Northern Football Club

Annual Newsletter 2017-18

1st Team

This has been a difficult season for the first team returning after promotion to North East 1 and sadly, it has not been a successful one with the team being eventually relegated after a series of results that almost achieved safety. After a 5 point win in our opening fixture against Malton and Norton the team did not gain another point for almost two months where the unforgiving nature of this league brought home the need to take scoring opportunities wherever they occurred. Our first bonus point was against Driffield where we lost 7 – 14 at home and had an equalizing try chalked off for a very dubious forward pass. This was one of several seemingly good tries we had disallowed when the decisions (and some would say luck) deserted us. After picking up further bonus points we had our second win of the season, beating the league champions Alnwick at home 18 - 15 with a fine team performance. We then ran Dinnington close away before a super performance against West Leeds at home which should have resulted in a win but resulted in a cruel loss when the opposition fielded a missed touch kick and scored a try they converted with the last kick of the game to win by two points! The inconsistency continued with a home win against West Hartlepool then a series of close games with more bonus points picked up on the way until we won consecutive games against Percy Park, Cleckheaton and Dinnington to take us clear of the relegation places. Another close game against West Leeds followed with the score 27 -29 to the home team and Northern in with a chance of a win when, as with the home game, West scored a converted try at the death and denied us one of our 2 bonus points! Sadly, we could not sustain the good form into the remaining games and we were relegated with one game to go. In total, we played 26 league games, winning 6 and losing 20. In the process we used 47 players but the very small core squad consisted of the 21 players who played 10 or more games. We scored 75 tries with captain, Alex Clark getting 12 and his brother, Harrison, running him close with 11. Dan Matthews and Patrick Douglas (the most tries by a forward) were a long way behind with 5 tries each. Alex Clark, the player of the season, played all 26 league games with Ali Gray and Patrick Douglas both playing 25. The top points scorer was Donal Collins with 78 points followed by Alex Clark with 60 and Harrison Clark with 50 (all tries). Several newcomers enjoyed sound debut seasons, Tom Burt, an outstanding back row, James Millington our no. 8, who ran Alex Clark close as player of the season, Johnny Woodhead our extremely quick full back and Louie Tang on the wing. Sadly, James Campion another excellent player on the wing played only 7 games due to injury and Tom Baty at lock who was injured after the first 9 games both had curtailed seasons which restricted their impact. 1st team ties for 21 games were awarded to Bertie Marks, Chris Malley and Jack Tait. A discretionary tie was also awarded to James Millington. We sadly lost four first team players during the season, three to career ending injuries, James Ellis, Sam Wilson and Ryan Moore, who we wish all the best for their futures and hope to see them at Northern next season. The fourth player we lost was James Standfield, who was seriously hurt in the pre-season game against Alnwick. Thankfully, James has taken the opportunity to qualify as a referee and has refereed several games at the end of the season and we wish him well at University and hope at some point he will resume his playing career. Three players, Alex Clark, Sam Wilson and Donal Collins, are to be congratulated on receiving ties in recognition for playing 100 1st XV games. Andrew Connor has left Northern to join Consett next season due to location and forthcoming marriage (his prospective father in law is John O’Connor “Mr Consett RFC”!) and he goes with our thanks for a superb effort this season.

On a personal note, I have to thank all the 1st team squad players for their effort and at times, superb performances and for putting up with my singing on the bus!! I would also like to thank Head coach Dave Guthrie who has improved many of the players this season and his enthusiasm and leadership has managed to keep the team focussed throughout. I would also like to thank Jim Pollock for his support for Dave and his performance of the season at the Players’ Supper. Lastly, I would like to thank Ron Borley who has put up with me all season as we shared the 1st team manager responsibilities. Ron is stepping down this season after an impressive 14 seasons as 1st team manager so will be a hard act to follow.

