Hello and welcome to April’s Heaton Stannington member newsletter. There’s a lot to tell you this month so grab a drink of your choice and strap yourself in.      

Football update

Since the last update the first team have played a fair few games and still sit proudly atop the Ebac Northern League Division 2.

You can read all the latest match reports and see Joe Street’s fantastic photos here.

Two particular highlights though were the home win against our main contenders at the time Easington Colliery, which saw the lads come back from 2-1 down late in the game to win with a dramatic injury time penalty. Also of note was a sterling performance on Saturday away at Newcastle University which kept us in the driving seat for promotion. There were about 150 Stan fans at Prudhoe which was absolutely fantastic to see. The lads really appreciate all the support they’ve had this season and we’d really like to see as many as possible down at Easington on the 30th April when we hopefully wrap up the title and promotion to the first division. Details of the coach travel we’re putting on are below and you can book your seat on the coach at the online shop here.

After a fantastic result away to Newcastle Blue Star Reserves the A team unfortunately went out of the of the Bill Gardner Cup at the Quarter Final stage against Wideopen. 

They’ll be hoping to bounce straight back on Wednesday night when they face you guessed it, Wideopen in the league. The bar will be open so why not pop down and give the lads your support.

Events

Away from the football there are a few events to make you aware of.

On the 19th May we welcome former Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Wales goalkeeper Mark Crossley to the clubhouse where he’ll be regaling us with many of his stories from his career, I think we can count on there being a few about Brian Clough so it should prove entertaining. Tickets are £15 which includes Pie and Peas. Support comes from our very own Mr Gavin Webster. I’ll leave it there before I slip too much into Phoenix Nights mode but you can book your tickets here.

The second event to mention is that on Saturday 4th June we will be holding a fun day in honour of the Queens Jubilee year.  All are welcome to attend and there will be a bouncy castle, hot dogs, games or the children and lots more. Hopefully the weather will hold out and it will be a great day for everyone so come along and join us.

The final event to mention for now is becoming a regular one. As you may have heard we have once again been voted Club of the Year by Tyneside Camra’s  Club of the Year.  

There will be a presentation on Friday 27th May at 8pm, where all will be welcome.

Merchandise

Back on the football front we’ll be restocking the merchandise ready for summer, which a range of polo shirts, t-shirts and bucket hats heading up some of our new items that will be incoming soon. Keep an eye out on our comms so you can keep up to date with what the thinking person is wearing in NE6 this summer.

A Word of Thanks

Finally, as we’ve not played our last home game of the season we simply can’t let it pass by without thanking each and every one of those of you who have attended and match this season, be it home, away or both. I’ve put some stats below to show what a dramatic increase we’ve seen this year based on previous sesasons, but it’s safe to say it’s blown all the volunteers and committees minds over the season. The 532 for the last match against Easington we predicted, but it’s fair to say the 455 against Washington took everyone by surprise. I regularly shout of for people to travel to away games and it’s true, the players really do thrive off the big gates, so seeing our regular travelling band of supporters grow over the season has been both fantastic and very much appreciated and I think Barnoldswick will long live in the memory of those that went. Come and join us at Easington and helps us do our bit to help the lads over the line.

 

On that note we’ll say goodbye for another month, keep everything crossed for the lads on the 30th and if you can make it please come along a cheer the lads. It could be a historic day for the club, don’t miss out on it.