IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN - 11 Ways to Celebrate The Return of The Football Season in North East England

10th August 2010

It’s August and the new season is here. The Football League is underway and the Premier League starts on Saturday. So to celebrate the start of the new football season here are 11 sporting reasons to visit North East England – an area steeped in the history of the beautiful game.

1.  Kick off with a visit to the Angel of the North, where in 1998 a 30ft ‘Shearer’ Newcastle United football shirt was draped over the 65ft Antony Gormley statue.

2.  It’s a game of two halves, so take a trip to Alnwick and Sedgefield. Two places renowned for their legendary football matches still played on Shrove Tuesday every year.

3.  Have a ball at The Woodhorn Experience. The award winning museum of Northumberland mining history is located near the town of Ashington. The town has produced some of the country’s best professional footballers including: Jackie Milburn and Jackand Bobby Charlton, In addition, Sir John Hall, former Chairman and Life President of Newcastle United was also born in the town. The town is also home to a statue of Jackie Milburn, the legendary Newcastle centre forward. Another statue of Jackie Milburn stands a few minutes walk away from St James’ Park in Newcastle at the corner of Barrack Road and St James' Boulevard.

4.  Head to Albert Park in Middlesbrough to see a tribute to Brian Clough. A statue to commemorate his life stands in Albert Park who was born on March 21st 1935 in Valley Road, Middlesbrough. Clough used to walk through the park to home matches.

 5.  Its time for a hat-trick in West Auckland, winners of the first World Cup in 1909, with a visit to nearby Binchester Roman Fort, Auckland Castle & Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon.

6.  With a little extra time, pay a visit to Temenos. The £2.7m sculpture stands 50m high and is 110 metres long outside the Riverside Stadium, the ground of Middlesbrough FC. It was created by Turner prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor and structural engineer Cecil Balmond, the man behind the famous CCTV building in Beijing.

7.  Darlington F.C. are known as The Quakers. So discover the town’s prolific Quaker heritage, by visiting famous Quaker son George Stephenson'spioneering engine, 'Locomotion No 1', the world's first ever passenger-pulling engine at Darlington's Head of SteamRailway Museum. The town’s railway history is also captured by the ‘Brick Train’ based on the famous ‘Mallard’ locomotive. It was built from 185,000 bricks and weighs 15,000 tonnes. That’s more bricks than seats in the North East’s football stadia!

8.  Don’t miss a visit to Hartlepool – home of Jeff Stelling, the Sky Sports host and the face of the hugely popular Channel 4 show Countdown. He also appeared as himself in ‘Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather’ at the Theatre Royal which commemorated West Auckland Football Club winning the first World Cup.

9.  Don’t substitute your sarnies, picnic at ‘Football Hole’ in Newton by the Sea, Northumberland. The shoreline between Newton Point and Snook Point is known as the ‘Football Hole’ and is a football shaped crater on a secret beach which has views of the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle.

10.  Stay onside with a visit to The Stadium of Light in Sunderland and the statue to commemorate the legendary Sunderland manager Bob Stokoe who won the FA Cup with the club in 1973. He is remembered for his jubilant run across the pitch at the end of the game to celebrate the famous victory over Leeds United. A giant replica Davy Lamp sits at the entrance to the stadium that was built on the former Wearmouth Colliery site.

11.  Before the final whistle, take a stadium tour:

• Newcastle United St James Park Tour - 0844 372 1892 www.nufc.co.uk
• Sunderland Stadium of Light Tour – 0871 911 1224 www.safc.com
• Middlesbrough Stadium Tours – 0844 499 6789 www.mfc.co.uk

North East England – in a league of its own! For more information about North East England and the region’s wide range of quality places to stay, eat, drink and visit go to www.visitnortheastengland.com