NORTHERN LEAGUE
South Shields made it eight in nine at Wembley, but why are Northern League sides so strong on a national scale?
We take a special look at what makes the Step 5 league such a footballing powerhouse!
QUIZ time with The NLP: Who are the only club to have broken the Northern League’s domination of the FA Vase in the last nine years?
Since Whitley Bay beat Glossop North End in 2009 – the first of three successive wins for the Seahorses – a Northern League club have won the prestigious competition every year bar one.
And even then a team from that division, West Auckland, were in the showpiece final.
Dunston UTS, Spennymoor Town, North Shields, Morpeth Town and South Shields have all followed the legendary Bay side up Wembley’s steps.
Like any sustained period of success, it has led to envious glances from around the country, sniping about so few Northern League clubs taking promotion to Step 4, and even calls for their clubs to be entered into the FA Trophy instead. So, why is the Northern League and the clubs in it so strong? A lot is down to geography and clubs being reluctant to take promotion due to the travelling costs, as well as times associated with it.
Former league chairman Mike Amos has long been a vocal opponent to compulsory promotion – something that will be introduced from next season.
“It’s not any amazing thing the league did – we’ve been innovative and it’s true clubs have been supported well financially through sponsorship – but the main thing is we’ve played the cards we’ve been dealt,” Amos said.
Appetite
“And I’d like to think we’ve played the cards we’ve been dealt well. We are in a region that is geographically reasonably remote in a National League System. At Step 4 there were very few clubs, and sometimes none, in the immediate region. I think it’s wholly understandable clubs didn’t want to go.
“It’s equally understandable clubs in other regions, like the north-west say, did want to go. I appreciate leagues like the North West Counties, the Northern Counties East and others, have lost a lot of good teams.
“The main reason why the Northern League has had such a successful time is because we haven’t lost clubs – I just don’t think we should be penalised for that. To oblige the Northern League to fit into a wooden box of the FA’s creation isn’t the answer.
“Clubs like Blyth Spartans have gone up and done well. Great, good luck to them. But there are those who, not least because of the fact it’s a compact and easily identifiable region, don’t want to.”
South Shields are going up and are already busy preparing for their new season in the Evo-Stik NPL Division One North. Under chairman and benefactor Geoff Thompson they have big plans to reach the Football League.
Last season’s title – one piece of their quadruple-winning season – was always the main priority and joint-bosses Graham Fenton and Lee Picton led their players to glory in style.
But with investment and large crowds to match, as well as a strong infrastructure being implemented, they are able to make the leap.
“I’m not privy to what financial packages other areas offer but some of the budgets around the Northern League are very healthy,” said Fenton, whose side took 13,000 fans to Wembley for their 4-0 win against Cleethorpes Town last month.
“That sometimes coincides with it. When I was at Blyth Spartans it was hard to attract players out of the Northern League because the wages aren’t a lot different and you’re asking them to travel around the country and take time off work.
“Some players just want to stay local, be out on a Saturday night, and financially it doesn’t make as much of a difference.
“When I was manager at North Shields it was completely different. Even though the team have done well, there’s no appetite to go up because history proves that when they did make the step up from local football, they ended up getting stung.
“They ended up having to start again as a football club. I can see the point in forced promotion, but you have to look at everyone’s football club.”
After the Football League, the Northern League – formed in 1889 – is the second-oldest surviving league in the world.
Initially it was one of the two major amateur competitions in tandem with the Football League, the Southern League and, later the Northern Premier League.
In 1982, the league’s Southern equivalent, the Isthmian League, became a feeder league after the FA abandoned amateur status, but the league rejected
invitations to follow suit. Eventually in 1991 they were forced into the Pyramid as a feeder to the Northern Premier League.
“Because the league didn’t really fit in the Pyramid system, and because we are stuck so far up north, it became a bit of a cutoff league,” said former Blyth Spartans boss Tom Wade.
Progression
“There were some fantastic sides and some fantastic players up here and I always wanted the Northern League to go in the Pyramid because the good players up here weren’t in the shop window. That stunts the players’ growth into professional clubs.
