My Matchday - 174 Hampden Park

Queen of the South 2v3 Rangers
2008 Scottish Cup Final
24th May 2008
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My final game of the season and the final of the Scottish Cup, the worlds oldest national trophy, first played for back in 1873, this years final brought together old hands Glasgow Rangers against a club making their first ever appearance in their 89 year history; Queen of the South, whose supporters had an extra number amongst their ranks, I lend the Doonhamers my support for my first ever visit the Scotland’s national stadium.
Hampden Park lies in Mount Florida, in the south side of Glasgow, build in 1903 it’s actually the third Hampden Park, both previous grounds were close by, the first was used by Queen’s Park back in 1873 on the site of the present day Hampden Bowling Club, while the second ground was renamed New Cathkin Park and taking over by Third Lanark, found just a goal kick away in Cathcart Road.
Hampden is owned by Queens Park, Scotland’s oldest club (formed in 1867) but it’s more commonly known as home to the Tartan Army and neutral middle ground for battles between the old firm, it also houses the offices of the Scottish FA, Scottish Football League , SPL. and now includes the Scottish Football Museum, opened in May 2001.
When constructed the original capacity was 65,000, meaning the three largest stadiums in the world belonged to Glasgow, the stadium’s capacity peaked in 1937, reaching 150,000, with an attendance just short of a full house against England in that April, and a week later the cup final between Celtic and Aberdeen also made the record books, 147,365 the highest for a club match in Europe.
The arrival of Rio’s 150k capacity Maracanã Stadium in 1950 took Hampden’s title as the worlds largest stadium, but the ground continued to break records, the largest attendance for a friendly played in Britain saw 104,494 for Rangers v Eintracht Frankfurt in October 1961, as well as the biggest attendance in a UEFA competition; the European Cup semi-final between Celtic and Leeds United drew 136,505 in April 1970.
The capacity dropped to 81,000 in 1977 after the introduction of the Safety of Sports Grounds Act, major changes and refurbishment took place through the 1980’s, to the North Stand and East Terrace, until the release of the Taylor Report in 1988, meant redeveloping the stadium to all seated. The stadium’s redevelopment programme took place throughout the 1990s, although there were a few financial problems, the total cost came to £70million, with £22million funded through sponsorship. The ground’s capacity is now 52,500, the reconstruction of the North and East Stands started in 1993, which was followed by the new West and South Stands between 1996 and 1999, the South Stand differs from the other three ends, as there’s an extra tier which overhangs, split into three shelf like sections, there’s also the presentation podium with the team dugout situated within the front of the stand, behind each goal there’s electric scoreboards suspended underneath each roof.


Although the ground is unrecognisable from the once vast bowl of terracing that gave the world the ’Hampden Roar’ the stadium still has the atmosphere and aura of its illustrious past and retains it’s original sunken bowl oval shape. The stadium certainly has that ‘wow’ factor about it, when I entered the ground it took my breath away; it looked fantastic, especially on such a big occasion like today, a near capacity crowd, the pitch looked immaculate, the pre-match atmosphere electric and even the cheerleaders looked terrific…phoarr!!!
My match ticket was in the South Stand, a great seat with a spot on view, special thanks to 100FGC squad no.73 Graham Crofts for making the ticket arrangements, I sat with him and his family and enjoyed the atmosphere amongst the Dumfries community hoping to see a performance that would do their wee town proud. Prior to kick-off there was a minutes applause in tribute to the late Tommy Burns, which was greatly participated by everyone with goals and images of Tommy’s career observed on the big screens.
The game kicked off with Queens hoping to take advantage of Rangers tired legs after their hectic end of season schedule, while the Queens players without a game for four weeks, have been off on their hollipops. An even first half on chances created, with Rangers having the majority of the possession, but found themselves two goals up at the break without really doing that much, their first effort at goal didn’t arrive until 25 minutes when a Beasley shot from the edge of the box could only find the side netting, however the breakthrough came on 33 minutes, a free kick on the edge of the box was touched to Boyd who fired his shot high into the net from 22 yards, then just before half time Rangers doubled their lead, a back post header fell to Beasley who finished well from 12 yards out.
At half time Graham turned to me and said “we’ll do well to get it back to 2-2 now” well they did and it only took eight minutes, first a messy looking goal from Tosh, scrambling the ball home after good play from O’Connor and then minutes later sheer bedlam from the Queens faithful, as skipper Jim Thomson leapt like a salmon to head home a Harris free kick, what a start to the second half, minutes earlier I was hoping that they would at least score a goal to give the Queens fans something to cheer, but here they were level, and as the late great Brian Moore once said “it’s up for grabs now”
After a week of setbacks for Rangers they began to look nervous, as the Dumfries lads began to believe they could be on the verge of making history, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be, again it was Kris Boyd who came to the Gers rescue, heading home in a packed penalty area from a corner kick on 72 minutes to regain the lead. The goal proved the decisive one, it seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Queens players, so after much effort and endeavour it was Rangers who managed to securely see the game out, winning the Scottish Cup for the 32nd time and their first for five years.

