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.
Trail of the Lion King 