Posts Tagged ‘John Bramwell’

Grangetown Boys Club v Sunderland West End, Saturday 4th October 2025, 3pm

October 26, 2025

Quite a few games were being called off due to the effects of Storm Amy, so I didn’t really want to travel too far just in case I turned up at a ground an hour away with a postponed sign on the gate. Fortunately, I’d still to visit the Northern League’s Grangetown Boys Club and so I decided to make the short trip to their Trunk Road ground.

The night before, Jen and I had been at Coulby Newham Cathedral to see John Bramwell. It’s quite a modern building for a church and it solves the problem of sitting on hard wooden pews by hiring out cushions. The gig was good, but as it’s the fifth time we’ve seen him this year, I know his anecdotes word for word.

Grangetown’s ground proved harder to find than I’d anticipated, as I’d left my phone in the house by mistake. The sat nav in the car isn’t the best, but my old-skool technique of just driving around Grangetown until I saw the pitch worked in the end.

It was a fiver to get in and I bought a programme and a chip butty from the food kiosk behind one of the goals.

Grangetown Boys Club dates back to the 1940’s with most of their time having being spent in the now-defunct Teesside League. They gained promotion from the North Riding League in 2024 and so this is just their second season ever in the tenth tier. The visitors, Sunderland West End, have been in the Northern League for a few seasons now, but haven’t ever really looked as if they might reach Division One.

As Grangetown haven’t been long at this level, their ground is still developing. There was a fifty-seater shipping container stand along one side of the pitch with two covered ‘bus stop’ type sheds providing somewhere to shelter when it rains. There was also a portacabin bar that seemed popular with a bunch of older fellas who looked to be on some sort of jolly.

The Northern League has a rule that spectators can only stand in areas where there is hard standing and not grass. This meant that half of one side of the pitch and the area behind one goal were out of bounds. Some concreting preparation was going on, so hopefully it won’t be long before there are views from the full perimeter. It could also do with some fast-growing trees planting between the pitch and the trunk road, to reduce the risk of wayward clearances hitting cars.

The attendance was announced as eighty-four. In addition to the jolly boys, there were a few fans from West End, many of whom might have been unselected players and their Mams. I spent the first half of the game in the container stand picking up snippets of info from some of those in the know.

For the second half I moved to the rail on the far side. The hills provided a better backdrop than the road.

The wind made play difficult and neither side had many clear chances on goal. West End upped their game in the second half and took the lead with around twenty minutes to go. Grangetown had a few chances afterwards, but the visitors held on to take the points.

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Middlesbrough v Doncaster Rovers, Tuesday 12th August 2025, 7.30pm

August 29, 2025

I’ve been doing well for gigs lately and after seeing Weathership and The Undertones on the previous Thursday and Saturday nights, Jen and I nipped over to a Sunday afternoon show in Manchester. It was John Bramwell at the Night and Day Café.

On the plus side, it was Bramwell. Even better, he had his Harmonic Convergence band with him so we got the full versions of new stuff and a bigger sound on classics that he more often than not plays solo. It was also interesting to hear his stories about his time working in the venue and that it features in the lyrics to Over Your Shoulder.

Less good was the number of people who had turned up primarily for a yapped catch up with their mates. He should only play to ‘quiet’ audiences. The shape of the venue was odd as well, with the stage at one end of a long and narrow room. But I suppose you work with what you have. Anyway, it was a worthwhile trip.

Two days later it was time for the second game of Boro’s season, a first round Carabao Cup game against third-tier Doncaster Rovers. I’d got tickets for Tom, Harry and I in the West Stand Lower, which I’d picked partly for novelty value but also so that I wouldn’t have to stand all evening as is the practice in the South Stand.

After Saturday’s win over Swansea, I was hopeful of a good result. Particularly as Boro fielded a strong side, albeit with Hackney, Morris and Fry held back on the bench. Doncaster made a full eleven changes from their league line-up and included Billy Sharp up front. He must be a similar age to me.

It didn’t start well and we were two goals down early on. The fella to my left was a right pain in the arse with his non-stop instructions to the players followed by criticism when they didn’t do as he suggested. I was hoping that he might storm out if a third goal went in.

Events took a turn for the worse in the second half, despite us emptying the bench. Doncaster added a further two goals for an emphatic 4-0 win. It’s just as well that they didn’t bring their first team.

The silver lining to the walloping was that the ground was virtually empty by full-time and so we could get through the underpass without queueing. There’s always a positive if you look hard enough. I also liked the way that Rob Edwards reacted without throwing any of the players under a bus. He hinted that there would be some changes to the squad before the window closed so I suppose we will just have to hope for some players good enough to go straight into the starting eleven.

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Middlesbrough v Plymouth, Friday 18th April 2025, 3pm

April 26, 2025

Four wins needed. After the defeat at Millwall, we pretty much had to win our final four fixtures if we were to make the play-offs. I’d come out of the New Den accepting that we weren’t capable of doing that, but getting on for a week later, some of my usual positivity was returning. We’ve won four games on the trot before, so why not again?

It has been a good week for doing stuff. Jen and I had been to a talk about murder given by a retired detective, and we’d seen John Bramwell in a pub in Durham. It was our third Bramwell gig in the past three weeks and we’ve at least two more scheduled for later in the year.

On paper, you’d think a home fixture against bottom of the table opposition should be a near-certain three points, but it’s a tight league this season and Plymouth could easily stay up with two or three wins from their final four games. Despite centre-backs Fry and Edmundson being fit enough for the bench, Howson kept his place at the heart of the defence, whilst Forss got the nod over Burgzorg on the right of the three behind Conway.

