My son in law’s birthday is quite near Christmas, not that that’s a problem but it means that Christmas and birthday presents can appear to run into one. To avoid this, it has become a sort of tradition of ours to go and visit a local sporting event. This time we’d thought about the rugby as we have done a few times in the past but the Falcons fixtures didn’t work out so well for our respective calendars. I suggested seeing Blyth Spartans, England’s most famous non-league club apparently, but they are languishing at the bottom of their league (non-league). We did see them play Hartlepool in the FA Cup a few years ago anyway.
Instead we decided to plump for my home town of Morpeth vs Ashton. They are in the Northern Premier League, the same as Spartans and it must be some seven years since I have seen them play. I’m not sure why I’ve left it so long seeing as they play only a couple of kilometers away from the house.
I love going to see big football matches. St James’ Park is amazing when it is packed and the crowd is in full voice, yet there is something special about the lower leagues. For a start you are much closer to the action. You could reach out and touch the players, though I imagine there is a rule against that. You can hear them calling to each other, even the words that are not repeatable and you get some sense of the pace at which the game is played. Up in the stands things seem more pedestrian but on the touchline the players whizz past. I know how quickly the game is played in the lower leagues and can only imagine the difference when you get to the top flight.
There is also a sense of being part of something more local, more in touch with its community. The crowds aren’t big and travelling fans are few and far between. Ashton did manage a dozen or so, along with the obligatory England flag. It’s also a good opportunity to share an afternoon with your son-in-law, with the odd drink or two thrown in.
As for the match, well that didn’t go so well. Ashton looked much stronger and more threatening than Morpeth Town and were two in no time. After the break Morpeth had a good spell and managed to pull one back until Ashton found their mojo again, threatening everytime they came forward and scoring another two. The final score was 4-1, not that it really mattered.
It was a good afternoon well spent and the moon came out as well.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 