Spartans penultimate pre-season friendly see’s them take on old Northern League foe’s Consett at Belle View.
Led by manager Tony Fawcett, Consett have spent the last 2 seasons in the NPL East after winning promotion back in 2022, when they beat old Blue Square North rivals Histon in those weird inter-step regional league playoffs.
Last season, Consett finished in 12th place after spending the first half of the season in and around the NPL East play offs. A pile up of injuries put pay to any promotion hopes though, with The Steelmen only picking up 1 win across the final few months of the season. After last seasons disappointment, they’ll certainly be looking to push on next term and book themselves a play off spot this season.
The big threat from them will come from winger Will Shaw. The youngster hit 15 goals for them last season, after arriving from Wearside League side South Moor AFC. A pacey ‘inside forward’ with flair for days and eye for goal, Will’s arguably someone we should have been looking at this summer.
Former Spartan and their 2023/24 Player of the Year Jake Orrell will be another big threat. A casualty of Lee Clark being Lee Clark, Jake certainly didn’t get the chance he deserved at Spartans back in 2019. Since then he’s been part of the furniture at Consett, chipping in with over 30 goals and over 60 assists.
On the subject of former Spartans who never got a real chance at Blyth, one of Consett’s big summer signings this summer was Issac Walker. Last summer he of course left Spartans to rejoin Redcar Athletic, though with the influx of former Marske United personalities midway through the season, he ended up losing his place in the side. Still regarded as one of the best young players in the region, we’re all very aware just how good Issac can be on his day!
The only other former Spartans plying their trade at Consett is Calvin Smith, who briefly played for Spartans at the beginning of the 2010/11 season.
Nobby’s side will need to be wary of a few more threats on Saturday, including forward Adam Lennox. A new arrival at Belle Vue, Adam was usually one of the top scorers in the Northern Alliance and then the Northern League prior to a major injury in 2023.
As for other new additions this summer, Consett have brought in Seaham Red Star captain Jordan Patterson, box to box midfielder Shay Richardson from Whickham, Marc Costello from Newton Aycliffe and young goalkeeping prospect James Anderson, who arrives after spending last season on loan with the The Steelmen.
So far this summer, Consett have played a number of friendlies which have produced some mixed results. They began with a 3-2 win over Crook Town, before Spennymoor Town thrashed them 5-0.
A disappointing 3-2 defeat to Boro Rangers followed, but they quickly got back on track with a win over Wearside League side Annfield Plain. Tuesday night saw them take on Northern League Division One promotion favourites Birtley Town, drawing 0-0.
I think it’s safe to say Nobby’s team will be absolutely desperate to right the wrongs of the last week or so, or at least they should be.
The league season gets underway in just over 2 weeks time, and his side are yet to really display a great deal of competent football thus far. We’ve not exactly seen the team really gel together all that much, and we’re yet to really see Spartans really control a game. As for a lot of the lads on trial, they need to step up to the plate or go, as a few of them have been given more them enough time to impress.
With teams higher up the league system cutting trialists, we’d like to hope some new trialists with more experience will rear their heads come Saturday afternoon. Hopefully they’ll be keen to impress and give the team a bit of a shake come Saturday.
Lucas Reed featured on Tuesday, so he’s been able to shake the knock he had off. Goalkeeper Harrison Bond who featured on Tuesday as a trialist, may finally be confirmed by us having signed. The same maybe even with Will Constantin.
Winger Marcello Benedetti made his first appearance as a signed on player on Tuesday. Night, taking us up to 11 players signed on in total. We’ll likely see most of the lads who’ve trained with us in recent weeks on Saturday as well.
For many of this will be our first ever visit to Consett, and certainly our first ever visit to new Belle Vue! Laden with a 3G pitch, the new Belle View has been open for a little over 10 years now.
While it’s not exactly a unique design, and lacks the character of their old home, the reviews of those who’ve visited in recent years are rather positive. The bar is supposed to be rather canny, and they have Peroni on tap – so we likely can’t go wrong with that!
They also apparently offer Pitman Pie’s – which are a brand of ready made pie‘s that seem to very popular across the North East at the moment. Supposed it would be rude not to try one, given their reputation.
In terms of other watering holes, just over the road you’ll find the Travellers Rest – which looks like a bit of a foody sort of place these days, and surprisingly classy for a place like Consett. The does still seem to welcome scumbag day drinkers like ourselves though.
Around the corner we should find the Consett Station Club, which looks like a slightly upmarket version of working men’s club (in that it’s clean and has been redecorated within the last 25 years) that also appears to a local hub for darts.
Just around the corner from the ground, you’ll find a rather new Greggs drive thru – which gives the area an almost upmarket (by working class standards) sort of feel. Providing you ignore the B&M over the road and the Lidl just behind it.
The drive up from Blyth should take you about 45 minutes, depending on traffic of course. Heading down the A1 and through Rowlands Gill being the quickest route. Getting parked at the ground seems easy enough. But for some reason it gets surprisingly busy, there’s a load of parking space at B&M just behind the ground.
As for public transport, that’ll be a bit of a nightmare. You’ll need to get the X7 or the 308 up to Haynarket, then walk over to the Eldon Square bus station and jump on the 45, which takes you into Consett town centre. All in all, that should take you about 2 hours 30 mins though, and deal with Consett bus station.
The gate only takes cash, so you’ll need to venture to a cash point again beforehand. Admission prices can be found below.
Adults – £7
Over 65’s – £5
Under 16’s – £2
Safe travels if you’re venturing onto the hills for this one! Hopefully we might finally come out of this one with a positive result and performance.
