A Brief History of Heaton Stannington

Although officially founded in 1910, the Stan were in existence by 1903 playing at Miller’s Lane on the site of the current Fossway. The club name originates from its links with the Stannington Avenue area of Heaton. In 1903-04 they finished 5th in the Newcastle & District Amateur League division 2. In December 1904, they resigned from the league with the reserves also doing so from the Northern Amateur League (NAL) & the absence of football records between 1906 & 1910 suggests that they folded & reformed.

The summers of 1909 & 1910 saw the Stan field a cricket team. The next football match played by the Stan appears to have been on 24th September 1910 when they were beaten 4-1 by Sandyford. From at least 1913, home games were taking place at Paddy Freeman’s Park. The club played friendly matches until joining the Tyneside Minor League in 1913 & NAL Division 2 in 1914. The club were elected to membership of the Northumberland FA (NFA) on 10 September 1914, just over a month after the start of the First World War. The Stan stopped playing until 1919 as at a NFA emergency meeting on 24 November 1914 it was announced that the club were unable to take part in a Minor cup replay ‘on account of not being able to raise a team as so many of their members had joined the army.’

The club spent the next 19 years in NAL Division 1 and gained their first trophy in 1934 when they won the Tynemouth Infirmary Cup. The first glory season came in 1936-37 when the club won NAL Division 1 & were Northumberland Amateur Cup winners & NAL Challenge Cup runners up. The reserves were also NAL Division 2 runners up. For one season, 1938-39, the Stan participated in the Tyneside League & were runners up. From 1919 the team were playing at the Coast Road ground. In October 1935, they started playing at Newton Park in High Heaton on the site of a recently filled-in quarry. In 2007, the ground was renamed Grounsell Park in honour of the service given by Bob Grounsell. In 2025 it was renamed Willow Park. In July 2012 the Stan hosted the Gabon national side, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, & were beaten 4-0 in an Olympic warm-up match.

The club were elected to the Northern League in 1939. They only managed one season in the league before it was suspended for the duration of the Second World War. The league restarted in 1945 but the Stan were elected, until 1946, as a non-playing member as their ground was being used by the military. After 5 consecutive bottom 3 finishes, the club resigned at the end of the 1951-52 season & joined the Northern Alliance until 1956. The next 16 seasons included involvement in the NAL (1956-59), North Eastern League (1959-60) & the Northern Combination (1960-72). In 1972 they stepped up to the Wearside League & remained there for 10 years. They were forced to resign in 1982 for financial reasons as the club trustees, who had formed a limited company in 1968, put the annual rent up from £400 to £1500. They planned to sell the ground to allow a supermarket to be built but the planning application was defeated. In 1983 the High Court ruled that the ground belonged to the football club & the company had to relinquish ownership.

The team played in the Tyneside Amateur League (TAL) during 1982-83 as Heaton United. Back as Heaton Stannington, they won the TAL in 1983-84, only their 2nd league title up to this point. The next 2 seasons were spent back in the NAL. In 1985-86 they were champions & won the Northumberland Minor Cup & the C&E Injections Service Shield. For the next 27 years the club were in the Northern Alliance, which became a 3-tier league in 1988 and saw the Stan placed in the Premier Division. After two relegations to Division 1, the Stan spent 9 seasons in the Premier Division. The club won their highest level league trophy when they became Champions in 2012. In 2012-13, they achieved the treble by retaining the title & also winning the Northern Alliance League Cup & the Northumberland Senior Benevolent Bowl.

From 1911 to the financial crisis of 1982, the club had a reserve team. It played much of the inter war years in the North Eastern Amateur League before rejoining the NAL on & off for nearly 50 years. A reserve side was re-established in 2019 by Russell Ward. In their 1st season, they reached the final of the Neville Cowey (4th tier) Cup, but it was not played due to covid & in 20-21 they won it & were also promoted to Division 2. In 23-24 they won Division 2 & were Amateur Cup runners up, & in 24-45 they were promoted to the Premiership after finishing Division 1 runners up & they also won the Combination Cup. 2023 saw the launch of a junior section, which now has over 150 participants, & for this season an Academy has been established.

For season 2013-14, after a 61 year gap, the Stan returned to the Northern League & finished 5th. They then finished 9th for the next 2 seasons. In 2016-17, the Stan surprised many by just missing out on promotion in the 2nd last game of the season, coming 4th after winning 11 games in a row starting in January. In 2017-18 & 2018-19 they were again in the promotion race until the 2nd last match, ending 5th and 4th respectively. Due to covid, the 2019-20 season was declared null & void with the Stan still challenging for promotion in 5th place after 28 games. The 2020-21 season was also abandoned after 12 games & the Stan lost out on promotion which was based on average points per game over the last 2 seasons.

In June 21, Dean Nicholson became manager replacing Derek Thompson who had been in the job since 2003. Dean gained promotion in his 1st season. After being top of the league for most of 2021-22, the Stan missed out on winning the title on goal difference but were promoted to division 1 via the play-offs after defeating Tow Law 2-1 in the final. In 22-23 the Stan finished 8th in division 1. History was made when the club were promoted in 23-24 to Northern Premier East League, the 4th tier of non-league, after beating West Auckland 3-0 in the play-off final in front of a record crowd of 2107. As well as retaining tier 4 status in 24-25 by finishing 12th, the Stan finished off a great season winning the Northumberland Senior Cup in front of 3841 fans at St James’ Park.

Since the club returned to the Northern League, major ground improvements have taken place. The ground hosts lots of community events & the serving of real ale has led to the club being voted CAMRA Tyneside club of 2018, 2020 & 2022-2025. The club depends on volunteers & new ones are very welcome.