Shildon AFC have been crowned Northern League champions for the first time since the 1930s.
The club celebrated a first league title for eight decades with a 4-0 win at local rivals Bishop Auckland on Bank Holiday Monday before returning to Dean Street on Wednesday evening for the trophy presentation, which they lifted in style after an 8-1 thumping of Ashington.
Shildon last won the title in the 1939-40 season, but the league that year was curtailed by the War.
For the purists, the last time Shildon genuinely won a fully competitive league championship was in the 1936-1937 season, fully seventy-nine years ago.
If a club is to wait so long to win a title, there can surely be no more perfect timing than Shildon’s this season.
The win coincides with the final year of club chairman, Brian Burn’s tenure, the man widely regarded as having saved the club from the brink of extinction eleven years ago.
Mr Burn said: “It has been a wonderful eleven years since joining Shildon AFC as chairman.
“We have had some really tough times, including some heartache, but we’ve also had some extremely exciting times.
“But Monday, when we won the league for the first time in 76 years was a wonderful feeling.
“I would like to thank Gary Forrest and the great team he has assembled.
“They are a fantastic group of lads who did themselves, Shildon AFC and the town proud. Who could ask for anything better as a signing off gift!
“I would also like to thank-everyone involved in the club, from supporters right through to the hard working board and management team. They are all a credit to the club.”
The title win also coincides with the final season of Mike Amos as chairman of the Northern League, and he was there on Wednesday night to hand over the trophy.
Shildon-born Mike, a lifelong fan, said: “I was born in Shildon in 1946 and I’ve been waiting ever since for a day like this.
“I’ve been Northern League chairman for 20 years and I’ve waited 20 years to do this,” he said, before handing over the trophy to club captain, Daniel Moore.
Incoming chairman, David Dent praised his counter-part and looked forward to the future: “We wouldn’t be in this position if Brian Burn hadn’t rescued the Club 10 years ago and no one should forget that,” he said.
“Since then the club has progressed beyond recognition on and off the field and I look forward to taking this great club forward into a new era, starting with the establishment of a Sunderland AFC Academy at Dean Street this September.
“These are exciting times for everyone connected with the club and I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to work alongside Brian over the last few years and what better script for him to finish than with the League title coming back to Dean Street after over 70 years.”
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
