Thursday 26 August 2010

"Demon King" Brumby's castle crumbles...

Date: Wednesday 25th August 2010.
Location: Trinity Square car park, Gateshead.




Week 5 of demolition and whilst the references to Get Carter never stop, neither does the work on site. I had read elsewhere that the stairwells either side of the parking platforms were actually supporting structures. Maybe I’ll start keeping my distance to take photos for future updates…

Friday 20 August 2010

"I have an awful feeling we're not going to get our fees on this job."




A beautiful day on Tyneside and the demolition/destruction of the “Get Carter” car park in Trinity Square, Gateshead nears its 5th week. Hard to quantify progress in terms of a percentage but suffice it to say, the days of this fine structure’s domination of Gateshead’s skyline are well and truly numbered. It’ll be a matter of a few more weeks, I imagine, until they’re finished. The sections they’ve removed so far are all on the side of the car park that faces Newcastle - approaching the car park from the other side it almost looks like nothing’s happened. The roof level, originally intended as a restaurant in both the movie and reality, is now detached from the walkway on the left and if you look closely, orange ticket machines are just about visible (just ‘above’ the trees). Wonder if they were emptied first…

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Apathetic penguins at Edinburgh Zoo last Sunday



I have to admit to having a strong liking for these guys - all flightless ‘n that. They were supposed to be doing a parade of sorts just after 2pm, however the keepers explained (to the expectant masses gathered) that the penguins were moulting and were “not in the mood”. Good for them, I thought.

Thursday 12 August 2010

Bedlington Terriers 3 Whitley Bay 3

Northern League Division 1
11th August 2010
Welfare Park, Bedlington

Attendance: Healthy, maybe around 250-300

Eager to avoid the televisual charade of World Cup failures, England playing Hungary at Wembley, we made the short journey up the A189 to Welfare Park to take in the second Northern League fixture of the season for these two sides.



The newly laid playing surface afforded a fast paced passing game and Bay flew out of the traps taking a two goal lead within 10 minutes. No fewer than three penalties and some fine goals saw the two sides go into the interval sharing a six goal bonanza.



The sides played a more settled second half and although Whitley Bay piled on the pressure in the last 15 minutes, the Terriers’ defence held firm and the game finished 3-3. Before kick off sampling the burger van was nothing short of an inevitability -£1.50 secured a tray of the most delicious chips I ever remember tasting at a football ground. So good in fact, that I almost missed the first goal through filling my face.

Welfare Park is fairly central to the town, situated just off Front Street in Bedlington and is fairly typical of Northern League grounds with standing behind three sides and a main stand along one touchline. See my previous blog post for some info regarding the main stand. Further redevelopment is planned for the ground which will include a new stand behind one of the goals.

A healthy crowd made it to the game which, despite the national side being live on TV at the same time, is testament to the quality of the two sides on display - both sides predicted to finish in the top few places of the league. All told, a great game, a fair result on the pitch and a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Match companion tonight was @huddohudson - feel free to follow him on Twitter & check out his blog at http://ganninaway.blogspot.com/

The Jack Carter stand at Welfare Park, Bedlington Terriers FC

Continuing the "Get Carter“ theme, the main stand at Welfare Park piqued my interest during last night's Northern League fixture against Whitley Bay. The stand was named in honour of the Terriers' popular and long standing groundsman, Jack Carter, who passed away some years ago.

Thanks to @huddohudson for the pic!



Wednesday 11 August 2010

Match tweets: Bedlington Terriers v Whitley Bay

  1. "Wor baaall" : still Bedlington 3 Whitley Bay 3 here at Welfare Parkhttp://twitpic.com/2ds1uw
  2. Shandran levels matters again on the stroke of half time -#bedlington 3-3 #whitleybayfc
  3. #whitleybayfc go 3-2 up at #bedlington just before half time.
  4. #whitleybayfc regain the lead just before half time 3-2 Whitley
  5. #bedlington 's Alex Benjamin levels it at Welfare park from the penalty spot on the 29 mins. 2-2 @whitleybayfc
  6. Stuart Elliott replies with a sumptuous volley for #bedlington on 20 mins. @whitleybayfc still lead 2-1 #northernleague
  7. Now #Bedlington 0 @WhitleyBayFC 2 - Johnson again. Great goal!
  8. Whitley Bay 1-0 (Johnson) pen after 6 mins at Bedlington
  9. Northern League Div 1 Bedlington v. Whitley Bay with @huddohudson (@ Welfare Park, Bedlington Terriers FC) http://4sq.com/aMVuGi

Destruction of Gateshead's Trinity Square ...Get Carter“ car park - week 3

Thompson's of Prudhoe crack on, systematically nibbling away at each section and floor, and all the while spraying water to minimise dust dispersal.

