Date: Wednesday 30th January 2019
Venue: Grounsell Park, Newton Road, High Heaton, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7HP
Kick Off: 7.30pm
Competition: Techflow Marine Group Northumberland Senior Cup
Highlights: Highwaymen TV
Morpeth enter the Northumberland Senior Cup when they make the short trip to face Northern League side Heaton Stannington on Wednesday evening.
History
Although officially founded in 1910, Heaton Stannington were in existence by 1903 and 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 fifth in division 2 of the Newcastle and District Amateur League. In December 1904, they resigned from the league with the reserves also appearing to have resigned from the Northern Amateur League (NAL) and there is no further record of the team until 1910. This suggests that they might have folded and then reformed nearly six years later. The summer of 1910 saw Heaton Stannington 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 and NAL Division Two 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 One and gained their first trophies in 1934 and 1936 when they won the Tynemouth Infirmary Minor Cup and NAL Challenge Cup respectively. The first glory season came in 1936-37 when the club won NAL Division One, were Northumberland Amateur Cup winners and NAL Challenge Cup runners up. The reserves were also NAL Division Two runners up. For one season, 1938-39, the Stan participated in the Tyneside League and were runners up. By the 1930s 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, both on and off the pitch, by Bob Grounsell. One of the most memorable matches played there took place in July 2012 when Heaton Stannington were beaten 4-0 by the Gabon national side. This warm-up match for the Olympics included an appearance by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
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 Heaton Stannington were elected, until 1946, as a non-playing member as their ground was being used by the military. After 5 consecutive bottom three finishes, the club resigned at the end of the 1951-52 season and joined the Northern Alliance until 1956.
The next 16 seasons included involvement in the NAL (1956-59), North Eastern League (1959-60) and the Northern Combination (1960-72). In 1972 the club stepped up to the Wearside League and remained there for ten years. They were forced to resign from the league in 1982 for financial reasons due to the club trustees, who had formed a limited company in 1968, putting the annual rent up from £400 to £1500. The company then tried to build a supermarket on the ground but the planning application was defeated. In 1983 the High Court ruled that the ground belonged to the football club and 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 which was only their second league title up to this point. The next 2 seasons were spent back in the NAL where they were champions in 1985-86 as well as wining the Northumberland Minor Cup and 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 One, the Stan achieved stability by spending 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 not only retaining the title but by also winning the Northern Alliance League Cup and the Northumberland Senior Benevolent Bowl.
For season 2013-14, after a gap of 61 years, the Stan returned to the Northern League. They were in the promotion race throughout the season and finished fifth. In their second season back, they finished ninth and qualified for the FA Cup for the first time in 39 years. Season 2015-16 saw the Stan again finish ninth and they also reached the semi-final of the Northumberland Senior Cup against Blyth Spartans. In the league there was a memorable 3-2 home win over champions South Shields. In 2016-17, the Stan surprised many by just missing out on promotion in the 2nd last game of the season, coming fourth after winning 11 games in a row starting in January. Last season they were again in the promotion race until the second last match, ending fifth.
Since the club gained promotion to the Northern League, improvements have been made to Grounsell Park including floodlights and a stand. These complement the existing facilities which include a bar serving real ale with the club being voted CAMRA Tyneside club of 2018. Much of the recent success is a result of the commitment and work of manager Derek Thompson along with the support of an increasingly large band of volunteers.
Last Match
The Stan were in league action on Saturday and travelled to Ryton and Crawcrook. In a completely forgettable game, the only goal arrived in spectacular fashion through Connor Campbell to give the visitors all three points.
The Highwaymen were in action at Stocksbridge Park Steels on Saturday and came away with a comprehensive 4-0 result. A brace from David Carson, the first a penalty and his second a strike from the edge of the area came before Liam Henderson and Joe Walton headed home.
