Northern League | Manchopper's Ventures

Result: Redcar Athletic 4-0 Whickham (Northern League Division 1)

Venue: Green Lane (Saturday 2nd March 2024; 3pm)

Att: 251.

A game that had been booked long in advance finally came around and, for once, there was no real weather concerns to worry about. A number of weeks back, blog-regular Paul had informed me of the TransPennine Express sale, with £2 tickets on the go and he’d booked trips to Newcastle and Redcar respectively, amongst others. I reckoned I’d do those two mentioned, as I was looking at heading for Leeds United in the FA Cup that weekend anyway and so figured I could jump off and blag something to get through. Alas, nothing eventually mattered as illness struck and I had a gameless day.

But Redcar saw me fit (well, by very loose standards!) and healthy and I was off to the seaside of Teeside and the old steely town of Redcar. The trip began smoothly for me, but not for Paul, whose connection at Manchester, which was supposed to leave an hour ahead of mine, ended up finally going around seven or eight minutes before instead thanks to the great excuse of a “broken down train”. Great stuff. Luckily, Paul asked ahead for me and I was assured my train was to run as planned too, which indeed came to pass. Eventually we were both Redcar bound – just somewhat closer than planned!

As Paul had arrived a little prior to me, he headed into Redcar town centre to get the first drinks in, with the first call destination being a bar by the name of the Halt. I pulled in and after first heading out the station the wrong way (I didn’t have to use the bridge, but this did allow me to grab a pic of the level-crossing…ooh), I eventually regained the correct bearings and made the walk of just under 10 minutes to the Halt, where Paul and a pint were awaiting my arrival!

Arriving in Redcar

The Halt

The drink in question was a pint of Vier (not Beck’s, I was informed; £3.80) and we quickly polished them off (after both noting our own personal sadness in getting excited at passing the site of the now closed Redcar British Steel station; cheers, Geoff Marshall!!) in the modern surroundings of the Halt prior to making our way a little further up the road and onto the seafront, where we headed slightly along towards the waypoint of the Redcar Beacon. Opposite here stood our next planned target, Rita’s Pantry which, in something of a departure from what thoughts its name may conjour up, didn’t have much food on the go…at least that we could see/were too bothered in seeking out!

After a quick chat with a fella in here about Marine (Paul’s local club and this man’s too, once upon a time) we settled in alongside pictures and kits of Middlesbrough players in years gone by, including the likes of Juninho Paulista – with this again making me ponder the fact that these kinds of transfers don’t happen anymore, just as when I was at Ainsworth FC near Bolton a month or so prior and came across a Hidetoshi Nakata Wanderers shirt. That era was a little crazy when you think about it, especially some of the Bolton transfers of the time.

Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland Unitary Authority, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. Located 7 miles east of Middlesbrough, it gained its town charter in 1922 and from then through until 1968 it was governed by the municipal borough of Redcar. Since the abolition of the County Borough of Teesside, which existed from 1968 until 1974, Redcar has been unparished.

Redcar occupies low-lying land site by the sea, with the second part of its name deriving from the Old Norse word kjarr meaning ‘marsh’, with the first part being Old English – either rēad ‘red’ or hrōed ‘reed’. The town originated in its current form as a fishing hamlet in the 14th century, trading with the adjacent and larger hamlet of Coatham. Until the mid-19th century, Redcar was within the parish of Marske-by-the-Sea – with the parish being mentioned as far back as the Domesday Book of 1086.

Redcar

Redcar had been a township and chapelry in the parishes of Marske and Upleatham until 1866 when it became a separate civil parish in its own right. A district under the name of Redcar came into being in 1885 and, three years after this, the centuries-old Yorkshire authority was replaced by the North Riding of Yorkshire. The Redcar district became an urban district in 1894. After the aforementioned town charter of 1922, the district was styled as a municipal borough and town settlement and it remained as such until 1974 when the parish was abolished and merged with Teesside and Marske.

Having seen its municipal borough abolished and merged into the County of Teesside in 1968, the 1974 reform saw the non-metropolitan County of Cleveland come into being, under the Langborough non-metropolitan district. Further changes in 1996 saw the district become a unitary authority called Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire. The North-East region was then subdivided into two combined authorities with the Tees Valley voting in its first mayor in 2017.

Redcar

The town is famous for being home to the world’s oldest surviving purpose-built lifeboat, the Zetland lifeboat, which remains on display in the town’s volunteer-led lifeboat museum. The Zetland was first stationed at Redcar in 1802 and the legacy for why it was required can still be found off the coast of the town, where numerous shipwrecks still lie.

