Latest news with #BlythSpartans
Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Larne boss Nathan Rooney pleased to add Matthew Ridley to his ‘amazing' squad
Larne have signed centre-back Matthew Ridley, who was previously with Northern Premier League side Blyth Spartans.
BBC News
27-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Headstone honours 'forgotten' Jarrow football star Mary Lyons
A female football superstar from World War One has been honoured 46 years after her Lyons was born in Jarrow in 1902, and in 1918 at the age of 15 made her England debut, scoring a goal which ensured a win against went on to play in other matches including cup finals, but by the time she died in 1979 her achievements had been forgotten and she was buried in an unmarked grave in Jarrow organisation Friends of Jarrow Cemetery was at the forefront of getting recognition for the town's forgotten football hero and after discovering her final resting place - and has now installed a permanent headstone. A ceremony for the unveiling of the headstone was attended by local dignitaries including two local ex-England Lionesses. During World War One, many munitions factories set up football teams for female employees, including Palmers Shipbuilding Company in who began work at the factory aged 14, joined the Palmers team but was soon seconded to Blyth Spartans, before playing for England, and then captaining the Palmers team to win the Munitionettes' Cup historian Stewart Hill said: "So by the age of 16, Mary had won two cup finals, scored in one, captained her team in the other - only two finals were ever played - and became the youngest-ever England player and goal scorer."What a brilliant achievement."Imagine what she would be like today, given the modern game and opportunities." Not much is known about her subsequent history, but when she died in 1979 she was buried in an unmarked grave along with three other resting place was discovered by Friends of Jarrow Cemetery, and was given a temporary wooden cross last year, but it has now been marked with the stone that lists her achievements. Ex-Lionesses Christine Knox, who won ten England caps in the 1970s and 1980s, and Aran Embleton, the first millennial Geordie Lioness, attended the unveiling Embleton said: "I am proud to have been invited to recognise Mary who, like the incredible Bella Reay of Blyth Spartans and other women of their generation, played women's football until it was banned by the FA in 1921."Players like Christine and I, and the current Lionesses, stand on the shoulders of these brilliant working class women from more than 100 years ago." Follow BBC Newcastle on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Telegraph
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Dan Burn interview: I have a chip on my shoulder to prove people wrong
Dan Burn is the boy's own story; the inspiration for any young footballer who suffers a setback in the pursuit of their dreams. Who fears those dreams have been dashed. The gangly reject, let go by his boyhood club who then scored the crucial opening goal as they won their first trophy in 56 years. The 32-year-old who was not even good enough for his county team as a kid, who has finally received an England call-up. All in the same week. Those rejections; that heartache. It has driven the defender. 'I feel like I just really had this chip on my shoulder that I want to prove people wrong,' Burn explains as he is asked about what he would say to his young self, who was released by Newcastle aged 11 and was working in a supermarket at 16, playing for non-league Blyth Spartans before joining League Two's Darlington (below). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dan Burn (@nddq) 'I just really want to have no regrets in my career,' Burn says, adding he does not want to be 'one day thinking I wish I could have trained harder, I wish I could have looked after myself more, I wish I hadn't gone out. I just want to know that, when I finish my career, that I've completely squeezed everything that I could from it.' Hardened by experience, Burn is doing just that. 'I don't really care about people's opinions,' he says. 'I know what I'm good at and I'm only interested in the opinions of people who matter – Eddie Howe and the manager here [Thomas Tuchel] – whatever else will happen. 'I feel I have been doubted a lot throughout my career. Not many people who watched me play at Darlington would think I'd be sat here doing a press conference with England. I think it has just made me more resilient. I feel very confident in my ability. I deserve to be. I just want to take this opportunity.' So grounded is Burn, who rejoined Newcastle from Brighton & Hove Albion in January 2022, one of the first signings after the Saudi Arabian-led takeover, that he has had the same mobile phone number all his adult life. 'Since I was 16,' he says, laughing when asked about the weight of messages he has received following Newcastle's highly charged Carabao Cup final win over Liverpool on Sunday. 'So I'll probably have to change that at some point. It was stressing me out not replying to everyone, so I sat last night for about two hours just texting everyone back.' One of the most precious messages he received, though, came last Thursday night when Tuchel texted him. It was 10pm and the England head coach was asking whether he was still awake before following it up with a FaceTime call. 'It started off with the manager FaceTiming me on Tuesday, saying that they were debating calling me up and he'd let me know by Thursday,' Burn says. It got to 6pm and he thought the chance was gone, telling his wife 'nothing's going to happen'. Then the text arrived. 