Joe Dixon’s
Football Memories
1977
Achievements 1979 -
The first success they had was to win the Phillips National Floodlit Trophy in 1979
which carried the incredible grand prize of £12,000 worth of floodlights, fully erected,
on the Seaham Welfare ground. A great achievement by the management and players but
a lot of credit must also go to Harry Hobson, Club Secretary, for his foresight in
entering this competition and his astute arrangement of fixtures to help achieve
this.
Below is the successful team at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham.
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Back from left :-
Ray Moon
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To celebrate the first floodlit match ever in Seaham the 'Star played against a very
strong Sunderland AFC side.
The proud management and team is shown below.
Back from left :-
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The following season, 1979/1980, they were Monkwearmouth Charity Cup Runners Up and
were winners of one of the oldest football trophies in the world, the Durham Challenge
Cup. This was first played for in 1884 and won by Sunderland. Notable other winners
have included Darlington, Hartlepool United, Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor United.
The 'Star beat Consett in the quarter final and Tow Law (included Chris Waddle who
shortly after signed for Newcastle) in the semi final. The final was played at Roker
Park and the 'Star beat Boldon 1-
Obviously a tremendous performance
by every member of the team, some of which I have played with, coached and managed.
The photo below is filled with players and management that I admired greatly. However,
if I can take the liberty, can I just single out one other player who I know was
truly outstanding that day and it's Billy Mitchell. Billy, who is one of the nicest
fellas you could ever wish to meet, and was an exceptional talent. We played together
at Ryhope CA from 1972 until 1979 and for most of this time he played in midfield.
The last couple of those years he moved to centre half and continued to be outstanding.
Personally, because he could create and score goals, I preferred to see him in midfield
although to be honest he would have made one hell of a centre forward.
The rest of
this very talented squad are shown below showing off the Durham Challenge Cup.
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Back from left :-
What a great set of players.
It certainly would have been quite special being part of this very talented squad.
Unfortunately approaching 35 at this time I could only dream about it. Having said
that, even if I had been a few years younger, the quality of Tommy Henderson and
Norman Taylor up front would have made getting into the side very difficult. But
given the chance I would like to think I'd have given Manager Larry Phillips a huge
selection problem. It would have been magic.
If you look closely at this photo you will notice the club name was now Seaham CW Red Star. In order to have the floodlights erected the club had to agree to add Colliery Welfare (CW) to its name. This certainly seemed a price worth paying in order to bring the first floodlit football to Seaham.
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In the 1981/1982 season Seaham Red Star won both the Wearside League and the Wearside League Challenge Cup for another incredible season. The photo below shows the successfull team and its trophies.
Back from left :-
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These were certainly 'Vintage' years or maybe it should be ‘Larry Phillips’ years. I know he had great support from the committee, Micky Harrison, Chris Copeland, and Alan Black as well as excellent players but at the end of the day it’s the Manager who puts it all together and makes things happen. Larry you did one hell of a job.
Since this time the club have won three promotions from the Northern League Division 2 to Division 1. The latest, after finishing runaway champions, meant they started the 2015/2016 season back in Division 1 again. Now lets hope the club can very soon recapture some of the magic from this period in the clubs history.
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'Buffs' Pre 1975/1976 Sseason |
'Buffs' 1975/1976 Season |
1976/1977 Season |
Carlisle Utd 76/77 Season |
Achievements 1979/1982 |
Other Photos |
1984/1985 Season |
1986/1987 Season |
1987/1988 Season |
RYHOPE F.C. Over 35's |
DURHAM FIRE BRIGADE Over 40's |
RYHOPE CHERRY KNOWLE |