Boro controlled the game with three-quarters of the possession and made three passes for every one that Plymouth completed. We took the lead when Azaz tapped home a Conway dink over the keeper that came back out off the inside of the post. Plymouth were level within minutes after another instance of playing out from the back going wrong and if Travers hadn’t pulled off a couple of good saves we’d have gone in behind at the break.

We didn’t really look like scoring in the second half, but Plymouth’s timewasting led to eight minutes of added time and as we entered the final stages a light touch on Conway’s back earned us a penalty. He took it himself and picked the right side to roll it home. A lot of the Boro fans had already left by that point, but Harry and I celebrated, not really believing our luck and reflecting upon how moments like that make it all worthwhile. Three wins needed.

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Alnwick Town v Esh Winning, Saturday 5th April 2025, 3pm

April 12, 2025

I completed the full set of grounds in Division One of the Northern League earlier in the season and had just three to go in the Second Division. One of them was Alnwick Town and as we had tickets for a John Bramwell gig in Berwick on the Thursday night, we decided to stay up there until the weekend and then call into Alnwick on the way home.

Bramwell was good, with a similar set to the one we’d seen a few days earlier in Stockton. It was in The Barrels pub, in a downstairs room that held around forty people. I spent some time before the gig chatting to an old fella sat at the bar with a beagle/Jack Russell cross.

With two days in Berwick, we took the opportunity for a couple of coastal walks. I like walking by the sea and all you have to do to navigate is remember which side of your body should be closest to the water.

On the Friday we walked around some of the old defensive walls before joining the coastal path for a total of eight miles northwards and back.  We passed The Stanks, where there is usually a football game or two in the summer. I’ll return at some point to tick it off.

On Saturday morning, we drove in the direction of Alnwick and parked at Budle Bay before walking past the Newtown Gun Emplacement and Bamburgh Golf Club until we reached the castle. There were rabbits in the fields and a bi-plane circling overhead. As we were pressed for time, we turned around at Bamburgh and clocked up just the six miles.

Alnwick play at St James’ Park and in black and white stripes. I’ve no idea if they named their ground and chose their colours before their Newcastle neighbours did, but someone somewhere has shown a lack of imagination.

We arrived at two o’clock as Jen had some things that she wanted to do and we managed to nab the last spot in the club car park. I suspect that every other car belonged to a player or official. Jen headed off to visit a garden full of poisonous plants. She returned later without any cuttings, so I guess I must still be in her good books.

After parking I returned to the gate to hand over my six quid admission. I bought a programme that wasn’t really worth the pound I paid for it. It’s nice to see paper programmes still being produced but there has to be something in them worth reading.

There was a clubhouse with a bar and a telly. I bought a cheese and onion pasty for lunch and watched the end of the Everton v Arsenal game. Moyes looked old, doddery and in need of a haircut. I know how it feels.

There were three seating options, a couple of padded seats outside the clubhouse that I presume were earmarked for directors, an old stand on the halfway line with wooden benches and a shipping container behind the goal with fifty seats. I started off in the latter and then worked my way around the rail.

Alnwick Town went into the game in eleventh place in the table with little to play for. Esh Winning were in fifth and hoping for a play-off spot. Alnwick took the lead just before half-time and saw out the rest of the half.

It was Grand National Day and so I delayed my return to the side of pitch and watched the race in the bar. I’d backed the horse that eventually came second, so got a run for my money. I’m not really sure why I didn’t go this year as it’s definitely the place to be. Maybe it’s the size of the crowds and the scrum at the gates.

I headed outside to learn that I hadn’t missed any goals. There were plenty of chances at both ends in the second half, but Alnwick held on to take the points and dent Esh Winning’s play-off hopes. Two Northern League grounds to go.

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Easington Colliery Welfare v Shotton Comrades, Sunday 30th March 2025, 10.30am

April 10, 2025

This was a good day. I popped around to my Mam’s early on and then took in a Sunday league game. The afternoon was spent arseing around in the garden whilst the dog chomped on a bone that consisted of most of a cow’s pelvis. In the evening Jen and I called into the Sun Inn where I had a couple of pints of banked Bass before moving on to the Social Club, which is probably better described as upstairs at KU Bar, to see John Bramwell.

There wasn’t a big crowd, but everyone sat quietly and listened whilst he ran through a mix of really old stuff, Kloot standards and some of his recent Harmonic Orchestra songs. It was the first of three Bramwell gigs over the next two and a half weeks.

The Sunday league game was in the Peterlee and District Premier Division and at Memorial Park, Easington. It’s the pitch next to the Colliery Welfare ground, which was the first place I saw a proper football game back in the autumn of 1973. There was a game going on simultaneously to the match I was watching, but I decided to ignore it and focus on my original choice.

Easington Colliery Welfare were taking on Shotton Comrades in a top versus bottom of the table clash. It was a cold but sunny morning and as I stood and looked across the pitch towards the sea, it made me appreciate how good it is to be in England in the Spring and that there’s beauty in what might be considered some of the less likely North East of England locations.

Easington were in blue and white with Shotton in a maroon and black kit. There were around thirty spectators, mainly older blokes, perhaps keen to get out of the house. A couple of WAGs sat on the grass near to the Shotton subs and coaches and there were a few younger blokes on the far side who had already cracked open the lager cans.

The difference between top and bottom of the table was noticeable with a steady flow of goals from Easington. It was a good-natured game though and Shotton kept their heads up. Their keeper had a decent game, and the final score could easily have been a lot higher without his efforts.

With fifteen minutes to go, and after having a discreet word with the captains, the ref blew for full-time early. Thirteen-one was enough, I suppose, and it freed up some time for those heading off for Mother’s Day activities.

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