Football in Amble 1886-2025
Football arrived in Northumberland in the 1870’s, and the Northumberland Football Association was formed in 1883.
Amble Junior Team 1898-99 T. Matthews L. Laidler; R. Hume; J.Carse; J. Burton T. Hunt; H Smeethen; J Manson (Trainer); R.Burton T.Johnson; J. Tuck; J.R. Hendry
The first match in Amble was in 1886 and the first Amble team was called Amble Coquet Lights who played Cup matches and friendlies against other Northumberland teams e.g. Broomhill Rovers, Alnwick Hotspur Rangers and Morpeth Harriers. They changed their name to Amble FC in January 1889 and continued to play friendlies until joining the East Northumberland League 1895 – 1900. They struggled in that league for 5 seasons but had greater success when they joined the Wansbeck Junior League1900 – 1902 (Runners up 1900/01).
They then played in the Northumberland League (1902 – 1905), East Northumberland (1905 – 1010) and Wansbeck League (1910 – 1914), winning Division 2 of the Northumberland League in 1903, and the Wansbeck League in 1914.
Newspaper cutting featuring members of Amble FC. The caption reads: “…Playing under the name “Parry Bar” the team won the Charities Cup each year from 1956-66. Over the same period Amble had a successful team in the Northern Alliance League. Attendances at the Welfare Park were often over a thousand and on one occasion [a] Christmas Day fixture, around two thousand – a gate of more than £40 with entrance at a “tanner” [6d]. Image from Michael Stewart.
They stayed in the Northern Alliance from 1935 to 1970, except 1964-65 when the League closed for a season, and they played in the Northumberland Miners Welfare League. Their heyday was between 1955 and 1961 when they won the Northern Alliance 5 times in 7 years, including a hattrick in 1959,1960 and 1961. They came 2nd bottom in both their last 2 seasons and finally folded on 5 September 1970 with the club strips and equipment being sold off to pay debts.
A number of other men’s teams came and went during this period
• Amble Reserve Team 1889 – 1935
• Amble Blue Stars (1) 1898 – 1899
• Amble Blue Stars (2) 1900 – 1903
• Amble St Cuthberts (1) 1901 – 1904
• Amble Black Watch 1902 – 1903
• Amble Coquet Lights (2) 1908 – 1911
• Amble West End 1911 – 1914
• Amble United Wednesday 1920 – 1921
• Amble Welfare (1) 1947 – 1954
• Amble CYMS 1950 – 1951
• Amble Welfare (2) 1955 – 1956
Amble St Cuthbert’s FC celebrate winning the 2015 Robson Cup
Over the last 55 years (since 1970) there has been a succession of Amble clubs that have started off playing mainly in the North Northumberland League and progressing to the Northern Alliance, but in some ways, they have all hit the same problem. There is only a certain level that any Amble team can attain (Northern Alliance Premier Division) because they do not have an enclosed ground that can be developed. These were:
• Amble Vikings (1) 1972 – 1980
• Amble Town 1988 – 2001
• Amble Vikings (2) 1992 – 2001
• Amble United 2001 – 2013
• Amble (Swarland) 2003 – 2011
• Amble (St Cuthbert) 2011 – 2024
• Amble Masons 2018 – 2020
FOOTBALL GROUNDS
Amble football teams have played on 7 grounds around Amble. Some are known but others need further investigation.
• The Links
• The Braid
• Mr G Patterson Field – Mr Patterson was the owner of the Blue Bell Inn in the late 1880’s and had a field adjoining his house near the Inn
• Powder Fund Field
• Race Course Field – The Racecourse was around two fields on Link House Farm with a hedge in between
• Welfare Field – Amble United FC moved there in 1921
• Running Track pitch – back of the Welfare Field
JUNIOR TEAMS
There were a number of Junior teams (Under 18) in Amble when there was an Amble & District Junior League (approx. 1902 – 1911) but finding details of this League is proving difficult. Teams found are
• Amble Athletic
• Amble Harbour Villa
• Amble Red Star
There were also Junior teams around in the late 1880s and 1890s called
• Amble Juniors
• Amble Rovers Juniors
Today we have Amble AFC Juniors who have 11 teams from U14’s down to U7’s, who play in the Northumberland Football League.
WOMEN / LADIES TEAMS
I have found no evidence of any Women / Ladies teams from Amble in all my research, other than the current Amble AFC Ladies which was set up in September 2023 and play 7 a-side games in the Durham FA Women’s Recreational League Division 2 at the Farringdon Community Academy in Sunderland on a Sunday morning.
SUNDAY TEAMS
There have been several Sunday football teams from Amble that used to play in the Morpeth Sunday League until the League folded in 2016. The nearest Sunday League now is the Cramlington & District Sunday league (20 miles away) after the Blyth & Wansbeck Sunday League folded in June 2024.
Amble Boys Club FC 1962-63
Amble Sunday teams have included:
• Amble Bede Street Club
• Amble Boys Club
• Amble Dock Hotel
• Amble Fourways
• Amble Jus-rol
• Amble Masons Arms
• Amble Park Rangers
• Amble Pier 81
• Amble Schooner
• Amble Tavern
• Amble Vikings
There will probably never be another Amble Sunday football team.
DID YOU KNOW
• When soldiers returned from WW1 they played football. The largest number of football clubs ever occurred after 1919, but this reduced during the mid-1920’s due to the Great Depression.
• When soldiers returned from WW2 they watched football. The record attendances for lots of clubs is from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s.
• Approx 75% of children stop playing football when they reach the age of 18.
• Since the Premier League was formed in 1992 approx. 25% of Saturday afternoon football clubs in England have closed down.
• John Angus was born in Amble in 1938, played over 430 matches for Burnley, winning Division 1 (now the Premiership) in 1960, and playing for England in 1961.
• Bob Dennison was born in Amble in 1912, played in the football league for 18 years including at Newcastle United, and then managed in the Football League for 14 years including 9 years at Middlesbrough.
• John R Armstrong was Secretary of Amble FC for 44 years (1926 – 1970). He was also Manager, Treasurer and Chairman at various points during this time.
• On 2 May 1961, the ex-England football captain (1946 – 1948) George Hardwick played at the Welfare Field in a Benefit match for 2 Amble players Handyside and Stewart, who both played for Amble for 10 years. The match was watched by a crowd of over 700.
• This season, 2024/25, is the first season in 36 years that there has been no men’s football team in Amble.
A QUESTION
• Will the new 3G pitch, to be developed at the James Calvert Spence College, have spectator access on all 4 sides of the pitch, because
o If it does it will allow an Amble team to progress up the football ladder.
o If it does not, I think it will be the end of Men’s football in Amble after 138 years.
Tony Martin
