MATCH PREVIEW: Ashington next stop

Reds face another trip to the north east on Saturday and their first game in Ashington for fifty-six years. It will be their penultimate pre-season game of the summer.

They take on the Northern Premier League East Division outfit in a first ever visit to Woodhorn Lane.

Not since our membership of the North Regional League back in the sixties has a Reds team played in the Northumberland town. Indeed, John Ogilvie was the last player to score a goal at Ashington, doing so for our Reserves in a 2-1 defeat at their old Portland Park ground.

Ashington now play at Woodhorn Lane which will host Step 4 football for the first-time next month. They were actually founder members of the Northern Premier League back in 1968 but their stay lasted for just one season.

Last season, they finished runners-up in Division One of the Northern League and gained promotion back to the NPL after an ‘inter-step’ play-off victory at Glossop North End. They start their season next week in the FA Cup and then host Brighouse Town in their opening league fixture.

Links between the clubs are few and far between but Bobby Charlton, one of Ashington’s finest, did play one game for Workington back in the seventies. Another Ashington centre forward, Paul Murphy, featured in about a dozen games for Workington in 1973, scoring one goal during a brief stay at the club.

There is also a link to the present club with one of their coaching staff, Andy Coyles, a former Reds player. Andy and Reds current assistant manager, Terry Mitchell, worked together at Consett.

Danny Grainger will travel with a near full squad and is expecting a much tougher game than the one at Whitley Bay last week.

Admission:
Adult – £5
Concession/Student – £2
U16 – £1

Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Woodhorn Lane, NE63 9FW