The Northumberland Football Association is a

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

in the historic county of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The association was formed in 1883. It is responsible for the governance and development of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

at all levels in the county.

History

In 1879 the joint Durham and Northumberland Football Association was founded and they stayed that way until 1883 when increasing numbers and travel problems necessitated a change. On 11 May 1883, 40 clubs met in the Alexandra Hotel in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and voted to form an independent body known as the Northumberland Football Association with the brief of 'using their influence to encourage new clubs to take up the game in their area'. At a subsequent meeting in September of the same year, Mr Robinson reported that he had managed to get the accounts in order and a loss of some four pounds would be divided between the two Counties. It was also agreed to pay Durham £15 for the existing Challenge Cup. The first secretary of Northumberland Football Association was Aleck Peters and the Lord Bishop of Newcastle was the County FA's first President. Prominent clubs in the late 1800s were Tyne Association, Newcastle Rangers, Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End. The Northern Football Association was formed as a rival to the Northumberland FA by 'country clubs' who saw the parent body as Tyneside-centric in 1888. The venture was short lived as the NFA talked the FA in London into not recognising the Northern as an official organisation, and it was strangled after just a couple of years of existence. The rebel clubs that formed the Morpeth-based Northern Association included Amble, Burradon, Bedlington East End, Horncliffe, Berwick Rangers, Tweedside Wanderers, Newsham, Backworth, Broomhill, Warkworth, Blyth, Seaside Rovers, Morpeth Athletic, Weetslade, Longhirst, Spittal, Belford, Stobswood, Seaton Burn and the senior sides Morpeth Harriers and Shankhouse Black Watch. Ashington joined the rebels following season. As the new Millennium arrived Northumberland FA became a Limited Company and in 2002–03 there was a move into their own new premises at Whitley Park with a County Ground included.

Organisation

The Association provides the appropriate structures and systems to enable the organisation to control, manage, regulate and promote the game within the county. The Football Development Team assist in all aspects of football development ranging from support for Charter Standard Clubs to assistance with funding applications to further club/school development.

Affiliated leagues

Men's saturday leagues

Northern Football Alliance The Northern Football Alliance is a football league based in the North East, England. It has four divisions headed by the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. The top club in the Premier Division ...

*Newcastle Corinthians League *

North Northumberland League The North Northumberland Football League is a football competition based in England. When it had two divisions, the highest (Division One) sat at level 14 of the English football league system and was a feeder to the Northern Alliance. The lea ...

North East Christian Fellowship League North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Tyneside Amateur League The Tyneside Amateur League is a football competition based in England. It has one division, which sits at level 14 of the English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of ...

Men's sunday leagues

*Blyth and Wansbeck Sunday League *Cramlington and District Sunday League *Hexham and District Sunday League *Newcastle Central Sunday Afternoon League *

Northumberland U21 League Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

Other men's leagues

*Newcastle Business League *Newcastle University Business League *Friday Night Elevens League

Ladies and girls leagues

*Northumberland County Women's Football League *Northumberland Girls Football League

Youth leagues

*Pinpoint Recruitment Jnr. Football League *Northumberland Youth League *Glendale League (Youth) *Newcastle Mini Soccer League *Northumberland Mini Soccer League. *Tynedale Mini Soccer League

Small sided leagues

*Champion Soccer – Gosforth *Newcastle Futsal League - Walker *Power League – North Shields *SoccerWorld Newcastle

Disbanded or amalgamated leagues

Leagues that were affiliated to the Northumberland FA but have disbanded or amalgamated with other leagues include: *Ashington & District League *Blyth and District League *Coast Colts Junior Football League *Coquetdale League *East and West Tyne League *

East Northumberland League East Northumberland League, Football in Northumberland 1894 establishments in England 1910 disestablishments in England Defunct football leagues in England Sports leagues established in 1894 Sports leagues disestablished in 1910 ...

