Archive for August, 2026

Cramlington United v AFC Burradon and New Fordley, Saturday 22nd August 2026, 2pm

August 28, 2026

On getting back from Sweden, I’d planned for a busy weekend with a game, a gig and a walk. The travelling had tired me out though and so we only managed the first two activities.

The gig was Martin Stephenson at the Waiting Room in Eaglescliffe on the Sunday night. We’d seen him there last year as part of a three piece. This time they had added a drummer who was the grandson of a Daintees drummer from the eighties. It all went very well. Although I had a stiff neck from looking upwards from my seat just a few inches from the stage.

On the Saturday I’d thought about going across to Blackburn to see the Boro as tickets were available on the gate. It’s a ground that I’ve been to a few times before though, including a game towards the back end of last season.

I decided to stay local instead and so Jen and I headed through the Tyne Tunnel for a game at Northburn Sports and Community Centre in Cramlington. We arrived early and got the final parking space.

It was three quid each to get in and we handed over the change for a couple of blind card entries. There wasn’t any food available other than crisps, so we limited ourselves to a coffee each. The eleventh tier Northern Alliance Premier Division fixture had attracted around eighty spectators, with a lot of them likely friends and family of the players.

There weren’t any seats other than a single memorial chair. Maybe the guy wasn’t popular enough to warrant a bench. Jen settled into the chair and I took up various positions on the perimeter fence. The grass was long and missing from patches in the goalmouths.

It was a niggly contest with both teams giving the ref stick. He wasn’t the best, but if he were, then he wouldn’t have been spending his afternoon overseeing an eleventh-tier fixture. I sometimes wonder whether players at this level genuinely believe that the officials should all be FIFA standard.

Cramlington went a goal up in the first minute when a Burradon defender diverted a cross into his own net. The hosts doubled their lead in the second half when some playing out from the back went tits up leaving the home striker an easy finish.

What had seemed like an easy victory for Cramlington was put at risk six minutes from time when Burradon pulled one back. I missed it hitting the back of the net as I was checking on the Boro score.

Matters got interesting with a minute remaining when the home keeper was sent off for wiping out a Burradon striker on the edge of the box. That spurred the visitors on and with four minutes of added time played, they equalized from a quickly taken corner. It was an unexpected comeback but, on reflection, a fair result overall.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football, Music | Leave a Comment »

Pitea IF v AIK, Thursday 20th August 2026, 6.30pm

August 27, 2026

It’s a few months since I’ve been in Sweden, but a quick visit coincided with the Second Round of the Swedish Cup. The game that I’d selected was in Pitea. It’s around a fifty-minute drive south from Lulea and, perhaps coincidently, the weather was so much better when we arrived than when setting off.

I was accompanied by a couple of fellas from work, and we got there early enough to nab one of the few remaining spots in the official car park adjoining the IF Arena.

Pitea are in the fourth tier and were taking on AIK of the top division. Apparently, the visitors are regarded as the third best team in Sweden. I’d sorted out tickets online for one hundred SEK a pop. The seats had already sold out by that time, and our allocated spot was a standing area in a newish stand along the side, behind three rows of seats. I got chatting to a couple of young lads stood next to me who filled me in on a lot of the match details as well as pointing out their history teacher, who was part of the Pitea coaching staff.

The game was well attended with two and a half thousand spectators filling the stands along the sides of the pitch and one very old-looking one behind the goal. AIK, from Stockholm, had around three hundred fans in a section further along from us and had brought flags, flares and a drum.

We had difficulties with food and drink as none of us had the Swish payment App popular at Swedish grounds. We had about nine quid in Swedish currency between us and that got us three bottles of coke and two chocolate bars from the only cabin that took cash. It seems so odd that you cannot tap a debit or credit card that would be fine just about anywhere else in the world.

At half-time we moved to the opposite corner of the pitch and stood on a slightly raised embankment. I got a couple of bites from whatever flying insects are doing the rounds in Sweden at this time of year, so regretted not having applied some repellent.

Pitea gave a good account of themselves on the pitch, and it wasn’t always apparent which of the teams played in the top tier. Whilst I’m sure all of the stats would show that AIK were dominant, it didn’t always look that way.

