This is the first meeting between Ashington and Stockton Town in the FA Cup but it’s not the first time the Collier’s have taken on teams from the Teesside town in the competition.

On 27^th November 1926 the Colliers disposed of Stockton in the first round of the FA Cup by the odd goal in three at the Victoria Ground. The Collier’s were unlucky not to have scored when those in attendance thought a strike had crossed the line after hitting the underside of the bar and then were unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty. Stockton though were equal to the Third Division North side for much of the game. The Colliers took the lead on 40 minutes when Watson headed past Murray in the Stockton goal.

Three minutes after half time the home side were level. After Ridley could only partially clear Smith hit a splendid shot that hit the back of the net. After a tough period of pressure from the home side the Colliers again took the lead. After Murray had failed to clear his lines Randall seized his opportunity to score his first goal of the season for Ashington’s senior side and put them into the next round. That season the Colliers had their best ever run in the competition eventually being beaten at home to Nottingham Forest in the third round in front of

The Collier’s again drew the Victoria Park side in the 1929-30 competition. 1200 spectators were present on 16^th November 1929 at Portland Park to see Ashington progress to the next round. After the first half ended goalless the second period was much more lively with Stockton entering the field a man short. Despite their man advantage Ashington fell behind when Smith smashed a penalty home for Stockton. Four minutes later however, the Colliers were level through Pearson.

Price put the home side ahead with a penalty and Turnbull added a third soon after sending an already enthusiastic crowd wild. Longstaff reduced the arrears before Turnbull got his second of the game from a free kick. The Collier’s were knocked out of the competition in the next round against Rotherham United.

When the sides were next draw in the FA Cup it was the Teesside team who would progress though no game was ever played. In 1962 when the sides were drawn together the Colliers withdrew from the competition their then chairman Mr Nunn saying “We cannot afford to continue in the competition”. Davy Davidson the teams manager went further “The fact it, it is time that the amateur clubs contented themselves with their own competition, and left the FA Cup to the professional sides”. Ashington have competed in every season of the FA Cup since.

On September 18^th 1965 the clubs met again at Victoria Park with the Colliers unbeaten. After only 20 minutes however they were dealt a huge blow when Ronnie Routledge was unable to stop a powerful drive by Jones and crashed into the post badly bruising his leg. The Colliers keeper was unable to continue and replaced in nets by outfield player Ron Heckley. Moor and Fuller grabbed further goals for the home side with Blackhall grabbing what was a consolation.

We’ve also played sides from Stockton in the FA Vase playing both Saturday’s opponents and Norton and Stockton Ancients in the competition, the later side inheriting the remaining assets of Stockton FC when they were wound up.

Goals from Hunt and Hayton helped the Colliers into the next round back in 1987 as the Colliers saw off Norton and Stockton Ancients 2-1 at Portland Park. In the 2011/12 season a solitary goal from Jonny Godsmark just after half time propelled Ashington to the next round of the competition against the same opponents at Woodhorn Lane.

Games against Stockton Town in the competition have not been so successful. On 3^rd November 2018 the Colliers were beaten 4-1 at Bishopton Road. A Goal from Woodhouse and a brace from Roberts had the home side 3-0 at half time. Glen Caygill pulled one back for the visitors but Mulligan wrapped up the victory on 75 minutes. On 31st August 2019 Goals from Hayes (2) Robinson and Owens gave the Anchors a 4-0 victory at Bishopton Road.

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner heaped praise on referee Givi Todua following the
thrilling 4-4 draw against Brighouse Town on Saturday.

The Colliers had reduced the deficit to 4-3 when with time running out, a long clearance
by ‘keeper Karl Dryden led to a dramatic 97 th minute equaliser.

The ball was headed on then home supporters were vociferous in their appeals for a
penalty for a handling offence inside the area before Darren Lough coolly found the
bottom corner of the net.

And Skinner was quick to point out that the match official had played an ‘excellent’
advantage: “One special mention to the referee at the end,” said the Woodhorn Lane
boss, “In the build up to Darren’s goal there is a handball and the assistant has flagged.
The referee has gone to ‘give it’ then allowed himself a couple of seconds to see what
happens. I know people can sometimes be very quick to criticise officials so I would say
‘fair play’ to the referee in terms of it being an excellent advantage.”

By Brian Bennett

The volume levels amongst supporters at Woodhorn Lane went up a few notches on
Saturday when Darren Lough scored a dramatic 97 th minute equaliser for Ashington
against Brighouse Town.

The goal was the final piece of action crammed into a pulsating encounter – in what was
the Colliers first game in the Northern Premier League for 55 years.

