Ryton & Crawcrook in the Dry Season
This weekend saw us heading to Ryton & Crawcrook Albion’s Kingsley Park, or in sponsored terms, the Oldhaulage Stadium.
This would be our second attempt at reviewing Kingsley Park, as we attempted to do so during last year’s Monsoon Season.
Having originally planned to visit Bedlington Terriers, when their game was called off we checked the local fixtures on Futbology. Having double-checked that the game was still on, we headed from Newcastle to Crawcrook.
As we got off the bus, I checked again and found this game too, had been called off while we were travelling.
We decided to head to the ground anyway, as it wasn’t far from the bus stop and we headed for the clubhouse.
We enjoyed a couple of pints with the staff before heading back home and it whet my appetite to return. The ground had looked pretty good for this level and had a great clubhouse.
So, let’s see if we can actually get ninety minutes of football on top of the friendly welcome this time…
The Journey
Our journey started with the 11:08 X1 to Newcastle, which was due to get us into Crawcrook at 13:08.
The bus arrived a couple of minutes late and by the time we got to the Galleries at Washington, the bus was quite a few minutes behind schedule.
As we approached Gateshead, it was announced that the bus would go no further than Gateshead and that a waiting bus would take us the rest of the way. Apparently, this was done to allow them to get buses back on schedule but it made no sense to me.
Surely, the bus that was waiting for us could have already started the journey that our bus had been allotted to do?
Oh well, bus journey planning is clearly above my pay grade…
We boarded the second bus and finished our journey to Newcastle’s Eldon Square bus station at 12:30. By now, we had missed our planned bus but luckily, they run quite regularly and the #10A, due at 12:42, duly pulled in at 12:50.
We finally arrived in Crawcrook at 13:50, meaning we didn’t go to the Fox & Hounds pub, as planned but straight to the ground instead.
Something else happened during the journey, too…
Officially the Official
Somewhere along the way, the bus stopped and I saw a young guy with an FA badge on his tracksuit top. I said to Mrs Hopper, “I wonder if he is going to be our referee today?”
Turns out, that’s exactly who he was.
Nathan Alexander was a friendly guy and after he made the terrible mistake of sitting in the seat behind us, he was collared into chatting football for the rest of the journey.
He told us this would be his first ever game in charge at this level (10th tier of English football), although he has run the line a few times in Division One.
What a random encounter and what a nice young man – he even let me take a mugshot to prove our chance meeting. 😂
Ryton & Crawcrook
Ryton and Crawcrook are two conjoined villages on the south bank of the River Tyne.
Located seven miles to the west of Newcastle, Ryton is the closest to the city, with Crawcrook listed by Google as eight miles away.
Both villages form part of the county of Tyne & Wear and come under the jurisdiction of the Borough of Gateshead.
It’s difficult to gauge the two villages’ populations, as for some reason, they fall under different areas for Census purposes. The population of the Ryton/Crookhill/Stella area is listed in the 2021 Census as having 8,822 residents, while the Crawcrook/Greenside population was 7,554.
Ryton’s economy grew on farming and, surprise, surprise… coal mining.
As early as the Roman occupation, mining was taking place in the Ryton and Crawcrook area, although it didn’t become more extensive until the thirteenth century.
Clara Vale Colliery (1893-1966), Addison Colliery (1864-1963), Emma Colliery (1843-1968) and Stargate Colliery (1800-1963) were sunk near the two villages and provided much employment for the area until their closure.
Stargate Colliery was the scene of a dreadful accident in 1826 when a methane explosion caused the death of thirty-eight people, including eighteen boys as young as ten. The pit was closed until 1840 when it was reopened.
Ryton and the surrounding areas south of Hadrian’s Wall were subject to attack by Scottish raiders and it is said William Wallace led one such attack in 1297, burning the village to the ground. Another attack, led by David II of Scotland was recorded in 1346.
