1926-27 Season
As the 1926/27 season was about to commence, local events were in progress that were to hit the club financially. Disharmony was being expressed at the Coalmines and with the vast majority of the Football teams support coming from this direction, the strike that followed was to have serious effects on the home gates. A journalist wrote on August 26th ‘’League football commences on Saturday under the shadow of a great industrial crisis, and the consequences will be felt by all the local football clubs’’
Due to this unrest the first home game scheduled for the first day in September against Nelson was postponed. This came after a heavy opening day defeat at New Brighton with the Colliers going down 0-4. Trial games in pre-season had attracted good crowds of two, three and four thousand, but admission prices for these had been low. With the workforce on strike, Council house rents unpaid and families dependant on free food handouts there was little money for football matches.
The first home game was finally played on September the 4th with The Colliers drawing 1-1 with Wrexham was an official attendance of 1,823. Despite a small but enthusiastic following (the Club now had a Supporters Club) who wished to see their favourites, crowd trouble ensued when a section of supporters climbed the walls and opened the South Side gates allowing an estimated 1,500 free entrants into the Ground. Ashington then played in three consecutive away matches with mixed outcomes. A 0-0 draw at Walsall was followed by a superb 4-1 win at Wigan before the Colliers were heavily defeated at Nelson with a final score of 4-0 to the home side.
After the trouble at home to Wrexham, a similar incident ensued at the Colliers next home match against Doncaster, on which there were several minor casualties as around 2,000 spectators broke into the ground to add to the 1,500 paying supporters. The game ended 1-1 and the fixture two days later with Walsall was postponed in order to avoid a repeat occurrence. One week later the Colliers went down to a huge 0-7 defeat at Stoke and two days later the Colliers were defeated on their travels again, this time 1-4 at Chesterfield.
On October the 2nd, the home fixture with Rotherham was played and apart from a repeat of only a small (paid) attendance, the game was trouble free. Those present however got to see an amazing game that saw the Colliers go 0-4 down after only 18 minutes, but somehow manage to pull the game back to 4-4 to gain a valuable point. Despite this fighting spirit, the Colliers were struggling at the wrong end of the table and not helped by the general unrest in the area. The Colliers then went down at Bradford Park Avenue (0-2) and one week later Rochdale left Portland Park with a point after the game finished 2-2. This was followed by another amazing game at Portland Park as Tranmere were defeated by the odd goal in seven – this was the Colliers first home win of the season. This win was soon followed by another home victory with Accrington defeated by a 2-1 scoreline, but the poor away form continued as the Colliers crashed 0-4 at Lincoln – yet another heavy away loss. Ashington won at home for the third time in a row as Halifax Town were thrashed 3-0 at Portland Park before the Colliers picked up a useful point at Barrow after the game ended 2-2.
With the Colliers struggling in the Third Division, attention was switched to the FA Cup as the Colliers visited fellow North East side Stockton with the Colliers winning 2-1 at the Victoria Ground. After a derby win at Hartlepools on the 4th of December by a single goal, the Colliers entertained Nelson the second round of the FA Cup. A healthy attendance of 5,265 with the visitors bringing many of their own fans to Portland Park, with the crowd witnessing a match full of missed chances, with the Colliers going through thanks to a narrow 2-1 victory.
The Directors of the Club were overjoyed when the Third Round draw was made for it paired them with a home tie against Nottingham Forest. In the League the Colliers went down 1-4 at Southport before winning another North East derby, this time defeating Durham City away by two goals to nil on Christmas Day. Ashington then went down 1-2 at Tranmere before winning 3-1 at home to local rivals Durham City on New Years Day to complete the ‘double’, followed by 2-1 victory at home to Chesterfield. December had also seen the Colliers make an impressive signing with Centre Forward Frank Walls joining from Irish League side Larne – his record was a very impressive 26 goals in 22 games.
The next game was the ‘Big One’ as Second Division Nottingham Forest visited Portland Park in an FA Cup Third Round clash. In view of the financial problems prevalent to the town as a whole die to the Industrial situation, there were hopes of a new record attendance at Portland Park. However, with heavy rain on the matchday, coupled with many who didn’t turn up as they expected the gates to be shut before the kick off time, the final attendance of 9,242 was smaller than hoped. The Cup tie admission costs were one and two shillings (5p and 10p) for the South Side open stand, 2 shillings and sixpence for the Paddock and three shillings and sixpence for the main covered stand – with the Club making £513 off gate receipts. The Colliers started well but Forest produced some quality football and despite great defending by the Colliers, the away side went in at half time one nil up. An injury reduced the Colliers to only ten fit men in the second half and with the rain coming down in torrents, the Second Division side sealed the match with a stunning header 17 minutes into the 2nd period giving a final score of:
Ashington 0 Nottingham Forest 2
After the FA Cup run had ended the Colliers went on a terrible run of 13 games without a win including some heavy defeats at Rotherham (0-5), Rochdale (0-5) and Accrington (0-3) although points were picked up against Wrexham and Halifax away as well as Wigan and Bradford PA at Portland Park. This run had seen the Colliers slump to fifth from bottom and dangerously near the re-election zone, but the nightmare run was finally brought to an end as the Colliers defeated Barrow 3-0 at home on the 9th of April, followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Stockport and a defeat at Crewe. Crewe then made the return trip one week later and were heavily beaten 4-1 at Portland Park as the Colliers pulled away from the foot of the table. One week later the Colliers completed another North East ‘double’ when they defeated Hartlepools 1-0 at Portland Park. The Colliers last away game of the season ended in defeat, 2-6 at Stockport before the Colliers finished the season in style destroying Southport 4-1 at Portland Park meaning the Colliers finished in 16th position – a reasonable finish considering all of the turmoil caused by Miners Strikes and high unemployment in the area.
Season high notes included a great FA Cup run, brought to an end by the mighty Nottingham Forest, two North East ‘doubles’ as Durham City and Hartlepools were defeated both home and away and a magnificent come back from four goals down to get a draw at home to Rotherham.
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