Whickham Fellside YFC Sunday Adult Team

19/01/2026

Well after around 7 weeks without a game, our lads got off to a winning start for 2026. We started the game really well against an excellent Blyth Spartans side, who certainly deserve to be higher in the table that they currently are. We controlled possession really well and dominated midfield in the early stages of the game, where we had suffered badly in the away game earlier in the season. Nathan, Jake and Ben wrestled control and dictated the flow of the game and it was early on, after a period of dominance, that the ball fell to Jake on the edge of the box and he hit a first time shot that the keeper couldn’t keep out to make it 1-0 to Whickham Fellside United!

Gaining confidence from this, the team was playing some excellent attacking football and after a brilliant through ball released Jonny Soulboy to bare down on goal he was crudely brought down around 20 yards out with only the keeper to beat. Although it felt harsh for Sunday morning football, the ref correctly applied the laws of the game and sent the Blyth defender off. Whickham continued to build pressure and the second goal came after a superb passing move down our left culminating in Arun having the ball deep inside Blyth’s box, keeping a cool head and selflessly squaring to Big Ollie to slam home from 5 yards! 2-0.

There were worrying signs that our concentration and energy were dipping in the last 10 minutes of the first half and we addressed this at half time, stressing the need to simplify and control the game.

Credit to Blyth, who came out all guns blazing for the second half, making it much more of a close battling game. As they attacked we cleared the danger of a high ball into our box only to see the Blyth full back step forward and unleash an incredible strike, which no one could have stopped! 2-1

This made the game nervy when it shouldn’t have been and Blyth threatened on a number of occasions. A Christmas of too much drink and mince pies seemed to be catching up with our lads and nasty knee injury to Summers when we thought we had squeezed our third goal over the line and a knee injury for Jake, was an unwelcome turn of events.

Although the quality and control had all but gone In our performance, our grit, determination and resolve remained intact to secure us an ugly win (based on our second half)

3 points is 3 points and we’ve lost games where our performances have deserved wins, so we take it and move on, knowing that standards or our first 35 minutes today need to be met and consistently maintained!

24/11/2025

Massive thanks to our away shirt sponsors at Whickham Fellside Seniors United! The wonderful Miah’s Indian Cuisine in Whickham. Some of the squad visited on Friday night and had a cracking meal, particularly the awesome spiced lamb chops! 🍖 🍛 🍺 🫡💚💛💚💛

Why don’t premier league teams have a curry sponsor? 🤣🤣

03/11/2025

WHICKHAM Fellside v Kings Arms

Missing 5 of our normal starting line up, mainly due to injury, we had the tough task of facing a very good King’s Arms FC side who haven’t lost a game all season.

The conditions were difficult for both sides as the surface seemed to be more uneven and bobbly than normal, making it difficult to control the ball and play our normal passing game. Both teams were equally competitive and there wasn’t a lot between them as both sets of centre halves thrived.

The deadlock was, however, broken, when after a period of sustained pressure, the ball broke to Jake in the left hand channel of the 18 yard box, he composed himself and blasted on target, with the ball taking a fortuitous deflection to wrong foot the keeper, continuing a goal scoring run now of 5 goals in 4 games. 1-0 to Whickham Fellside.

Kings Arms replied later in the half as a shot that came back off the crossbar was finished from close range to make it 1-1.

The quality of football from both sides was not up to either of their normal standards, as the ball spent more time in the air as it would normally for these two footballing teams, mainly due to the conditions. In a very attritional second half, after Barnsey had again performed miracles with a superb off the line clearance, we eventually broke the deadlock and took the lead again after good pressing from Ollie Calvert saw him win possession on the right wing, power forward towards the edge of the box and play a good cross in for Big Ollie to convert from the centre of the box. 2-1 to Whickham Fellside.

Kings Arms had a player sent to the sides for something he said to ref, but we didn’t use this to our advantage by keeping possession, we continued to clear our lines and hit the ball long, which was out of character. The sucker punch then came, as time was running out and the ball was played into the right side of our 18 yard box, Dan, our keeper, left his line and went to close down the Kings Arms winger, he dived alongside the winger to attempt to block any cross/shot and even though the player wasn’t touched, he flung himself to the ground. The ref pointed to the spot and sent Dan off. So Lew pulled on the keeper’s shirt to face the penalty. The Kings Arms player made no mistake and equalised, making it 2-2. A cruel blow and a touch of history repeating itself as we suffered a similar late penalty in the away fixture which handed our opponents the game on that occasion.