Alan Belford

WANDERERS

It was a season of two halves for the Wanderers, before Christmas and before we left the Candy league the team played 11, won 1, lost 10, points for 140, points against 567. The less said about the first half the season the better. After the Christmas break and, when the snow allowed, things were, at the very least much more enjoyable for everyone involved and the side was more of a mix of Wanderers and Panthers players; P9, W5, L4, PF 248, PA 224. These nine games in the majority were friendlies arranged to be competitive which the stats show they were, thanks to the hard work of Walter Ritchie and Andy James. It wasn’t just the fixture list that made for tough going as 91 different players were fielded to complete the 20 games played and unfortunately on more than one occasion less than 15 players were available to start the game. However as highlighted above this did improve throughout the season and given the “squad” contains enough players for 6 teams! There is no reason that not only a full time Wanderers side but also a Panthers side should be possible to run next season. On a positive note there were some great performances from a number of players during the season; Jack Swain captained the side in most of the pre-Christmas games before a loan move to Medicals to gain some first team experience to help his push for a starting XV spot next season. Alex Turnbull and Henry Belfiori formed a devastating attacking centre partnership during the second half the season. They enjoyed each other’s company so much they’re both looking to switch to the second row next season, perhaps so they can be even closer? Milo Berger starred for the team at fullback scoring 5 tries, joint top with Turnbull. Along with Jack, Milo will be pushing for first team honours next year. Tom Boag was called up to the County U20’s squad on the back of some great January performances. Charlie Burrowes dropped down from the first team for a handful of games and managed to be top points scorer of the season. Both Ian Birtwhistle and Tom Sealby added some much need experience to the side when called upon. Ian taking over the captaincy after Jack’s loan move and Tom showing some of the students what fitness actually is. The highlight of the season would have been if one more pass had been made late on in an away game to Morpeth Stags which would have allowed Joe Hindmarsh a 5 meter free run in to score his first ever try in competitive rugby. Perhaps summing up the season in one moment, showing the teams resolve to keep going but not quite being able to execute. Despite not being given the pass he deserved in that game Joe did pick up the player of the season award due to his commitment to the club and his substantial improvement on the pitch. Instead the highlight of the season as with many season was the visitation of a couple of touring side once the sun had finally came out. First the Wanderers hosted club stalwart Huw Reynolds’ home town team St David’s winning a tight game 33-27. Then the club as a whole enjoyed the much more lackadaisical visit of Rotterdam Rugby Club. After both games both teams enjoyed a BBQ and a drink or two with each other.

Rob Richardson 

Youth and Mini

Rugby Under 6

This U6’s season has, most importantly, been great fun with good numbers turning up week on week, even when the weather was a little unwelcoming. All the boys and girls have come on a great deal over the last few months with most of them starting to really get the hang of tag rugby and some occasionally demonstrating they will soon be ready for full contact! We’ve had some great days away at Percy Park and Morpeth and even a trip to Druids Park was great with the U6’s playing and holding their own with the U7’s (when they weren’t distracted by planes!). All in all a great season with a few boys and girls to watch out for in the future. Thanks to all the other coaches who turn up week on and to the parents who brave all weathers. I wish you all the best for next season. Scott Alexander

Rugby Under 7

At the start of the season the squad was split with many players staying down in the U6s for another season. We had a core of around 15 players. Before Christmas this had grown to over 30 with new recruits. U7s is the first year where we play against other teams. It was great to introduce the players to aspects of rugby such as clapping the other teams off through a tunnel and travelling to other clubs. Both parents and players have realised that we are part of a proper rugby club as opposed to just a Sunday morning activity. The team, coaches and parents have formed new friendships. The coaches met at the beginning of the year and we all agreed that if we can keep it fun and help encourage the players to form new friendships through rugby we would have partially achieved our goals. Many of the players have developed some really good rugby skills beyond their years. We hope we can keep the squad together and build on this fantastic season next year. Ben, Adam, Jeremy, Fergus, Nick, Simon, Craig and Emma.

Rugby Under 8

The most successful season we have had!!! This is the best way I could describe the U8 season this year. I am so proud of how the boys have continued to improve their skills and play some fantastic rugby. Since the coaches and I started we have always focused on teamwork, effort and respect and I am so glad that we still stand by this 3 years on our journey. It gives me great pleasure when coaches from other teams say how well the team works together and helps each other out. I think that we can often take these values for granted, but for the coaches and I, they are some of the most important values to have not just in rugby but in life. Rugby creates a special bond between the players, but it has also spread to the parents. We have a fantastic group of parents that help out and always turn up, thank you for all your support throughout the season. We went on tour again this season with 25 players which was awesome. The tour was great and there were some highlights, particularly the York Dungeon experience and the fines! I would like to say thank you to all the players, we have certainly got a special group of boys and I look forward to coaching you next season. I would also like to thank all the coaches for their hard work and dedication to the U8s. Without you there would be no team, not only do you look after the boys, but also me, I appreciate all your efforts! Lindsay, Dougie, Westy, John, Mike, Davey K, Frank, Strom, Owen, Phil, JP and Paul. Next season we transition to contact rugby and the learning process starts all over again. I am looking forward to it and see the boys develop their confidence as the season moves forward. Sam Walton

