Trail of the Lion King

It was international week and so this day had been designated ‘Non-League Day’. I’m not sure who makes these designations, but it does seem as if every day has some cause attached to it. Some of them are worth celebrating, Steak and BJ day for example, although if I were a cow I might think differently. I’m also happy to observe ‘Non-League Day’ as often as possible and so Jen and I headed north to Derwent Park for the eleventh tier Wearside League Premier Division fixture between Annfield Plain and Durham United.

The previous night we’d been to see Pete Doherty at Arc in Stockton. He put on a very good show after initially joining each of his three support acts and then being accompanied on stage at various times by his wife, toddler and dog. He had some fanatical followers in the crowd that knew every word of every song, but they were countered by the drunken dickheads who paid attention during the choruses of the hits but talked loudly through everything else.

There was nobody operating the turnstile when we arrived at the ground, but a small kid soon turned up to take the three quid gate money. An old bloke then appeared and thanked us for attending before advising us to buy some homemade cake from the tearoom underneath the small, covered stand.

It was likely to be a difficult game for the home side as visitors Durham United had clinched the Premier Division title the previous week. Durham will be playing in the Northern League next season.

There were around fifty spectators present. We found a couple of seats at the back of the stand and put down a sleeping bag for Henry to lie on. He got a fair bit of attention and the official photographer took a snap of him which appeared on the Annfield Plain social media.

Derwent Park looked old. There was some concrete terracing to our right and most of the pitch barriers and perimeter fencing had probably been there for at least sixty years. For the fans around us it was a chance to catch up with their mates. One bloke was telling the fella next to him about how good he had been at darts until dartitis brought his ambitions to a sudden halt. A woman nearby sought advice on how to fix a boiler that was struggling to maintain pressure. Once she’d received an answer that she was happy with, she left early to try it out.

Annfield Plain took an early lead and could easily have gone two up when an effort was ruled offside. It was always going to be Durham’s day though and a flurry of goals in the second half made the game safe before Annfield Plain pulled one back for a four-two final scoreline.

The visitors showboated until the final whistle with one of their players spurning an easy chance to put the ball wide of the keeper in favour of trying to chip him. The ball didn’t drop in time and landed on top of the netting, bringing howls of laughter from his mates in the stand. He justified his effort by claiming that he’d been after something ‘more audacious’.

Durham were presented with the trophy after the game and marked the occasion by spraying some fizz around. We finished our homemade cake, gathered up the dog’s sleeping bag and left them to a well-deserved celebration.