Northern Gains

Consett  8  Birtley Town  0

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I might have said it before, but I bloody love the Northern League.

It’s a combination of factors that draw me to it, the quality of the football for a start, just take a look at the FA Vase winners over the years that the league has provided, historically, a stronger Step 5 competition you will have struggled to find.

Excellent grounds as well, some real classics, unchanged by gradings and regulations, and coupled with that the crowds that some of the clubs attract would be the envy of outfits from two levels higher up the food chain.

That said, there was a reason for the strength of the league, because for a good number of years very few clubs chose to make the move to the Northern Premier League, or going back further, there was a spell when the league sat outside of the pyramid and if you wanted to go up you needed to move into the Northern Counties East League for an escape route. North Shields and Spennymoor United being examples of this.

As a result you had some big fish, attracting big crowds and allegedly paying big money to attract the best talent the North East could supply. Could the top sides have competed at a higher level, absolutely no doubt, but it was of course their prerogative to stay where they were, citing, quite reasonably, that travel costs into a league that was largely centred around the M62 corridor and below were a burden too far.

Plus, it was a cracking competition to be a part of, local derbies, a better than above average chance of getting to Wembley. Home games against your neighbour were a lot more appealing than a midweek trip to Frickley Athletic.

But it started to change, the FA of course got involved, and by the 2012-13 season the floodgates started to open. First came Darlington (they were never going to turn it down), a re-born Spennymoor Town followed, before the juggernaut that was / is South Shields made the leap a couple of years later down the line. By the start of the 2017-18 season the Northern Premier League had become an East / West set up so more favourable for the North East clubs due to the A1 and A19 taking them straight into the heartlands. Two went up that season, Morpeth Town and Marske United.

Dunston, Shildon, Stockton and Hebburn Town soon followed, and suddenly as the 2021-22 season came around, the North East was very well represented. Consequently, after the Northern League had a spell of providing eight out of nine consecutive FA Vase winners, they have only produced the winner once since 2017.

From a personal point of view, I set myself a goal of getting to all of the grounds in the Northern Premier League, therefore the clubs vying for promotion from the Northern League are of interest to me. Last season for a period my money was on Consett to make the leap, but, over the final couple of months, North Shields went on a blistering run and Consett had a couple of slip ups. As it got to April, I’d got a choice of who to visit, I gambled on Shields, and got it right.

But, Consett had secured enough points per game to get into the Inter League Play Off and overcame an away tie at Histon to join North Shields in Step 4, they were back on the radar for me again.

Consett moved to their Belle View Stadium in 2013, having previously played at Belle Vue Park. I never went to Belle Vue Park but my mate Mark from Alfreton did, for a Vase game many years ago, he missed the bus back after the game and had to find alternative means of getting back to Derbyshire!

Belle View is located on the South East side of Consett, a short walk from the town centre, and after suffering badly with pitch problems at the old ground, an artificial surface was installed. Honours wise they had been a bit of a yo-yo club in the earlier Noughties in the Northern League but they have had the privilege of a trip to Wembley where they lost to Hebburn Town in the pandemic delayed Vase Final, which came during a period when the club were consistently one of the leading lights of the top flight.

Journey wise it was a pretty easy run up the A1 to the A68 / West Auckland turn off, before a very scenic cross country route via Tow Law, eventually coming into Consett on the road where the ground is located. I arrived an hour and a half before kick off and got a parking space, but with the crowds that they typically get for league games, especially toward the end of the season, of around the 450 mark, I should imagine getting a space is not that easy.

A modern single story building with the club crest adorned on the side greets you, and then once through the turnstiles you can see it’s a roomy expanse with a couple of similar Atcost style stands dropped in on either side of the pitch, the one on the South side more towards the Eastern corner flag due to the building and dugouts being in the central areas.

The two stands aside, it’s flat standing all around the pitch, with one slightly unusual feature being the safety netting behind both goals which sits directly in front of the pitch side rail. I can only assume it’s designed for the when the pitch is being used by other parties, to stop stray balls flying out of the arena.

On a blistering hot day, a pints of Denmark’s finest was taken in the large clubhouse, before the crowd of 201 settled down to watch a very energetic and efficient Consett side put the plucky visitors to the sword. Having followed the club on Twitter over recent weeks it’s been noticeable that some new additions have been made to what was clearly an already impressive squad, and by half time they were comfortably leading 3-0.

Two goals immediately after the break left Birtley in a damage limitation situation, but to the credit of the Northern League side, they never gave up and displayed an absolutely spot on attitude despite the pummelling. When the final whistle did blow, Consett had found the net a further three times to record an emphatic 8-0 victory.

The route back was slightly different, I went directly East to the City of Durham and navigated my way through the centre and out to the A1. I did visit Durham in the early Nineties with a mate who lived in the vicinity but I have no memory of it, however it was a busy day for the City because the annual Durham Miners Gala was taking place, a celebration of an industry that is no longer part of the communities. Of course, the coalfields of Durham would have provided the fuel that would have powered the famous old steelworks at Consett, which again, no longer remains, closing in 1980.

So what of Consett this season? Well if we let history guide us, last season was a bit of a year for the former Northern League clubs. Markse United won the NPL East play off, beating Stockton in the final, while Shildon made it three of the four play off contenders coming from the region. Dunston finished one place outside the play off’s, while somewhat surprisingly, Hebburn Town finished only thirteenth. Consett, without jinxing them, should do well, but the geography is interesting again, the quirks of the English pyramid, motorways and general shape of the Country means the Eastern Division no longer ends in South Yorkshire, now it also includes Long Eaton United and Carlton Town. But with five neighbouring North East clubs (which was effectively the idea) in the league, that should soften the blow!

I’ll have one eye on the Northern League again though to see who the contenders might be, any excuse to get back up the A1.