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Above: St. Aidan's Statue, Holy Island, Northumberland. Photo courtesy of freefoto.com

Prime Minister Tony Blair and The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson. Photo courtesy of The Northern Echo

 

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Timeline of North East History

SPORT 1700AD - 1999AD

By David Simpson

EARLY FOOTBALL
No evidence supports the belief that Romans introduced football to the region although some annual Shrove Tuesday games at Alnwick, Chester-le-Street and Sedgefield may have pre-Norman origins. Football is recorded as early as 1280 when a man was killed during a match near Morpeth, but organised football teams did not appear until the 1870s. Middlesbrough was formed by cricket players in 1876, Sunderland in 1879 and Newcastle United in 1892 by uniting Newcastle West End FC with Newcastle East End. Darlington formed in 1861 (re-formed 1883) and West Hartlepool of 1881 became Hartlepool United in 1908. In 1888 Sunderland and Middlesbrough were troubled by rival break-away teams called Sunderland Albion and Middlesbrough Ironopolis, both of which folded before the century was out.

THE EARLY FOOTBALL SUCCESSES
Sunderland won the league championship three times in the 1890s under manager Tom Watson who later established Liverpool as a force. Sunderland peaked too early to benefit financially but Newcastle reaped rewards for successes in the first decade of the 1900s being champions three times and reaching the FA Cup Final three times before winning it at the fourth attempt in 1910.

WEST AUCKLAND'S WORLD CUP

From time to time amateur football sides like Bishop Auckland find fame and success through Cup runs, but the most extraordinary feat of any side was achieved by West Auckland FC in 1910. The team was invited to take part in a competition in Italy to compete for the soccer World Cup. West Auckland won the competition against some of Europe's biggest sides and defeated the mighty Juventus 2-0 in the final. West Auckland successfully defended the title the following year.

FAMOUS FOOTBALLERS
Sunderland's Alf Common became the world's first £1,000 player when he was signed by Middlesbrough in 1905. Other greats were Charlie Buchan, George Camsell and Hughie Gallacher. In the 1930s Wilf Mannion, Raich Carter and Bob Gurney shot to fame, the la st two being joint top scorers for Division One in the 1935-36 season. Heroes after the Second World War included Joe Harvey, Jackie Milburn, Len Shackleton and Brian Clough while Newcastle's Malcolm Macdonald was a great name of the 1970s. Goalscorers a ttract fame, but goalkeeper Jim Montgomery's double save which helped Sunderland win the 1973 FA Cup Final is often remembered. Players of the 1980s and 1990s include local born internationals like Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne, Chris Waddle and Alan S hearer.

ROWING
Football is now the big spectator sport in the region but for much of the 19th Century it was rowing. There were many organised teams or schools, particularly on Tyneside. They competed against each other and against rowers from the Wear, Tees, Thames and Mersey. Rowing was extremely popular and attracted crowds of thousands and rowers like the keelman Harry Clasper were great celebrities. Rowing was also a great tradition in Durham City where an annual regatta was established in 1834 (before Henley Regatta) and has been held continuously ever since.

HORSE RACING
Early races were mentioned in 1613 at Woodham near Aycliffe and were held at Newcastle's Killingworth Moor from 1632 before moving to the Town Moor. The 'Pitmen's Derby' or Northumberland Plate was held from 1833 and moved to Gosforth in 1882. Georgian races were held at places like Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland, Blaydon, Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hebburn, Heighington, Lanchester, Ryton, Sedgefield, South Shields, Stockton, Sunderland, Tanfield, Whickham and Witton Gilbert. A 1740 Act banned smaller meetings but some meetings like Durham survived into the late 19th/early 20th Century.

YORKSHIRE RACING
Racing may have taken place at York since Roman times and York's Knavesmire has held races since at least 1731. Middleham claims to have trained horses since Henry VIII. Doncaster has held the St Leger race since 1776 and Catterick has held races since 1 783. Thirsk Race Course opened in 1855 and racing was recorded at Ripon as early as 1664. At Redcar, horse races were held on the beach until the present racecourse opened in 1872. The remains of a Georgian grandstand can be found at Richmond where a mee ting was once held.

BLAYDON RACES
The Blaydon Races, a popular musical hall song first sung by Geordie Ridley at Balmbra's Music Hall in Newcastle in 1862, gives an idea of some of the characters attending the old meetings. These races were held on an island in the middle of the Tyne and were last held on September 2, 1916. A riot broke out after the winning horse was disqualified and the event was discontinued.

GOLF
Probably a Scottish import but it is said to have been played by St Cuthbert on the dunes of the Northumberland coast. The region's oldest club was Alnmouth founded in 1869 - the fourth oldest in the country and is now Alnmouth Village Club. Golf appeared in County Durham in 1874 at Seaton Carew while at Redcar, the Cleveland Golf Course of 1887 is the oldest in Yorkshire. Tyneside Golf Club at Ryton dates from 1880 but there may have been earlier courses in the region. During the Civil War, King Charles played 'Goff' in the fields near Newcastle during imprisonment in the town.

CRICKET
Cricket has long been a popular sport in the North-East and is said to date back to Elizabethan times. Yorkshire County Cricket Club was formed in 1863 and Durham County Cricket Club in 1882. After many years of success in the Minor Counties Championship, Durham joined Yorkshire in the senior counties championship in 1992.

ATHLETICS
Athletics is a sport of rising popularity since the success of North-East athletes Brendan Foster in the 1970s and Steve Cram in the 1980s. Both won international medals and broke world records in middle and long distance running. Brendan Foster established the annual Great North Run, one of the best known half marathons in which thousands of participants run from Newcastle to South Shields.

THE TIMELINE BY ERA

ROMAN PERIOD

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

VIKING PERIOD

NORMAN PERIOD

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

TUDOR AND STUART PERIOD

GEORGIAN PERIOD

VICTORIAN PERIOD

TWENTIETH CENTURY

 

THE MILLENNIUM HISTORY OF NORTH EAST ENGLAND

by David Simpson

Published by leighton in association with The Northern Echo

ISBN 0-9536984-3-2

The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson is published by Leighton, The Teleport, Doxford International, Sunderland, SR3 3XD, Tel +44 (0) 191 5252400 Fax +44 (0) 520 1815 www.bepl.com. The book is a 322 page full colour hard back book covering the history of the region from Roman times to the present day. To order copies of the book you can e-mail Andrea.Murphy@bepl.com

Author David Simpson and Paul Callaghan, Managing Director of leighton at the book launch held at Lumley Castle, Durham December 1999

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