Behind the scenes at South Shields - life in the eighth tier of the football pyramid

Exclusive: South Shields are currently enjoying life in the Evo Stick North of the English game and their joint manager, who was used to much higher in his playing days, couldn't be happier

South Shields won the FA Vase at Wembley last season but have much bigger dreams (Getty)

The mini-bus engine chugged, and its driver stuck his head out of the window as he waited for the gates to Mariners Park to open. ‘Big time, eh?’ shouted Graham Fenton.

Less than 48 hours after the FA cup romantically fluttered its eyelids at South Shields, life had returned to normal and Fenton, the team’s joint manager, was back ferrying young hopeful footballers from college to training.

A football ground that had squeezed 2900 people in on Saturday afternoon for an all-north east FA Cup tie was largely silent again. South Shields had come close to another scalp - after York and Darlington. They had led one-nil in the first half and then struck a crossbar. Hartlepool rallied and struck twice in the second half.

South Shields got a Wembley day out last season (Getty)

It ended a cup dream, but not something much bigger. The loss was Shields’ second in the last 54 games. Fenton, capped for England at Under-21 level and a twice League Cup winner as a player, is moving a football club with genuine ambitions to enter the Football League.

“Do we have the aspiration to be the fourth biggest club in the north east? Yeah, why not?” he says. “You look at the way the place is going at the moment, it’s really positive, our gates are excellent, the owner has huge ambitions to take it further and obviously we realise it will be very difficult but why not aim to fourth in the north east.

“We showed in results against York and Darlington that we can compete against them. We are trying to do things right. It is coinciding things are happening quite quickly. We have the infrastructure behind the scenes to deal with it.”

Fenton is filling his non-league CV with trophies. That always catches they eye. He won the FA Vase at Wembley with North Shields and was approached by the Souths Shields owner Geoff Thompson, a successful local businessman. He moved across the river Tyne with Lee Picton and the pair became joint managers. South Shields romped to the Northern League Division One title (they currently sit five points clear at the top of the Evo Stick North (tier eight). There was also another Wembley appearance for Fenton as South Shields won the Vase.

South Shields have lofty ambitions (Getty)

“The two finals were hugely proud moments,” he adds. “The work you put in behind the scenes at North Shields and then here, with a lot of people, and you realise it was worth it.

“We've just set the academy up. Geoff’s vision of the football club is to promote young local talent over the next few years into the first team. We have an opportunity to go around the area, attract decent players, work on them for two or three years to see if we can get them into the first team. They’re educated at Sunderland college and they train full time. It’s a big ask for them.

“Myself and Lee are pretty much doing 75 hours a week at the minute. There is a huge feeling around the club of everybody pulling together. Everybody wants to make this happen.”

Fenton is 43 now. At 19, his third appearance for Aston Villa was a cup final against Manchester United.

“It’s difficult to surpass that,” he adds. “It’s your third game in the first team playing against Man United, who did the double that year and you beat them. The 21 cap was brilliant. It would have been brilliant if it had been at Wembley but it was at St James’ and that was a special occasion. The big occasions are not so nice if you reflect back and you haven't won the game.”


 The Mariners are currently leading the Evo Stick North 
 (Getty)

Defeat to Hartlepool did not bring that. “The support was brilliant. It was absolutely tremendous.The whole community is pulling together with the football club and it’s great to be around.”

There have been darker times. Fenton, a son of the north east, left Aston Villa in 1995 to join Blackburn for £1.5 million and two years later, he moved again, this time to Leicester. He admits that period of his life led to depression.

“There is a lot of stuff in the media at the minute about mental health, when you’re going through it, you don't even realise,” he says. “I was hugely depressed. That old, stiff upper lip I guess. ‘Get on with it, why are you feeling sorry for yourself?’ You don't realise it until you reflect back when you're in a better place.

“It was a bad seven years. Three years at Leicester were difficult and then it just carried on from there. Performances during that time were poor. When you're not enjoying it you might as well chuck your boots in the bin.


 South Shields want to become the fourth biggest club in the North East 
 (Getty)

“I stumbled across management. Paul Baker was at Blyth Spartans. He invited me in as assistant manager. I started enjoying football again. I hadn't enjoyed it for seven years. I’m massively grateful to get this opportunity and get my love of the game back. For seven years I hated it.

“When you're in a good football club and a good dressing room, there is no better place to be. You meet fantastic people and you have great experiences and good laughs. It’s a great life, when it’s going well.”

And despite Saturday, for South Shields and Fenton, it is.