It feels like forever since I had something positive to write about when it comes to non-league football. But now with the news today of an exciting development in terms of the re-development of Filtrona Park/Mariners Park/1st Cloud Arena or whatever one wants to call it, finally some positive words.
When it comes to dealing with the Covid pandemic, South Shields have been severely impacted with crowd limitation rules meaning a drop in attendances of nearly 75% during the two months while Shields were active in the season. Plus there was also the debacle last March when the null and void fiasco was rumbling on. Now whether this season is also to be voided and what happens in terms of promotion if the FA decide to commit to the restructure or not is yet to be determined and honestly, thats another talking point for another day.
But in the face of those setbacks, Shields have managed to come through the pandemic with their heads held high. There has been the Christmas initiatives, the recent February fundraiser campaign for the club’s foundation and cancer connections (which so far has already raised nearly £1,500) and of course, there was also the massively successful share issue before Christmas which raised a massive £380,000.
The link to the justgiving page for the club’s February fundraiser is below including details on how to take part yourself.
JUSTGIVING: SSFC Foundation February Fundraiser
GROUND DEVELOPMENT UPDATES
Earlier this week, pictures did surface of some early works going on at the ground, mainly diggers going round prepping for a new development and the three stands at the Shaftesbury Avenue end looking like they were being dismantled, it was very odd to see without anything announced.
Today though (Friday February 5th), the club answered those suspicions put out a statement detailing an update to ground development proposals they announced last year, albeit in this case a revision to them
Plans submitted for new stand at 1st Cloud Arena – South Shields FC
If one remembers the original proposals from September 2019, they were for a new 6-tiered 900 all-seater stand on the Shaftesbury avenue end, a new community sports hub and on the site of an abandoned warehouse, a new housing development which would help fund the project. Since then though, it went quiet due to a number of factors, whether that being council assessment delays due to the covid pandemic or local resident objections.
As said in the statement, the club submitted planning permission for a revised proposal which intends to bring forward the construction of this new 900 seat stand “at the earliest opportunity” and whether government announcements about the situation regarding the covid pandemic become more positive as the vaccine rollout becomes more widespread. As I write this, 11 million people have received the first dose of their vaccinations with rumours afoot that it wont be long before the over 50’s begin to receive their first doses. When one considers that, it would appear the end of the pandemic and the restrictions that come with it are afoot.
Its very wise for the club to put this in consideration because even with the money from the share issue, this is still a massive investment program and like many others like it, it carries great risk. But the dismantling of those Shaftesbury stands certainly tells me that the preparation work has already begun.
Also part of the plans are for a previously unannounced brand new stand at the 3G end of the pitch replacing both the stand normally allocated for bigger away followings and The Sima Shed however this would not be seen at least for the next 12 months as the club assesses its future viability.
Also in the plans is to tarmac the entire pitchside perimeter (which explains the presence of the JCB digger at the ground I saw). There is also pitch renovation in the works and thankfully in my opinion, the pitchside fences (remnants from the original ground when it was bought by former chairman John Rundle in 1992) will finally be going.
There was no mention though of the housing development part of the original plans, i’m just going to assume these are still part of the plans until told otherwise.
MY OPINION
Fans of a certain age will remember the above image, that being the home of the previous incarnation of the club, Simonside Hall. Back then, the town boasted what was one of the best non-league grounds in the country and it had a growing reputation of housing big gates, most notably a reported 20,000 showing up for an England youth international against West Germany in 1972. Certainly many tears were shed when the ground was lost in 1974 due to the very controversial move to Gateshead, the second such move in 44 years.
Now im too young to even remember Simonside Hall’s existence, hell, I was born 10 years after its demoliton. but judging by pictures i’ve seen of it, it must have been a vast venue for its level. The picture above showed what the main stand looked like, a two tiered structure with seating donated from an old picture hall in the town. the remaining three sides of the ground featured large open terracing made up of re-used railway sleepers.
These new plans are what I hope will be the first steps in seeing the town having an arena that at least comes close to what they had with Simonside Hall except with facilities that bring it all up to date ready for housing football higher up.
If they get approved and the club fulfils its ambitions in gaining promotion to National League North either this summer or in the next couple of years, and also the likes of Hebburn, Jarrow and Boldon CA in the Wearside League continue their progress, then the future of football in South Tyneside is certainly bright.
Thanks for reading and as ever, stay safe
Claret and Blue Pixels 