My Matchday was planned precisely, trains and bus times all planned with precision, as I left home that morning the last thing the breadknife said was “you know what happens with best laid plans, they don‘t go to plan” as always, of course, she was right.
My day began with the 8.45 to Aberdeen, the train I was taking to Edinburgh arrived over half a hour late, so this naturally had a knock on effect, meaning I missed to 1045 train from the capital to Glasgow, but I did make the 11.15 ok. I then arrived in Glasgow where I took the 31 bus to Mount Florida, again catching the next bus at 12.15, so I finally reached my destination at 12.30, giving me plenty of time before the big kick off.
After a brief look around the stadium, my next port of call was Cathkin Park, the former home of Third Lanark, where I had a look around and took some pictures to put on to the website. I then met up with 100FGC squad no.81 Jamie McQueen, finding him standing at the top of the stairs at the main entrance, doing a bit of celebrity spotting. After meeting up with a couple of this fellow Queens fans we headed off in pursuit of a pre-match drink, but predictably everywhere was full, so in desperation of booze we ended up going to the off-licence for some cans, drinking them behind the offy, taking us back to our teenage years. We were just polishing off our cans when two polis appeared on push bikes, they must have been in a good mood as they ordered us to confiscate the drink, and move on our way letting the four of us off with the £40 on the spot fine for drinking outdoors in public.
My train home was at 6pm to meet the 7pm train from Edinburgh back to Newcastle, these were the only trains I could get home, if I missed the 6’o clock train then I was knackered, meaning either a night in Scotland or having to hitch it home. I boarded the bus to get back to the train station at 5.10pm, but after 20 minutes we only progressed about 20 yards due to the large number of fans walking on the road and stopping the traffic. I looked at my watch it was 5:33, I only had one option and that was to alight the bus and run like the clappers all the way to Queen Street, when I asked the bus driver to let me off and I told him what I planned, he looked at me in disbelief. It’s a good job I’m a seasoned jogger because I did the 2 mile run in 20 minutes arriving at the train station with 5 minutes to spare, by then I was drenched in sweat, red faced and receiving funny looks from everyone, apologies to the lad I sat next to on the train because I must have stunk, I’ve learned to never get a bus in Glasgow again, after a similar incident with Glasgow traffic when I went to St. Mirren.
To rub salt into the wounds the train home from Edinburgh arrived 20 minutes late, it was a nightmare performance from National Express, at least First Scot Rail are reliable, but I suppose on reflection it's all a part of my makes up my matchday adventures and all part of the amusement.
And so my 81st and last game of the season, what a great one to end with, a fantastic stadium, a thrilling game and a great day out, now I need to recharge my batteries and have a football free summer and return for the 2008/09 season, raring to go with more of my ground hopping adventures.

Links-http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_2988856,00.html

My Pictures from Cathkin Park here.

Ground no.174-Hampden Park - Matchday web album(20 pictures)

Cathkin Park

While visiting Hampden Park, I took the opportunity to pay homage to the old Hampden Park, Cathkin Park; the former home of long lost Scottish club Third Lanark.
Originally the home of Queens Park, it staged it’s first game back in 1884, and went on to host Scottish Cup Finals as well as internationals. When the club moved to the site of the present Hampden, it was then renamed New Cathkin Park and taking over by Third Lanark.
The last game played on the old ground was in 1967, just before Third Lanark were wound up in the courts, the site was developed into an open access park by the Glasgow parks department. The park still preserves sections of the original terraces, crash barriers, as well as parts of the perimeter wall.
The park still has a nostalgic feel about it, even though the days of first class football are long gone, it’s a former historical venue well worth visiting if your ever in the vicinity.

