Backtrack

Inside story

5:01am Saturday 16th February 2019

NONE who follows Newcastle United could ever forget February 5 1972, the day that Hereford United, of the Southern League, beat the first division Magpies in an FA Cup third round replay. The March issue of The Oldie magazine updates the story.

• Have your say

The great escaper - Hebburn the next stop on the Railroad to Wembley

5:00am Saturday 16th February 2019

THE Railroad to Wembley in 2018-19 has been a course of recurring disappointment, barely offering anxious adventurers the chance to cross the Tees.

• Have your say

Posh comes to shove - the uncharted territory of the St James’ Park executive boxes

5:00am Saturday 9th February 2019

AS unaccustomed as are Newcastle United to the last 16 of the FA Cup, so are the St James’ Park executive boxes uncharted territory to a common or garden column like this.

• Have your say

Every picture...

5:02am Saturday 9th February 2019

AT Heritage Park, appropriately named, Bishop Auckland FC last week opened a permanent photographic exhibition showcasing the club’s uniquely successful history.

• Have your say

Mike Amos: Saluting John Topping’s 25 years service to Durham FA

5:00am Saturday 2nd February 2019

SLIGHTLY delayed because the principal guest had undergone thyroid surgery – “they couldn’t find anyone willing to cut my throat,” he says – a dinner the other night saluted John Topping’s 25 years service to Durham FA, the last 22 as company secretary.

• Have your say

Backtrack: The wizard of Oz - when Aussie Matthews took ten wickets

5:00am Sunday 27th January 2019

WHICKHAM’S windy, almost always is. “Aa’m not gannin’ oot there, aa’ll get blarn away,” says an elderly lady before the gusty, gutsy Ebac Northern League game with Consett.

• Have your say

Gary Forrest, the West Auckland manager behind Newcastle’s tallest building

5:00am Saturday 26th January 2019

THIS is the story of Gary Forrest, chairman of a group of companies recently valued at £1.2bn and manager of West Auckland football club, going OK but worth a few bob less.

• Comments (1)
• Have your say

Diving licence?

5:02am Saturday 19th January 2019

HITHERTO rather short of memories of the golden age, Bishop Auckland FC’s handsome new stadium will soon be adorned with 17 large photographs of the Two Blues unparalleled purple patch.

• Have your say

Former police inspector Gordon Bacon on honorary degree: 'I had a bit of a wobble on'

5:00am Saturday 19th January 2019

FORMER police inspector Gordon Bacon was appointed OBE in 1998, services to humanitarian relief, last week received an honorary MA degree from Durham University.

• Have your say

The tale of the penalty that went out for a throwing and other stories on the Railroad to Wembley

8:40am Saturday 12th January 2019

MR Nigel Brierley’s true or false quizzes have become a 150-watt highlight of our Railroad to Wembley expeditions.

• Comments (1)
• Have your say

Where there’s muck there’s usually been Raye Wilkinson – now honoured by the Queen

8:30am Saturday 12th January 2019

HONOURS even, The Times publishes the New Year gongs in their entirety, and in the same titchy print whatever the accolade.

• Have your say

Mike Amos: Not even a broken back can stop Hilda Moses’s passionate support for her beloved Boro

7:00am Saturday 5th January 2019

THE day after Boxing Day, when her beloved Boro had been booed unfestively from the field, may not have been the best time to look in on Hilda Moses.

• Have your say

Pigeon holed

7:12am Saturday 22nd December 2018

The column joins the Saints. It was only a matter of time.

• Have your say

When Christmases really were white and footballers just pulled up their socks and got on with it

5:00am Saturday 22nd December 2018

NEWCASTLE United historian Paul Joannou’s greetings card is redolent of another age – when Christmases really were white and footballers just pulled up their socks and got on with it.

• Have your say

Raby boomers

6:00am Saturday 15th December 2018

Raby boomers

• Have your say

Civic pride

5:52am Saturday 15th December 2018

The Right Worshipful Mayor of Sunderland and her consort have just returned from a pensioners’ Christmas lunch, one of many festive engagements in the civic diary.

• Have your say

New town old boys

6:06am Saturday 8th December 2018

A nostalgic gathering tonight will reunite all 12 members of a record breaking football squad more than half a century after last they played together.

• Have your say

The Railroad to Wembley travels by train but flies with the Lancasters

5:00am Saturday 8th December 2018

THIS is the Christmas Railroad to Wembley, almost a flight of fancy, though things get off to a distinctly unfestive start.

• Have your say

Backtrack: Munich remembered

5:01am Saturday 1st December 2018

BORN out of terrible sadness, the story of the enduringly happy relationship between Bishop Auckland and Manchester United football clubs began a new chapter last week.

• Have your say

Backtrack: Round figures

5:01am Saturday 1st December 2018

TIM WELLOCK, affectionately remembered on the Echo’s sports pages, is the new seniors captain at Barnard Castle Golf Club. Come up and see us, he suggests.

• Have your say