Club History

Newcastle Benfield Bay Plastics Football Club

Arngrove Northern League Cup Winner’s 2006 – 2007 Season

Arngrove League Table 2nd Nov 2007

THE BENFIELD HISTORY

“From the Corner House to the Holy Grail”

The club was formed in 1988 as Heaton Corner House and entered the Northern Alliance Second Division. After one season playing at Walker Park, the club moved to their current home at Sam Smith’s Sports Ground and changed its name to Benfield Park.

Promotion to the First Division was soon gained and then to the Premier Division where the club won both the League title and Northern Alliance League Cup at the first attempt. The Lions established themselves in the Premier Division and enjoyed success in various domestic competitions including the Northumberland Minor Cup and Senior Benevolent Bowl.

And it was that success in the Bowl that brought Benfield admission into the prestigious Northumberland FA Senior Cup where amongst others, The Lions enjoyed the honour of hosting Newcastle United Reserves.

In the summer of 1999 Benfield Park were approached by fellow Northern Alliance club North Shields St. Columbas with a request to join forces, and as a result the two clubs played under the new name of Newcastle Benfield Saints. The new marriage continued to build on and off the field and a renewed vigour was shown by winning the Premier Division title in the 2002/03 season and with it promotion to the Northern League for the first time.

Behind the scenes the Chairman and Committee worked tirelessly to bring the ground up to the required standard to meet promotion criteria, and their hard work was rewarded with the confirmation of their promotion to the higher level.

The summer of 2003 turned out to be a turbulent one for Benfield as successful manager Alan Bell resigned along with his assistant. The club acted swiftly to appoint Keith Sheardown in time for the beginning of pre season training. Sheardown’s impact was unbelievable. Worries that the club would be fighting a relegation battle were soon dispelled as the new boss and his assistant Lee Boyle worked miracles to achieve promotion to the First Division in their very first season in charge.

In the 2004/05 close season the club was fortunate to receive a £74,000 grant from the Football StadiaImprovements Fund to assist with the drainage of the pitch, a new perimeter fence and a hard standing area. That season the team played beyond all expectations and finished in fourth-place in the Northern League’s top flight, and at the same time reached the final of the Northumberland FA Senior Cup.

Benfield were honoured by City of Newcastle upon Tyne with the award of the “2004 Team of the Year” presented to Chairman Jimmy Rowe at Newcastle’s Civic Centre. The club, in recognition of the fantastic backing it has received from main sponsor Bay Plastics Ltd, changed its name to include the sponsor in its title. The company have been behind Benfield for a number of years and it is hoped that the good relationship continues well into the future.

After a difficult start to the 2005/06 campaign Sheardown surprisingly resigned at the end of the first month and was replaced by former Blyth Spartans manager Paul Baker. The new manager quickly changed the clubs fortunes and the players responded well to his new approach.

During the clubs relatively short history it had never been past the Extra-Preliminary Round of the FA Cup and had never been further than the 2nd Round Proper of the Carlsbeg FA Vase. Firstly Baker laid the FA Vase bogey with a Fifth Round appearance in the 2005 competition whilst in the FA Cup the Baker Boys excelled beyond all expectations by reaching the Fourth Qualifying Round where they hosted Conference side York City in front of a record 928 at Sam Smith’s in October.

The former Football League side were generous in their praise for The Lions, so much so, that they moved in quickly to sign striker Richard Brodie to boost their promotion bid. Whilst a modest fee was agreed for the player, the promise of a pre season friendly at Sam Smith’s boosted the moral after the loss of such a popular player.