However, Lough played down the euphoria afterwards and said that whilst it was good
to open his account, the goal meant very little: “I don’t score many (goals) and I don’t get
myself in that situation very often,” he said, “but whilst it was nice (to score), it doesn’t
really mean much when we haven’t picked up three points from a game we should be
potentially winning.”

The Ashington-born defender – who said it was the first time he had played in a 4-4
draw – described his goal: “It was a long ball which got flicked on,” he commented, “I
touched it with my right foot and when I was going for the flick on, it came off the
defender’s arm. I appealed for a penalty but the ball dropped nicely onto my left foot. I
took another touch then drilled it – and fortunately it went into the bottom corner.”

Reflecting on the game where Ashington conceded three of the four goals from set
plays, the 33 year old – an operations manager at Metro Rod – added: “We have got to
be stronger at defending corners and need to sharpen up quickly. We’ve gone up a

league and the teams are more physical and know how to play. A lot of our lads have
played in this league and above and as a team we need to be stronger collectively; work
hard and clear our lines. We have got a lot of character in the squad and a lot of players
who are great on the ball and who can produce something out of nothing and we know
we are going to create opportunities and score goals. We have worked hard in pre
season to make sure that we get the defending side of things right but it has been one of
those days where there have been four errors and we have been punished for every
one.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner was faced with a dilemma of being happy or upset
when he conducted his postmatch press conference after Saturday’s 4-4 draw against
Brighouse Town.

The Colliers – on their return to the Northern Premier League after a period of 55 years
– were 4-2 down as the game entered stoppage time but in a dramatic finale, fought
back for a point after goals from debutant Charlie Exley and Darren Lough.

Whilst Skinner was naturally delighted that his side had fought back to take something
out of the game he was nevertheless furious that they had leaked four goals – hence the
dilemma: “I thought there were lots of aspects of our performance to be pleased with in
terms of the possession we had with the ball; our approach play was good; our entry in
and around the final third was also good as we got in on a number of occasions but we
probably didn’t threaten their goal as much as we would have liked,” he said, “However
what I’m really, really unhappy with is the manner of all four goals which we conceded.
Three are from set plays and we’ll need to learn quickly because news will sharp get
around the league. Set plays are now a massive part of football. They have a big
influence on the outcome of games so we’ll definitely be looking to be better at
defending our box because it wasn’t acceptable today. Then you can’t legislate for an
individual error in terms of giving the ball away to their centre forward and putting him
clean through with just the ‘keeper to beat – but mistakes are part of the game and we
need to eradicate them and minimalise them. We’ll look at them and work on them

because if we had defended our box better today we would have won the game
comfortably and I don’t mean that disrespectfully to Brighouse.”

He continued: “I suppose you’ve got to look at the other end of the spectrum in terms of
us being 4-2 down with the game not really going anywhere. Brighouse have ‘dropped
in’ to try and hold onto what they had and we’ve moved the ball without really hurting
them too much. We’ve introduced a couple of subs late on and have mixed our game up
a little bit and played short and direct football – and I think we’ve got to give some credit
to the lads who came on because I did think they influenced the game. It was nice to
see Max Emmerson on the pitch in a competitive fixture after being out for so long. I
thought he showed some enthusiasm and a desire to want to get on the ball and get
forward. Scott Heslop came on and made life difficult for their back four and he just
allows us at times to play a little bit more direct if we need to. I thought Scott won some
vital headers and some first contacts and he disturbed the Brighouse back four a little bit
who hadn’t really had to cope with that. All of a sudden they had to deal with us being
able to play more direct and again the willing runners off Scott (Heslop)got a lease of life
knowing that we were actually winning a first ball up top so they might get onto the
second contact.”

He went on: “The referee added nine minutes on which I think is going to be a regular
feature this season and if somebody had said to me that we’d score two late goals on 92
and 97 minutes and draw the game 4-4, I would have taken that. Brighouse tried to be
difficult to break down but thankfully we showed excellent spirit to keep going to the end so I must applaud the players for that and it’s a point gained given the situation we
found ourselves in in the 92 nd minute.”

In 1956 Jacky left Amble to sign for Leeds United preferring the Elland Road club to both Blackpool and Luton. After aonly a few days in Yorkshire the 18 year old became homesick and returned to his native North East. It was rumoured that Newcastle United were pondering a move for the promising youngster.

The youngster eventually joined Gateshead of the Football League Third Division North. After playing for the reserves in the North-Eastern and North Regional Leagues, he made his debut for the first team in early 1958. Starting inside left he starred in a 4-0 win over Darlington at Redheugh ParkDivision 3 North making a mark with creative play and was unlucky not to score himself.