Related article at Pitch Invasion;http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/05/28/the-ghost-stadium/

100 in the 100

The 100FGC squad has now reached the 100 mark, thanks to everyone who has got involved and submitted their ground details since the website was launched in July 2006.
This means there’s been an average of one new member added to the ‘Roll of Honour’ per week, I’ve also noticed a few copycat websites that have popped up during this time, but the 100 Football Grounds Club is still the original and best ( if I say so myself) because it has that personal touch which those other websites lack. ;-)
The honour of receiving squad no.100 goes to David Dickens, a Spurs fan originally from Hertfordshire but now residing in Devon, he now supports the League clubs in the area, as well as following the local Non-League scene in Devon.
He became the 100th person to send me his ground details, but he’s also an admirable recipient of squad no.100, as his love of football and bagging football grounds spans 60 years, his first ground being the now defunct Wolverton Town in April 1948, a much worthy addition to the squad and a prime example of what the stadiumitis bug is all about.

My Matchday - 173 Metcalfe Park

Wolviston 1v3 New Marske SC (aet)
Wearside League Cup Final
14th May 2005
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The Wearside League Cup Final produced an all Teesside affair, with Wolviston giving home advantage against newly crowned league champions New Marske Sports Club.
Wolviston is a small village and civil parish just outside Billingham within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, the village originates from Saxon times, believed to take its name from the wolves that populated the area.
The ground is found on Wynyard Road, a short distance from Wynyard Hall, the village cricket club resides next to the ground and shares the entrance and car park, there’s one main stand, decked out with about 80 red flip seats, with the dugouts to each side. The rest of the ground is open grass standing with refreshments courtesy of a gazebo and table arrangement, the changing rooms are next to the cricket ground and gain pitch access via a gate in the fence, the ground is separated by large connivers, enclosing the ground from the main road and the cricket pitch.
Wolviston FC have played in the Wearside League since 1988, winning the old 2nd Division Championship the following season, they’ve twice finished league runners-up, achieving most success in the Sunderland Shipowners Cup, winning it three times since the turn of the century.
This season has been a thriving one for Wolvo, beaten only once since November, the club have assembled a good squad and have improved as the season’s progressed; their opponents New Marske Sports Club have had an unbelievable debut season in the Wearside League, winning the title and the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup, now looking to add the League Cup and clinch the treble, as a tribute to such an achievement the Wolviston players lead a guard of honour as the players entered the field prior to kick-off.
The first half was a tight affair, the best chance falling to New Marske no.10 Anderson who nipped in between the defender and keeper but saw his toe-poke effort rebound back off the post, but before the break the home club took the lead, a clear handball in the box resulted in a penalty kick, which was dispatched by left back McPhillips.
The second half saw the champions pile on the pressure, trying to break Wolviston resolute defending as the home side trying to catch them out on the break. Two great saves from keeper Lawrence retained the goal advantage, it looked as if they had held on until the dying moments, when an almighty scramble in the box ended with Mackin’s shot going through a crowded box before nestling into the corner of the net. Seconds before the goal was scored, I spotted an official from the league with the cup in his hand, ready for the presentation, when the goal was scored he turned on his heels and took the trophy back indoors for safe keeping.
Extra time was only going to produce one winner, the momentum was with New Marske, and so it proved, taking the lead immediately from the restart, a great cross from Woods was met with a bullet header from Peggs, a great goal to win any cup final. Wolviston pushed for an equaliser but the treble was assured when Mackin got his second late on, beating the offside trap before lobbing the keeper, sparking celebrations amongst the New Marske players and supporters.
I felt a bit sorry for Wolviston, they worked hard, but as usually the case, in any level of football, the team at the top always seems to get the rub of the green. According to the ‘Manager and Assistant Column’ in the match programme, they’re boasting they have the best squad in Wolviston’s history, this along with the new superpower of New Marske, Whitehaven Amateurs and runners-up Jarrow FC, it promises to be an exciting season in 08-09, and one I’ll be personally following, with the football grounds of the Wearside League featuring on the 100FGC blog.