Nowadays, Ryton and Crawcrook are mainly commuter areas for people travelling into the cities of Gateshead and Newcastle.
Notable People from Ryton/Crawcrook
Golfer, Ralph Moffitt; Footballer, Derek Craig; Furniture pioneer, George Hepplewhite; and the man known as Everton’s greatest ever manager, Howard Kendall. He was also a decent player and spent two seasons with my team, Stoke City.
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion – Kingsley Park
We left the bus with our referee friend and made the short walk down the hill to Kingsley Park.
RACA manager, Nathan Beckham had kindly got in touch with us on social media the day before and told us to give our names at the gate and he would get us in free of charge.
What a gentleman!
Getting In
Of course, it would have gone smoother if he had remembered to tell the man on the entrance gate…
We explained to him and showed him the message from Nathan. Although he had already told us to go on through, without the proof needed, I felt better for showing him.
Normally, the entrance fee is £5.00 and can be paid by either cash or card.
After entering, we bought a bunch of raffle tickets to make up for the free entry. (We never win.)
Unfortunately, no programmes were available, although, it seems this is new for this season.
Another tale of dwindling sales, high costs and problems getting someone to write the content every week. An all too familiar tale, sadly.
While Mrs Hopper retired to the clubhouse to get us a drink, I did my circuit of the ground.
After entering on the eastern side, I will start my review from the northern end of the ground.
North End
The northern end of Kingsley Park is just a fence and some trees, with a solitary floodlight to one side of the goal.
West Side
The western side has three more floodlights and at the southern end, there is a covered standing area.
I found it quite amusing that a solitary office chair was placed inside. I wonder if this is a regular Albion fan’s spot or if it’s just the chair that time forgot.
South End
The southern end contains the biggest spectator structure at Kingsley Park.
A covered stand sits behind the goal and it’s a mixture of plastic seats and bench seating. Although, we were told an amusing tale of why there are more benches than seats.
More on that soon.
East Side
The eastern side is where we entered the ground. It is also the side that houses the dressing rooms and clubhouse.
There are also some bus shelter-style standing areas on top of the bank, as well as the Scran Van.
On the lesser-used side of the clubhouse, is an all-weather training pitch area.
Steps lead down from the dressing rooms to the pitch, where the two technical dugouts are located below the patio in front of the clubhouse.
Clubhouse
The clubhouse is a decent size and is painted in club colours blue, with a wooden deck floor.
There are a few framed shirts and a RACA scarf on the wall but little else in the way of memorabilia.
While I was doing a circuit, Mrs Hopper had done me proud by getting a pin badge (£4.00) and a round of drinks.
A Moretti and an Inch’s cider cost us £8.50, which we enjoyed on the outdoor patio that overlooks the pitch.
She had also picked up a new friend…
As we are groundhoppers, it seems some of us have a reputation for needing a programme from clubs. One of the club’s guys had come over to apologise to her for the lack of a matchday programme and was explaining why.
Whilst I do love a printed programme, the lack of one would never lead to me boycotting a ground like some groundhoppers do. For me, the main thing is the ground and the matchday experience. The pin badge and programme are welcome bonuses.
Novel Solution
I have also come up with a solution to the lack of programme, too. If I can’t get one on the day, then I trawl websites and eBay on the hunt for vintage copies between the same two teams.
Of course, this doesn’t always play out but it has mostly, as you can see below.
It was good of the guy to come over and apologise, but absolutely no need to in our case and he may be happy to know I have managed to get a copy of last season’s programme between the two teams.
All good!
He also told us the amusing tale of why there aren’t many seats left attached to the stand: putting it down to poor shooting during training, knocking all the seats off with wayward strikes at goal.
Indeed, the seats are all stacked up to one side of the Scran Van, awaiting their turn to be put back.
I wonder why they aren’t stored behind the goal…? 😂
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion – Kingsley Park Gallery
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion Tidbits
The Ryton & Crawcrook Albion Football Club was formed in 1970, as Ryton FC.