He eventually switched from forward to centre half establishing himself as a lynchpin in Gateshead’s football league team and acting as their captain. Herron played for six years at the Redheugh Park side bridging a tumultuous period that saw them voted out of the Football League. Having played for Gateshead in the Northern Combination and North Regional League he played his final game for the club in a pulsating FA Cup game at Carlisle. Gateshead lost by the odd goal in seven in front of 12,720 in Cumbria but it was to be Jacky’s last game for the side.

Herron, who requested to be released from his contract, joined the Colliers on 9^th January 1964 signing for Davy Davidson’s side, despite interest from elsewhere. He went straight into the squad for their friendly trip to East Fife. 

He served the Colliers with distinction in the North EasternLeague and the North Regional League with the Colliers finishing 3^rd, 6^th, 4^th and 5^th. In the 1966-67 season he lifted the Northumberland Senior Cup helping the Colliers to a 3-1 win over holders North Shields scoring a goal in the process.

Jacky was captain of the side when they entered the newly founded Northern Premier League in 1968. Despite a strong start, the Colliers had a poor run and ended up finishing in 18^thplace, resigning at the end of the season. As it were the league was too strong at the time with teams like Wigan Athletic, Morecambe, Macclesfield, Boston United, and Altrincham.

In 1969 following Ashington’s resignation from the Northern Premier League, Jacky, then a collier at the Big E, decided to call time on his semi-pro football career. He continued to play for local sides including the Universal Social club for some time afterwards.

An all-round Sportsman Herron also turned out for Bomarsund Cricket Club and played a key role in their magnificent Haig Cup victory in 1974 taking a wicket in the final. Bomarsund were crowned kings of village cricket at Edgebaston beating Collingham by three wickets in the national competition.

Jacky sadly passed away on 3^rd July this year aged 85.

By Brian Bennett

If you mention the town of Brighouse, a vast majority of people would immediately think of the World famous Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. Their famous rendition of ‘The Floral Dance’ which dates back to 1977, was a huge hit in the UK record charts – but on Saturday, it’s Ashington who will be hoping to hit all the right notes and play a happy tune.

After clinching promotion in the Inter step play off final against Glossop North End at the end of April, the Colliers are champing at the bit as they make a return to the Northern Premier League when they take on Brighouse Town at Woodhorn Lane on Saturday at (3pm kick-off).

Ashington manager Ian Skinner – delighted with his outfit after a 4-0 triumph against North Shields last weekend in the Emirates FA Cup – said this week: “We’re all looking forward to it. People keep asking me and it’s over 50 years since the club were last in the Northern Premier League so it’ll be nice to start the campaign at home (against Brighouse Town.) We’ll put the FA Cup to one side and we’ll obviously gather as much information as we can on Brighouse. We’ll train twice this week as we prepare for the game knowing that we want to get off to a positive start in our league programme.”

By Brian Bennett

Newly signed striker Wilson Kneeshaw couldn’t have painted much of a better picture on
his Ashington debut after scoring twice and claiming an assist – as the Colliers brushed
North Shields aside following a 4-0 win in their Emirates FA Cup clash on Saturday.

However the Darlington-born forward – an artist – also revealed that it was only after
speaking to a group of people – including some of his former Blyth Spartans mates who
are now in the Ashington ranks – that he decided to give things a ‘go’ after he fell out of
love with the game last season: “I hadn’t really played to be honest,” said Kneeshaw, “I
was at Shildon at the start of last year and fell out of love with football and it was only
after talking to Nathan Buddle, Dan Maguire and Damen Mullen – plus the gaffer
(Ashington manager Ian Skinner) – that I got back into it after they had sold the club to
me. I had a couple of training sessions but was surprised that I was starting this
afternoon (against North Shields) and it was a dream debut with two goals and an assist

• and a 4-0 win.”

So after a sparkling first appearance for the Colliers, has the success rekindled
Kneeshaw’s love for the sport? “After a performance like today you can’t not,” said the
29 year old, “I loved my debut. I’m happy to be here to try and help the squad and for us
to have a big push this season. For my first goal it was a natural finish and that’s why I’m
on the pitch – to score goals. However, my first touch wasn’t that good in training
because I was a bit rusty and when I scored today I was joking with the lads saying it’s
just bounced off me and gone into the net! For the second goal – it was just instinct and
it’s lovely to find the net.”

Kneeshaw made the fourth goal for Spooner and he added: “I’ve know Craig for a
number of years. We are good pals and I was happy that I could set him up for his goal.
Now it’s just a case of getting back into the swing of things. They are a really good group
of lads at Ashington and I’m excited to get going.”