Positives are that we have now gone 3 games unbeaten, and that our stretched and depleted squad remains competitive, despite a raft of inconvenient injuries. 🫡💚💛💚💛💚💛⚽️

26/10/2025

Things are looking up for Whickham Fellside United!

After a lot of good performances with poor results, last weekend’s result and performance seems to have boosted the sides confidence and resilience. We needed that confidence and resilience in spades against such a good Clayton Arms side, full of accomplished and dangerous players.

We started the game really well and took the game to our opponents and were dominating early on, until a series of defensive errors combined with the swirling wind presented a gilt edged opportunity to the Clayton striker who gladly took his opportunity to make it 1-0.

We didn’t let our heads go down and took a grip of the game again, probing and pressing for an equaliser against our excellent opponents. It didn’t take long to come when Arun latched on to a ball in a crowded penalty box and scored his first goal for the club to make it 1-1.

We continued to compete well with a really strong and accomplished Clayton side, but were undone again when the opposition sprung a disjointed offside line to make it 2-1. Two gifts!

The lads remained focussed and determined and fought back yet again when Ben seized on an opportunity in the Clayton box to force home our second equaliser to make it 2-2.

This was a turning point for us against our fantastic opponents and we began to build a more dominant platform in the game and pressure told when the superbly hardworking Harry showed great determination to force in a goal in a contested area to make it 2-3 and put our noses in front!

We were now in full flow against such a well organised and skilful Clayton side, and our fourth goal soon followed when Jake was played in down the left hand side of the box before beating his marker and lashing the ball in from a tight angle to make it 4-2.

Half time and our main focus was on staying disciplined and focused in the second half. We certainly stuck to that principle early on and a curling free kick from Jake found the head of Barnsey who looped his header over the Clayton keeper to make it 2-5 to us.

We seemed to be in complete control, until conceding a third to make it 3-5 and seeing Barnsey sent OFF for his side in an exchange of name calling between himself and a couple of Clayton players in the aftermath of the goal. Suddenly it was game on again and we had 35 mins to play with 10 men. Adam joined our back 4 and Ell dropped into left back with Jake adopting a left sided midfield role and Cam came on for the injured Arun.

The lads stood resolute under early expected pressure from a cracking Clayton side, and showed great character to keep our shape with being a player down. A harshly awarded free kick on the right hand side of our box led to a rash challenge inside the box that presented Clayton with a penalty and a chance to get a further foothold in the game. They took that chance and brought the score back to 4-5.

We needed to re establish some breathing space in the game and we broke away through Summers to Harry, who touched the ball to the edge of the box for the onrushing Jake, who bent a superb strike beyond the reach of the impressive Clayton keeper into the corner of the net to make it 4-6. This was soon followed by another break away that saw Summers hit a spectacular strike that had so much spin on it, it viciously changed direction mid air before finding the net to make it 4-7.

The life seemed to have been sucked out of Clayton Arms on that goal and we were able to see out the final moments and progress into the next round of the cup.

Two very good teams, entertaining throughout and keenly contested! A great advert for NCFL! 🫡⚽️💚💛💚💛

19/10/2025

The lads have suffered a lot of hard luck tales over the last month, which started with being battered at home by our opponents from today’s match. They were probably the best organised and disciplined team we had faced this season and currently sit second in the league.

So it was a big ask today for the team to raise their game, tap into their togetherness, work ethic and team spirit. We spent our training time wisely in the last week, working on shape and revisiting the fundamentals of the game.

We made defensive and midfield adjustments to address our leaking goals issues and handed a league debut to Big Dan in goal who was impressive on his first start.

We were at it from the first minute and kept a good solid disciplined shape as well as being bright and intelligent on the ball when attacking. Our first goal came from a fantastic fast flowing team passing move which carved open the Chemfica back line, resulting in a square ball from Jake into the path of the onrushing Ben, who finished coolly from the centre of the box. 0-1 to Whickham Fellside United.

It was a hard fought game in the midfield areas and our backline coped brilliantly with the longer balls that were played into us. We survived a scare, after an uncharacteristic mistake allowed the Chemfica striker to round our keeper and poke the ball goalwards, only to be thwarted by a miraculous goal line clearance from the retreating Nathan Barnes. A second goal followed for Whickham when a superb corner was driven in by Jake to find the head of Nathan who’s effort rattled bar, but was headed in on the rebound by Jonny Soulboy! 0-2 to Whickham. An injury to the very impressive Ox lead to him having to be replaced by Lew Kalsi for his outfield debut at centre back.

At half time we made it clear that the same focus, discipline and effort would be needed to keep a very good Chemfica side at bay and led by our two warhorse centre backs of Nathan & Lew, we set about maintaining those standards and keeping a clean sheet.