Rugby Under 9

Well it certainly has been an eventful season as we have moved up to the U9’s and the progression to the hardened world of contact rugby. It’s safe to say that some of the players took to this like ducks to water whilst the rest of our players have eased into it with some amazing improvements by all. In addition to this we moved to Druid Park as our home venue and it was a pleasure to be able to provide food for visiting teams and introduce the players to a very important side of rugby: the postmatch social! We have grown our numbers this year with some great additions to the team in Lucas, William, Isaac, Matthew and of course Sophie. Sophie was one of 8 girls who joined us at the beginning of the season with the rest unfortunately not staying with us; a challenge we aim to overcome in the coming seasons. If you do have any daughters interested in rugby, please do get in touch as we are keen to build our numbers. Although a number of games were missed mid-season with the Beast from the East and other non-named cold weather events, it hasn’t stopped a dramatic improvement in our players who have shown real commitment to their rugby this season and I for one am proud of every one of them for their achievements. As should you be. It all culminated in our now annual pilgrimage to Cumbria and Center Parcs on tour. There was some fantastic rugby on a very steep Cumbrian Hill at Sedbergh school and everybody entered into the tour spirit with gusto (especially some of the parents)! Overall, another fantastic season of rugby and we look forward to returning in September to grasp the technicalities of Rucks, Mauls and Scrums (one for the set piece coaches to master)! A huge thank you to all the players, parents and coaches, especially Helyn Bulman for all her hard work throughout the season. I couldn’t manage it without you. Chris Blyth

Rugby Under 10

U10s have had another successful season. Our numbers have remained strong and we have had a few new joiners who have fitted in well. Once again I would like to recognise the efforts of the coaches in continuing to develop all the players and the parents for their support, including those who have helped throughout the season. We have continued to play fixtures in Northumberland and Durham to try and better achieve the necessary quantity and quality of opposition. The introduction of the breakdown has been a challenge as it asks the players to develop new technical skills and make good decisions. The need to introduce and embed new skills as well as maintaining other key skills is challenging to players and coaches. As we go through the age groups this will be a constant feature. We attended Sedbergh School Festival, hosted touring sides from Stewart’s Melville and from Selby. We also hosted the U10s County Festival which saw over 200 boys and girls playing at McCracken Park. We had a successful tour to Cheshire recently to finish off the season. It was particularly great to see some players touring for the first time, including all our new starters. They had a great time, including the Court session run by Phil and Mark. My thanks to Clare for her organisation and to the tour sponsors. Gavin Thompson 

