Heeding Out to Dunston
Dunston is a small district on the western edge of the city of Gateshead, or the Heed as it’s known locally.
It sits on the southern bank of the River Tyne and the Metrocentre is just over half a mile to the west.
This is where we would be heading for our football fix this weekend.
Dunston recently made headlines for all the wrong reasons and put them in the public eye.
When a hearse comes crashing into the stadium, spins doughnuts on the pitch and then people with a gun jump into another car and speed off, leaving the hearse in situ, it will have that effect.
The reason this was done, was the targeting of an individual who has actually been nothing to do with Dunston football club for some years now.
I don’t want this story to distract from the club itself but it would be remiss of me not to mention it, with it being so recent and such a big story.
Four people have been arrested since the incident took place.
Suffice to leave the video here and move on to our excellent day in Dunston…
The Journey
This was a really easy journey to make, so we were able to have a lie-in, which always makes for a happier Mr Hopper.
We called into Greggs for the obligatory pastries before heading off to catch the 10:55 X1 to Gateshead.
Of course, it wasn’t meant to be 10:55, that’s just when it decided to show up…
Once on board, the journey went smoothly (apart from pastry crumbs) and we were at Gateshead Interchange by 11:44.
We then found the correct stand for the X66 Metrocentre shuttle, which runs every ten minutes. A very short wait later and we were on our way.
Ten minutes later, we were in Dunston and were dropped off outside our chosen watering hole for the day.
Dunston – Pre-Game
The Tudor Rose
I’m not sure if the Tudor exterior of the building is mock or original but my instinct says mock. Either way, it looks nice and the interior was good, too.
The bar is immediately opposite the door replete with stools and lots of seating around the long room.
Around the corner is a pool table and a dartboard.
We ordered our drinks, a Strongbow Dark Fruits for me and Moretti for Mrs Hopper. Coming to a total of £8.70.
The friendly barmaid chatted to us for quite a while before we went off to have a game of pool. The kind lady even gave us the money to play a game on her.
After soundly whipping Mrs Hopper, we found a table and sat down with our drinks.
While we were there, the England v Colombia Women’s World Cup quarter-final was on the TV. We watched England progress to the semi-finals before moving on to the Dunston ground.
Dunston – UTS Stadium Exterior
A ten-minute walk brought us to the UTS Stadium, home of Dunston UTS.
To be fair, there isn’t a lot to see or say about the exterior of the UTS Stadium.
This is because it is boxed in with trees on the two sides, a car park at one end and club buildings at the other end.
There are a couple of old gates leading into the car park, though.
It was while I was photographing these gates, that we got our first taste of what a friendly club this is.
A club official noticed me taking an interest in them and got talking to me. I told him what I was doing and he said he would take me to someone who knows more about the club and its history.
Dunston – UTS Stadium Interior
On the right side of the car park, there is a little turnstile set into the fence that surrounds the ground.
The admission fee was £10.00 per person and was payable via cash or card.
After paying the fee, the gentleman took us to the far end of the ground and introduced us to Malcolm James.
Malcolm just happens to be the ex-chairman and has been at the club since the seventies.
We had a nice chat with him until he was dragged away on another conversation but not before he was kind enough to give me his telephone number if I had further questions.
What a nice man!
Friendly Folks Abound
In fact, Dunston UTS was a very friendly place in general.
Quite a few different people said hello as we were walking around. There was also the club photographer, Kelvin Shell, who I have exchanged tweets with on Twitter, or should I call it X now?
We managed to catch up with him at halftime and had a little chat.
Including the story of how he came up from Buckinghamshire to the northeast for a holiday and never went back…
You can check out some of Kelvin’s fantastic work on Flickr via this link.
Anyway, back to the stadium!
I will start from the opposite end of the ground to the turnstile, which is where we now found ourselves after the impromptu meeting.
West End
The west end of the ground is the social hub of Dunston UTS.
This is where the players have their dressing rooms and also where the club’s social bar and club shop are located. There is also a snack bar, picnic tables and toilets at this end of the ground.
South Side
The south side is where the coaching staff and substitutes are located during the match.