As seaside holidays began to gain popularity during the 19th century, Redcar’s facilities expanded and, in 1846, the Redcar and Middlesbrough railway line running between the towns was completed and the present-day Redcar Central station was opened as to aid in the transportation of both tourists and traders, with Redcar East station being opened in 1929. From the early 1800’s, both Redcar and Middlesbrough saw their populations grow at pace following the discovery of iron ore in the nearby Cleveland Hills.

Redcar

But, aside from this industrial side, Redcar continued on as a seaside resort and plans to build a pier at the town began to be put in place in 1866, but it was only in 1871 that plans to build one at Coatham began to be worked upon. This encountered something of a setback during construction as, during a storm, two ships were driven through it and this caused it to be shortened thanks to the cost of repairs following this incident. It reopened with a pair of entrance kiosks and a roller skating rink on its Redcar side, whilst a bandstand stood half-way along its length.

Redcar Pier was added in the late 1870’s but this too would see ships come along to try and demolish it as it was hit on two occasions in its first five or so years in use. Following on from the Luna and the SS Cochrane, the schooner Amarant then fancied a piece of the action and too struck the pier…and went right on through it. This was all by 1897! A year later, its bandstand and pier head burned down, with this structure seeming to be a little more than a tad cursed! Coatham Pier wasn’t forgotten by the ships and Birger came along to knock more pieces off of it and the pier was then left to the elements.

Redcar

In later years, a pavilion ballroom was built on Redcar Pier, whilst Coatham pier also saw the remains of its entrance reused as a concert-hosting glass house. This was later replaced by the New Pavilion Theatre, with comedian and entertainer Larry Grayson coining this catchphrase “Shut that Door!!” there – due to the stage door being open to the cold winds blowing in off the North Sea. The New Pavilion Theatre would become the Regent Cinema after the end of the the Second World War.

The First World War saw Redcar become the site of a aircraft listening post, which was built in 1916 as part of a regional defence system to defend against German, principally Zeppelin, air raids. It is an example of an acoustic mirror system and was in use up until the introduction of radar in World War II. Now surrounded by a housing estate, only the concrete sound mirror remains, although this is Grade II listed.

Redcar

During WWII, Redcar Pier was deliberately breached in 1940 as to avoid it being able to be used as a landing point or staging point by any invasion force. The resultant damage caused by the mine explosion and the deterioration over the following war years meant the two parts were never reconnected and it followed the path of its near-neighbour in falling into disrepair. Further storm damage over the following decades would see it eventually be declared unsafe and it was demolished by 1981.

Post-war, the town’s main employer came in the form of the nearby Dorman Long Teesside Steelworks and ICI Wilton chemical works. Steel produced here was used in the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Tyne Bridge and the Auckland Harbour Bridge, amongst numerous others. Both the steelwork sites at Warrenby and Lackenby became part of Tata Steel as part of its purchase of Corus in 2007 and latterly SSI in 2011. It was mothballed for the first time in 2010 and after a short return to action in 2012, it was again mothballed in 2015 – this time never to return. Its ovens were extinguished, bringing to an end the sites’ storied history.

Redcar at night…

At the west end of the town’s high street stands a clock tower which was erected (back when memorials meant something and were respected) as a memorial to King Edward VII who was a regular visitor to Redcar. The Redcar Beacon saw its works begin in 2011 and it was completed in 2013.

Notable people to come out of Redcar include the likes of geologist Sir George Malcolm Brown, actor Pip Donaghy, actresses June Laverick and Felicity Finch, WWI flying ace Lt. Richard Hill, film producer and screenwriter Katharine McEwan, musicians Chris Norman and Pete York, UCI Downhill Champion, “The Redcar Rocket” Danny Hart and footballers Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough), Jordan Jones (Kilmarnock, Rangers, Wigan Athletic) and David Wheater (Middlesbrough, Bolton Wanderers).

Anyway, back onto the day at hand and having been only more enamoured by the thought of the bar in the Beacon opposite, I nudged Paul into agreement in favour of a visit and so we finished off our pints of Hop Session 007 (£5.40) and popped across the road to a bar we reckoned would likely set us back a fair amount, given its location and overall vibe. But there was none of that as our respective drinks came in at under £5 each, the round setting Paul back £9.70! Madness, especially considering I’d opted for a Camden Pale Ale and he a Pravha!

