Newcastle Benfiled F.C - Sam Smith's Park
Anyway, this week as you may of
guessed with my opening I’m in Newcastle. What a city it is… star of the
popular (not with me, don’t worry) hit T.V series ‘Geordie Shore’, also star of
one of my favourite T.V series ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’, Alan Sherer (one of the
best Premier League strikers of all time) was born Newcastle and Newcastle is home
to my Auntie Paula and three cousins, Brittany, Georgia and Kyle.
Originally my plan for this
weekend was to go and watch (whilst doing the tannoy) the mighty Atherton Colls
play, at home, against Leek C.S.O.B, a team I have never watched. Easy choice.
However, when my Mum announced that she was driving up to Newcastle for the
weekend to visit our relatives I jumped at the opportunity to join her to also
visit my relatives and of course, get some North Eastern ground hopping done.
Unfortunately, it was Mock Week
for me leading up to the weekend – a week of Mock Exams to prepare myself and
fellow students for the real thing in early summer. A week of hell. This meant
I had limited time to plan what grounds to visit, what Metro trams to get etc…
what with all the last minute revision.
Anyway, I JUST managed to accurately
plan my Saturday out, this is how it would read if all went to plan: first I
would visit Conference Premier club Gateshead United and their Athletics Stadium,
after that I would go on to visit West Allotment Celtic, who play in the
Northern FL Division Two, and their ground which they share with Newcastle
United Reserves then finally end up at Newcastle Benfield who play one step
higher than Celtic in the Northern FL Division One. They were playing Congleton
Town from closer to my home in the FA Vase Fourth Round, a tasty game indeed.
We left for Newcastle as soon as
the final bell had rung at school, at 15:10 our two and a half hour car journey
began.
There wasn’t a problem getting to
Newcastle traffic and car wise. The roads were clear and the car didn’t play
up. My personal Taxi driver (my mother), I and my brother arrived in a suburb
of Newcastle called Hebburn, where my Auntie lives at around 18:30.
Saturday soon came and I awoke at
about 08:45 to Kyle and Sam announcing they wanted to join on my (not so) big
Newcastle tour. After telling them they were more than welcome to join me I had
some breakfast, showered and prepared for our 11:00 AM departure.
All three of us set off bang on
11:00 AM, our first leg of the journey to Hebburn Metro Station had begun.
Paula’s house is located about a
ten minutes’ walk away from the Metro Station. I had planned it for us to get
the 11:20 tram so we had lots of time. Time however is not a problem as the
trams run every ten minutes.
Arriving at the station just as
the 11:10 tram was pulling out we headed to the surprisingly simple Metro
ticket machine. After that experience I am now a big fan of the Metro. I accept
that might sound a bit sad but it only cost me £1.20 to go ANYWHERE in
Newcastle on the Metro. BARGIN ALERT!
The twenty past tram soon pulled
in and much to surprise, also with a few Sunderland fans clearly going to the
Stadium of Light for the early game against Southampton. I was always under the
impression that if you lived in Newcastle you supported Newcastle and only
Newcastle, likewise for Sunderland. Clearly not.
Our first stop arrived, Gateshead
Stadium, at 11:30. We vacated the tram and off we went to the Gateshead
International Stadium. The ground is about a ten minute walk from the Metro,
not far and a flat road there.
The Gateshead International
Stadium - From the outside, it seemed like a nice, almost homely ground that is
capable of hosting a Football League match but then as we moved round to the
reception area to look through the window into the ground the running track
really spoiled the ground for me. Running Tracks and football do not go
together.
We left the Stadium at about
11:50 to get back in plenty of time for the 12:05 Metro to Benton for our next
stop. Successfully, we got on our next Metro which was far from full and talked
about our next ground.
The tram pulled into our next
stop, Benton and this is where we jumped off the tram and completed the five
minute walk to West Allotment Celtic’s ground Whitley Park.