Boss Ian Skinner said: “Wilson was somebody we were aware of. I’ve tried to sign him
before and it was one of those where we met with him and had a chat with him. He
wasn’t sure what he wanted to do because as he has said himself, he did drift a little bit
(away from football.) He went to Shildon and did well – then he drifted again and went to
play with his pals in the Alliance League and was scoring lots of goals. We spoke to him
earlier in pre season and he indicated that maybes it wasn’t for him and he wasn’t really
interested in coming back and playing at this level.”

He continued: “A few of the ex Blyth Spartans lads – Nathan Buddle, Dan Maguire and
Damen Mullen – also spoke to him and he said he’d come down and do a couple of
training sessions. You can see Wilson has got quality – and he said he’d give it a go. We
threw him in today and it’s a one of them where it’s sink or swim a little bit – and he
certainly swam and rode the waves! So we’re delighted for him and hopefully his
performance today is the first of many.”

By Brian Bennett

Cameron Gascoigne and Craig Spooner were both on the score sheet in Ashington’s
comprehensive 4-0 victory over North Shields on Saturday.

The duo opened their accounts in this season’s FA Cup extra preliminary round clash
against the Shieldsmen at Woodhorn Lane with Wilson Kneeshaw adding a brace.

But afterwards, Gascoigne and Spooner – whilst pleased to get off the mark – stressed
that the bigger picture was Ashington making progress in a competition which was
memorable for them last season.

That’s when the Colliers came close to a place in the first round proper only going out at
the last qualifying round stage to National League North outfit King’s Lynn.

It was a superb start on his debut for Gateshead-born Gascoigne. He joined the club in
the close season from Newcastle Benfield and netted in the 11 th minute: “It’s always nice
to score – but the main thing is about the team getting through,” said the 21 year old
afterwards, “The goal gave us the lead early on which settled us down in what was a big
game – the FA Cup – because there are no second chances. After I scored, I thought
we played to our game plan and I don’t really think they (North Shields) could handle us.
Wilson Kneeshaw’s first appearance was brilliant today and I think we did really well in
what was a good performance.”

Gascoigne described his goal which came from a cross by Spooner: “Your mind goes
into slow motion really because you can see the ball coming across and all you think
about is hitting the target,” he said, “I managed to do that and it’s brilliant scoring in front
of a big crowd. It’s a dream start to get off the mark especially when you are an
attacking player because it calms you down a bit and then you can just go and play your
game. Now hopefully I can continue to do that week in week out. I’m buzzing ahead of
our opening league game against Brighouse on Saturday and I think all of the lads are
as well. It’s a new challenge for quite a lot of us – but I think we are going to try and grab
the opportunity by the scruff of the neck and give it a real good go.”

Meanwhile Spooner, born in Ashington, put the icing on the cake with the fourth goal
and he said afterwards: “Getting through to the next round was the most important thing
but it’s always nice to score a goal. It was good to see the new lads come in and get off
the mark (with goals) which is always a massive bonus moving forward.”

The 24 year old described his goal as being the finish of a striker: “Dan Maguire played
Wilson (Kneeshaw) down the line and he kindly cut the ball back,” he said, “It took a bit
of a deflection but I’d like to think that with me being in the box and knowing where the
ball was going to come, that it was the finish of a striker!”

He continued: “It was a great start for us and hopefully we can take it into the season.
It’s always nice to kick off with a win no matter what the score but I think 4-0 is a pretty
good way to begin. It’s been a good pre season – we know the way we want to play –
and I can’t wait for next Saturday when we play our first game in the new league.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner was delighted on Saturday night after his side had
made a great start to the new season.

Skinner’s outfit were convincing in their 4-0 win over North Shields in the Emirates FA
Cup extra preliminary round clash at Woodhorn Lane with goals coming from Cameron
Gascoigne, Craig Spooner and two from Wilson Kneeshaw.

The boss wore a broad smile afterwards and said: “It was a really pleasing performance.
There’s always a little bit of trepidation when you go into the actual first competitive
game of the season and as North Shields had played a competitive game the previous
week, they were slightly ahead of us. However, I feel as if our pre season has gone
really well to be honest. Playing Morpeth and Workington in recent weeks were two
really good tests then we managed to play a bit of an in-house game on Tuesday night
just to top up everybody’s minutes and get us raring to go.”

