Heaton Stannington

Heaton Stannington FC is a non-league football club who were formed in 1910 and are based in the High Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne in England’s north east. The club initially joined the Tyneside Minor League in 1913 playing at Paddy Freeman's Park before moving to the Coast Road ground.

A year later ‘The Stan’ switched to Division Two of the Northern Amateur League where they won promotion to Division One, moving into their Heaton Park home, before going on to lift the league title in 1936-37. The club progressed to the Tyneside League, where the team finished the 1938-39 season as runners-up.

Heaton Stannington were elected to the Northern League for the 1939-40 campaign. The step up proved to be severe for the team as they had five finishes in the bottom three. The club left the Northern League in 1952 to join the Northern Alliance.

A further swap came in 1956 as Stan opted to return to the Northern Amateur League. In 1959 Heaton Stannington joined the relaunched North eastern League but left after just one season to join the Northern Combination.

The club settled for a relatively long period before moving to the Wearside League in the summer of 1973. After financial problems struck the club, they chose to move to the Tyneside Amateur League in 1982, where they appeared as Heaton United for their debut season before swapping back to their traditional title.

Stan were crowned as Tyneside Amateur League champions in 1983-84 and moving up to the Northern Amateur League, where they lifted the league title in 1985-86. The club progressed to the Northern Alliance.

Heaton Stannington were placed in the Premier Division in 1988 when the Northern Alliance gained extra clubs. However, they were to be relegated back to Division One in 1995-96 before regaining their top flight status in 1998-99.

The team suffered relegation in 2000-01 before recovering to finish as Division One runners-up and winning promotion in 2002-04. Heaton Park was renamed Grounsell Park in 2007 in honour of Bob Grounsell, who had helped secure the future of the venue.

Stan went on to become Premier Division champions in 2011-12 before retaining the title the following campaign. The club were promoted to Division Two of the Northern League for the start of the 2013-14 season.

Heaton Stannington just missed out on the promotion places from Division Two in the 2016-17 season under manager Derek Thompson.

Heaton Stannington FC will play in the Northern League Division Two in the 2017-18 season.


My visit

Wednesday 2nd August 2017

It was a pleasant morning as I awoke at the Osbourne Hotel in Jesmond the night after attending a pre season friendly between Blyth Spartans and Whitby Town. After breakfast I had over two hours to kill, and I was ready for a good walk.

My first port of call was Jesmond Cricket Ground; a lovely venue from where I used to watch the Tyne Tees TV coverage of an annual match featuring top stars of the day taking on a combined Durham and Northumberland side.

Walking down the hill, I decided to forgo the quickest route on offer and instead take the bridge over the beautiful Jesmond Dene before walking through the wooded area. It really was like been in the middle of the countryside.

Continuing uphill, my imagination was on overtime as I giggled at the name Jesmond Dene. Could it be the stage name of a 60’s entertainer, or a West Indian fast bowler? If I invented my own Subbuteo team again, then Jesmond Dene would most certainly be the name of one of my full backs.

Back in the real world I’d gone past Heaton Manor school and reached the Jesmond Park West junction with Newton Road, where I did a right turn; finding the open gates to Heaton Stannington FC further along between shops.

A couple of private contractor groundsmen were marking out the pitch ahead of that evening’s friendly against Washington. Chatting with one of them, we noted just what a huge playing surface it was. He also pointed out to the rise in the far top corner.

Grounsell Park was a lovely enclosed venue. There was only cover down the main side with offices and clubhouse behind. I loved the fact that there were a couple of small allotments built at the rear of the shallow banking.

Behind the near goal from the gates had been concreted to allow parking every day; a handy bit of income for the club no doubt? The changing rooms were in a large green metal hut in the corner.

Once I’d completed my photography I took the number 52 bus to Haymarket while thinking what a great area it would be to live. I wandered past St James’ Park and through the market area of the city centre.

I enjoyed an orange juice in the Mile Post; one of Dad’s favourite pubs before crossing the road for a fine pint of Hickey the Rake from the local Wylam Brewery. This was the perfect medicine to allow me a much needed nap on the train to Glasgow, ready for more adventure.