1922-23 Season
After an awful start to the 1922/23 season when The Colliers were beaten 1-6 at Wigan Borough, a good recovery was made which saw the team win all three home games against Wigan in the return match, a 3-1 derby win against Darlington and another derby win when Hartlepool were defeated 4-2 at Portland Park. These wins along with a 1-1 draw at Darlington and a defeat at Hartlepool meant a decent start to the season. The Colliers first game in October resulted in a 3-1 win away at Nelson, followed by the Colliers first home defeat of the season when Nelson won 2-0 at Portland Park the week after. A win at home to Chesterfield by a 2-0 scoreline, a week after securing a point against the same side away meant Ashington had taken a reasonable 12 points from a possible 20 available by the end of October.
After a great start to the season Ashington went on a terrible run when they went 10 games without a win until they defeated Rochdale on the 6th February 1923. The nightmare run included two defeats against Stalybridge, a home loss against Lincoln (0-2), an embarrassing 2-6 home defeat to Barrow, losses to Tranmere, Southport and Rochdale away from Portland Park as well as another heavy loss, 1-4 at Accrington Stanley. By now the public had certainly become disillusioned and for the New Years Day visit of Durham only 3,500 turned up (little more than half of that of a year earlier) to see a drab scoreless draw. For the defeats continued with alarming regularity and on the 10th of February a poor attendance of only 1,500 was present to see six goals – four scored by opponents Crewe.
Programme from Tranmere Rovers v Ashington, Christmas Day 1922
After a few more games with mixed results for the Colliers, a shareholders meeting was held to discuss ways in which the Club could improve the financial situation caused by poor home gates, which was not helped by equally poor weather. An offer was made for the supporters to buy shares in the club on a weekly payment scheme which initially produced a good number of applicants.
Whilst the League position didn’t improve, the support – in line with the weather – did with 3,500 attending Ashington’s 2-5 home defeat to Accrington Stanley and 4,646 at Portland Park to see the Colliers defeat Walsall 3-0; the latter match saw the debut of Price signed from high flying Nelson. Defeats away to Walsall and Lincoln was followed by a run of four games unbeaten which included a 3-2 win at home to Halifax Town, a 1-1 draw at Durham City and a 0-0 draw at the Shay before Bradford Park avenue were beaten by a 2-1 scoreline at Portland Park. Ashington went down 3-0 in the reverse fixture before ending the season on a winning note when Tranmere lost 3-1 at Portland Park.
By the end of the season only one away victory had been obtained, by a 3-1 scoreline back in October at – of all places – Nelson, the eventual League Champions!!! But it was the other end of the table that Ashington had to look, for they finished just two points and one position above their near rivals Durham City in bottom place. Re-election had therefore to be applied for. Ashington topped the poll with 45 points, along with newcomers Doncaster Rovers and New Brighton (the League having been extended), and finally Durham City. Nuneaton and Wallasey received not one vote of support.
The reserves in the Northern Alliance, with a runners-up position gave cause for optimism; even the support was good, with the match at home to Hexham Hearts – some 2,000 attended – exceeding at least one of the first team’s fixtures!
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