“It’s tough, because the travelling is expensive. But that’s why it’s strong. If you look at the situation now, South Shields, Spennymoor, Darlington have all gone up recently. They will have a squad of 22 players so you’re taking a lot of good players out.
“The league is still very strong but it’s starting to level itself out a bit now with those clubs going up. Teams like West Auckland are still strong, North Shields, Morpeth – and that’s why they do well in the Vase, which is good to see.
“It’s a very strong level for the Step we’re in. Teams like the ones I’ve mentioned, Shildon, Bishop Auckland, Consett, Benfield, Dunston would all hold their own in the Evo-Stik.
“It’s just that over the last 18 years clubs haven’t made strides to go up. If they had I think the league’s above would be a lot stronger.”
Wade is now at Ashington to give his expert advice alongside Steve Harmison, the former England cricketer turned manager.
As well as success with his hometown club Blyth Spartans, he also led Newcastle Benfield to the Northern League Division One title in 2009.
His knowledge of Non-League football is deep and he’s wellplaced to explain why so many Northern League clubs are steeped in tradition.
“It’s the old miners’ league – a lot of those leagues were welfare leagues with welfare clubs,” Wade said. “Ashington was a welfare club, Bishop Auckland, they were built around industry.
“It’s the old analogy that you’d go down the mine and bring out 11 footballers. That’s why it was so strong within the area. There’s a very strong heritage for the local clubs. It’s got great tradition, it just didn’t buy into the FA Pyramid system. It wanted to keep the local vibe up here.
“With the Pyramid system changing, more clubs will go up. It will be tough and a lot of clubs can’t do it because they don’t get the crowds. But it’s progression. There are some exceptionally talented footballers up here who have maybe not had the chance to go up.”
Spennymoor will play in the National League North next season, just three years after winning the Northern League Division One title. Their two promotions in the subsequent three seasons matches phoenix club
Darlington, who were in with a chance of reaching Step 1 last season before they were banned from the play-offs for failing to meet ground grading regulations.
Both the Moors and Darlo are proof there can be significant progress made up the National League System for the clubs who want it.
Spennymoor took Step 5 promotion after winning their fourth title in five years and boss Jason Ainsley believes more players now want to play higher.
“The Evo-Stik North is a tough league but I honestly believe South Shields will do well because they’ve got good players,” Ainsley said.
Social time
“But they’ve got good players who are used to the travelling. If you’re used to it, it becomes the norm. If you’re not then it doesn’t sound too appealing.
“There’s so many good players. It’s a hotbed. You always get teams do well in the Vase, but also in the FA Cup.
“It’s a hard league. If you’re a manager in the Northern League, you know every player, every strength and every weakness. But they all know yours as well.
“Stepping up is good but it’s hard travelling to the Manchester clubs and Yorkshire clubs on a Tuesday night.”
For many players and supporters, that’s where the idea falls down. Why not be at home by 6pm after an away game or 11pm in midweek ahead of work the next day? Like Fenton, Wade points out the social side of life and football is a big factor too.
“It’s a very social league because everyone knows each other,” Wade said. “I was talking to Ken Beattie, who is the chairman of Morpeth, recently. We both played at a decent level – the Northern Alliance as it was at the time – and it was the comradeship.
“You’d go to the bar after the game and have a drink with opposing players. We really enjoyed each other’s company. My son Matty is playing in Australia and he says it’s the same. They play a game, both teams go back to the pub and they stop there all night. That’s how it used to be in the old days of the Northern League.
“That’s the history of the league. You play for enjoyment then after you have a good time with the opposing players and supporters.
“As you go higher there’s less time because you’re back on the bus. You have that social time within the club and it’s good to have a craic with the players. But the Northern League is special. Managers, players and supporters all know each other.
“It’s a league for the people up here. I still think we missed a bit by not joining the Pyramid system but you can’t have it both ways.”
With compulsory promotion on the horizon, the Vase stronghold could be nearing an end. And Sholing might not be the only answer to that question.