The fixtures have been released for the new season and Ryton & Crawcrook Albion will begin the 2023/24 Ebac Northern Football League Division 2 campaign with a home match against Horden CW at Kingsley Park on Saturday 29 July.
Nathan Beckham and Andrew Waugh’s side then face back-to-back away matches with a trip to Jarrow on Wednesday 2 August followed by a visit to newly-promoted FC Hartlepool three days later.
There are ten league matches provisionally scheduled for the first five weeks of the season and six consecutive midweek rounds in a packed opening two months.
The regular season is scheduled to conclude on Saturday 20 April 2024 with Easington Colliery visiting Crawcrook.
The champions of Division 2 at the end of the season will again be promoted automatically to the Northern League’s top tier whilst a four-team play-off will be used to decide the second team to go up. The bottom three sides in the expanded 22-team division will be “liable to relegation”.
Ryton & Crawcrook will welcome neighbours Prudhoe YC Seniors in the first Tyne Valley derby of the season on 23 September, with the short trip to Essity Park scheduled for 24 February.
Prudhoe-based Newcastle University visit Albion on 11 November with the return on 6 January.
Newcastle Blue Star, who were promoted from the Northern Alliance Premier Division, will host RACA at Scotswood on Boxing Day, with the return fixture scheduled for Easter Monday on 1 April 2024.
Yarm & Eaglescliffe – promoted from the North Riding Football League – visit NE40 on 30 September with the reverse fixture at Billingham Town’s Bedford Terrace on 9 March. Hartlepool, who were promoted from the Wearside League, visit RACA HQ on 20 January.
The only team to be relegated from the first division last term – Thornaby – host RACA on Teesside on 9 September while the return fixture will be on 17 February.
Having played most of their first season in the NL at the Sunderland Hub last year, Chester-le-Street United should be hosting us at their Riverside home on 25 November.
The full league fixture list is available on the season fixture graphic below. You can sync RACA’s 2023/24 fixtures directly to your calendar via Apple, Google or Outlook.
Fixtures are subject to change. Please check the website Matches page and follow our social media channels (@RACAFC1970) for updates.
Meanwhile, there are a number of “free” Saturdays in the fixture schedule to allow for any postponed fixtures to be rescheduled and for FA club competitions.
The FA Vase First and Second Qualifying Rounds are scheduled for 26 August and 23 September respectively with the draw expected to be released on 7 July.
Draws for the first two rounds of the Northern League’s two cup competitions – the Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup and the Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup – were released on Saturday. The cup fixtures are yet to be scheduled.
The opening round of the Durham County FA Challenge Cup is set to kick off in mid-September.
