The draws for the first two rounds of the Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup and the Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup have been released by the Northern Football League.

The two cup competitions return to the football calendar after being cancelled last term.

Twenty clubs were drawn to take part in Round 1 of the League Cup (which is for all 42 NL clubs), with the remaining 22 clubs receiving a bye to Round 2, where they will be joined by the winners of the first round ties.

Ryton & Crawcrook Albion will face Easington Colliery at Kingsley Park in the first round with the winners travelling to Prudhoe YC Seniors in the next round.

Meanwhile, 12 clubs were drawn to take part in Round 1 of the Ernest Armstrong Cup (the Division 2 cup), with the remaining 10 clubs given a bye to Round 2, where they will be joined by the winners of the first round ties.

Holders RACA will travel to Boldon in the first round with the winners then hosting Jarrow in Round 2.

If matches are level after 90 minutes in either competitions, ties will go straight to penalty shoot-outs.

The exact dates for the fixtures will be announced in due course.

The 2023-24 Ebac Northern Football League season will begin on Saturday 29th July and the fixtures will be released at 10am on Tuesday 20th June, the league announced at its annual general meeting on Saturday.

As previously announced, the new season for the Northern League’s two divisions will start on the last Saturday in July with the regular season set to conclude on Saturday 20th April 2024.

The end-of-season promotion play-offs – in both divisions (2nd-5th) – will follow at the end of April.

At the end of last season, Boro Rangers and Birtley Town were promoted to Division 1, while Willington were relegated down to Step 7.

They were replaced in the expanded 22-team Division 2 by Thornaby (relegated from Division 1), FC Hartlepool (promoted from the Wearside League), Newcastle Blue Star (promoted from the Northern Alliance League) and Yarm and Eaglescliffe (promoted from the North Riding League).

Meanwhile in Division 1, Shildon (relegated) and North Shields (demoted) return from the Northern Premier League, while Newton Aycliffe and Ashington were promoted to Step 4 and Pickering Town were moved laterally to the Northern Counties East League.

We’ll have all the details of the new season fixtures from 10am on Tuesday on our website and across all our social media channels.

The full Ebac Norhern Football League 2023-24 line-up…

Ebac Northern League Division One (Step 5): Birtley Town, Bishop Auckland, Boro Rangers, Carlisle City, Crook Town, Guisborough Town, Heaton Stannington, Newcastle Benfield, Northallerton Town, North Shields, Penrith, Redcar Athletic, Seaham Red Star, Shildon, Sunderland RCA, Tow Law Town, West Allotment Celtic, West Auckland Town, Whickham, Whitley Bay.

Ebac Northern League Division Two (Step 6): Bedlington Terriers, Billingham Synthonia, Billingham Town, Blyth Town, Boldon CA, Brandon United, Chester-le-Street Town, Chester-le-Street United, Easington Colliery, Esh Winning, FC Hartlepool, Horden CW, Jarrow, Newcastle Blue Star, Newcastle University, Prudhoe YC Seniors, Redcar Town, Ryton & Crawcrook Albion, Sunderland West End, Thornaby, Washington, Yarm & Eaglescliffe.

Ryton & Crawcrook Albion are delighted to welcome Rhys McLeod back to the club as our first signing for the new season under joint managers Nathan Beckham and Andrew Waugh.

Rhys is a quality young player who can play in a few attacking positions and is a match winner.

He featured 51 times for Albion scoring 21 goals during his first spell at Kingsley Park before moving to Blyth Town during last season.

Welcome back Rhys!

The draw for June’s RACA 100 Club was held on Saturday.

The winners are:

•  No.18 S Moore £100
•  No.40 K Wilkinson £75
•  No.47 M Connelly £25

Congratulations to the lucky winners! The next draw is scheduled for July 1, 2023.

To join the RACA 100 Club or for more details, please contact Mr Paul Le-Patourel on 07720413390.

Ryton & Crawcrook Albion are pleased to announce the launch and pricing details for Season Tickets for the upcoming 2023-24 campaign.

