Bishop Auckland AFC’s long wait for their new ground is almost over and everyone involved in the club is highly delighted. The club’s opening day will be on Sunday 24th October when the Bishop Auckland team will take on a supporters’ team at 3.30pm.
Bishop’s will not be playing any more league games at West Auckland’s ground and are pleased to announce that they will welcome a Middlesbrough side to their new ground on Tuesday 2nd November when they will come head-to-head in a friendly match with a 7.00pm kick off.
The first home league game will be on Tuesday 9th November 2010 against South Shields.
The opening of the new ground is a welcome addition to the team’s long history.
In 1889 Auckland Town were one of the 10 founding members of the World’s second-oldest football league – the Northern League.
The inaugural season was largely uneventful with the team finishing 8th with the league’s first winners being St. Augustine’s in Darlington.
Between the years of 1891 and 1893 the team never participated in league football but it was during this time that the club won its first silverware – the Durham County Challenge Cup – in 1892.
The team name was changed in 1893 to Bishop Auckland and it was under this name that the football club rejoined the Northern League. The following two seasons under the new name were again uneventful as the club finished third bottom on both occasions.
They have since become one of the most successful amateur sides however, having won the old FA Amateur Cup on 10 occasions and losing finalists on a further 8.
Between the years of 1886 and 2001 Bishop Auckland played their home matches at one of the UK’s oldest football grounds, Kingsway, however they have been nomads for the last nine years, having no
place to call ‘home’.
The name of the ground is yet to be revealed, however the project team – Pamela Cowey, David Strong, Brian Watson and Terry Jackson – plan to announce it on the stadium’s official opening day.
Incidentally, the road running adjacent to the ground is also currently unnamed.
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
