12.15pm 28 December 2020
Northern Alliance, Division OneFC United of Newcastle 0 Prudhoe Youth Club 1 (att 65)
My last game of 2020, and I suspect it could be well into 2021 before my next match as the prospect of another UK-wide lockdown, or a least a widening of areas placed into tier four, looms large.
I had hoped I might manage a couple of games on new grounds in the north east, but that was always a long shot based on the weather forecast. More realistic, with fixtures at various kick off times, was a single match, and that's what I got.
Early kick offs at Cramlington United and Rothbury soon fell to the freezing temperatures. The only other fixture that would have allowed time for a second match was at Newcastle Blue Star, but the kick off there was put back to allow the pitch more time to thaw.
I actually headed to Blue Star's ground first, but with parking at a premium and a long queue to get in over half-an-hour before kick off I headed instead to Wallsend, for what was scheduled as a midday kick off.
On arrival I was wishing I'd stuck with Blue Star, as the referee had ruled that FC United's main pitch wasn't fit and that the second pitch should be used. Then the groundhopping gods (whose existence I doubt) smiled on me ... the referee changed his mind and decided the main pitch was, after all, the better option.
That meant a delay to kick off, as white lines needed to be touched up and goalposts moved back into position, but at least meant I wouldn't be left with a nagging need to 'tidy up' my visit to the Langdale Centre ground.
The origins of FC United of Newcastle are a bit of a mystery to me. Northern Alliance clubs have a tendency to adopt new identities, sometimes mid-season, and as far as I can tell they previously played as Grainger Park.
A supporter-led alternative to Newcastle United is a laudable project, and the club has stamped it's identity, and its colours, around the ground. A crowd of 65 is well above the norm for the second level of the Northern Alliance, although the hundreds queuing to get into Newcastle Blue Star, a few miles away and just one division higher, suggest they have competition if they're going to become the established alternative to going to St James' Park.
On the pitch this season is something of a struggle, although they looked on course for a point against table-topping Prudhoe until the visitors got the game's only goal with five minutes left. A red card with 20 minutes to go hampered FC United, and they suffered a second dismissal in the final moments.
Prudhoe Youth Club had looked the better side, but on a heavy pitch with long grass there wasn't much between the teams, and a draw would have been a reasonable outcome.
The Langdale Centre was previously home to Wallsend Town FC, although they played elsewhere when I saw them at home in 2000. The main pitch is fenced off, with dugouts on the near side. There's no cover, although in the corner near the entrance there's a framework of a structure that could provide shelter if a roof was added.
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