Welcome to the ‘Northern Alliance History section’.  This page provides a list of the league’s champions from 1891 onwards, with runners-up named where this information has been unearthed.  The page also includes tables from the early days of the competition, insofar as these are known.

 

There is an ‘air of mystery’ surrounding the Northern Alliance during its early years.  The best research carried out on events has been done by Jarrow-born Patrick Brennan, whose findings can be viewed by clicking on the ‘donmouth’ link button above.  Without the work of Mr. Brennan, there would be no easily accessible record of how things finished in the league in those early days, beyond a list of past Northern Alliance champions, which can be found in a number of locations.

 

Most of what has been unearthed has come from leading Newcastle newspapers from the time.  Unfortunately, there are gaps, with no tables for the first two seasons.  Also, the tables for the first 10 seasons all contain inaccuracies and there is even some uncertainty about some of the names that teams played under. 

 

Most mysterious of all is the 1892-93 season.  In all lists of champions of the Northern Alliance, Shankhouse are named as league winners.  A league table published in a newspaper from mid-April 1893 calls this into question, but, given the lack of accuracy with all other league tables, it seems possible that this record may be wrong also.

 

 

NORTHERN ALLIANCE CHAMPIONS and RUNNERS-UP 1890-2009

 

	CHAMPIONS	RUNNERS-UP
1890-91	Sunderland ‘A’	To be traced
1891-92	Sunderland ‘A’	To be traced
1892-93	Shankhouse	To be traced
1893-94	Sunderland ‘A’	Gateshead N.E.R.
1894-95	Sunderland ‘A’	Blyth
1895-96	Sunderland ‘A’	Shankhouse
1896-97	Hebburn Argyle	Newcastle United ‘A’
1897-98	Newcastle United ‘A’	Jarrow
1898-99	Jarrow	Newcastle United ‘A’
1899-00	Willington Athletic	Newcastle United ‘A’
1900-01	Newcastle United ‘A’	Sunderland ‘A’
1901-02	Newcastle United ‘A’	Sunderland ‘A’
1902-03	Morpeth Harriers	Wallsend Park Villa
1903-04	Wallsend Park Villa	Annfield Plain Celtic
1904-05	Willington Athletic	To be traced
1905-06	Willington Athletic	Ashington
1906-07	North Shields Athletic	Wallsend Park Villa
1907-08	North Shields Athletic	Scotswood
1908-09	Blyth Spartans	Biker East End
1909-10	Willington Athletic	Newburn
1910-11	Newburn	Ashington
1911-12	Newburn	Ashington
1912-13	Blyth Spartans	Newburn
1913-14	Ashington	Birtley
1914-15	Spen Black & Whites	Scotswood
1915-19	No competition	---
1919-20	Annfield Plain	To be traced
1920-21	Chopwell Institute	Seaton Delaval
1921-22	Felling Colliery	Mickley
1922-23	Annfield Plain	To be traced
1923-24	Birtley	To be traced
1924-25	Ashington Reserves	To be traced
1925-26	Chilton Colliery RA	Consett
1926-27	Consett	Ashington Reserves
1927-28	Washington Colliery	Wallsend
1928-29	North Shields	Carlisle United Reserves
1929-30	Walker Celtic	White-le-Head Rangers
1930-31	Chopwell Institute	Durham City
1931-32	Crawcrook Albion	Dipton United
1932-33	Eden Colliery Welfare	Consett
1933-34	Throckley Welfare	Bedlington United
1934-35	Newbiggin West End	Bedlington United
1935-36	Hexham Town	Newbiggin West End
1936-37	Stakeford Albion	Blyth Spartans Reserves
1937-38	Alnwick Town	Morpeth Town
1938-39	Newcastle United ‘A’	East Cramlington Black Watch
1939-46	No competition	---
1946-47	Newburn	Blyth Spartans
1947-48	Hexham Hearts	Newcastle United ‘A’
1948-49	Cramlington Welfare	To be traced
1949-50	West Sleekburn	To be traced
1950-51	Cramlington Welfare	To be traced
1951-52	Newburn	To be traced
1952-53	Whitley Bay Athletic	To be traced
1953-54	Whitley Bay Athletic	To be traced
1954-55	Amble	To be traced
1955-56	Ashington Reserves	To be traced
1956-57	Amble	To be traced
1957-58	Newcastle United ‘A’	To be traced
1958-59	Amble	Ashington Reserves
1959-60	Amble	Alnwick Town
1960-61	Amble	Newburn
1961-62	Newburn	Alnwick Town
1962-63	Alnwick Town	Gateshead Reserves
1963-64	Alnwick Town	Gateshead Reserves
1964-65	No competition	---
1965-66	Alnwick Town	Morpeth Town
1966-67	Bedlington CW	Alnwick Town
1967-68	Alnwick Town	Bedlington CW
1968-69	Alnwick Town	Wallsend Athletic
1969-70	Alnwick Town	Bedlington CW
1970-71	Alnwick Town	Workington Reserves
1971-72	Alnwick Town	Bedlington CW
1972-73	Marine Park	Alnwick Town
1973-74	Marine Park	Morpeth Town
1974-75	South Shields Mariners	Marine Park
1975-76	South Shields	Carlisle City
1976-77	Wallington	Carlisle City
1977-78	Brandon United	Carlisle City
1978-79	Brandon United	Guisborough Town
1979-80	Guisborough Town	Carlisle City
1980-81	Percy Main Amateurs	Ryhope CA
1981-82	Percy Main Amateurs	Morpeth Town
1982-83	Darlington Cleveland Bridge	Percy Main Amateurs
1983-84	Morpeth Town	Dudley Welfare
1984-85	Dudley Welfare	Morpeth Town
1985-86	Gateshead Tyne	Prudhoe East End
1986-87	West Allotment Celtic	Dunston Tyne Sports
1987-88	Seaton Terrace	Prudhoe East End
1988-89	Seaton Terrace	West Allotment celtic
1989-90	Seaton Delaval Amateurs	West Allotment Celtic
1990-91	West Allotment Celtic	Seaton Terrace
1991-92	West Allotment Celtic	Walker
1992-93	Seaton Delaval Amateurs	West Allotment Celtic
1993-94	Morpeth Town	Carlisle City
1994-95	Benfield Park	West Allotment Celtic
1995-96	Seaton Delaval Amateurs	Carlisle City
1996-97	Lemington Social	Ponteland United
1997-98	West Allotment Celtic	Lemington Social
1998-99	West Allotment Celtic	Ponteland United
1999-00	West Allotment Celtic	Shankhouse
2000-01	Walker Central	West Allotment Celtic
2001-02	West Allotment Celtic	Shankhouse
2002-03	Newcastle Benfield Saints	Carlisle City
2003-04	West Allotment Celtic	Team Northumbria
2004-05	Shankhouse	Ryton
2005-06	Team Northumbria	Shankhouse
2006-07	Harraby Catholic Club	Wallsend
2007-08	Walker Central	Harraby Catholic Club
2008-09	Walker Central	Gillford Park
2009-10	????????????????? FC	????????????????? FC

