Written by Max
Ground #81
Saturday 8th August 2026
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Qualifying Round
Blyth Spartans (Step 4) 2-0 Newcastle Blue Star (Step 5)
Attendance: 1080
Entry: £12
Blyth Spartans were formed in 1899 and given their unique name by their founder who wanted his team to ‘give their all and go into battle on the field of play’
The club refer to themselves as ‘the most famous non league football club in the world’ and this is mainly due to their exploits in the FA cup in the past. In 1977 the club made it all the way to the 5th round where they were eventually beaten by Wrexham, with the replay taking place at Newcastle’s St James’ Park in front of over 42,000 fans.
In more recent times the club have continued to do well in the worlds oldest cup competition making the 3rd round twice this century including victories over Shrewsbury Town, AFC Bournemouth and Hartlepool during these memorable runs.
Club legend and record appearance holder Robbie Dale, who played for the club a staggering 719 times, was vital in both of these recent runs, and his celebration after scoring twice against Birmingham City has been immortalised by an impressive mural at the ground.
In 2015 during their most recent run to the third round, and eventual defeat at home to Birmingham, the club were flying high and just a couple of years later won promotion to the Conference North (step 2) where they would stay for 7 seasons. Recently though the club have been on a rapid decline with back to back relegations. At one point last season they looked guaranteed to drop again for a 3rd season in a row but a dramatic turnaround in form saw them survive.
This drop sees the club that are so famous for their deep runs in this competition having to start right at the very start, the Extra Preliminary Qualifying Round, meaning they would now need to win 10 rounds if they were to repeat the heroics of 1977!
Today would see a local derby as step 5 Newcastle Blue Star were in town and their large away support sniffed an upset with their club very much on the up in recent years, in sharp contrast to their opponents today.
The game started slowly with both teams struggling to carve out any meaningful opportunities. That was until the 16th minute when a Blyth forward attempted an ambitious lob which beat the keeper but was hooked off the line. The next chance would go the visitors way as a quick counter attack forced a good save from the Spartans keeper.
After this the quality of the game dropped and the entertainment began off the pitch with both sets of fans behind the goal getting rowdy and the half time whistle came at the right time with it threatening to boil over.
The second half began pretty much how the first ended with both teams again struggling to create. Just as we began to wonder if we had travelled 3 hours for a dull 0-0 Blyth took the lead seemingly from nowhere as the forward slotted the ball under the keeper.
The game was put to bed in injury time as a neat cut inside and finish doubled the Spartans lead and secured their place in the hat for the next round.
Now to rate our day at Croft Park:
Location: 6/10
Blyth is an industrial port town on the north east coast 14 miles north of Newcastle. The Town is home to just under 40,000 people and is the birth place of England international Dan Burn.
Croft Park is located around a 10 minute walk from the centre of the town with a great pub, the mason arms just around the corner. It is also around a 20 minute walk to the beach which was a great place to spend some time ahead of kick off!
For over 50 years the town did not have a train station, although in 2025 this changed with 2 new stations opening on the edge of the town. Newsham is the closest of the 2 to the ground around a 30 minute walk away with trains to and from Newcastle every half an hour.
Kit: 9/10
Blyth Spartans play in an iconic green and white striped shirt with black shorts and green socks. We especially liked the red numbers which really stand out on the back of the shirts.
Not many clubs play in green which makes this quite a unique kit, and many of the over 1,000 fans in attendance obviously agreed with our opinion of this kit with plenty of green and white on show in the stands.
Facilities: 8/10
As you arrive at the ground before entering the turnstiles there is a rather shabby looking social club. Once inside though this was a great space. 2 large rooms with plenty of seating with the walls painted in the clubs well known dark green. With a larger than normal crowd in attendance for this local derby there were big queues at the bar, but the staff worked through these efficiently as people were served quickly.
Inside the ground itself there is a club shop and hatch selling cans of beer and pies.
Look: 10/10
Croft Park is a wonderful example of an old school non league ground which has been updated over the years to create a wonderful place to watch football. The main stand which contains all of the grounds 550 seats straddles the halfway line and houses the hospitality lounge underneath.
Opposite this is a huge covered terrace stand which is over 70 years old. There are a few supporting pillars in this stand but we watched the entire game from this area with very little of the game restricted by these
Behind each goal is covered terracing allowing for an elevated view. These stands are extremely close to the pitch meaning fans can really feel a part of the action. Much of the ground is painted in the clubs famous green colours which is a great touch. You’ll do well to find another ground as good as this at step 4!
Food and drink: 7/10
Outside the clubhouse is a large shipping container selling burgers and loaded fries. Emma went for a chicken and bacon burger while I opted for the Mexican smashed burger. At £8 each these were definitely on the more expensive side, although this was much better than your average non league burger. Both were freshly made to order and very tasty. The only negative we have is that instead of sliced cheese they used a nacho cheese sauce and sadly the smash burger had far too much of it poured over which took over all the other flavours.
There was a good selection at the bar. I went for a Boddingtons and Emma had a kopperberg cider which both went down perfectly in the 27 degree heat. The prices here more than made up for the burgers with 2 pints costing just £7. Sadly no dark fruits on offer so no bonus point.
TOTAL SCORE: 41/50
This game was part of my birthday weekend in Newcastle and it was great to tick off a club I have heard so much about and wanted to visit ever since seeing their run to the third round of the FA cup in 2015.
It’s sad to see the downfall of Spartans in the 10 years since then, and with the club only just avoiding dropping into step 5 last season hopefully this year can be the start of more positive time for the club.
Every year we start with a game in the extra prelim round and see how far into the FA cup we can get attempting at least 1 game in each round. Our record before this season is 3 games watching Newark FC back in 2020. We are hoping to better that this season, lets see how far we can get before life gets in the way!
If you would like to see where Croft Park ranks in our Non League Leaderboard click here: NON LEAGUE
If you’d like to see the football league grounds we have visited click here: The 92
Emma’s Ground Guide 