Rugby Under 11

We welcomed back a squad of 38 payers in September having highlighted 2 key challenges to address early in the season. 1) With kicking introduced to the game, how do we maintain our champagne style of running rugby? 2) How on earth can we keep the new white kit clean for the rest of the season? Thankfully, we delivered on both fronts, so a big thank you to our coaches and parents (OK Mums really). We are fortunate to have a very large playing squad, so managed to field 3 full teams in the early season festival at Rockcliff. All 3 teams acquitted themselves very well with some great attacking rugby and only one loss to a typically strong Morpeth team. Even so, Max “The Beast” Watson went over for the first score and caused havoc with his aggressive defence and counter rucking! This is par for the course when Max is involved. We decided upon an early tour this season with “Tony & Guy” taking the reins. We set off for Edinburgh in November with a touring party 70+ to enjoy Scotland versus the All Blacks at Murrayfield on Saturday and then a fixture versus Stewart’s Melville on Sunday. We’d been working to sharpen the squad’s handling and this paid dividends when, less than an hour into our journey, young Joe Smart was struck down with travel sickness. Fortunately, Joe managed to catch at least 2 litres of his own stomach contents, in two hands, with not even a sniff of a knock on!! Well done Joe! An end of season award and a Xmas card from Stanley Coaches awaits! They say the sign of a great rugby team is the ability to spot a gap in the opposition defence and exploit it. The Mum’s on tour ruthlessly applied this skill to our itinerary, squeezing shopping expeditions into every spare moment. Upon return, the Dads were left scratching their heads trying to understand where all their expensive Xmas presents had been hidden. Once at Murrayfield though, Scotland put on a great display of running rugby, leaving the All Blacks just hanging on for a narrow 17 -22 victory. We travelled back to the hotel that evening having seen a great game of Rugby. We fielded 2 teams, each playing four fixtures each against Stew Mel and Percy Park. Despite a slight lack of focus during the warm up, both our teams adapted to the Scottish rules and played really well against tough opposition. The coaches were delighted to have watched some of the best passages of play since we have been with the age group You are all well aware that the winter months have been a shocker this season with Druid Park being the saving grace. The 4G pitch enabled us to fulfil a good number of fixtures, including teams from outside the county. We also played a reverse fixture with Stew Mel at McCracken which I hope will now become an annual event. All of our fixtures this season have been a great success both on and off the pitch and our age group has developed a real community spirit. To wrap up the season, we were all delighted to see Scott Mitchell back training with the squad after a spell away but we say goodbye (for now) to Julia, Madeline and Daisy and wish them all the best for the future. They have been an absolute pleasure to coach and a credit to the club. Hopefully, they can return to play for Northern once the ladies playing side of the club has developed. So, a few important “thank yous” to end the season……. While reading this, we should have 3 (not yet too rowdy I hope) tables of parents, so thank you to Anne Macdonald and Dona Skaife for such a sterling effort. I’m not saying Anne & Dona used strong arm sales tactics but take a look at Chris Reilly’s left leg. This is what happens when you are late paying your Ball ticket money in the U11’s!!! Thanks to Donna Owens for the fab squad pictures/calendars and Jo Wardle for sorting out the kit. Tony, Guy & Kirsty for the tour and last but not least, thank you to the whole coaching team (Al, Tony, Sean, Paddy, Andy G and Andy W) for such a great effort. Ian Wardle - On Behalf of the U11’s

Rugby Under 12

Once again we have had a great season full of quality rugby and improving performances from all players. We have been concentrating our efforts this season on having more players on the field, playing with five players in the scrum, unlimited players in the ruck and the maul and increasingly introducing kicking into our matches. We have had some players sadly leave us, however we have had new players join and have been able to turn out two squads for most of our fixtures. We have been lucky again to use the all-weather facilities at Druid Park and managed to train or play several weekends when other clubs were not able to do so. In addition we have also benefitted from hiring the Falcons facilities alongside some of the other age groups to train when Northern was not playable. As head coaches we want to pass on our thanks to the wider coaching team of Paul Kidd, Alex Cardnell, Andy Needham and Chris Graham who have always been willing to help with coaching and officiating games, James Southern also has blown a whistle with great aplomb at times. We also want to thank those parents who turn up week in week out supporting the boys from the touchline, offering lifts to those who need them, washing kit each week so that the boys look great in their Northern strips in every fixture we play. We thank Sarah Stephenson who has become our team photographer and others who have contributed images, videos and other contributions that managed to get passed the censorship and onto our Facebook page. Both of us would like to give special thanks to Helyn Bulman for her skills organizing another fantastic tour to Center Parcs and for being our club link to Newcastle Falcons, and Stephen Drummond for his generous sponsorship of the lads tour kit. We all had another fantastic tour which this season was marked by the end of season awards, Woody (I can’t stop dancing) Wilson winning Player of the Season, Edward (The Lionheart) Taylor winning Most Improved Player and Will (Is my hair okay) Bulman winning Players Player. The fact remains that all of the lads are winners and have come on each as both players and young men. It is an honour for both of us to coach such a great bunch of young men and also to have the backing and support of all of their parents, we are looking forward to the coaching challenges of next season with new elements of the game being introduced, seeing some players return and new players who have already asked to join. Thank you all once again and here’s to a great 2018/19 season. Ian Ramshaw/Jaymes Bulman

