Shildon

Sixer’s Travels: as a postponed trip to Middlesbrough mercifully spares one fate …

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But it was still a weekend of pleasure rather than the usual Sunderland-induced pain, according to Pete Sixsmith. He saw some decent non-league football, albeit watching Shildon lose, and some rugby league. He’s already worried about Saturday but put aside such cares to compose another piece of classy writing combining sport, social observation, politics and travel …

Thanks to Middlesbrough for making the quarter finals of the FA Cup. Not only were they brushed aside by Manchester City, their presence in what used to be called the Sixth Round, spared us from having to go there on a Saturday and thereby probably spoiling our weekend.

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Sixer Says: disappointments vs Burnley, Atherton Collieries, Everton and for SAFC Ladies

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Pete Sixsmith was among the tens of thousands who gave a miss to Sunderland vs Burnley. Oh what they missed. Sixer’s comeuppance came when the match he chose instead ended with a heavy defeat in the FA Vase for Shildon. the first team M Salut and almost certainly he saw in their County Durham boyhoods. Next day, he dutifully attended Sunderland Under 23s against Everton and still could get a win … there’s just a passing, sorrowful reference to the plight of SAFC Ladies; read more at this Sunderland Echo link

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As Advocaat ponders his great escape, Sixer’s thoughts turn to title hopes

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Jake: 'just like watching Real?'
Jake: ‘just like watching Real?’

Pete Sixmsith‘s love of football goes beyond the unrequited loyalty he bestows upon Sunderland AFC. He holds a wide-ranging view and, like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he always gets his man match. From Bishop to Blyth, Sherburn to Shildon, Crook to Coxhoe, he’s there when it matters.

And this week, as Sunderland aren’t playing (and how is that different from other weeks? you might ask) he’s here to give us the lowdown on what’s going on in the Northern League .

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Sixer on the FA Vase trail salutes Shildon’s SAFC fan with Fletcher’s scoring touch

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Sixer by Jake
Sixer by Jake

Pete Sixsmith‘s passion for non-league football meant that he missed what Martin O’Neill called a ‘fantastic’ match as Sunderland’s second-half onslaught, punctuated by a good few scary moments when Arsenal counter-attacked, narrowly failed to secure a deserved point. Instead, he saw Billy Greulich Smith, another SAFC supporter, grab two goals in a fine cup win for Shildon in an unknown village. It is not recorded whether, on an overnight stop near Grantham, he offered his thoughts on the should-we-shouldn’t-we? Thatcher statue debate …

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Sixer’s Travels: day of hope at Fulham after steely Shildon derail Consett

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Sixer by Jake


The headline mixes up the industries that once flourished in the towns brought together yesterday in search of grassroots cup glory. Pete Sixsmith was there. Now he’s London-bound, praying that a certain other team can somehow muster a winning away performance …

Fulham on Sunday, Consett on Saturday. What a contrast. One is a cosmopolitan area full of pretty young things oozing class and sexuality while the other is in west London.

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SAFC v Middlesbrough ‘Who are You?’: (2) predicting another ‘unlucky’ Boro exit

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Jake demands an improvement ...

For our second Boro ‘Who are You?’ – or would it be more accurate to say the second and third? – we turn to a great stalwart of amateur football, John Atkinson*, president of Shildon FC and a former player in the area, and his pal Eddie Airey**, Shildon to the core, both of whom also share a passion for Middlesbrough FC. John – who has great personal memories of the Clough family – sees a replica of last season in the FA Cup, Eddie is less sure …

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Sixer’s Sentiments: Pete meets a Sunderland legend – again!

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After swapping the chalk face for a school reunion just off Junction 13 of the M1, Pete Sixsmith battled the floods and took in a Northern League game which gave him the opportunity to renew acquaintances with one of his boyhood (and adulthood) heroes. Frankly, after the amount of rain that hit the North East, cutting off the village of West Auckland, carrying off cars in the city of Durham and washing away the foundations of a whole apartment block in the suburbs of Newcastle, it was amazing that any games took place at all. The rain that fell over the previous two days certainly rivalled that which had caused the Reading game’s cancellation. We must hope there’ll be no repeat on Saturday and we can witness a first league victory since March.

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