Ashington AFC in the Northern League: 1980-1990
1980/81
On the opening day of the season the Colliers drew at home to Crook Town with the final score 1-1. The Colliers side that day was-
Rigg, Pilkington, Chambers, Nixon, Harmison, Parkinson, McCaffrey, Pringle, Brown, Lumsdon, McGinley.
The subs were Jobey, Wilson and Fleming.
Ashington recorded their highest League score since joining after defeating Willington 9-2 on October 25th through Ian Mutrie (6), David Brown, Jimmy Harmison and Brian Pilkington. On Monday, October 27th 1980 Portland Park hosted a friendly between the Northern Amateur League and the Drybroughs Northern League Under 21s. The game ended 1-1 and the NL side included two Ashington players - Roy Peart and Tony Lowery. Ashington finished the season in 5th position with a total of 63 points. Good results included the already mentioned 9-2 win against Willington, home wins against Horden (6-1) and West Auckland (6-1) with good away wins at Whitley Bay (5-1) and Billingham Synthonia (5-2).
1980-81 NORTH 38 17 12 9 95 66 63 5/20
1981/82
A disappointing season for the Colliers saw them finish third from bottom in the table. A few wins worth mentioning include home victories against Evenwood (5-2) and Willington (4-1) with the only three away wins during the season achieved at Willington (5-2), Whitley Bay (2-1) and Horden CW (2-0).
1981-82 NORTH 38 9 8 21 50 87 35 18/20
1982/83
With a newly formed Second Division formed, the Collies had to avoid the drop, but knew they would need to be a lot better than the previous season to avoid it. However another poor season saw the Coliers finish only one place higher than the previous campaign, finishing 4th bottom. At home Ashington's best win was against third place Horden (1-0) and on their travels the Colliers only two wins were at Willington (3-1) and Durham City (3-1) - both finished below the Colliers.
1982-83 NORTH-1 36 9 6 21 36 73 33 16/19
1983/84
An awful season for the Colliers saw them finish second bottom with only 26 points - not helped by a three point deduction - that confirmed relegation to the recently formed NL Division 2. A few bright spots in a terrible season included a good home win against Evenwood (3-0) and a 4-3 victory at Horden. In a friendly game at Feethams, a Northern League seslect defeated an FA XI 1-0. Future Colliers manager Tony Harrison played in goal for the NL side whilst on the books of North Shields.
1983-84 NORTH-1 34 7 8 19 39 71 26 * 17/18
1984/85
In the Colliers first season in Division 2, good home wins over Northallerton (7-2), Shotton (6-2) and Norton (5-2) as well as away wins at Northallerton (4-2) and West Auckland (3-1), only brought a final position of 10th, not helped by a poor away record.
1984-85 NORTH-2 34 11 7 16 59 58 40 10/18
1985/86
Ashington were slightly better in the 85/86 season than the previous campaign, finally finishing 8th in the table. Blue Star won the League winning all but two games with their only defeat at Durham City and a draw at Esh Winning. Blue Star destroyed the Colliers twice winning 7-1 at Portland Park and 10-1 at home. The Colliers did achieve good home wins against Evenwood (6-2), Esh Winning (4-1) and Shotton (5-2) with notable away wins at Horden (6-1), Alnwick (3-1) and Shildon (2-0). The Colliers also drew an amazing match at Shotton with the game ending 5-5.
1985-86 NORTH-2 38 15 9 14 81 85 54 8/20
1986/87
Another mid-table finish for the Colliers as they ended the season in 10th position. Good home wins against Langley Park (6-1), Evenwood (4-0), Darlington Cleveland Bridge (4-1) and Esh Winning (4-1) with notable away wins at Durham City (5-1), Langley Park (4-0) and Northallerton (3-2). Billingham Synthonia won Division 2 and Blyth Spartans won the First Division. Spartans also defeated Grantham Town in the FA Trophy, winning 3-1 thanks to goals by Berry, Dawson and the former Newcastle United and Sheffield Wednesday defender and Ashington born Ray Blackhall.
1986-87 NORTH-2 36 14 6 16 67 73 48 10/19
1987/88
After some respectable finishes in previous Division 2 seasons, Ashington slumped to a new low finishing 4th bottom in the Second Division. A few good results that season included home wins against West Auckland (5-2) and Willington (4-0) and a great away win at Durham City (3-1) who finished third top.
1987-88 NORTH-2 34 10 9 15 45 62 39 15/18
1988/89
Now called the Skol Northern League, Ashington just missed out on promotion finishing 5th in the table. Durham City goalkeeper Tony Harrison was also selected for the SNL XI that lost 1-2 against an FA side. On the final day of the season Ashington lost 1-3 at local rivals Alnwick Town who finished second - Tony Richmond scored for the Colliers. Impressive home victories included Shotton and Washington (both 5-0), Willington (6-0) and Cleveland bridge (3-0) and on the road Ashington had good wins at local rivals Bedlington Terriers (4-0), Washington (4-0) and Langley Park (4-1).
1988-89 NORTH-2 38 21 5 12 79 52 68 5/20
1989/90
Hoping to improve on the previous season, the Colliers only finished 13th losing 22 out of 38 games. In a season of few high points, a few notable wins were achieved against Horden at home (4-2) and away wins at Horden (4-1) and Norton (4-3).
1989-90 NORTH-2 38 10 6 22 62 85 36 13/20