The visitors had to wait until almost half time before going ahead and it wasn’t until midway through the second half that they took the game beyond Pitea. A third goal in added time flattered AIK in what was a good night on and off the pitch for the hosts.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Lincoln City, Saturday 15th August 2026, 3pm

August 26, 2026

The first league game of the season is something to look forward to, although this year the impact has been diluted a bit by the scheduling of a League Cup game for the week before. Soph and I discussed our prospects as we walked the dog around Cowpen Bewley the evening before. It’s somewhere I’ve never been to despite living within a few miles of it for over sixty years. We both considered that this might be our year for promotion.

Harry and Tom had the same opinion as we walked to the ground. I thought Sol Brynn was good enough for us, but they both rated the new guy as a definite upgrade. A new centre half from Spurs who might cost us twenty million if all the add-ons materialize had been confirmed that morning. That gives us three high quality central defenders plus Luke Ayling whose attributes would be ideal for bringing on to see a game out.

The fan zone was busy. We had a chat with Amelia and Ryan who were equally confident. There were plenty of Lincoln fans enjoying their first visit to the second tier in sixty-five years. I’d like them to stay up, particularly if it is at the expense of, say, Southampton or West Ham.

The first half didn’t go to plan, although I should have expected that ex-Boro player Adam Reach would score against us.

In the second half we were more physical. The introduction of Riley McGree made a difference, as it usually does. Two goals from Will Lankshear, the second in added time, broke the hearts of the Lincoln fan as we took the points.

It could easily have gone the other way, but the teams that get promoted usually do so because they somehow find a way to win and that’s what we did.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Ferryhill Athletic v Barnard Castle, Wednesday 12th August 2026, 6.45pm

August 25, 2026

It was Eclipse Day. Not the horse race, but the solar kind. Or the lunar kind, I’m no expert. I’d been listening on the radio about the need to observe it through pin holes in cardboard or facing away and viewing it over your shoulder on your phone.

It all seemed a bit alarmist really. What about those people who watch the sun go down each evening? It doesn’t seem to affect them. I watched the last eclipse in Scotland, maybe thirty years ago and I think we all just squinted at bit.

With the sky due to turn dark I thought it would be interesting to see how it impacted upon a football game. Clearly it would need to be at a ground without floodlights and so I selected an eleventh-tier Wearside League fixture at Ferryhill Athletic’s Dean Bank Recreation Ground.

It was four pounds admission, including a raffle ticket and I paid another couple of pounds for a coffee and a bag of crisps. There wasn’t any hot food, so there’s no pie review this week.

Approximately fifty fans and one whippet lined the perimeter fence and awaited the dimming of the sunlight. As ten past seven approached the light began to fade. It was probably a little darker than I’ve seen at matches of this level, but nowhere near the lack of visibility that we played in as kids ignoring our Mam’s shouts to come inside.

When the peak darkness occurred, we saw very little of the eclipse as it took place behind a cloud. We saw very little football either as the ref conveniently called for a drinks break that lasted until the gloom started lifting.

I’m not really sure what I’d expected. Birds falling silent? Dogs wimpering? Maybe locals ritually slaughtering those from out of town?

All we got was a continuation of play in light appropriate for an August evening and in an evenly contested game a second half goal was enough to clinch the points for Barney.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Wrexham, Friday 7th August 2026, 8pm

August 22, 2026

The first round of the League Cup usually takes place as a midweek fixture early in the season. A change of plan this year has seen it scheduled for the weekend before the opening Championship game. I like that idea, it’s a competitive fixture rather than a friendly, but one that most clubs won’t be that fussed if they lose.

I was joined by my daughter Soph, as well as Tom and Harry. She had come along to the box the previous weekend for the Espanyol friendly and enjoyed it, so made a quick return. Before that, it might be fifteen years or more since Soph was last in the Riverside and Espanyol was probably the first time I’ve been to a game with both of my kids since Eindhoven.

She was soon back in the swing of things, probably helped by us opting to sit down in the North Stand rather than having to stand up all game at the other end.

The change of schedule seemed to work as despite it being a Friday night game and live on ITV1, more than eighteen thousand fans turned up. There’s a bit of a buzz around the club at the moment with the new signings. For this game our two new Americans started as did Will Lankshear.