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Carlisle 1 Hibernian 0

Pre-season friendly
1st August 2010
Brunton Park, Carlisle.




Played before a crowd of just over three thousand, this was a case of ‘after the lord mayor’s show’ in terms of our weekend brace of pre-season entertainment. A full strength Hibs side lined up against their hosts and looked decidedly shaky from the start. A healthy following of (we estimated) around 1200 Hibbees occupied the Petteril End goal end and gave their boys a warm welcome as the teams entered the fray. Playing on a fantastic surface, Carlisle immediately looked the more accomplished side as Hibs looked a side short on confidence and short on ideas. The 3-0 defeat to Maribor of Slovenia in the Europa Cup the previous Thursday clearly hasn’t had any sort of reverse psychology effect on the side.



All told, the game was pretty dire - Carlisle were the better side but their forward play wasn’t scintilating. Without running the risk of berating lower league football based on Sky TV’s Premiership output, it just wasn’t a pleasant spectacle.
Admittedly, positioned with The Hibs contingent behind the goal and amongst the moans and groans, we felt the pain which accompanied every stray ball and failed Hibs attack. That said, any attempts to use this game to draw comparisons between the Scottish Premier League and the English League One would skew common thinking. It was difficult to tell who was the side who finished 4th in their country’s league and qualified for Europe, and who finished mid-table in the second tier of their country’s league. It would be churlish though to think of this as a measure for how football standards in England and Scotland can be measured. This was a pre-season friendly but that didn’t make it any easy on the footballing taste buds.



Hibs did sometimes look dangerous - in their own goal area… Meanwhile Carlisle bustled and created some decent chances - new signing Francois Zoko in particular looking a pretty handy. Hibs had a goal from a free-kick disallowed in the first half (offside) but otherwise never really looked threatening until the last ten minutes - the sight of Hibs fans leaving early was telling of the sort of performance they’d seen.



As the weather turned, Carlisle won it with a late goal but by the time the home side scored, the result didn’t matter. It was a dire, forgettable game and we were only relieved the heavens didn’t open too much. We made it to the pub without getting soaked, or arrested - the large police presence were out in force expecting “England vs. Scotland” style clashes between rival fans but that didn’t really happen.

From a personal point of view it was great to see Hibs in the flesh after so long - I think my previous game was at the end of the 2004-5 season where Rangers won 1-0 at Easter Road and clinched the title on the same day. I should really stop attending Hibs games - my previous game of note was the CIS cup final v. Livingstone the previous season and Hibs lost that one too.

A long season beckons for the boys in green.

Monday 2 August 2010

Gretna FC 2008 1 Whitley Bay 1

Pre-season friendly
31st July 2010
Raydale Park


 

A weekend of football away from home saw us creep across the border to Raydale Park in Gretna. A nice little ground and despite vantage points only on three sides, it felt a homely ground.



Playing in sunny but breezy conditions, Whitley took the lead in the first half only for the home side to level matters before the break. The hosts played an attractive passing game and often threatened going forward. Playing the ball on the ground to feet and using their width, Bay were left chasing the ball at times. Whitley did play well and on nine minutes should have taken the lead through Lee Kerr however a great double save saw his penalty and rebound kept out by Grant in the Gretna goal.



The opener wasn’t far off and after 21 minutes from the head of Phil Bell who headed bravely past the advancing keeper following what I imagine was great approach play. I say ‘imagine’ because we were queuing for pies & bovril at the time… Before the break Gretna pushed forward and rare mistake in the Bay goal provided fortune for the home side. A cross into the box was misjudged by Bay ‘keeper Tom Kindley and Jardine was on hand to bundle in the resultant loose ball to notch the leveller.



Overall a very enjoyable game in which both sides had chances to snatch a winner but a draw was probably fair. Before and after the game we enjoyed the warm hospitality and the cold beer of the Gretna social club situated across the car park from the ground. Post-match highlight was definitely the presence of the FA Vase which Whitley Bay had brought with them. Plonked only metres away on a bar table, we wasted not this opportunity to have some pictures taken with the trophy and over more beers we chatted with Bob, one of the club officials who regaled us with tales of his playing days and passed his own delightfully insightful comments on the state of the modern game.



As we left to make our train it was with sadness as we thoroughly enjoyed the true community feel of the club and enjoyed every minute of our stay. Good luck for the future to everyone at Gretna FC 2008.

NewcastleDavey with the FA Vase

NB. This trip wouldn’t have been possible (or as enjoyable) without @markjam82 and @huddohudson - follow them on Twitter and check out the latter’s excellent football blog (and much more thorough account of this trip) by visiting http://ganninaway.blogspot.com/