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TT No.21: Mike Latham - Saturday 11 October 2014- Northern Football Alliance Division One: Wooler 2-4 Hexham; Admission: £1; No programme or refreshments; Attendance: 42 (h/c) |
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It’s a beautiful autumnal Saturday afternoon in Northumberland and the beaches are packed with dog walkers making the most of the weather. Inland the roads are quiet, even the usually busy A1 and the main street of Wooler has just a few locals going about their business. Wooler is in border country- the Scottish border is only a few miles to the north and the glorious remains of Norham and Etal castles a reminder of a turbulent past. The Flodden battlefield is close-by and worth a visit on its own. Wooler has a population of under 2,000 in a sparsely populated area close to the Cheviot Hills. There was once a railway station here but the infamous Dr Beeching put paid to that in the mid 1960s. Football has been played in Wooler since the 1880s and the club is currently playing at the highest level in all that time. Their first team left behind the North Northumberland League to try their luck in the Northern Football Alliance in 2012, a well-organised league of three divisions with an excellent website and earned promotion in their first season. The club also field a reserves team in the NNL so clearly they are a club of some substance especially as a respected junior set-up also operates from the ground. Already Wooler are in division one, or level 8 of the non league pyramid. That’s a big effort from a team at the geographic edge of the league. Today’s visitors are facing their longest journey of the season but long trips are commonplace for Wooler’s players. With a small population on which to draw players they are up against but a visit to their ground, with its many advertising signs shows that the local businesses are supporting their efforts. Wooler’s ground is a neat and well maintained enclosure situated to the south of the town, surrounded by a post and rail fence and with dug outs on either side. Along one side is a long and high hedge that shields it from an adjoining caravan park; the view inland is a glorious one with sheep-clad hills glistening in the sunshine. Both sides had endured a difficult start to the season and occupied two of the bottom three places in the league. The first-half was tense and tight and the chances of a goal looked slim. The second half was much better and Hexham, playing in green and white hoops eventually shaded an entertaining second half and took the spoils from their border raid back down the A1. Looking through various posts and groundhopping blogs I have yet to find a write-up of a visit to the Martins, just off Brewery Road. I’m sure, though, that I wasn’t the first groundhopper to visit here and I certainly won’t be the last. A visit to this delightful and historic area and friendly club comes highly recommended. |
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contributed on 11/10/14 |