Rugby Under 13

Another great year for our age group! U13 squad Pre-season training last August seems a very long time ago, but the season has also passed very quickly. Highlights of the season included the biggest game of beach rugby ever on Beadnel Beach on August bank holiday Monday, winning the Friendly Festival trophy in September, a great day at the Sedbergh festival, a convincing victory over West Park Leeds, a spirited and sporting match against Blaydon, 4 wins and no defeats in the Northern Festival and some good performances in the County Festival. We can now add the Beverley Cup to our honours list! We also had our first Club Captain, Isaac Keller, who did a great job. It has also been a bit of disjointed season, primarily as a result of adverse weather. I estimate we lost 8 Sundays as a result. We also feel we tried to play too many matches, and plan to have more training sessions next season. We finished the season with a hugely enjoyable tour to Hull, many thanks to the excellent work by the Tour Committee. Taking 34 boys and producing solid performances against Hullensians were great achievements, but Sunday was marvellous. To field two sides against Pocklington and Beverley, and for both teams to win all of their matches was a tremendous effort. We weren't sure about the Northern v Northern game at the end, but it was brilliant. I have never heard a rugby game with so much laughter and roaring! It was a perfect way to end the tour and season. More people than ever have been involved in the organisation of the age group, and many thanks to you all. Finally, thank you to the players. They are an extremely talented set of individuals who have been a pleasure to coach all season. We have received several compliments from other clubs during the season, praising the way our players have played the game in the right spirit. This results in many clubs wanting to play us, which is a great position to be in! They have made the coaches very proud. The awards this year were: Player of the season – Dan Stephenson; Players' player of the season – Euan Thom; Most improved player – Ant Cook; Core values – Taylor Owens; Man of steel – Tom Cressey; Champagne moment of the season – Ben Wardle; Champagne moment of the tour – Will Emmerson. Nigel Emmerson

Rugby Under 15

The U15’s had a solid year this year retaining 32 boys for the year but for the first time moving to only one team. With 19 boys selected to play for the County and 9 in the Falcons Academy across the year it shows the strength and depth of the year group. With many school games taking away the boys for a significant number of the games we had narrow defeats for the first time against Blaydon, Yarm and Barney but by playing 3x20 mins in all games we were able to largely balance these commitments and rotate the squad - winning the rest. With a great tour to Edinburgh playing on the indoor International size pitch we played games all through the winter and we look forward to revisiting at Christmas 2018. The key for next year is to keep the boys together as best as we can and continue to give them exposure as their bodies fill out!!. Many thanks to Dave, Lawrence and Simon for their coaching throughout the year. Onward and Upward. Paul Varley U15 squad U16 Our aim for this year was to develop our players and keep a team going through to Colts. We have not only done that, but Northern U16s also ended their 11 years as a single age group with a couple of big wins and overcame their bogie team to win the County Trophy Final. It has been a tough year with reduced numbers from players being unavailable due to injury or playing for school or Falcons Academy. We played several games with just 15 players borrowing the odd player and once playing 10-aside. A few boys have played first team school rugby this year, 9 have played up with Northern Colts (Zac, Matty, Ethan, Adam, Cam, Alex, Josh, Ruaridh and Charlie), 6 have represented Northumberland County (Charlie, Matty, Alex, Cam, Adam and Ruairid) and 3 have been appearing for the Falcons Academy (Jonty, Henry and Toby). Well done to them! Those who have remained as the backbone of the team played the whole season and have been a huge credit to the club, training weekly, always playing in the right spirit and never giving up. We will now take a good squad into next year when they join the U17s to make up a great Colts team. Huge thanks to our coaches Graham, Deano, Alex and Kaino who have been present throughout a long winter. Thanks also to Kaino for organising our Peaky Blinders home tour which was a great day out. It’s been a huge privilege to witness these young men develop from the little lads they were over a decade ago. We have had a lot of fun over the years. The tours (5 Scarboroughs, Scotland, Yorkshire and Holland) have all been highlights along with some very memorable games and a little silverware. We wish all the boys well as they continue with youth rugby and begin to play the full adult game and hope they continue to enjoy playing and having fun whilst doing so. Tim Peach

