass bank providing good views, while three sides of the ground are surrounded by tall trees. At the South end of the ground where the car park is situated, is a leisure centre and this backs onto the football clubs land.

A crowd of just over 200 turned up on a pleasant evening, and they were treated to a tight affair between a home side who’d had a mixed start to the season, and Newton Aycliffe who were unbeaten.

The first half was goalless, with neither side seemingly able to take the game by the scruff of the neck, but, it was Guisborough who took the lead in the 50^th minute when Brian Close prodded home after the visitors failed to clear the danger.

Aycliffe started to come more into the game as we moved beyond the hour mark, and to be fair it came as no surprise when Liam Jarvie bundled the ball home with fifteen minutes to go. Both sides gave it a good go after that, but further goals were not forthcoming and the points were shared.

The journey back was relatively painless as the A172 took me via Stokesley to the A19, and eventually back through the front door exactly two hours after departing. I felt like something was missing though, I wasn’t able to leave a stick of rock out for Mrs & Master H.

Where my Dad got that from, I still to this day don’t know, my gut feel is they had a run to the seaside at Redcar, but maybe one day if I can remember I’ll ask him. If he can remember is another matter entirely!