THE NORTHERN FOOTBALL ALLIANCE 1890-1895

 

1890-91

 

No details are available.  Sunderland ‘A’ were champions of a 7-team league.

 

1	SUNDERLAND ‘A’	12
2	Auckland Town
3	Birtley
4	Elswick Rangers
5	Gateshead North Eastern Railway
6	Rendel
7	Whitburn

1891-2

 

No details are available.  Sunderland ‘A’ were champions of a 10-team league.

 

1	SUNDERLAND ‘A’	18
2	Elswick Rangers
3	Gateshead North Eastern Railway
4	Mickley
5	Rendel
6	Shankhouse
7	Southwick
8	Sunderland Olympic
9	Whitburn
10	Willington Athletic

1892-3

 

Northern Alliance table at mid-April 1893.  The figures in the table do not balance, but the biggest problem is that, if this record is correct in terms of positions, games played and points awarded, it seems impossible for Shankhouse to have completed the season as champions.

 

1	SUNDERLAND ‘A’	21	16	3	2	73	24	35
2	BLYTH (-2)	22	15	1	6	81	35	29
3	WILLINGTON ATHLETIC	20	13	2	5	59	33	28
4	SOUTHWICK	17	12	1	4	51	25	25
5	RENDEL	18	10	3	5	64	28	23
6	SHANKHOUSE	18	10	2	6	58	34	22
7	GATESHEAD NER	21	6	2	13	49	55	14
8	NEWCASTLE UNITED ‘A’	20	6	2	12	39	55	14
9	MICKLEY	21	5	3	13	31	72	13
10	SEAHAM HARBOUR	19	4	3	12	29	74	11
11	ASHINGTON	18	4	2	12	35	76	10
12	WHITBURN	17	3	2	12	17	73	8
		232	104	26	102	586	584	232

 

1893-4

 

The table contains a number of inaccuracies which it has proved impossible to identify and correct.

 

1	SUNDERLAND ‘A’	18	13	1	4	50	25	27
2	GATESHEAD N.E.R.	18	10	3	5	53	32	23
3	HEBBURN ARGYLE	18	10	2	6	48	31	22
4	RENDEL	18	8	6	4	52	30	22
5	WILLINGTON ATHLETIC	18	8	6	4	33	27	22
6	BLYTH	18	9	2	7	41	29	20
7	SHANKHOUSE	18	6	5	7	35	42	17
8	NEWCASTLE UNITED ‘A’	18	5	5	8	35	44	15
9	DIPTON WANDERERS	18	4	2	12	29	52	10
10	SOUTHWICK	18	1	2	15	22	72	4
		180	74	34	72	398	384	182

 

 

 

1894-5

 

The table contains a number of inaccuracies which it has proved impossible to identify and correct.

 

1	SUNDERLAND ‘A’	22	16	2	4	65	28	34
2	BLYTH	22	16	2	4	70	33	34
3	SHANKHOUSE	22	14	1	7	51	30	29
4	WILLINGTON	22	13	2	7	54	36	28
5	JARROW	22	12	3	7	46	40	27
6	GATESHEAD N.E.R.	22	12	2	8	58	33	26
7	DIPTON	21	8	2	11	49	75	18
8	HEBBURN ARGYLE (-2)	21	7	4	10	30	42	16
9	TRAFALGAR	22	8	0	14	44	57	16
10	RENDEL (-2)	22	5	4	13	30	43	12
11	NEWCASTLE UNITED ‘A’ (-4)	22	4	5	13	32	57	9
12	SOUTHWICK	22	2	1	19	21	89	5
		262	117	28	117	550	563	254

One game was unplayed.