Colts

 Having finished our last year of youth rugby as U16 county champions, moving up to the colts was always going to present itself as a massive challenge, especially as there hadn’t been a Northern Colts team for the previous 3 years. Without any support from the U18’s we bravely entered the Saturday league in a bid to get the lads used to playing on the same day as the senior Northern teams. With half the squad being involved with school matches and others representing various other Falcons academy teams fielding a full 15 on match proved a very difficult challenge. However, with the loan of other players from various other teams and the advent of several U16 players moving up to represent us, we managed to hold the season together. In total we played 17 matches, winning 7 and losing 10. We played some of our best rugby at the early season Falcons 15 aside festival where we won 4 of our matches with a great style of open rugby. We also had 2 great cup matches, where the U16’s helped us to beat both Berwick and then Percy Park in a very close semi quarter – final. Sadly, we were beaten in semi-final by Tynedale on a very frosty day in February, although not without putting up a great fight, literally. The 2nd half of the season was greatly reduced, firstly by the Beast from the East 1, 2 and 3 which caused several matches to be called off, and then the 2 county U17 matches against Durham and Cumbria, when we supplied 12 of our squad. I would like to congratulate all the boys who played for the colts this year. Well done, you should be very proud of yourselves. Also, well done to Dan Brewer who has recently been called into the Falcons academy and represented them against Sale. This season has given us a great platform to build upon for next year and hopefully with a much larger squad to choose from, we will have an even more successful year. Finally a big thank you to the rest of the coaches, especially Mike for organising the training sessions, the tour committee for all their hard work and efforts and again not least to the continued support from the parents. John Williamson

Former players’ lunch

We enjoyed a wonderful reunion of former players in December 2017. The event was scheduled for Saturday 16 December and was planned around a home league game for the 1st XV, against local rivals Percy Park. Sadly the weather had a say, and a frozen pitch prevented rugby being played. Nevertheless, intrepid travellers from London, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Scotland, Cambridge and even Wales would make the journey, confident in the knowledge that their old pals would be equally as determined to keep this eagerly anticipated rendezvous. None of us were let down. A total of 90 old players turned up and, the icing on the cake, was the attendance of 10 of the former ladies committee. The years had been extremely kind to our much valued and highly appreciated ladies - all of them looking as youthful as they did in the 70s and 80s. There were some wonderful reminiscences. Many attendees had not met for 30 years or more! and of course we were particularly pleased to see Scott Hastings who had taken time out of his busy media schedule to be with us. Eric Armstrong was once again proud to boast that he discovered the young 19 year old Scott in the 3rd team at Northern - and Scott went on to play 65 games for Scotland, tour with the Lions and play for the Barbarians! Well done Eric. Feedback from attendees overwhelmingly suggested we should repeat the reunion annually. Indeed I had received messages of apology from 20+ former players unable to make the event, but wishing to attend future reunions! We have therefore set a date of 1st December 2018 for our next Former Players Lunch - this will be linked with a home 1st XV game verses Novos. I look forward to seeing you there!

Andy James

SQUASH

So that is one year as the Chairman of squash. Is therea difference between just being a Squash player and a NFC club official? Just a little, as a start you look at the history of NFC. (Wikipedia was a help) - Northern Football Club (NFC) was founded in 1875 as Elswick Football Club and renamed in its second season. In 1937, McCracken Park was purchased and has operated there since. In 1956, squash courts were added to the club, with further courts added in 1974. While NFC origins remain in Rugby, visionary officials recognised the value of accelerating the status of Squash within the club both from increased membership and financial income. This status being reflected within the latest NFC Constitution and in turn fulfilling NFC obligations as a designated Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) I don’t intend to bore readers with the implications of the above however members may wish to pursue their own research. How did the 2017/18 Squash activities progress. Let’s just say Squash members embrace diversity at its best. Non playing members may consider the sport insular and very individual. Nothing could be further from the truth.

How about membership? – 170 male and female adults along with 180 juniors participated in numerous varied activities over the previous twelve months. Where to start? Junior members Katie Barker and Abigail Jones impressed everyone when they came up with the idea of a new doubles competition - and they saw their ideas through to a highly successful event. Eighteen teams took part and hundreds of pounds were also raised for the ‘Daft as a Brush’ charity.

