Heaton Stannington Members Newsletter – January 2024

Good evening, yes it’s evening as I’m writing this, but it may well be morning, or even the afternoon when I finish it, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I mean it might be the morning when you read this, but let’s not get bogged down in that and welcome once again to the members newsletter.

Firstly, welcome to our newest member Mark Baston. Reg has finally persuaded him to part with some of his referee fees to join the club. Well done Reg.

Football Update

Thanks to the weather over the last few months there isn’t anywhere near as much to update here as we’d like. It’s been like a football drought and at one point the Junior teams who play at Paddy Freeman’s and the Sunday team had their seasons suspended.

Once resumed though the Sunday team won their first game back 5-1 away Westerhope United to reach the next round of the cup. Unfortunately their next game was postponed because of yes you guessed, the weather.

There has also been a resumption for the juniors, two of the main highlights being the Under 9 whites getting their first win and the Under 17’s demolishing Benfield 15-0.

The A team also haven’t seen as much action as usual. Following a commanding win away at North Sunderland they faced a very tough test against high flying Amble taking the points with a 4-1 to maintain their place at the top of the table.

Saturday saw the lads taking on Whitley Bay Sporting Club in the semi final of the Amateur Cup. A 6-0 win saw them comfortably book their place in the final.

The First Team have also been hampered by the weather with postponements left, right and centre. But we have managed to get a few games in recently. First up we gained some revenge for Penrith away by beating them 3-2 at home, those of us who made the trip over to Cumbria really enjoyed it, really enjoyed it.

Next we were away down A19 to Seaham Redstar. Never an easy place to go a solid performance saw us take all 3 points with a 2-1 win.

We were away again the following Wednesday as we visited North Shields as they recommenced their season after a few off fields troubles. An outstanding performance saw us take the points with 4 goals and a clean sheet.

And we were on our travels again 3 days later as we piled on the coach to Carlisle City. I think most agreed 0-0 would have been a fair result in a very evenly matched game, but Carlisle bundled a goal in to nick the points.

Last Saturday finally saw us return to Grounsell Park for some footy action and a bumper crowd of 439 saw us come back from a goal down to beat Northallerton 2-1. At the time of writing we sit in 6th position just outside the play off spots with loads of games in hand. Deep breathe George, deep breathe.

Next up for the first team is a trip to the coast on Saturday to take on Whitley Bay. If you can make it please do come along and give the lads your backing. We had a brilliant contingent there last season and it would be great to see the same at the weekend.

Comedy Night

Following the success of the first comedy night we will be hosting another one on the 29th February. Again it will feature your regular MC plus 3 top comics from the circuit for the bargain price of £10. Jamie and Neil have recovered enough from the last time and have already bought their tickets and the tickets are selling well, so best to get in there quick to avoid disappointment.

Click here to buy yours.

Temecula Friendly

On Friday 9th February we will be welcoming Temecula FC of the National Premier Soccer* League which is the fourth tier of the American soccer* pyramid.

They were formed in 2013 and are based in southern California and start their tour of the North East with a game at Consett, so will be coming to us for a bit of warm weather training.

On seeing the announcement Kevin Mochrie and George Clark were seen to be moved to tears, it was only later that we realised it was because they’d seen their kit.

Football Taster Session

Stan Juniors are running a taster session aimed at Reception and Year 1 aged children. It will take place on Saturday 27 Jan 1-2pm at Walker Dome. £3 per child. Please e-mail juniors@heatonstan.co.uk for more info and to book. Spaces are limited!

Ground Maintenance Volunteers

We are launching a new Whatsapp group whereby we can notify volunteers when we require help with maintenance tasks around the ground. Pitch repairs, painting, gardening, cleaning … we need your help. Join here: