A working trip to Darlington and Newcastle gives me the excuse to visit a clutch of Northern League clubs. This league is allegedly the second oldest in the world. The geography of the league suggests that local derbies are the norm.
Marske united have a small ground on the edges of this coastal town. Even with a map downloaded from the website of the club (that is impressive) one needs either satellite navigation or orienteering skills to find the entrance. The reason being that the ground is surrounded on 2 sides by houses such that where the ground stops the gardens begin. The prospect of having a football ground complete with high netting fences to catch the many wayward balls at the bottom of the garden is a two edged sword. The ground itself is a simple affair. A small yellow coloured stand dominates because there is nothing else. The pitch is surrounded by railings and behind these grass areas on which to stand. A few miles up the A1M motorway lays Chester-le-street the home of the local side the “Cestrians” who play at Moor Park. Finding this ground is virtually impossible without instructions from the website. Essentially one drives along the town bypass road until a pub “The Chester Moor” is spotted on one side of the road. One then has to pull into the pub car park to find the ground which is adjacent. I have no idea of crowd sizes for home games here but imagine that even filling the car park and the little access road and the spaces at the end of that road, behind the main stand, would not allow 100 cars. Otherwise one is left with the prospect of parking on a bust dual carriageway. Logic suggests an average crowd of below 100 hardy souls. The ground itself from the outside seems a little unkempt. The sign stating that this is Moor Park and the club was founded in 1972 is almost unreadable with most writing washed away. The social club behind the goal looks a derelict building and the rear of the terracing fence has clearly also seen better times. The conundrum though is that once inside the ground is a fabulous and atmospheric place. A decent sized main stand provides seating for maybe 100. The majority of the ground is uncovered terracing. Opposite the main stand is a small covered stand that runs about half the length of the pitch but with room maybe for spectators to stand 2-3 deep at most and is really a metal fence with an overhang attached. Behind the far goal is essentially uncovered terrace with a small overhang at the rear providing a semblance of cover and the other goal is open terrace with a very small overhang to the fence. The” covered” terrace is a decent sized stand behind the goal that is covered with slippery leaves. What makes the atmosphere is the backdrop to the ground with trees surrounding the ground on all sides and indeed there is a small forest on one side. The third Northern League ground to be captured in this particular ground fest is that of Darlington Railway. Yet again a club website gives simple instructions as to where the ground is. The ground lies essentially in amongst a residential area and look fairly new. A new looking wooden fence separates the ground from the road. Immediately inside the ground there is a small covered seater stand behind the nearest goal that has a mixture of brightly coloured seats with no more than 50 capacity. The remainder of the ground is uncovered and is essentially the same as most grounds in for example the Combined Counties League. Railings separate pitch from spectators and there are paving stones that create space to stand all around the pitch. The ground has of course houses visible on all sides. In reality a pleasant functional ground but with little novel atmosphere with an impression given of having been built recently.