All of them look as if they will be regular starters and that’s what I want from a new signing. Forget about signing players for the bench, that can be filled by those displaced from the first eleven by the new fellas.

We played well and clinched the victory with a well taken goal from Will Lankshear. It’s early days, but he really does look like someone who might solve our problem with converting the many chances that we create. If he does, then promotion is a distinct possibility.

Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Great Ayton Utd v Lealholm, Tuesday 4th August 2026, 6.30pm

August 21, 2026

I haven’t really been to Great Ayton too often. I remember going with the cubs back in the mid-seventies. I think that we were supposed to be checking out Captain Cook’s house, but the bigger attraction to a group of young Boro fans was Boro manager Jackie Charlton’s house.

We were told not to bother him, but one kid knocked on his door and got an autograph. The rest of us ended up with a photocopy of it, if I remember rightly.

This time Jen and I just wandered around without any autograph ambitions. We called into Suggits for an ice cream where a 99 cone was just under two quid. That seemed remarkably cheap to me. I’d paid a tenner for two ice creams a few days earlier at the van in the Riverside Car Park after the Espanyol game.

Oddest sighting of the day was a dead crayfish on the pavement, presumably having wandered up from the riverbank. I’ve only ever seen them in Mississippi and had no idea that they had made their way to Yorkshire. I look forward to attending boils in the future.

Whilst the ice creams and crustaceans were an interesting diversion, we were in town for the football. Great Ayton were entertaining Lealholm in the eleventh-tier North Riding League Premier Division. It’s one of the three feeders to the Northern League.

I doubt Leven Park would satisfy the criteria for the next level. There are no stands or turnstiles and most people watched from behind a rope or from within their cars. We’d brought a couple of chairs, so sat behind the goal next to the groundsman’s hut. It’s all very picturesque, with the Cleveland hills providing the backdrop.

There were around fifty people watching and most of them appeared to know each other. One late arrival was greeted with a cheery “Now then, pig shagger”. Presumably, they weren’t just meeting for the first time.

Great Ayton went in at the break two goals to the good. In the absence of any floodlights and with the nights drawing in, half-time was an expedited eight minutes duration.

Leaholm briefly threatened to come back into contention a few minutes after the restart when a free kick was curled into the top corner to halve the deficit. Great Ayton promptly hit back with a third goal though and that’s the way it ended up.

Tags:,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Espanyol, Saturday 1st August 2026, 3pm

August 7, 2026

Our return from our month-long Orkney trip led quite nicely into the start of the Boro season and a home friendly against Spanish side Espanyol. In the same weekend we also managed to get a bit more of the Yorkshire Wolds Way in, covering twelve miles in an out and back route, heading north from Nunburnholme.

Our walking was delayed as we detoured into the church at Nunburnholme to have a look at the Commonwealth War Graves. The service had just finished, and we were invited inside for coffee, biscuits and a tour of the interesting stuff.

There was a stained-glass window that was more than seven hundred years old. They were hoping to have it restored, which would involve taking it apart for cleaning before sandwiching it between two pieces of toughened glass. They also have a sarcophagus dating back nine hundred years that was recently dug up accidently whilst repairing the drains.

Highlights of the walk itself were a couple of red kites and watching a glider released and then soaring upwards.

For the Espanyol game we decided to get a box. Split between twelve it was fifty quid a head, which is less than a tenner more than you’d pay walk-up for a regular West Stand Upper seat. Our thinking was largely driven by Tom wanting to bring his son, Nolan, for his first game and trying to make it as easy as possible with a kid who has only just had his first birthday.

We were served chicken and rice for a pre-match meal. Alistair’s little brother Jem was also attending his first Boro game and he highly rated the chicken nuggets that came as a kid’s option.

Our seats were in the back two rows of the West Lower and whilst they were great for the kids to wander down to pitch side to track down Roary the mascot, I think I prefer a more elevated view from an upper tier these days.

On the field it was good to see former Boro player Kike get a decent reception on his first return.

 I thought that we looked ok in the three-three draw, with a couple of new signings on show. It appears that we have bought extremely well in this window, and it bodes well for another promotion push.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Dead people and stuff, Football, Hiking | Leave a Comment »