Our third goal came from an unusual source as Big Dan hit a monsterous clearance up the centre of the pitch, which Jake chased down as it bounced over the centre half, and as the keeper struggled to track the flight of the ball, Jake’s press was rewarded as to calmly finished from 6 yards to make it 0-3 to Whickham.

Our game management was excellent, and even though Big Dan didn’t really have any shots to save during the game, his impressive dealing with crosses from Chemfica gave and us confidence and belief in keeping our clean sheet. As the final whistle blew, that clean sheet was celebrated as much as the 3 points.

We must use this as a platform to build upon!

29/08/2025

24/08/2025

WALKERGATE V WHICKHAM FELLSIDE SENIORS UNITED
Can’t wait for our selection issues to be resolved in the next couple of weeks. Today we had 13 honest and hardworking lads available to play against the team that had turned down promotion to the Premier League and a team that we have a half decent recent record against in Walkergate FC.

BigJoe manfully stepped up to play as striker, despite carrying a knock from playing on Saturday. It was a gamble that I took to try and get our most effective 11 on the pitch and it didn’t work as Joe was really struggling to move through no fault of his own. That was on me as manager.

We knew that we were going to be up against a very good and very physically strong side and talked at length about playing to our strengths to counter them, but the plan was undone within 2 minutes, as when the ball broke free to the edge of our box from a Walkergate corner, their player wasn’t closed down and given all the time in the world to pick his spot and finish smartly. 1-0 Walkergate.

We lost our way a little after that start and didn’t play with any intelligence or game management. We did, however, start to make it a more even contest despite this and slowly grew into the game, so it was a hammer blow when Walkergate scored a second slightly against the run of play to make it 2-0.

As we neared half time our big striker signalled that his race was run, as he could barely move. We started drawing up plans to change the team at half time when Walkergate broke free and scored a third, which was very harsh on us.

At half time, Billy was called upon to play out of position up front in Big Joe’s place and was asked to press and unsettle the backline to help keep us in the oppositions half for the second 45 minutes. We also talked about using our intelligence to expose Walkergate’s potential weaknesses and play more to our strengths. To rediscover our passing and movement and using the impressive Arun’s pace and power as our outlet.

The lads, to their credit, took on these instructions to the letter and from the first minute of the second half they gave a far better account of themselves, and dominated. Whickham Fellside had squandered a few chances in the first half when we weren’t at our best, and created many chances in the second half as we improved. This pressure finally told when a lovely slide rule ball was played between two defenders to find Billy’s beautifully timed run as he calmly finished to make it 3-1. There was still a lot of the half remaining and we tightened our grip on the game, with Arun and Jake linking up time and again to create down our right, and Jordan and Nathan playing dangerous short passes through the lines, with Billy as a willing runner in front of them. It was so near, yet so far as we created chances and saw them go begging, but there were a lot of positives to take from our second half attitude and performance. Fingers crossed we have a squad of 16 with more options next week. 🫡💚💛💚💛💚💛⚽️

17/08/2025

First game of the 2025/26 season today for Whickham Fellside United in Division 1 of the NCFL, at home to Two Pennies.

Our opponents had dropped out of the premier league, so we knew today would be a tough test. Having 12 players missing due to holidays and work, we had to shuffle our pack and play a few players in very unfamiliar positions, and this didn’t help our cause.

We did, however start the game really well, controlling the game and dominating possession with our crisp and intelligent passing, combined with an excellent work ethic and tenacity is winning back the ball.

We created chance after chance and if not for some great goalkeeping and a lack of composure on our part, we could have been a couple of goals up very early. Patience saw us eventually get our rewards when Big JC pounced on a loose ball in the Two Pennies box to power home from close range. 1-0

We kept playing with confidence and at a high level, and soon added a second after a pinpoint accurate corner from Jake was powerfully met by Nathan’s head leading to an fantastic save, which Ben followed up and finished. 2-0

An injury to Uen on our left wing was costly as he had been causing all kinds of problems for their full backs.

More chances came and went to extend our lead before Two Pennies pulled one back after a loose pass out from the back. 2-1

With only 5 mins to go to half time, we needed to regain our composure and calm everything down, but unfortunately with seconds remaining, we conceded a penalty which was converted to level the scores 2-2.

Quite unbelievable that a half that could have seen us 4 or 5 up, saw us level with our opponents.

We had no forwards or offensive players on the bench and we needed help in those areas in particular. Our team was tiring and we became very disjointed, losing our shape and discipline. There wasn’t a great deal of quality from either side in the second half, but chances were still created - another couple of one on ones that we should have taken and Two Pennies hitting the post with an excellent long range effort.