RACA, or Albion, as they are known, were formed early on in the 1970/71 season to replace Prudhoe and West Wylam Co-op, who had tendered their resignation from the Northern Combination League.
The club’s very first game was a 3-3 draw, against Parsons Athletic on 17th October 1970.
in 1988, the Northern Alliance, the Northern Combination and the Northern Amateur League all merged into three divisions of the new Northern Football Alliance league. Ryton FC was placed in the First Division.
During the mid-1990s, Ryton was given a Lottery grant to build a ground and clubhouse. Completed in 1998, Kingsley Park was officially opened by Prince Andrew, Duke of York. (Be quiet in the peanut gallery!)
The club’s attendance record was broken in the official opening game, as 1,100 people packed in for a game against Newcastle United.
1996/97 saw Ryton promoted to the Premier Division having won the First Division title.
They remained there until winning promotion again in 2004/05. Promotion saw them enter the Northern League for the very first time.
2006 saw them notch their best-ever home win with an 8-0 thrashing of Sunderland RCA.
2007/08 saw Ryton finish third and secure promotion to Division One.
Nightmare Season
Then came a season to give the club and its supporters nightmares – 2010/11…
After a bid to raise sponsorship got the promise but not the delivery of money, the management team left. A staggering total of thirty-five players were used in the first month of the season.
Results were not as inconsistent as the team, however. Regular batterings were the norm and Ryton finished the season on just eight points. There was even a double-digit 10-0 loss to Shildon.
Inevitably, this resulted in relegation back to Division Two, where the club has since remained.
In 2011 the club changed its name to reflect that Kingsley Park is in Crawcrook and they became known as Ryton & Crawcrook Albion.
RACA’s biggest home defeat came in 2017 when they were soundly thrashed 8-0 by Billingham Town.
2017 also saw Albion record their highest Northern League attendance of 473 when Whickham came to town. That record was broken this season when 475 spectators attended the local derby game against Prudhoe Youth Club Seniors on August 23rd.
In December 2022, the current manager, Nathan Beckham was brought in from Killingworth and kept RACA in Division Two. Under his stewardship, the club has maintained stability and is now looking up again.
Last season (2023/24) saw RACA finish in midtable with 62 points, a whopping 43 behind runaway league winners, Blyth Town.
Ahead of this season, the club announced a five-year sponsorship deal that saw Kingsley Park renamed as the Oldhaulage Stadium at Kingsley Park.
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion – Pre-Game View of Kingsley Park
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion v Chester-le-Street Town – The Game
Form
Coming into today’s game, the sides are separated by just one position, with Albion in fifth and Town sixth. RACA held a four-point advantage but had played one game more than the Cestrians.
Since the league-record attendance loss against Prudhoe YCS, Albion has been on a five-game unbeaten run.
The run included a 7-0 rout of troubled Boldon CA and a 2-2 draw away at league newcomers, Darlington Town. There were three clean sheets in victories over Washington (3-0), Billingham Synthonia (2-0) and another game against Darlington Town at home, which they won 3-0. The latter game was in the Durham Challenge Cup.
Chester-le-Street Town were also on a decent run of their own, winning two of their last three games and conceding no goals in that spell.
The last game of August saw a 0-0 stalemate away at Newcastle University.
September has so far seen them win two on the bounce, at home to Sunderland RCA (1-0) and Billingham Town at home 3-0, last time out.
Pre-Match Prediction
Common sense would suggest a 0-0 draw would be the outcome here but given the fact that both teams had a decent goal output, as well as mean defences, I was going for a 2-1 home win with my ever-wrong pre-match prediction.
Kick-Off
Summary
To be quite honest, the first half was pretty much a non-event.
Two difficult-to-break-down defences and blowy conditions played a part in this, as both sides huffed and puffed as much as the weather.
The only real incident of note was when RACA and Jack Errington had a ‘goal’ disallowed.
