We are delighted to announce the appointment of Neil Drummond as Head of Junior Football at Heaton Stannington FC.

Neil comes to the Stan with a huge wealth of experience in the Junior game – having spent the last 10 years at Killingworth Young Peoples Club. He has worked in a number of roles including a Coach, Secretary, Chairman and will remain as a fully committed Trustee of the club. Neil has helped to significantly grow many areas including development of teams, facilities and working practices.

Both Neil and his Dad are currently season ticket holders at Grounsell Park and are already familiar faces around the Club. We are delighted to have someone of Neil’s experience on board to help guide us through the process of developing this new part of our Club.

On his appointment, Neil said:

“As a staunch supporter of the Stan I am delighted to have been asked to support the implementation of the Junior set up. The family aspect of the club is what made we want to be involved, both me and my Dad have been welcome since we set foot in ground to watch Senior football again almost 3 years ago now. I will give 100% and use my extensive knowledge to help get the juniors off the ground and enable the Stan to be successful in setting up a long-lasting Junior Club.”

Welcome to the Stan, Neil!

Heaton Stannington FC are excited to share with you our plans for Heaton Stan Juniors!

As part of our long term growth strategy, we have made the decision to begin the process of implementing a junior setup at the Club. Following sustained development of the first team, the Heaton Stan A team and the Club off the field in recent years, we feel this is the natural next step in further growing the Club in the local community.

The core objectives of Heaton Stan Juniors will be to:

• Provide a safe, inclusive and fun environment for kids to play football, regardless of ability.
• Establish ourselves as a key part of the local community.
• Inspire the next generation of Heaton Stan players, supporters and volunteers.

It is important to us that, as we grow, we continue to maintain the brilliant culture that exists at Grounsell Park. We have therefore developed the following Guiding Principles which we commit to following as we embark on this new journey:

1. Do things the right way, first time round. No “quick fixes” which we will need to correct later.
2. Set solid foundations for the future – people, facilities, teams, processes. Make sure they are workable and well organised.
3. Ensure we grow at a sustainable pace.
4. Integrate Heaton Stan Juniors into the Club. We are #OneClub and will live by that ethos.

The timeline we are aiming to work to reflects our guiding principle of “Do things the right way, first time round”:

• Season 2022/23 – focus will be on implementing the behind-the-scenes structures including securing a home for Heaton Stan Juniors and appointing key personnel into key roles.
• Season 2023/24 – aim will be to launch a number of teams in leagues.

We will release further details in due course as we navigate the next steps in this project. 

The Heaton Stan Committee

Our home fixture against Durham City will now be played on Friday 25th Feb at 19:30 instead of the Saturday. It would be great to see a good crowd under the lights of Grounsell Park! #FollowTheStan 

A special Christmas message from the management team. Have a great festive period from all at the Stan!

We are delighted to welcome Jason Chanayire to the Stan, who today has completed a transfer from Whitley Bay.

The 20 year old is a pacey winger/forward who also plays for Northumbria University.

Welcome to the Stan, Jason! 

We are delighted to confirm we will be arranging travel to Barnoldswick Town to see our FA Vase fixture, for Heaton Stan supporters. It would be great to take a strong following as we aim to reach the first round proper for the first time in 40 years.

Details are as follows …

Where?

Barnoldswick Town FC.

Barnoldswick is situated in Lancashire, north of Burnley. It is 111 miles from the Stan and the journey will take approx 2.5 hours each way.

When?

Saturday 25th September 2021 – kick off 3pm.

The coaches will depart between 10-11am and return approx 9pm. Exact times are to be confirned.

All those travelling will be able to securely park their cars at Grounsell Park.

Cost?

Cost is £20 per person. It will be a flat rate for each seat, regardless of age. This enables us to keep the price affordable for all supporters.

Covid-19 Guidelines

We ask everyone intending to travel to be respectful of others on this topic. We would like to set out the following guidance:

• Do not travel if you are feeling unwell or displaying any symptoms
• Do not travel if you are awaiting the result of a covid-19 test
• Do not travel if you have had a positive test result in the 14 days prior to the fixture
• We encourage those travelling to take a Lateral Flow Test (LFT) the day prior to travel. This is not a mandatory requirement for travel, but as a Club we support people taking a cautious approach and to think of others.
• Whilst there is no law requiring the use of face masks, we are supportive of those who choose to do so. We expect every travelling to respect each others choices in this regard

How do I book?

You can book now by visiting the online store below and ordering your seats! It promises to be a great day.

https://heatonstan.co.uk/product/barnoldswick-town-25-september-2021/

Alternatively if you don’t wish to use the online system, you can reserve your spot with a cash payment by seeing Scott Lyndon or James Colwill at our home games prior to the 25th.

Thanks for your ongoing support! #FOLLOWTHESTAN

We are delighted to confirm the appointment of Dean Nicholson as the new Manager of Heaton Stannington.

Dean demonstrated during the recruitment process that he has both the management qualities we are looking for and is aligned with our vision for taking the Club forward and to the next level. Dean will bring Andy McBride with him as Assistant Manager.

Chairman Bill Colwill said:
“It is with great pleasure and excitement that we welcome Dean to the Stan as our new Manager. His experience and knowledge within the league will be invaluable as we look forward to the forthcoming season.”

Dean has this to say about the opportunity:
“I’m absolutely delighted and honoured to be here as the manager of Heaton Stan. The club is in a fantastic place after lots of years of work from Derek and I am here to hopefully continue this onto the next level. I am bringing Andy with me and he comes with a brilliant local knowledge of the game. We are both thrilled to be given this opportunity and can’t wait to get started.”

We are in the process of finalising our pre-season schedule and will confirm our friendly fixtures soon!

#FollowTheStan #OneClub

It is disappointing to inform you that our football manager Derek Thompson has made his decision to call it a day.

Derek has been with the club as both a player and manager for almost 20 years. During that time he has had a great deal of success both on and off the pitch and was instrumental in our club achieving Northern League status.

On behalf of myself, the Committee and our supporters I would like to thank him for the tremendous work he has done during all of those years.

Bill Colwill
Chairman – Heaton Stannington FC