Team
Northumbria FC
Ground: Coach Lane Sports Ground
Capacity: 1,500
Club Founded: 1999
League: BUCS Premier North League - University Football (current level)
The football team representing Northumbria University in Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne, had a short spell playing in the non-league pyramid before reverting to university competition.
A Brief History of Team Northumbria FC
The team started life as Northumbria University FC, entering the Northern Alliance in 1999 as members of Division Two in the same
year as their formation. After being promoted, the team finished runners-up before changing their name to their current title and becoming Northern Alliance champions in 2005-06.
They successfully applied to join Division Two of the Northern League, winning promotion as champions in 2011-12 after the side was prioritised following Paul Johnson's appointment as manager.
Despite being relegated in 2013-14, the team rebuilt with a new influx of students, winning promotion in 2016-17. Their Division One season of 2017-18 ended in a midtable finish before they resigned from the Northern League and returned to play in the BUCS Premier North League.
My visit
Saturday 4th October 2008
I was on a whistle-stop tour of a few grounds on a wet Saturday morning before heading off to the FA Vase clash between Esh Winning and Scarborough Athletic. I could easily have been there for a match as Esh had eliminated the students in the previous round of the competition.
I had decided to walk to the Coach Lane ground from my previous stop at West Allotment Celtic, which was just a few hundred yards away. I was a little flustered as I went down Coach Lane, as the university campus covers a large area. I saw a pitch with floodlights through a fence and thought about ways to gain access, as I am very seldom beaten in my quests.
As it was, I continued seeing some vehicles turning left in the distance. When I saw the road leading off, I was most happy to see a sign for Team Northumbria FC. The ground was relatively new and was positioned against a large sports hall complex.
All was locked up, so I wandered around and took photos over the fence. I found a ball in the grass behind one goal and walloped it over the fence, which would surprise them when they next played.
The ground was extremely basic. It had a path and grass all the way round, apart from in front of the sports hall, which was hard standing where a small covered seated stand and refreshment caravan stood under the shelter of the large wall.
All in all, I was not too impressed and rather thankful that Boro were playing at the comparatively plentiful facilities at Esh Winning that afternoon, bearing in mind the need for a good clubhouse and plentiful covering on a wet day for the largish Seadog away following.
It also made me wonder just how consistent the ground graders are when making their judgments.
