FOOTBALL
People reckon we have issues with the drainage, but I don’t think so. We are no different to any other club
History
Wallsend Boys Club was founded in 1904 by the employees and directors of Swan Hunters Shipyard in order to provide recreational activities for the apprentices and young people in the area and initially specialised in boxing.
The original club premises were a series of wooden huts on Station Road, erected by workers from the shipyard. A fire destroyed the original premises and work commenced on the current club building in 1964, which was opened on 16 December 1966.
Over the years, the club has survived fires and weather damage and, despite the building being burnt down and rebuilt, then damaged and demolished, the very soul and heart of the boy’s club has lived on.
In 1975, the club opened seven days a week and formed a separate sub- committee for 11-a-side football.
In 2008, the club was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of North Tyneside, in recognition of what the deputy mayor called the club’s “factory line of talent”, and for its community work.
In 2011, the club opened its first dedicated football centre.
readings from the soil test results. “We tend to use granular feeds like Marathon Sport from Agrovista Amenity, which is an organic, slow-release product. We have seen some great results over the years with this product, improving the density of the sward and the root system.”
“Machinery has been purchased outright through various sources over the last nine years. We originally bought a piece of machinery off eBay which wasn’t the best, and we have purchased second-hand machinery from golf clubs. The John Deere ride-on was purchased through the Pitch Perfect scheme. The rest of the machines were purchased through the father of one of our young players who owned a local John Deere dealer, Greenlay Ltd (which has recently
been bought out by Thomas Sherriff & Co Ltd), and we got some great deals. We are still using the local dealer to undertake all our servicing and to purchase parts for the machines.”
Ian tells me next on his list of machinery purchases would be a bigger tractor, followed by a verti-drain and various other three-point linkage attachments. “It would just give us that little bit more flexibility and help us take the pitches to the next level.”
Ian’s talents don’t stop at looking after pitches; he is also a dab hand at putting up fences and gates around the site. He also built the on-site garage with favours from different people and, after it was recently broken into, adapted some spare fencing to help secure the main door. Is there no end to this man’s talents?
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PC April/May 2020
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