Skinner revealed that he thought things ‘clicked’ even ahead of the kick off: “My
assistant Andy Coyles said it was the best warm up he had seen in his time here and it
just felt as if we were ready to go,” he added, “Our start to the game was really bright
and from the first whistle we looked to dominate the ball and create chances and I
thought for the first 10-15 minutes we were the better side. One or two people had been
making some noises – not necessarily within the squad – but from outside that we hadn’t
scored in the last couple of pre season friendlies so to get an early goal – which always
helps – settled everybody down a little bit.”

He continued: “However following the goal, I thought we lost our way a little bit and after
everything we had done really well to get a foothold in the game, we just dropped off a
little bit and probably started playing a little bit more direct than I would have liked. We
allowed Shields to have a little sneak and a sniff but then we got back on the front foot
and the second goal was a big plus. It was a great ball from Dan Maguire and I was
thrilled to bits for Wilson (Kneeshaw) who has come in at the 11 th hour. Scott Heslop
wasn’t available today and Wilson – who trained with us last week – was thrown straight
in. He hadn’t played a lot of football recently but I thought he took his goal really well and
that was probably a little flashback to the partnership which he had a few years ago with
Dan (Maguire) at Blyth Spartans – Maguire playing in Wilson to score.”

He went on: “We came in 2-0 up and it’s one of those score lines where the next goal is
huge because if North Shields get it and it goes to 2-1 its game on – whereas if we get it
then you’d like to think that at 3-0 we would see the game through. I thought we started
the second half brilliantly with some of our one and two touch play fantastic and it led to
us scoring a goal within the first 90 seconds. Then you think ‘let’s just manage the game
and look after the ball’ – and we did that. We added a fourth (goal) and made
substitutions and we’ve also asked one or two players to play in different positions that
are not really natural to them but if I’m being super critical of the lads I thought we got
really sloppy towards the end of the game. That’s something we’ll need to look at
because the level we are going into, if we get sloppy certainly in and around our own
defensive third with under hit passes, on another day we will not get away with it.
Therefore we need to brush up on it and make sure that we keep our standards right
throughout the 90 minutes.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington started the season with a bang on Saturday when they delivered a knockout
blow to local rivals North Shields after an emphatic 4-0 victory in their Emirates FA Cup
extra preliminary round match at Woodhorn Lane.

New signings Cameron Gascoigne and Wilson Kneeshaw featured prominently. The
former broke the deadlock early in the clash before Kneeshaw netted either side of the
interval before Craig Spooner added a fourth goal with half an hour remaining.

Colliers manager Ian Skinner had said before the game that he was anticipating a tough
match but Gascoigne’s opener on 11 minutes – strangely to be the first of only three
highlights in the first half – completely changed the dynamics.

Darren Lough clipped the ball down the left flank to Spooner who crossed into the
middle of the area to the unmarked Gascoigne who slotted home from eight yards wide
of ‘keeper Jonny Ball.

It was a dream start – and the goal certainly gave the Wansbeck outfit a boost to spray
the ball around with confidence and dominate proceedings.

Ashington’s second arrived in the 35 th minute when Dan Maguire played an intelligent
pass which released Kneeshaw through on goal and the striker made no mistake,
driving the ball past the advancing Ball.

Then with half time imminent, Ashington were awarded a free kick 30 yards out.
Spooner took it and whipped a delightful right footer which smacked against the inside of
the post and bounced clear.

However, the home side did not have to wait long before they added a third.

Just two minutes into the second period, Spooner raided down the left and when his
cross was smashed against the bar by Gascoigne, the rebound fell to Kneeshaw who
calmly stroked the ball inside the bottom corner.

Then just past the hour mark, Spooner made it four.

Maguire found Kneeshaw on the right and when the newcomer cut the ball back,
Spooner nonchalantly side footed into the net.

Midway through Thomas Potter fired over for the Robins whilst Ashington had
opportunities to go nap at the other end.

Ben Sampson and substitute Mason Hardy combined to set up Maguire whose shot was
blocked and when the ball broke to Hardy, he curled a low left footer narrowly wide.

In the final quarter hour, Ashington’s play turned sloppy yet five minutes from time, sub
Damen Mullen stroked past the post after being set up by Spooner.

*The Colliers will now travel to play Stockton Town in the preliminary round on Saturday
August 19.

*Ashington commence their programme in the Pitching In Northern Premier League on
Saturday (August 12). The Wansbeck side are at home to Brighouse Town (3pm kick-
off) then on Tuesday (August 15) make the trip to face Newton Aycliffe.

Ashington: Dryden, Dopson, Summerly, Ross, Buddle, Lough, Gascoigne (Hardy 62
minutes), Sampson, Maguire (Mullen 83 minutes), Spooner, Kneeshaw (Aziakonou 77
minutes). Subs not used: Exley, Coombe (gk)

Referee: Michael Moore