After a couple of failed attempts (on my part) to get the sea out of the windows in the background, we departed outside as the ships heading out across the North Sea began to fade into the approaching misty rain, which was slowly encroaching upon the Redcar coastline. We managed to beat whatever weather was threatening (not much eventually came our way, luckily) and popped into the well-positioned Martha’s Vineyard, which sat right next to the bus stop from which you can catch the service to the foot of Green Lane, about a five minute stroll from the ground.

Rita’s Pantry

In the Beacon!

Before entering, we again felt that this may be a dear one but, again, there was none of that…although this did come as something less of a shock after getting to the bar and discovering the lack of options which were on today. Paul eventually plumped for a Amstel, whilst I went for a John Smith’s…with the round setting me back a tad under £5. Was this real? Was this the 1990’s? I don’t even know how much a pint was in the 1990’s as I wasn’t old enough…never mind in the 2000’s! Bloody hell, Redcar, you’ve gained fans in us!

We finished up our cheap as chips drinks and popped outside just as the bus came into view. A £2 single fare had us at Green Lane within 10 minutes and a short walk later saw us arriving at the car-park, bypassing the old Teesside Athletic signage as we did so. We got to the turnstiles to pay our dues and grabbed the final two programmes (at least that were situated there!) and headed into Athletic’s home – with Paul making an immediate beeline for the bar…under the guise of getting a taxi number…he wasn’t pulling the wool over my eyes!!

Martha’s Vineyard

Off the buses!

I made my way pitchside after getting a pic of the bar area myself and had a quick peruse of the ground. It holds three stands, two covered standing areas are located in the corner you enter from, with one of the two located behind the near end goal and spanning the majority of the width of the pitch. The other is located just across the other side of the tunnel gap and just over the far side of this is a small, all-seater affair. The remainder of the ground is open, hard standing, with this not being too bad today, but you can imagine it gets pretty bracing in the colder months, that’s for sure! That’s Green Lane in short and this is the story behind Redcar Athletic…

History Lesson:

Redcar Athletic Football Club was founded in 1993 as Teesside Athletic and initially played, fittingly, in the Teesside League. They would spend their first 12 years of existence there, winning nothing in the way of silverware, prior to making the switch to the Wearside League in 2005. They would seal their first silverware there at the end of their debut season, lifting the 2006 edition of the Monkwearmouth Cup. They would add to the trophy cabinet the next season too by winning the Wearside League’s League Cup.

After winning the 2009 Shipowner’s Cup, 5he club underwent the name change to Redcar Athletic in 2010. They would achieve their first silverware under this name in 2017 as they recorded a double-winning campaign in lifting the Monkwearmouth Cup for a second time, alongside their first Alan Hood Memorial Cup triumph. Redcar Athletic would lift the Wearside League title in 2018, this coming after three previous runners-up finishes in 2012, 2016 and 2017, with this securing Athletic a spot in the Northern League’s Division 2 for the 2018-’19 season.

Arriving at the ground

Made of Steel…

That season would see Athletic begin life in the Northern League in pretty decent fashion, recording a strong 7th placed finish. Having played well in the ill-fated 2019-’20 season and started decently enough in the hugely truncated 2020-’21 campaign, these results accrued across the two seasons were enough to see Redcar Athletic promoted to Division 1 of the Northern League. They would finish their first season at Step 5 in 14th place before finishing last season in an impressive 6th position. The club currently lie in 12th position at time of writing and chasing a second-successive top-ten finish.

The game got underway with an almost immediate opener for the hosts! After the ball had found its way back to the Whickham ‘keeper, his attempted clearance was charged down and the ball duly deflected off the challenging #11 and rebounded into the back of the net. Whickham never got going in the early stages either after this setback and went two down shortly afterwards, when #10’s initial effort was palmed into the path of #9 and he provided the finish. 2-0!

Match Action

Match Action

#4 then went mighty close to adding a third when his volleyed effort crashed back off the upright, before number three would come along via #10, as he slotted home from #9’s pull back. And it was four prior to the break when a tap in for the Redcar #11 gave him his own second of the afternoon. You may have noticed that the description for the last strike was a bit on the vague side…well, this is because I was stationed at the food tent for a good ten minutes awaiting my order of pulled chicken fries. They were well worth the wait, though!

After taking a bit of time to pop into one of the outdoor wooden seating huts out to the front of the clubhouse to begin with, the whistle soon sounded once more and I re-joined Paul pitchside, where we got talking to a fella from down the way in Marske (plus the guy and friendly pup in the first half), who’d begun to watch Athletic thanks to the dual happenings of Marske United folding and most of the squad and staff heading for Redcar as a result. It was great chatting about the happenings (well, great may not be the word for what had actually gone on!) and for some reason I can’t namecheck the guy as my note didn’t save. Bloody useless phone.