*Hexham and District League *Mid-Tyne Amateur League *NEL-Tyneside Combination *Newcastle and District Trader league (later known as the Newcastle Business Houses League) *Newcastle and District United League *Northern Combination *North Eastern Amateur league (founded in 1923 and now amalgamated with

) *South East Northumberland League (founded in 1921 and eventually incorporated in

) *Tyneside League *Tyneside Munition Workers League (also known as the Tyneside Munitioneers' League) *Tyneside Works League *United Free Churches League

Affiliated member clubs

Among the notable clubs that are (or at one time were) affiliated to the Northumberland FA are: * Alnwick Town *

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

* Bedlington Terriers *

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

Morpeth Town Morpeth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Morpeth, Northumberland, England. They are currently members of the and play at Craik Park. History The club was established in 1909. They joined the Northern Alliance in 193 ...

* Newcastle Benfield *

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, it won the FA Vase. Having won promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Divi ...

(now defunct) * Newcastle East End (became NUFC) * Newcastle West End (became NUFC) *

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

* Ponteland United * Prudhoe Town * Ryton & Crawcrook Albion *

Shankhouse Shankhouse Football Club was a football club based in Cramlington, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. They play at Action Park. The club was a FA Charter Standard Club affiliated to the Northumberland Football Association. The club's nickna ...

* Team Northumbria (now defunct) * Walker Celtic (now defunct) * West Allotment Celtic *

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...

County Cup competitions

The Northumberland FA run the following Cup Competitions: *

Northumberland Senior Cup The Northumberland Senior Cup, officially named the Techflow Marine Senior Cup, is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Northumberland Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for ...

*Northumberland Senior Benevolent Bowl *Northumberland Minor Cup *Northumberland Junior Cup *Northumberland Women's Cup *Northumberland Sunday Cup *Northumberland Sunday Minor Cup *Northumberland Sunday Junior Cup *Northumberland Tesco Girls U14 Cup *Northumberland Tesco Girls U16 Cup *Northumberland Rangers Cup *Northumberland Colts Cup *Northumberland Tesco Cup *Northumberland Cubs Cup *Northumberland Divisional Cup Source

Senior Cup

The Northumberland Senior Cup is a county cup competition involving teams within the Northumberland Football Association.

List of recent Northumberland Cup winners

Source

Board & council members

Board members

* Steve Ord (President) * Derek Booth (Vice President) * Frank Scantlebury (Vice President) * Andrew Rose-Cook (Acting Chief Executive) * Lauri Chandler (Finance Director) * Wilton Holmes (Director) * Paul Nesbitt (Director) * Alistar Jenkins (Director)

Members of council

* Syd Johnson (Life Vice President) * Derek Booth (Vice President) * Alex Smailes (Vice President) * Frank Scantlebury (Vice President) * George Watson (Honorary Life Member) * David Tiffin (Honorary Life Member) * Derek Breakwell (Northern League) * George Penman (Northern Football Alliance) * Steve Swinbank (North East Combination League) *Fiona Robson (Northumberland County Women's League * Graham Smith (North East Sunday League) * Lee Scott (Pinpoint Recruitment Junior Leagues) * Gary Trewick (Pinpoint Recruitment Junior Leagues) * Louis Storey (Youth Football Development League) * Stew Pringle (Cramlington Sunday League) * Paul Nesbitt (Hexham and District Sunday Football League) * Wilton Holmes (Tynedale Mini Soccer League) * Colin Douglas (Blyth Sunday League) * Chris Flynn (Independent Board Member) * Alistair Jenkins (Independent Board Member) * Richie Hines (

) * Jonathan Gray (Referee Association) * Jess Callaghan (IAG)

Key staff

Key Staff Members * Andrew Rose-Cook (Acting Chief Executive) * David Jones (Head of Participation) * Angela Barber (Head of Compliance) * Lynn Barber (Head of Administration) * ''Vacant'' (Head of Quality) * Kevin Azzopardi (Referee Development Officer) * Helen Beales (Marketing & Communications Officer)

References

External links

* {{County Football Association County football associations Football in Northumberland Sports organizations established in 1883