Ashington make NPL return more than 50 years on

Ashington were part of the inaugural NPL campaign in 1968/69, playing for a single season before resigning due to costs.

Since then, they have played in the Northern Alliance and the Northern League.

On August 12, they marked their return to the NPL with a thrilling 4-4 draw on the opening day of the season at home to Brighouse Town, where league chairman Mark Harris was on hand to mark the occasion.

They recorded their first win back in the NPL at the end of August, beating Stocksbridge Park Steels 2-1.

The Colliers made their intentions abundantly clear before the start of last season that they wanted promotion from the Northern League to the Northern Premier League whether it be automatic as league champions or through the play offs.

After an amazing journey in the Emirates FA Cup where they knocked out teams higher up the pyramid, only falling at the last qualifying round hurdle to King’s Lynn, the Colliers achieved their goal.

On the final day of the ENL campaign, they secured a 1-1 draw against Bishop Auckland which put them into the Inter Step play off away to Glossop North End and they booked their spot in the Pitching In NPL’s East Division with a comfortable 3-0 win against the Derbyshire outfit.

Ashington’s elevation into the NPL bridged a gap of 55 years.

The last occasion they were in the NPL, the 1968/69 season, goalkeeper Ronnie Routledge was Ashington’s coach – but despite retiring from the game due to a knee injury, he registered as a player. “It was hard for us because some of our players couldn’t get time off work and at times we travelled with basically 12 players,” he said, “so I signed on just as cover.”

Ashington-born Routledge was named as substitute and pressed into service as an outfield player when the Colliers made the journey to play Netherfield in Cumbria.

"One of our lads got injured so I went on and I scored our first goal,” he said, “I later passed the ball to our striker who added a second - but eventually we lost the game 3-2. At the end of the season we were relegated after being deducted one point because I think we were late in arriving for our away game against Bangor.”

Routledge, who was a former chairman at the club, will be 86 years old in October of this year. He is still a supporter attending Ashington’s home matches.

Meanwhile Ian Reid remembers Ashington’s one season in the NPL: "We were in the North Regional League along with the likes of Sunderland Reserves, Middlesborough Reserves, South Shields and Gateshead - and it was a really good standard of football," he said.

"When we got promoted to the NPL, I was only about 15 years old but I can remember going to the first game. I believe it was against Morecambe at home but the other teams involved in that era included Macclesfield, Wigan, Boston United, Hyde United and South Liverpool and after Christmas time, I remember how the extra expense was financially crippling our club.”

He continued: “We were a little bit unlucky after only one season because we were third bottom with 28 points and two other teams above us also had 28 points.

"Two teams above those had 29 points but we were deducted one point and were relegated."

Ian Reid, now 70 years of age, has been chairman of the Ashington Supporters for 10 years.

Photo (L to R): Brian Shotton (Club Chairman, Mark Harris (League Chairman) and Gav Perry (Club Secretary).

Words thanks to Brian Bennett
Photographer: Ian Brodie