Match Action

In the clubhouse

Anyway, the second half was a bit of a non-event in truth with not much really occurring on the pitch. The highlight was probably when Paul couldn’t find his pint, reckoned he must have knocked it over, only for me to point out he was holding it in the bend of his arm. “How many have you had?!” was the question! On the pitch, Whickham had pretty much their only sighter of goal in the game when a low shot flew narrowly wide.

Redcar would respond during the latter 45 minutes, but were really quite happy to sit back and allow the ‘keeper to claim a precious clean-sheet – something he drilled into his players out in front of him on a number of occasions. He needn’t have worried about it as he really was underworked today. #11 was denied a hat-trick via a fine fingertip stop from the Whickham gloveman, whilst #4 cleared the crossbar and put the ball in the fields beyond the ground’s perimeter wall.

Match Action

Match Action

Man of Steel!

Just prior to the whistle and with our interest in the game well and truly extinguished as we entered stoppage time, our taxi pulled up and we took the option of a slightly early exit and missed nothing as Redcar duly saw out the remaining minutes and secured the clean sheet without adding to their tally. With Paul a little pressed for time and wanting to get to the Wetherspoon’s, The Plimsoll Line, we had our driver drop us off outside with Paul in an extra celebratory mood following Liverpool’s late winner against Nottingham Forest – something I’d already assured him was going to happen. Just call me Mystic Manchopper…mysthopper….mystichopper…man…oh, never mind…

Back to Redcar and the ‘Spoons!

The Crown and Anchor

After being given a couple of first-hand experienced cheap pub tips (there’s more?!) to head for after Wetherspoon’s from our friendly cab man, we headed into Spoons and soon had a pint each in hand – with yours truly opting for a pint of Bud (w/Coors:- £6.45- not often Spoons is a dearer round in the day!), with me still having a couple more places ahead of me. Paul, meanwhile, was on the train an hour earlier than me out too and, thankfully, he wouldn’t have any delays going back to Merseyside as he’d had going to Teesside! We bid goodbye as I made my way into the Spoons-neighbouring Crown and Anchor, whilst Paul headed for an offy for a few train cans. Nice.

The Crown and Anchor was a decent enough little boozer and more old-fashioned than where we’d been to over the day up to that point. I was on the Moretti (£3.15) here whilst catching up on the results around the country but with time being a factor for me, I did polish off the pint in swift order and headed a few doors down to The Stockton. This was even more traditional than the Crown and Anchor and I even doubled up on the day’s John Smith’s tally here with this again being unbelievably kind on the pocket at £2.30. Madness!

The Stockton

Hop & Grape (and unvisited Livery)

I do wonder how some places can do it and still survive, with the prices you get charged to get beers on in the first place nowadays. Fair play to ’em, however they do it and it’d be no different in my final call across the road at the Hop and Grape – which was rather full and had the added bonus of karaoke on the go, which seemed to largely be utilised by local open-mike go-ers. I had a swift pint of Worthington’s (£2.10!!) as I did only have a safe 20 minutes here, as I really didn’t want to risk getting to the station and mixing up where I had to go! Luckily, the train pulling in across the level crossing really rather early as I rounded the corner ought to have aided me in avoiding this…but then I did it anyway, because I’m a bit brainless sometimes!

There was still no rush as there was still a few minutes until it was due to depart and so I took my spot on the train and just hoped there’d be no nasty TPE surprises coming my way too! Happily, this would prove the case and that sealed what had been a day which had far exceeded my expectations, especially as I was dropped off back at Manchester Victoria with enough time to make a first visit to the Victoria Tap – the sister establishment of the much-vaunted Euston and Piccadilly offerings…and a future Oxford Road one!

To the pub!

In the pub!

Redcar was better than I expected, both in terms of how it was in itself and the pubs it had on offer – not to mention the prices!! The ground was alright for an effective new-build/work in progress and I think Paul would agree that there was a very friendly welcome and overall enviroment around the place.

The food on offer at the ground certainly lived up to its reputation! The programme was a decent enough read too and, of course, the £2 train fare meant that I didn’t have much to complain about across the day – especially with the cool backdrop which the ground also features, though I imagine it’s even better on a bright summer’s day. Anyway, that’s that and it’s off to one of the newer cities in the country next week – heading via its old origins too…