It has been another tremendous year for the junior section at Northern. Membership as mentioned remains strong. In addition to head coach Richard Vitty, the junior section has a number of level 2 England Squash qualified coaches who are now helping to bring along even younger juniors (and some adults!). These include Tom Cornell, Thomas Moore, James Appleby and Erin Vitty. The club's coaching team includes 19 year old Josie Barker and Tom Cornell as above. The prestigious John Dale award, given to the County's outstanding junior for the year, recognising ability on court as well as attitude and behaviour was given to 15 year old Andrew Shipley, who was also the runner up in the 2018 Club Championships. Northern's junior of the year was John Thompson, recognising John's great progress over the last 12 months, as well as his great attitude. Northern has a number of junior county champions, including girls Shae Patterson, Katie Merlane, and Josie Barker. In the boys John Thompson, Sam Ponente and Leo Blackett. Out of approximately 45 juniors who represented the County in the National Inter County tournament this year more than half were from Northern. A fantastic achievement which is testament to our coaching system and the support the Club gives to the juniors. At the National level Josie Barker left the junior age groups having confirmed her long held top 10 status with a top 10 finish at the British Nationals, her last national junior tournament. Similarly Michael Mattimore at the English finals. Gosforth Schools under 13s national title girls winners were all members at Northern - Zoe Shipsey, Evie Patterson, Grace Moore and sisters Katie and Ava Naisbitt. For the boys the Gosforth Academy under 15s were runners up. In terms of other tournaments Northern juniors are regularly high level performers around the region. At Northern's own junior tournament in February, our juniors dominated the victory table with winners including Megan Evans, Katie Barker, Ava Naisbitt, Andrew Shipley and Will Johnson. Northern's junior section continues to go from strength to strength.

Northern Squash continues to be the most prolific club in the Northumbria County Squash Leagues, fielding a total of 11 teams (involving around 75-80 players, including reserves). We have 6 Men’s teams and 3 junior teams in the Men’s League and 3 Ladies teams in the Ladies League. We consistently have 2 Men’s and Ladies teams in the top Divisions. Highlights of last season included the Ladies 1st team winning the Ladies Premier Division and also finishing runners-up in the Northumbria Cup. Men’s 1st team were runners up in The Men’s Premier Division and had the Player of the Division in Liam Gutcher (who won all 14 of his matches, playing a at number 1). Then we have internal leagues and annual competitions open to all members, regardless of age, culminating with a finals night presentation event. Sam Ward and Cai Younger were the winners of the 2018 Club Championships. All this year’s winning competitors received their awards from NFC President Alan Belford.

How about the more senior players? You can’t participate in the annual Geoff Younger tournament unless you are fifty five years of age!!! Could there be any better way to conclude a report which emphasises the positive relationship between Squash and Rugby as the future of NFC, than to celebrate the actual winner of The Geoff Younger Tournament. Step forward Vince O’Sullivan, an octogenarian (check out the dictionary definition) and a passionate Ireland and NFC rugby supporter. As a postscript, all of our members are indebted to David Giles and his staff for ensuring our out of squash requirements are always delivered (with a smile)

Allan Curry Chairman of Squash

CLUBHOUSE & FACILITIES

Once again the club were honoured at the annual Club mirror awards winning Marketing Club of the year. Fending off competition from sporting and social club from across Great Britain, the club won the award for its effective and high quality social media presence and the development of the RFU supported website northern.rfc.club. The award was gratefully received by our Assistant Manager and head of marketing Michael Giles at the award ceremony in Doncaster. The award reflects the high standards of his work and number of social and sporting events on at the club throughout the year.