The home and away dugouts sit in front of a covered section of terracing known as the Tommy Cooney Stand. The structure spans the halfway line, roughly the breadth of the centre circle.
Personally, I wouldn’t stand in here simply because the dugouts partially obstruct the view of the pitch.
I don’t think I’m the only one either, because there were plenty of cobwebs brushing into me as I attempted to get photographs.
Having said that, I’d race under here in a downpour…
East End
Back at the eastern end of the ground is an open space with no structures.
This is the end where the fence was damaged during the incident against Gateshead and it’s good to see that both the pitch and the fence have been restored to full health.
Fair play to the club for getting everything back to normal in good time for the season opener!
The car park is behind the blue fence in the photograph below.
The only other thing of note at this end is the turnstile in the far corner.
North Side
The north side of the ground is where the main stand is situated.
This is a covered stand that seats approximately 150 spectators in a mix of long wooden benches with blue plastic seats sandwiched in the middle.
Like its opposite number on the other side of the pitch, this structure roughly spans the centre circle.
A small white room completes the make-up of the stand and is presumably used by the media team and stadium announcer.
There are eight floodlights on the ground, with four at either side of the pitch, which is of natural grass.
A blue rail fence and a path surround the playing surface.
The overall capacity at the UTS Stadium is 2,500.
Although, they did manage to squeeze an extra twenty people in for the club’s record attendance of 2,520. This came in 2019 when they were again facing local neighbours, Gateshead in an FA Cup game.
Dunston – UTS Stadium Gallery
Dunston – Pre-Game View of the UTS Stadium
Dunston – Social Club
After completing a tour around the ground, we headed to the club shop to pick up a pin badge.
Be warned, in this section of the ground, only cash is accepted.
Disappointed we headed to the social club, where credit cards are accepted.
We ordered a couple of pints of Carling, which cost £6.80 and asked if they did cash back. They don’t but in keeping with our overall experience at Dunston, they went out of their way to help us.
One of the ladies behind the bar told the other barmaid to charge us an extra £3.00 and told us she would get us a pin badge from the shop. She duly delivered and a big thank you to her, too.
The club has three TV screens, which were showing horse racing and the Arsenal v Nottingham Forest game. It has a very modern feel to it without being pretentious and a liberal scattering of club memorabilia adorns the walls.
A gentleman came around the club distributing the teamsheets for today’s game, which was a nice touch.
Teamsheet
After downing our pints, we went back outside in time for the teams to come onto the pitch.
Dunston v Bridlington Town – The Game
Form
Last season, Dunston narrowly missed out on the end-of-season playoffs. They finished three points behind fifth-placed Stocksbridge Park Steels and will be hoping to improve on that this season.
In pre-season games, they have faced some decent opposition.
After facing a couple of Northern League teams, they earned a creditable 2-2 draw at home to National League South team Dartford. They then went on to beat NPL Premier League team, Morpeth Town (Hopper Tales #47) 3-2 at Craik Park.
Last weekend was a little more disappointing for the Feds, as they lost 5-0 at home to Workington AFC (Hopper Tales #64) also of the NPL Premier Division.
Their North Yorkshire opponents, Bridlington Town, finished last season in fourteenth position (of twenty).
They were just five points clear of the relegation zone and will be looking for a year of consolidation.
In pre-season games, the Seasiders have had mixed fortunes. A 5-0 win at Beverley Town was followed by a 1-5 reverse at Scarborough Athletic. Another heavy 5-0 defeat followed at home to Worksop Town and another 5-1 loss to a Hull City XI. (Hopper Tales #58)
Three home wins put them back on track but last week they were knocked out of the FA Cup at the first attempt, by Bishop Auckland (Hopper Tales #27) of the Northern League.
My pre-match prediction was a 3-0 win for the hosts. (Nearly!)
Kick-Off
First Half Summary
Dunston edged the possession in a tight first half and took the lead after just ten minutes through Jack Maskell. I managed to catch this goal on video.
It took Bridlington twenty-five more minutes to pull level. A long-range effort from Andrew Norfolk got the Seasiders on level terms as we headed into the break.
Halftime – Dunston UTS 1 Bridlington Town 1
The first job at halftime was to pull out my phone and check to see how Stoke were getting on.