Whitley Park - A ground we found able
to enter. I have mixed opinions on the ground. It was a new modern ground but
it did have some character with the only two stands being on a high embankment,
a nice touch. I actually was quietly impressed with the ground.
After walking back to Benton we
arrived back at the station ridiculously earlier than expected. However, with
the trams running every ten minutes being early wasn’t a problem. So, instead
of waiting around we jumped on the first Metro that came, which took us to our
final stop Walkergate.
The Metro tram entitled ‘The
Coast’ takes you on a beautiful route around the Newcastle’s coast and travels right
against the sea which was a nice treat. Again, I bet that sounds a tad sad.
As the tram pulled into
Walkergate I spotted a chippy named the Flying Cod, we were all hungry so I
made the suggestion that we all go there for a spot of lunch, both Kyle and Sam
agreed and off we went.
Looking at the Menu inside the
Flying Cod I found it hard to pick something to eat as there wasn’t a lot of
choice. Much to my surprise, Pies weren’t on the menu. Despite that fact I
still went ahead and ordered a pie with chips. They hadn’t got any. Fair
enough. So then I ordered Sausage and Chips, second choice, simple.
When I eventually got my dish, it
was a battered sausage, not what I ordered. I wasn’t 100% fussed about it as I
had never tried a battered sausage and much to my surprise it didn’t taste that
bad. However, the potion of chips that came with it was small and poor.
After finishing of my meal, we
headed straight to the ground. Sam Smith’s Park is only a short ten minute walk
from the Metro so distance and time wise it was perfect.
The three of us arrived at the
ground for about 14:00ish, heading straight for the turnstiles, I went through
first paying my £3.00 admittance fee, picking up a programme along the way for
an extra £1.00. The programme was an OK publication. It could’ve been better
but then again it could’ve been worse.
So who are Newcastle Benfield
F.C?
Founded in 1988 under the name
Burnswick Village Benfield started life out in the Northern Alliance Second
Division. After changing location, to the current Sam Smith’s Sports Ground
Benfield changed their name to Benfield Park. Former Hartlepool United striker
Paul Baker was in charge when Benfield saw their best ever run in the FA Cup,
which ended in a narrow loss of 1-0 to York City.
I’m not going to lie. At this
point during in the day, my legs were killing me so I headed straight to the
Main Stand for a sit down for four or five minutes.
As for Sam Smith’s Park, well,
what a beautiful ground. I was sat in the Main Stand. This was the most popular
seated stand of the two thanks to it being one of the newest stands inside of
the ground. The stand was about five rows deep and offered some good views from
the top row. On the same side but to the left of the Main Stand a sheltered
small terrace can be found. This didn’t offer much of an elevated view but did
provide good cover when, inevitably, it began raining.
Opposite the Main Stand was the
Grandstand this stand appeared to be an older but thinner version of its
counterpart, however, it was a one of the newish stands inside of the ground I
am told on one of my forum. However, the Grandstand did offer some good
elevated views from even the middle row, if you ignore the supporting pillars.
That was about it for seated/sheltered
areas inside the ground. Behind the two goals was just hard standing.
Personally, I loved Sam Smith’s
Park because, as you’ll see on the photos the ground had a lot of character and
really was a proper Non-League ground.
When I finally was able to move
again, I completed my usual ground hoppers lap of honour. After taking all my
photos and investigating all aspects of the ground the two teams were being
applauded out by what appeared to be an impressive looking crowd, numbers wise
that is.
I had a strange feeling that this
game was going to end in 0-0, me being the pessimist that I am. Fortunately, it
was far from a 0-0.
On twenty two minutes Benfield
opened the scoring, Billy Ion’s the goal scorer thanks to Micheal Riley’s pull
back which found veteran player Paul Brayson who gave Ions the opportunity to
score.
Five minutes later Benfield
doubled their lead. Paul Brayson scoring a penalty after a handball in the box.
I couldn’t possibly say whether it was a handball or not as I actually didn’t
see the incident. I was deciding which seat to sit on in the Grandstand.