As in recent years the club has continued to invest in the clubhouse and grounds. Improvements have included refurbishment of the passenger lift, replacement windows in the McCracken Suite, carpeting of the reception, Perspex panelling to the outdoor terrace, installation of a gas interlocking system in the kitchen, and new glass doors installed on every squash court. The Terrace Bar has enjoyed another successful year with Friday Night Food Nights often reaching full capacity. Big screen sports continue to be popular with the Six Nations proving to be the highlight of the year. Our Wednesday night quiz has become even more popular reaching 17 teams on occasions. The Sunday quiz has moved to its new monthly slot which has also seen numbers increase. Thanks go to our quiz masters Peter and Rod for their continuing efforts. In the forthcoming months we have plans to continue to invest by refurbishing the Terrace Bar to include new windows and doors, improvements to the outdoor terrace area, a new bar, more modern lighting, and decorating of the ladies toilet. We will also be introducing technology in the form of iPads, USB charger sockets and a console gaming system in the back room. The refurbishment of the Terrace Bar will coincide with longer opening times. The Bar will be open from 11am until 11pm Monday to Friday, 12am until 11pm Saturdays and 12am until 10.30pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. We will be installing a barista coffee machine and have food available from opening until 8pm. We hope that members, patrons, and new customers will all enjoy what will be a fantastic space to relax and enjoy throughout the day. To add yet more excitement to the Terrace Bar refurbishment we have once again joined with Marston’s Brewery to expand the draught and bottled ranges available. New draught lines including Estrella Lager, Aspalls Cider, Shipyard Pale Ale, Wainwright Golden Ale and our own Gypsies Dinner Ale will be added to the repertoire. Cask Ales will still remain our strong suit with four hand pull ales and an additional four craft ale lines added to our growing portfolio. New bottled offerings concentrating on Gins and Prosecco will also be introduced. The McCracken Suite has also continued to host a vast number of events throughout the year from private parties to our community groups, all of whom help Northern remain at the heart of the Gosforth community. Many who have visited the club have chosen to leave very positive feedback on Facebook, Trip Advisor, Yell.com and Google. Club events including the now annual Jason Isaacs’ night, Squash Presentation Evening, Club Dinner, and New Year’s Eve party have all been sell outs with a great atmosphere enjoyed by all who have attended.

Adding to our programme of events Northern teamed up with Knight Frank to host the North East Property Rugby Festival held in April. Teams from the North East, North West, Yorkshire and Midlands competed in glorious sunshine to raise over £10,000 for St Oswalds Hospice. This helped the club to raise more funds for charities this year than in any in my tenure as club manager. Finally, we welcome Valiant Performance to McCracken Park who have taken on the gym area vacated by Axis Fitness in December. The new and very much improved gym area is a personal fitness and body transformation studio aimed at those wanting to achieve high quality results. Director Greg Williamson has invested a lot of time and resources in the studio anticipating a long and successful relationship with the club over the years to come.

David Giles

NatWest Volunteer weekend Once again the club is grateful for the contributions made by a jolly band of volunteers who laid the foundations for the new “shed” which will contain the post protectors and flags, drill approximately 30 drainage sumps on the 1st XV pitch and re-varnish the external tables. We are grateful to NatWest for funding the projects and to Chris Matthews for managing the activities.

Obituaries

Richard Dalziel

Sadly Richard was a member of Northern for only 5 years and is sorely missed on a number of fronts. He sponsored our matches against West Hartlepool, his home club provided two sets of training kit, provided pizzas for hungry gentlemen watching TV but will be missed mainly for upgrading the provisions on the team and supporters many bus journeys from Poundland to Fortnam and Masons quality. Real style!! Richard was a season ticket at the Falcons but enjoyed the friendship and companionship he found at Northern. Although his health deteriorated he continued to support the team and was with us when we gained promotion back into North East 1.

Brian Donkin

Brian joined Northern in 1985 and was actively involved as a mini and U12 coach, Panthers team manager, Chairman of Ground, ball sponsor and organiser of fixtures and referees. He was responsible for introducing many new players to the club, especially with the links he established with the local Armed Forces. Brian was also passionate about the grounds at Northern and was responsible for most of the flowers and plants which grace the grounds – the spring daffodils are another of Brian’s lasting contribution. Brian was the blueprint of Northern Football Club, a passionate and dedicated life member, a father figure to many rugby players, and a friend in need to others.

Ian Douglas Ian sadly passed away while on holiday with wife Liz in Egypt. Ian had been a member of the club for more than forty years, playing in several sides including the 1st XV. He was also heavily involved off the pitch, being chairman of mini and youth rugby while Patrick came through the age groups and he was a big part of the club's panto that would be staged for the children at the club (and a lot of adults!), with his loud voice and jokes always getting a laugh. Ian was a big man and is a big miss.

Tom Baty

Tom had only been a Northern player for one season before his unfortunate death whilst on tour with Clem’s Pirates in Sri Lanka. He is a very sad loss to us all.

Eric Wade

Eric, who passed away earlier this year, was a longstanding Northern member and supporter who was also recognised as a leading authority on mining engineering. He was also well known as a social scientist, an activist, a passionate “Labour man” and was a fund of humorous anecdotes. In an announcement of his death, the Dean of the Open University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences described Eric as ‘a one-off, a character, an entertainer and jolly good fellow’. So true.