Sunderland RCA FC grassroots football

NEWTON AYCLIFFE have burst back on to the non-league scene in emphatic fashion after years in the footballing wilderness. Aycliffe, originally formed in 1965, spent a number of years in the Wearside League of old before folding from it more than 20 years ago. And although the current club was re-formed a number of years ago, competing and winning silverware in the Darlington and District League, its re-emergence in the last two years has been phenomenal. They took the Durham Alliance League by storm in 2007-08 – winning the league title as well as four cups – and successfully applied to join the Wearside League for the 2008-09 season. The most crucial part of the club’s bid to rejoin the Wearside was the club’s redevelopment of Moore Lane Park – thanks to a £300,000 grant from Sedgefield Council’s Local Improvement Programme and a further £20,000 from the Football Foundation – which afforded the club the facilities, including floodlights, to make the step up. But the success story didn’t end there, and after a long season in the Wearside League, Aycliffe were eventually crowned league winners for the first time in the club’s history to cap off a remarkable story. The club also averaged home crowds of more than 250 in their final nine games of the campaign, comfortably the highest non-league league gates in the Durham area. Aycliffe also successfully applied to join the Northern League, pending further redevelopment to incorporate covered seating and standing areas to meet league criteria which has to be in place by March 2010. But the club is confident that the majority of the funding for the new stands is almost in place, and Aycliffe will be able to concentrate on their historic, inaugural season in the Northern League.