Ground no.173 – Metcalfe Park – Matchday Web album (13 pictures)

Around the Alliance - part three

The third and final part of my mini-tours around the grounds of the Northern Football Alliance Premier Division for this season, I've enjoyed visiting these clubs and attended some great games, I look forward to continuing the series next season.
(click on images to enlarge)

Ground no.168 - Sporting Club of Cramlington
Cramlington Town v Shankhouse

16th April 2008

Cramlington is a small town 9 miles north of Newcastle in Northumberland, Shankhouse Black Watch joined the Northern Alliance 2nd Division in 2000, winning promotion in their first season and changing their name to Cramlington Town a year later, last season the club won promotion to the Alliance Premier after finishing runners-up to Gillford Park in Division One.
Sporting Club of Cramlington is based within the grounds of Cramlington High School, the ground was opened in November 2003 at a cost of £10,000, thanks to local funding and an award from the Football Foundation, giving the ground the basic requirements of spectator barrier system, dugouts and technical area.Additional facilities for both school and community use, were provided by Northumberland County Council, using capital from the sale of surplus school land to allow the original £3m sports complex proposals to be developed.
The Sporting Club is an active place, I missed the kick-off as I struggled the find a parking space, as well as the Cramlington Town match there was another five or six games taking place, mostly involving junior girl matches on the many football pitches around the complex.
The game was very competitive with an above average count of late tackles, near neighbours Shankhouse scored the only goal of the first half; be it a fortunate one, a cross from left back Heppell took an unkind deflective, spinning over the helpless keepers head. The result seemed settled after an hour, a scramble in the box produced a few efforts at goal with one shot stopped on the line by a defenders hand, the referee had no hesitation in giving a penalty and a red card, Armstrong made no mistake with his spot kick. Shankhouse looked comfortable, soaking up any pressure from the ten men, looking more likely to add to the score until five minutes from time when a great save from the keeper stopped a late consolation goal from Town, but from the resulting corner the ball fell to Miller on the edge of the box who’s shot went through a packed defence and into the net. Then amazingly, to everyone’s surprise, Cramlington rescued a point in injury time via the same player, again a corner kick wasn’t cleared and the ball fell nicely in his path, blasting a shot into the roof of the net. Overall a spirited and entertaining game with both clubs sharing the spoils in the Crammy Derby.
Matchday Stats
Unofficial HC attendance 44
2-2 scorers - Miller(86,90+1) -/- Heppell(19) Armstrong-pen(59)

Ground no.170 - Cochrane Park
Newcastle University v Carlisle City
26th April 2008

Newcastle University have several sports facilities throughout the city but the principal competitive venue for football, rugby and cricket is found at Cochrane Park, located north-east of the town centre.
The venue houses 4 football pitches, 3 county standard rugby pitches, 1 cricket square and 5 tennis courts, with the ground the football club use situated at the far side of the complex. The site has an attractive looking pavilion, used as team changing rooms, with a function suite and bar facilities.
Newcastle University have played within the Alliance since 1988 and have been in the Premier Division since the 2000-01 season, last season they finished 6th their highest position to date. The University’s football club squad is now picked from current students only, they struggled earlier this season, but have finished the campaign well, lifting themselves off the foot of the table.
Carlisle City provided physical opposition to the students, after a goal from Foote on 19 minutes, City equalised after half and hour, a good finish from Gardner from a tight angle making it level at the break. Uni were the better side in the second half, taking the lead on 66 minutes when Kewn turned a right wing cross goal wards, a defender on the line tried to stop the ball with his hand but the shot proved too strong, the goal scorer appealed for handball, but within a second later turned away to celebrate the goal, forgetting about his penalty plea. The Students secured the win and capped a fine 2nd half display with a late goal from Crockett, giving them another valuable 3 points in their pursuit of avoiding the drop.
Matchday Stats
Unofficial HC attendance 11
3-1 scorers; Foote(9) Kewn(66) Crockett(85) -/- Gardiner(32)
















Ground no.172 - South Newsham Playing Fields
Blyth Town v Alnwick Town
12th May 2008

