Morpeth Town Juniors
Morpeth Town’s junior section is a thriving and respected grassroots club which has achieved FA 3-star accredited status and plays in the Northumberland Football League.
With 40 squads for the 2024/25 season and around 550 members, the club continues to grow, whilst at the same time cementing its relationship with the senior club. Formed over 30 years ago, the club shared its name and colours with the then Northern League senior team, but there was little connection between the two. When the club amalgamated with a second junior club in the town, it was briefly renamed Morpeth Sporting Club, but in 2015, it reverted back to Morpeth Town Juniors – a timely move as that season coincided with Morpeth’s FA Vase win at Wembley, with many juniors in attendance.
Tentative connections were established, but the real catalyst to bring the senior and junior section together was the installation of the artificial surface at Craik Park, as that opened up a training and playing venue for the club. Until then, the Juniors had led a rather nomadic existence with teams playing and training at a number of different venues in the town (or in some cases, out of town!).
Junior Teams
And the connection has grown stronger over the last 18 months with a variety of joint initiatives such as matchday mascots, pop up and play, the school holiday summer camps and the first team management duo running the ‘Coached by the Coaches’ sessions during May and June. With effect from September 2024, most of the club’s home and away teams will be playing at Craik Park or on Morpeth Common which really makes Craik Park feel like the Juniors’ home.
‘Working as One’ brings mutual benefits for both the senior and junior club with the latter hosting its ever popular fun day on Craik Park and in June, hosted a junior tournament at the club with 40 teams from around the area attending. The club received some great feedback with young children excited to play in a real football ground.
The club has a strong ethos and with a stated vision to be a distinct, respected and community focused club run for the benefit of its members. It doesn’t seek to recruit the best junior players from around the Northumberland and North Tyneside, it aims to provide football opportunities for the children of Morpeth and the immediate surrounding area. It’s not all about winning, it’s about being a part of Morpeth Town and boys and girls from aged 4 to 18 are representing the club in games or attending sessions. With further development planned for 2024/25 (the club will be launching a pan-disability offering), the Juniors is now an integral part of Morpeth Town and its future.
