West Auckland Town v Shildon

Hosts: West Auckland Town Football Club

Venue: Wanted Stadium, Darlington Road (A68), West Auckland, Co Durham DL14 9AQ

LOCATION REPORT

SatNav: DL14 9AQ
Parking: grassed field, signposted (opposite the path to stadium), with steward attending; space for 100s of cars. Note: no parking on-site or in residential streets adjacent.

Public transport: bus #6 Durham-Bishop Auckland-West Auckland-Cockfield (Front Street, 4 mins walk)

Entry: adults £6, concessions £3 under-16s £1
Programmes: £1

Refreshments: snack hatch (eg £1.70 hotdogs, £1.70 chips+curry, £1 hot drinks); onsite bar (eg £1 coke/cold drinks)
Licensed: clubhouse bar, onsite
Toilets: ladies/gents inside clubhouse and pitchside
PA system: yes, with annoucements + music; good audibility for music, poorer audibility for voice, especially in main stand

Covered seating:

(W) main stand = c150 seated total, 5 tiers x 2 sections

Covered standing:

(W) the 'Lipton' terrace = covered sheds, stepped, 4 tiers , c100 standing total
Open viewing:
(W) open space outside cubhouse
(N) stepped paved terrace with wooden barrier, 2 x elevated tiers = c200+ standing

(all sides) asphalt hardstanding & lean-on blockwall all-round

Floodlights: 4 (1 per corner)

MATCH REPORT

Kickoff: 3:00pm Saturday 21 September 2019
Competition: Ebac Northern League Division One
Weather: warm, dry, sunny, clear, light breeze

Final [h/t] score (team colours):
4 [0] West Auckland (yellow shirts, black shorts)
0 [0] Shildon (all red)

Sent Off: 0

Official crowd: 426

Official Northern League Report

Social media [Twitter]: @theofficialnl, @westaucklandfc, @Official_SAFC

NORVENMUNKI's COMMENTS

Today, we're at the Wanted Stadium. It doesn't seem to have any connection to the eponymous pop group, but the music playlist is bouncing nonetheless.

More importantly, a visit to West Auckland is equivalent to a pilgrimage for any non-league football enthusiast, given the unique place in English soccer folklore than this proud little club from County Durham enjoys.
I shan't try to tell the tale here, it would be too reductive and the full story deserves full glory!
Instead, my recommendation would be to haul your ass here yourself and check out the fantastic Lipton Terrace with its museum boards recounting the whole tale in a local voice. Awesome!



It's sunny and warm this afternoon, a pleasant September day, with a light cool breeze drifting in off the open hills adjacent.

On arrival, the friendly car park attendant ushers us into the field opposite. Here there is ample space for hundreds of vehicles if necessary.
The ground itself is tucked away around the corner, accessed via a residential street. There are signs requesting 'no matchday parking' (is it a mark of a classy club to have your own road signs?).



Inside, there's plenty of standing area. The entire northern end is made with concrete paving on two tiers. Tall netting protects the neighbouring houses from stray balls.

A soundtrack of 80s classics rings out; my daughter is somewhat unimpressed but it sounds like my own Spotify playlist.

The PA kicks-in but we can't really hear anything, even in the main stand. After a few garbled moments, the announcer seems to re-start his script, but still it's just as weak.

We nip over to grab some chips from the cute little snack hatch.

On our way back to the stand, we pause to admire the information boards telling the story of West Auckland's famous adventures.

The teams are still having a pre-match training warm-up on the pitch, and a stray ball spins in our direction and clatters into an unsuspecting gent in from of us... his plate of chips is strewn all over the place! He's a bit embarrassed to be centre of attention for a moment, but it's all light-hearted.

We take our seats in the main stand, enjoying a bit of shade. The benches are all painted yellow, with black plastic seat pads fixed on.



As the afternoon progresses, we will likely go back out into the Autumn sunshine. It would be a shame to miss what might be one of the last 't-shirt Saturdays' of the season as the cooler weather approaches.

The stand gradually fills up around us. There are various locals sporting club colours, with fleeces seemingly the merch of choice.
The adjacent land is open fields. I suspect it may get a tad chilly hereabouts in deep winter.

The teams come out to the tinny sounds of 'Glad All Over'. Handshakes. Game on.

It's noticeable that the pitch is very wonky. It seems to slope up at all the corners. I've always liked this kind of thing: when you play then it doesn't usually offer any favour but as a curiosity then it's something that differentiates the higher and lower levels of the game. Notwithstanding the uneven terrain, this surface is a credit to the ground staff, and it looks especially good on a sunshiny afternoon.

Straight from the kick-off, there's an instant attack from Shildon, from which they win a corner but nothing more.
Then, an instant response from West Auckland, straight up the other end and - bam! - a goal, inside two minutes: 1-0!

At half-time, it's still one-nil.

The music restarts, all current playlist material now and so a bit more acceptable to the young 'uns. Plus it's loud and clear too.

The half-time hot chocolate is volcanic hot, apparently.

We relocate to the north end, into the sunshine, with the glare in our faces. This is the goal that the home side will attack in the second half.
The teams are back out and the game resumes.



Early in the second period, we get another goal. Auckland extend their lead, thanks to a one-on-one with the keeper and their centre-forward skirts around him and slots into the open goal: 2-0.

Minutes later, buoyed with confidence, an Auckland midfielder sees the Shildon keeper off his line and tries a long-range dropper, but it skims over the bar to the relief of the away defence.

By 53 minutes, it's 3-0. A nice passing move leads to a pulled-back cross from the Auckland right, which is turned in by the leaping boot of their number-nine.



The sunshine is burning my face now. I've got my shades on but I can still feel my forehead baking. I never expected to have to bring sunscreen to a match in late September in the north of England!

Another goal for Auckland; their lanky striker holds off two defenders and stretches a long leg to poke his shot away, in off the left-hand post: four-nil.



Chants of "Can we play you every week?" echo out from a group of happy locals stood beside us on the north terrace. Lots of laughter and playful banter on a sunny day with a cool pint.

The final whistle can't come to soon for the visitors. When it arrives, it's met with cheers from the home crowd, local pride intact. The away fans and players are somewhat shell-shocked, and will nurse their emotional wounds on the short trip back to Shildon.