Blyth Town were originally formed as a junior boy’s team in 1995, the adult side began in 2002-03, the previous seasons Under 18’s made the step into senior football and won the Alliance 2nd Division title in their debut season. The club now run 26 teams from Under 6’s boys to men and girls Under 10’s to ladies.
The adult side progressed, winning promotion to the Alliance Premier in 2005 and this season they’ve won the NFA Senior Benevolent Bowl, beaten Wark last month at Whitley Park by a goal to nil.
The ground lies on the main A1061 road into Blyth, where you find the car park and the club pavilion, which has recently undergone major improvements, including expansion to the changing rooms and a function suite.
On arrival I noticed the players walking away from the ground, crossing the road and heading through a pathway in between two housing estates, this lead towards a large playing field with two football pitches, one of which was a daisy field roped off for use as the venue for the match. Obviously this couldn’t be the home ground of Blyth Town, being not correctly fenced off, without dugouts and not meeting the Level 7 requirements. I made enquiries about the main ground and was told after a league inspection, it was deemed unfit for use, with the club giving special dispensation to play at this ground until the former is passed fit. Looking at the club website it shows they have 8 pitches, 4 at South Newsham and 4 at South Beach, the fixture was listed as South Beach-pitch 2, so after being disappointed at not seeing the club play on their proper home ground, at least I’ve scored for an extra ‘tick’ and I’ll make a revisit when they’re back across the road playing on the main pitch.
Alnwick Town were the visitors to South Newsham Playing Fields, sorry… that should be South Beach-pitch 2, I didn’t know it at the time, but last season I witnessed their last game in the Northern League before Demotion into the Alliance, last seasons squad have now gone and they find themselves a place behind Blyth in 13th
They returned back up the A1 with a comfortable 2-0 win, with a goal in each half, the first a header directly from a corner on 14 minutes from Patterson and the second from Keen on 65, there was more chances to add to their tally but the front two struggled to stay onside, blaming the linesman for their badly timing forward runs.
At half time Blyth Town made a couple of substitutions, one of them was a lively left-winger who was shithot fast and keen as mustard, he was constantly involved although his eagerness saw a couple of late tackles, one of which resulting in an unfortunate accident, as he overstretched he snapped his leg, letting out a scream which could be heard as far away as Ashington. The upshot of this was the game was stopped for 25 minutes as the lad couldn’t be moved, with the players and spectators having to hang around waiting the arrival of the ambulance. I spoke to a few Alnwick supporters and we agreed the game should be stopped, with only 10 minutes left to play, the 2-0 score line should stand, I decided that personally the game was over and decided to head home, hoping I wouldn’t find that Blyth Town made a remarkable recovery winning 3-2 in those last ten minutes, however it did stay 0-2 so I didn’t miss anything and I managed to get home for the second part of Coronation Street.
Blyth Town have major ambitions; with their main wish to eventually become a Northern League club, they’re also looking to make major developments at South Newsham, to establish themselves and show there’s more than one club in Blyth.
Matchday stats
Unofficial HC attendance 32
0-2 scorers; Patterson(14) Keen(65)