I think the referee did well overall on his debut at this level but he will have to hold up his hands and own the mistake on this one. I managed to capture the incident on my phone and no matter how hard I try, I can’t see a foul on the Town goalkeeper, Alexander Lawrence.
What do you think?
Lawrence pretty much admitted his good fortune later on in the game, when he joked with someone that he had ‘Gotten away with enough already today“.
Halftime Scran
During the halftime interval, we decided to attack the Albion Scran Van with a direct assault on its pastry-based contents.
We came away armed with a steak pie and chips each (£8.00) as we temporarily broke our diet. Decent and filling scran indeed.
The second half was only nine minutes old when Errington put right the wrong of the first half.
Again, I caught the goal, which came via a corner, toe-poked into the net from inside the six-yard box.
I think Chester-le-Street Town would like the chance to defend that one again…
Three minutes after the goal, it was almost two as a free-kick from Rhys McLeod was well saved down low by Lawrence.
At the other end, Town hit the post via a shot from Will Cormish.
However, RACA were the stronger of the two teams in the second half and deservedly held onto their narrow win.
You can read a full Match Report here, courtesy of the Ryton & Crawcrook Albion website.
Attendance – 222
Entrance Fee – £5.00
Programme – Not available
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion v Chester-le-Street Town – Match Gallery
In the absence of any official match highlights from the teams, I will post a few match photographs.
League Table After Today’s Game
League table courtesy of the Ebac Northern League website
Up Next
Next up for RACA is another home game, against Redcar Town on September 18th.
They will then face Lancashire side, Garstang, in the second round of the FA Vase, again, at Kingsley Park on the 21st.
League action resumes with a trip to the Ford Hub (28th), home of Sunderland West End to finish out September.
Chester-le-Street Town will have three consecutive home games after this one today.
First up at Moor Park will be Sunderland West End (17th), then comes Newcastle University (21st) before they finish the month with a game against another newcomer to the league, Grangetown Boys Club (28th)
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion Thoughts
RACA’s Kingsley Park punches above its weight, in my humble opinion.
It may not have a lot in the way of structures, stands etc but it makes up for it with a stunning backdrop, friendly locals, a great clubhouse and an all-around charm.
Snacks are reasonably priced and of decent quality, drinks are also fairly priced in the clubhouse and there is a great patio area where you can watch the game and enjoy a pint, or two.
It’s a shame that the club stopped producing a programme but I do fully understand the decision and I can see more teams following the same path, I’m afraid.
Albion also has a small number of young ‘ultras’ who sit in the stand behind the South End goal and it was fun to listen to their chanting.
Yes, there were the occasional naughty words and taunting of the goalkeeper but it all seemed to be done without ill will and I always like to see youngsters enjoying being at their local football club.
They are the future of Ryton & Crawcrook Albion.
Ryton & Crawcrook – After the Game
After the final whistle, we headed back up the hill where Mrs Hopper made some new friends.
We waited at the bus stop for around ten minutes before the #10B to Newcastle arrived.
After arriving in the Toon at 18:05, our bus was already at the station and we got on board with a minute to spare before it left.
The journey back went pretty swiftly, mostly because I kept snoozing!
Before I knew it, we were back in Hetton and snooping around in Tesco for something to eat for dinner. We ended up going home with ham and egg to make sandwiches and got through the front door around 19:15.
Can’t be bad!
Next Up for Hoppers Guide
Next week we head to North Yorkshire and Redcar Athletic’s Green Lane home.
There are quite a few teams in the Middlesbrough area that we have still to visit and it’s a good time to check out Redcar Athletic.
They currently sit in second place in the Northern League Division One, just two points behind leaders (and another Middlesbrough area club) Boro Rangers.
This will be an FA Vase game and there is the vague hope of following this competition to its Wembley climax. We will see if funds allow for that or not in due course.
Meanwhile, this will be the second step of nine to reach the arched home of English football and another chance to see our friends from West Auckland.
Onto the next!