An away fixture at newly-promoted Ipswich Town didn’t fill me with optimism and I would have happily taken a draw back from Portman Road.
Alas, it wasn’t to be and a 1-0 deficit at halftime had doubled by full time.
A disappointing comedown after a bright start to the season but with so many new players in the squad, setbacks have to be expected while the team gels.
Oh well! Back to the matter at hand.
Second Half Summary
The second half was another tight affair but it was Dunston who deservedly took the three points.
Dunston re-took the lead with a goal from Dale Pearson, which I also managed to catch on video.
Bridlington fought hard and earned four bookings over the ninety minutes but with time running out, the home side deservedly sealed the win with a second goal from Jack Maskell.
This goal came late into injury time and sealed the opening-day win for Dunston and the man-of-the-match award for Maskell.
You can read a full Match Report here, taken from the Dunston website.
Full-time – Dunston 3 Bridlington Town 1
Attendance – 215
Entrance Fee – £10.00 at the gate
Programme – Teamsheet & digital programme only
Dunston v Bridlington Town – Match Highlights
Up Next
Next up for Dunston, is an away trip to Ossett United in the NPL East on Tuesday, before attention switches to the FA Cup on Saturday 19th August.
They will face a tricky away tie at Northern Counties East League Premier Division outfit, Knaresborough Town.
On the 26th of August, a return to UTS Stadium sees them face Consett in the NPL.
Meanwhile, Bridlington Town’s next opponent will be Grimsby Borough on August 15th. As they are already out of the FA Cup, they have no game next Saturday.
They have a manic spell of three games in six days to round off August. Starting on the 23rd with an away trip to Stockton Town, followed by a home game against Liversedge on the 26th. Just two days later another away trip sees them face off against Winterton Rangers
Thoughts
Normally, I don’t use the sponsored name of the grounds, as I’m not a fan. In the case of Dunston, UTS Engineering Ltd has done so much for the club financially, that it is only fitting to do so.
They came in to support the club at a time when they had lost their main sponsorship from the Federation Brewery and it has allowed the club to progress since they first came on board in 2009.
For the record, the ground’s original name is Wellington Road.
This is clearly a well-loved club by all the hard-working volunteers behind the scenes and it was a shame to see the club’s reputation wrongly dragged through the mud.
They have put the incident behind them now and so should the rest of the footballing world. Let the football do the talking again from here on in, as it should be!
This is a very friendly place to come and watch football and a big thank you to everyone who made us feel welcome.
One observation from me that the club could change, is to get a credit card machine in the club shop to bring it in line with the rest of the ground and cut out the confusion. If cash or credit card is accepted at any sales point, then everyone can spend their money, plastic or otherwise.
As a traditionalist, I would also like to see them bring back some kind of physical programme. They don’t have to be fancy, just a reminder of games attended really.
Two small changes that could improve the experience for fans even more, but overall, Dunston is a great place to visit.
Dunston – After the Game
Following the end of the game, we made our way out through the car park and turned right along Dunston Road. A short walk led us to the nearest bus stop to catch the #49 bus back into Gateshead.
Back in Gateshead, we found our relevant stand and were lucky enough to find our bus waiting for us.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Didn’t someone use that phrase before somewhere…
I don’t remember where but I do know we were feeling like the A-Team as we rode back for an early homecoming.
In fact, we cut the journey short at Houghton and did some food shopping, before completing the journey on the next X1 and still arrived home before seven o’clock.
Next Up for Hoppers Guide
Next week is an exciting one for us and also a little intimidating!
After travelling around Scotland and the northeast reviewing grounds, we will be travelling down to the Midlands to see family.
The game we have chosen is my own team, Stoke City!
Reviewing my own club feels a little overwhelming, so I hope I can nail it. Imagine if I get that one badly wrong…
With a whole new squad of players on display at the Bet365 this season, it will be interesting to see how we fare. There are some exciting flair players among the signings and if the team can gel quickly, we could be in for an interesting season. Something that hasn’t happened since a couple of years before our relegation from the Premier League.
The opponents certainly won’t be making things easy, as Watford are another well-established club on the yo-yo ride between Championship and Premier League.
Excited for this one… Onto the next!