A draw looked inevitable until with 5 mins remaining, Two Pennies got a corner, which was delivered really well and powerfully headed home from 6 yards. 2-3

The whistle followed and we were left to reflect on what could have been, on a day when the 14 lads available gave their all, but we ultimately lacked that extra bit of quality and depth on our bench.

No time to feel sorry for ourselves, with another tough test around the corner away to Walkergate. Play like that first 40 for 90 and we will be fine 💚💛💚💛💚💛⚽️

22/07/2025

Anyone want to join our football teams LAST MAN STANDING competition, please follow the link below. The prize fund paid out around £2k last year and the more that enter, the bigger the prize! 💰 💰 💰 ⚽️

WhatsApp Group Invite

29/06/2025

Cracking day out in Durham with the team yesterday! 💚💛💚💛💚💛💚💛

13/05/2025

Final week of the season and 3 games in 5 days - Part 2.

After our defeat on Sunday, our second game in 3 days tonight was the daunting task of playing Old Novos who sat joint top of the league with 2 x games remaining. Fortunately we had a full squad of 16 tonight which not only gave us plenty of options, but also meant that some lads were unlucky not to start. The lads seemed really focussed to make a name for themselves and started the game like a train, imposing our football on our opponents and within 4 minutes as we attacked their 18 yard box, the ball spun up high to the edge of the box and Jake hooked a fantastic volley into the roof of the net from distance! 1-0 WFYFC.

Despite continuing to dominate and take the game to Old Novos, they had big strong dangerous forward players, and for the only time in the game, we switched off and gave them too much room, to break through and score. 1-1.

The lads dusted themselves down and continued to play their aggressive, fast flowing passing game as if nothing had happened and after a slide rule ball was played into right hand channel for the on rushing Jonny Soooooouuuuuulboy, he expertly finished to restore our advantage. 2-1.

It wasn’t long before another pacey attack saw Jonny turn creator and flash the ball across the box for Keros to slide in and roll the ball over the goal line to push us to 3-1.

The team were really purring at this point, winning duels, 50/50s and second balls and then in possession of the ball looking like a 1970s vintage Brazil. Confidence was evident in the way Jake exchanged a 1 2 with Joe, who slipped a perfect return ball into the box for Jake to calmly slot the ball in the corner to make it 4-1. Joe’s hold up play has improved dramatically and made a good player into an excellent player over recent weeks.

Lew was solid and decisive in nets and particularly great on crosses which their big physical team gave him plenty to deal with. Apart from that he only really had one tough save make when the ball deflected towards the top corner off Ben from a corner, which he dealt with superbly. He did, through no fault of his own, had to pick the ball out of his net when Old Novos pulled one back to make it 4-2.

No panic, we just kept on playing and enjoying our football and a comeback for Old Novos was never going to be on the cards with the lads in this mood!

A 5th soon followed after a through ball found Jake breaking the defensive line and bursting into the box - he should have scored with his first effort, but the ball came back to him off the keeper and he finished with his right to complete his first ever senior team hat trick. 5-2.

Now Big JC isn’t happy until Big JC gets a goal and after Jake and Keros exchanged a couple of 1 2s, Jake then chipped in for the big man to chest down before volleying powerfully into the net. 6-2.

A sublime passing move created a space for Jake to run into in the right hand channel of the 18yard box where he played an exquisite touch into the path of Keros as he passed him and Keros slid the ball home to make it 7-2.

A remarkable team goal to complete a remarkable team performance!!!

Well done lads 🫡

13/05/2025

Final week of the season and 3 games in 5 days - Part 1.

On Sunday we took on Nursery House for an early KO at their pitch In Redheugh to accommodate lads going to the Toon match and unfortunately only had 11 players available.
We started the game really well and scored a superb 3 pass move from front to back ending with Joe Callum being in the right place at the right time to finish. 1-0.
Completely against the run of play we conceded. 1-1.
Undeterred we finished the half strongly with another sweeping move that ended with the sane result as Big JC slid in at the back post to make it 2-1 to Whickham.

We continued to dominate in the second half and had gilt edged chance after chance to take the game away from Nursery House - 5 x 1 on 1 opportunities not taken. Inevitability the opposition took advantage of this to level the scores at 2-2.

Our lack of any substitutes and the blistering heat took their toll on the lads, and despite controlling 80 mins of the game, we collapsed and fell to pieces for the last 10 minutes and two goals sunk us. 4-2 to Nursery House. Hard to have a go at the lads as they gave their all, but just came up short.