Congleton didn’t deserve to be
behind at the break. The Bears hit the woodwork three times in the first half
alone. There was also a couple of penalty shouts, one which resulted in a
penalty kick as the ball struck the hand. When the reff gave neither shout a
penalty the classic “Do you want to barrow my glasses ref?” line was shouted
out whilst physically shaking his glasses.
At halftime I and Kyle made our
way into the clubhouse, mainly to warm up. Kyle took a seat at a table whilst I
celebrated the fact the Bolton Wanderers were losing 4-0 away at Reading, I
also was taking a look around at the many plaques, displays and pennants in the
clubhouse.
The second half was very slow to
start. Benfield were playing defensively and didn’t want to lose the ball, and
the lead whereas Congleton just couldn’t get a foot hold in the game.
However, on seventy three minutes
Congleton pulled a goal back via a penalty kick, second of the day. Jack Graham
took the responsibility and scored. GAME ON!
Congleton really took the game to
Benfield now playing some tricky and attacking football. Spurred on by the Town
faithful I surely thought Congleton would at least pull one more goal back and make
the score line level.
Unfortunately though, Benfield
were as determined to win the game. With exactly three minutes to go Benfield
got their third and secured their place in the third round. Paul Brayson firing
his second goal into the net after side stepping his marker.
I have attached the match report
from the Non-League Paper bellow, just in case you fancy reading it.
After the game we didn’t stick
around too long. I went for a toilet stop and afterwards away to Walkergate
station we went. Again, I cannot stress enough my delight in the fact that the
Metro trams run every ten minutes. Thanks to this, we got on the Metro at
around 17:10 then swapped at Newcastle Central Station (I think) to get our
final tram back to Hebburn, both trams were again practically empty so there
was plenty of space for the three of us to take a seat and simply enjoy the
journey home. We arrived back at my Auntie’s at around 18:00, welcomed by the
smell of Peperoni Pizza – heaven.
The next day consisted of a
journey back down to Bolton, joy!
However, before leaving I did
have the chance to visit one more ground, Hebburn Town who play in Step Five of
Non-League. When deciding which fixture to go to on the Saturday I was tempted
to got to Hebburn, boy am I glad I didn’t. The ground is quite the opposite as
to what I was expecting. Again, I managed to enter the ground thanks to a
coaching session being taken place on the 3G pitch next door. It consisted of
only three sides, literally, one Main Stand and one sheltered area behind the
goal and from what I saw, offered no seating. Not what you expect from a Step
Five club!
The journey home was just as easy
as the journey there. With it being a Sunday I didn’t think traffic would’ve
been an issue and it wasn’t. Arriving home for ealy evening, after stopping off
for a beautiful KFC.
Overall, I really enjoyed my
weekend in the North East. It was good to see my relatives and was also good to
get some North Eastern ground hopping done. I would recommend three of the four
grounds that I visited, not recommending visiting Hebburn Town. Newcastle
Benfield are a very friendly football club and Sam’s Smith Park is a wonderful
ground and well worth a visit. I would like to wish Newcastle Benfield the best
of look in the next round away at Spennymore Town.
Photos of all the grounds can be
seen by clicked CLICK HERE bellow:
Gateshead F.C – Gateshead
International Stadium – CLICK HERE
West Allotment Celtic – Whitley
Park – CLICK HERE
Newcastle Benfield – Sam’s Smith
Park – CLICK HERE
Hebburn Town – Hebburn Sports
& Social Ground – CLICK HERE
Ground: - 8/10 – Good ground. Worth
the visit.
Programme:
- 5/10 (Quality for money) – Not
a bad effort.
Food:
- 6/10 - The Flying Cod. Alright, not good but not
bad.
Match: - 8/10 – Good game.
Another nice blog :) If you like AWP, then you will probably like another geordie comedy called 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads' great show
ReplyDeleteCheers Russ, glad you enjoyed reading it! I shall look at 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads' on YouTube now.
Delete