It has been another eventful year for North-East sport, with footballing promotions, cricketing relegations and Olympic and Paralympic medals hogging the headlines. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson looks at what 2017 might bring for the region.

WHEN Darlington rounded off 2016 by playing their first game in their new home at Blackwell Meadows, they penned another remarkable chapter in the story of a club that would not die. After a traumatic 12 months, Durham Cricket Club have to take inspiration from their revival.

While most teams will be looking forward to 2017 with a renewed sense of hope, Durham could be forgiven for viewing the new year with despair. That they still exist at all is something of a triumph, but in exchange for being bailed out by the ECB, Durham will start the new cricket season with a 48-point penalty in the Second Division of the County Championship.

Hopefully, that marks the low point of their recovery. Off the pitch, Sir Ian Botham will spend the early months of 2017 attempting to assemble a viable financial plan, and once the action gets underway in the middle, a Durham squad operating under a strict salary cap will try to win a promotion that looks all-but-impossible given the handicap they have been saddled with. With all that in mind, restoring a semblance of stability over the course of the next 12 months will represent success.

Given the ECB’s willingness to hand out such a draconian set of punishments, it will be interesting to see how September’s Chester-le-Street T20 between England and West Indies is viewed. It will be the only chance to see international cricket in the region next year, but some could regard the game as an opportunity to vent frustrations at the way Durham were sold down the river.

On the football field, Middlesbrough and Sunderland’s ambition is to stay afloat in the top-flight. From a North-East perspective, footballing success would mean having three of the region’s clubs in the Premier League come August, with Boro and Sunderland avoiding relegation and Newcastle winning promotion from the Championship. As things stand, it is a viable scenario.

Similarly, if Hartlepool avoid the drop from League One and Darlington win promotion to the National League (formerly the Conference), the rest of the region’s footballing scene will also be in good shape. From a Quakers perspective, a potential end-of-season play-off would be quite a way to mark the club’s first half-season at Blackwell Meadows.

Newcastle Falcons have enjoyed a successful 2016, and with no real relegation fears to speak of, the first half of 2017 should see Dean Richards’ side continuing with the kind of expansive rugby that has made them so attractive to watch in recent months. Darlington Mowden Park have had an up-and-down campaign so far, but they should be good enough to avoid the drop from National League One.

The Northern Echo Arena will once again stage a junior England international, but the stand-out North-East event of 2017 is set to take place a few miles north of Newcastle at Close House. It is more than a decade-and-a-half since the region staged a European Tour golf event, so the British Masters, which will be staged at Close House in late September, really is a landmark tournament.

Promoted by Lee Westwood, it promises to attract many of the world’s leading players to Northumberland. It should be spectacular, and given that it comes less than a fortnight after the Great North Run, which could see Mo Farah create history if he claims a fourth successive victory, it will ensure September provides a feast of North-East sport.

Outside the region, 2017 is one of those ‘fallow’ years that does not contain a major football tournament, an Olympics or Commonwealth Games, or a home Ashes tour. That said, however, there will still be plenty to enjoy.

The highlight from a national perspective should be the World Athletics Championships, which will take place at the Olympic Stadium in London. Expect plenty of controversy about potential Russian involvement in the build-up, but once the action begins, the sight of the likes of Usain Bolt and Farah competing in the capital should enthral.

With no major tournament, footballing attention will be trained on Gareth Southgate’s attempts to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and June’s emotionally-charged trip to Hampden Park could be crucial to England’s chances.

England’s home cricketing series see them take on South Africa and West Indies, with the next Ashes series due to begin in Brisbane in November. Attention will also be focused on the southern hemisphere in June and July, with the British & Irish Lions tackling a three-game tour of New Zealand.

Andy Murray will attempt to defend his Wimbledon title, the Open golf tournament is staged at Royal Birkdale, and the Formula One calendar will see Lewis Hamilton trying to win back his crown.

After a year peppered with sporting scandal, it is to be hoped 2017 is more notable for what happens in the heat of competition rather than in a courtroom or Parliamentary hearing. If the sporting world has one New Year resolution, it is surely that fair play finally comes to the fore.

PANEL:

KEY NORTH-EAST SPORTING DATES FOR 2017:

Mar 11 Middlesbrough vs Sunderland

Apr 14 Durham vs Nottinghamshire (Start of County Championship)

Jun 10-11 British Touring Cars Championship at Croft Circuit

Aug 23-27 Ebor Festival at York Racecourse

Sep 10 Great North Run

Sep 16 England vs West Indies at Chester-le-Street

Sep 28-Oct 1 British Masters at Close House