My Matchday - Gateshead International Stadium

Gateshead 2v0 Buxton
Unibond Premier League Play-off Final
3rd May 2008
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I’ve been frequently asked by the Heed Army ranks when the International Stadium will feature on the website, as I tend to concentrate on previous uncharted grounds along with the odd revisit, then it would need a fitting occasion to give the stadium the ‘My Matchday’ treatment. So the play-off final fit’s the bill, the last home game of an outstanding season and the last game at the International Stadium in the Unibond League(hopefully for ever)
Gateshead’s International Stadium is probably the best stadium within the Non-League Pyramid, but on the other hand maybe the worst football ground, because it isn’t a football ground at all, it’s a world class athletics stadium, one of the top venues for multi-faceted sport in the UK, hosting a number of top athletics events that attract the best of British talent as well as athletes from around the world.
Most stadiums with a running track are unpopular with supporters, the ground has only one stand open on match days so ground hoppers aren’t able to do the traditional lap of the ground, but worst of all the residents of Gateshead are put off going to see their home town club because of the home venue, this is the primary reason why a new ground is essential for the club, not only to accommodate the current Heed Army but to generate interest in the town and bring in more support. Manys a time I’ve tried to encourage folk to come and give Gateshead FC a try and the usual response is* “Ah would, but ah divvent like that staydyim” so this is the target audience the club are aiming at, the International Stadium no longer an excuse for neglecting the club.
However the facilities at the Stadium are first class, where you can watch the game in comfort with a great view of the game, although it can get very cold in the winter with the fog off the Tyne and the draft from The Felling.
* Geordie translation; “I would, but I don’t like that stadium”
The ground was opened in 1955, originally known as Gateshead Youth Stadium with one small main stand and grass bank terracing. The stadium developed through the 1980’s, the Tyne & Wear Stand was opened in 1981, a steep single tier cantilever stand which gives cover to 3,300, but usually the first 3 in that figure isn’t really necessary. The ground has a bowl shape, made up of uncovered terraces of red seats, taking the capacity to 11,795, the East Stand which faces the main stand has GMBC picked out in black seats, a reminder that it’s Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council who own the stadium, with the football club merely tenants, another reason why a new ground is vital, to generate self income. The only time the ground has been full for football was in 1995, when King Kev brought his first team over the Tyne for a pre-season friendly, a season that produced Gateshead’s highest Conference finish of 5th and United just miss out on the Premier League title to ManYoo.
The current Gateshead FC is the third reincarnation, after a much chequered history the present day Tynesiders were formed in 1977, reaching the 30 year milestone prior to this seasons kick-off. The club took Gateshead United’s place in the Northern Premier League and won the title in 1982/83, lead by skipper Terry Hibbitt one of my all time football heroes. The Heed had three spells in the Conference, with the team from the mid nineties recognised as the best team in the present club’s history. Relegation to Unibond League followed in 1998 and the club struggled on and off the field, disaster struck in 2004 when the clubs main sponsors pulled the plug and the club nearly went(as we say in these parts) tits up! It took hard work behind the scenes from then Club Chairman Derek Bell to keep the club afloat, the possibility of the 2004-05 season almost began without a team, the club were very close to going out of business and will always be indebted to Derek Bell, for still having a primary football club in the town.
Gateshead finished the season in sparkling form, winning nine and drawing one of the last ten games and then an outstanding performance on Tuesday night, beating Eastwood Town 4-0 in the Play-off Semi-Final to take the goal tally to 33 with only 2 conceded in those eleven games, also The Tynesiders are joint leading scorers in the Top 10 divisions in England with 93 goals league goals.
Buxton have had a great season, after winning promotion just last season, making the playoffs is a fine achievement, taking out Witton Albion in the other semi-final on penalties was a great result, not only for The Bucks but great news for the Heed Army, giving us home advantage for the final.
The Tynesiders were backed by a bumper crowd, with ‘the clothesline’ in fine voice, with also a good away following from Derbyshire, after an aggregate score of 9-0 in favour of Gateshead over the two regular season games, then obviously Buxton’s approached the game cautiously, defending deep and cutting off space, stopping the Tynesiders playing there traditional free flowing football, good chances fell to Armstrong and Southern but the Buxton defence held firm producing a goalless first half.
An early second half goal was needed to calm the nerves, I had the breadknife with me and she couldn’t handle the pressure, asking if she could go and sit in the car and she’d see me after the game, but I managed to persuade her to stay and we were rewarded with two second half goals. After Carl Jones saw a header cleared off the line in the opening minute, the deadlock was broking just three minutes later, a Jones pass found Kris Gate who evaded a couple of tackles before shooting past the keeper, the goal was greeted not just with passionate celebration but also with a huge sense of relieve, the breakthrough was made and we were on our way. Victory and promotion was sealed on 79 minutes, a long ball from Salvin saw Paul Brayson beat the offside trap before racing away and coolly lifting the ball over Hartley, the goal greeted with sheer pandemonium from the supporters and the Gateshead dugout.
A fantastic crowd of over 1400 stayed behind to share in the celebrations with the players, the lads also got Gateshead Chairman Graham Wood out onto the track to take the applause, if it wasn’t for him then maybe this fantastic season may not have been possible, his dream is to give Gateshead a new ground and regain their Football League status, well the first part of the job’s done, just another two promotions and we’re there, it may sound easy enough, but we all know there‘s still a lot of hard work to be done, nevertheless it is now a possibility with a man like Mr. Wood at the helm.
Gateshead FC can look forward to a next season in a new league, step 2 of the Non-League Pyramid or if you like; League Division 6, Conference North with Bogie and Jeff. The Heed Army ranks will be excited over this football free summer, personally there’s plenty of new grounds to explore in the Blue Square North, so come next August Private Smith amongst the rest of the Heed Army will be reporting back for duty.. can’t wait!

Match Links –
Heed Army Blog report
Gateshead FC match report
Matchday pics from Private Rowan and General Gaddess

Other Links-
Home of the Heed
http://fitbadaft.blogspot.com/2008/03/gateshead-3-kendal-town-0.html(March ‘08)

A History of Gateshead FC
My First Heed Game

Gateshead International Stadium - Matchday Web album (18 pictures)