'First of all, he said I was very unprofessional for not being in bed for 10!' Burn says laughing. 'So, I apologised for that and then he said that he had been ringing everyone who hadn't made the squad. So, again, I didn't think I was making it. 'He just said he needed to end the day on a good note, that he wants me to be in the squad and just to sort of do what he felt my strengths were, which I explained when I spoke to him. I said exactly the same to Eddie Howe when I signed for Newcastle.' Burn did not sleep that night and, the next morning, spoke to his club manager Howe to break the news. 'I said we'll speak about it for five minutes,' he says, explaining he did not want any distractions before the final. 'Sunday hasn't sunk in and I don't think it will for a long time. I still feel pretty numb about it all. I really want to feel something but my focus is completely on what I can do here for England. 'I thought I could offer just as much off the pitch as I do on. I feel like I'm a leader. He [Tuchel] said that I've been playing well for a long time, so I'm not just coming in to sort of be a cheerleader and help the boys out. I want to play.' Tuchel, clearly, has a sharp sense of humour. When he named his original 26-strong squad last Friday he talked about how Burn, despite being so tall at 6ft 7in, has been easily overlooked in the past. 'It's probably the story of my career,' Burn says. 'Visually on the pitch, if I do make a mistake or something, I feel it is probably magnified just by how it looks. I was surprised how tall the gaffer is (6ft 3in). I obviously remember him from Chelsea but I never noticed! 'I did genuinely think at 32 that it had probably passed me by, but when a new manager came in, there was always that feeling of 'you never know'. Similar to when I went to Newcastle. I never thought I was going to be able to play for Newcastle. I thought that opportunity had passed me by but, luckily, I've managed to do that.' Burn's strong personality is as important as his ability and he says he will have no qualms about calling out senior players such as Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, if it is needed. 'Absolutely, I've got no problem with that,' he says before discussing the importance of being able to communicate – maybe something that is overlooked in football. 'In meetings, sometimes people don't want to speak up because they find it, I don't know, a bit embarrassing,' Burn says. 'I feel like the US... I love NFL and all that sort of stuff and I feel like they're really good at. Just they're not bothered. They'll just say if they feel there's something that's going to help the group. They'll just get up and say that and I feel that's something probably English football in general could learn from. 'Eddie's really pushed me out of my comfort zone… he does meetings where he encourages people to stand up and talk about what motivates them, which is stuff that in the past I've not been keen to do. We do things in Newcastle called 'timeline' where you've got to stand up and speak for 10 minutes about anything. 'It tends to be about people's careers and where they've come from. When you see people from all over the world – like we've got Brazilian players and people from everywhere – you see what they've been through to get to this position. I feel it really gives you a different perspective on each other and brings us closer together. It's something that's worked really well.'
BBC News
17-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Relegated Blyth will be happier place next year'
Blyth Spartans manager Michael Connor has promised a brighter future for the troubled Northern Premier League club despite their second successive relegation being confirmed on have won just three of their 35 league games all season, losing 23, and their fate was sealed with seven matches still to be for their success at amateur level during the 1970s and 1980s, along with a string of memorable FA Cup runs, Blyth's existence appeared to be under threat until a community interest company took over from previous chairman Irfan Liaquat earlier this 126-year-old club, who dropped out of National League North last season, sit rock bottom of the NPL after Saturday's 3-1 home defeat by Warrington Connor – appointed by the new owners in November after brief spells in charge for ex-professionals Nolberto Solano and David Stockdale – told BBC Radio Newcastle: "Four months ago we didn't have a club – this club was out of business."The board are working so hard to get this club right and they're doing a marvellous job. There's going to be a Blyth Spartans here, which was always the priority and it'll be balanced and organised, not how it's been the past two or three years."Because of financial restrictions we've had to send a lot of players back who've been on loan. Six of the team that started one game against Morpeth were gone within a week and a half, and you try to rebuild and bring lads in to fill gaps, but it hasn't happened."It's about rebuilding now, seeing out the season with a bit of pride and a bit of courage and we'll hit the ground running next year. This club will be a much happier place – and let's give the fans something to be proud of next season."Spartans, who won 10 Northern League titles between 1973 and 1988 and reached the last 16 of the FA Cup in 1978, were a National League North side for seven seasons from 2017 but plunged into the third tier of non-league football following Liaquat's takeover last have continued to struggle at NPL level, amid fan protests, boycotts of matches and two fixtures being postponed due to concerns over "operational requirements".