Season Tickets are available to purchase now for only £80.00 for adults and £40.00 for concessions.

The 2023-24 Season Ticket includes admission to all 21 of RACA’s home league games at Kingsley Park in the Ebac Northern Football League Division Two.

Both price categories represent excellent value, working out as the equivalent of 5 free adult or over 7 free concession entries when compared to the price of individual match tickets.

You can order now by contacting Mr John Thompson on 07805098265, or get in touch with us via email ([email protected]) or through our social media channels (@racafc1970).

You can also purchase the Season Ticket in-person from the Albion Clubhouse.

The new NL season is set to kick off on 29 July with fixtures expected to be released later this month.

Please note, admission to cup matches – such as the FA Vase, Durham FA Challenge Cup and the Northern League’s two cup competitions – are not included in the Season Ticket.

Thank you for your support!

Ryton & Crawcrook Albion have announced five pre-season friendly matches for next month in preparation for the 2023-24 season.

Joint managers Nathan Beckham and Andrew Waugh and the rest of the coaching team and players will return to Crawcrook to commence pre-season training on Saturday.

Their opening friendly will be against Northern League top tier side Newcastle Benfield on 4 July followed by West Allotment Celtic on 8 July.

Albion then travel to a trio of Northern Alliance Premier Division outfits; AFC Newbiggin on 11 July, Stobswood Welfare on 14 July and Seaton Delaval on 19 July.

RACA will wrap up their pre-season schedule with a trip to Carlisle City of Division One on 22 July in a final test before the new Ebac Northern Football League Division Two season is scheduled to kick off on 29 July.

More details will follow in due course.

PRE-SEASON FIXTURES:

Newcastle Benfield v RACA
Sam Smith’s Park, Benfield
Tuesday 4 July KO: 19:30

West Allotment Celtic v RACA
East Palmersville Sports Pavilion, Palmersville
Saturday 8 July KO: 15:00

AFC Newbiggin v RACA
Hirst Welfare Centre, Ashington
Tuesday 11 July KO: 19:30

Stobswood Welfare v RACA
Stobswood Recreation Ground, Morpeth
Friday 14 July KO: 19:30

Seaton Delaval v RACA
Wheatridge Park, Seaton Delaval
Wednesday 19 July KO: 19:30

Carlisle City v RACA
Gillford Park, Carlisle
Saturday 22 July KO: 15:00

All kick-off times stated in BST.

* Pre-season fixtures, dates, kick-off times & venues are subject to change.

Ryton & Crawcrook Albion are delighted to announce Andy Waugh will be stepping up to join Nathan Beckham as joint manager.

The pair have worked closely since joining the Club in January and we’re very confident that they will help push us in the right direction.

Jack Moore will continue in his role as First Team Coach. He is currently going through his coaching badges and is a vital part of the management team.

We’d also like to welcome Michael McMullen to the set up.

McMullen played youth football at Wallsend Boys Club. At 19, he moved to play over in the US and then came back and featured for Whitley Bay, North Shields and Newcastle Benfield.

He started coaching youth level at Whitley Bay and is now wanting to get back into senior football as a coach as his playing career comes towards its close.

We’ll have more news and announcements soon on our website and social media as preparations ramp up for the 2023-24 season.

The Northern Football League have announced that the new 2023-24 season will start on Saturday, July 29, with the fixture list to be released in due course.

The traditional season opener – the Cleator Cup – will be held at Newton Aycliffe on Saturday, July 22, between Aycliffe and Boro Rangers.

Meanwhile, the first rounds of the Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup and the Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup competitions will be drawn at the league’s AGM on Saturday, June 17.

The Football Association has today released the list of teams allocated to Steps 5 and 6 of the National League System for the 2023-24 season, including for the Ebac Northern Football League’s two divisions.

With Newton Aycliffe and Ashington promoted into Step 4, relegated duo North Shields and Shildon will join Division One along with Boro Rangers and Birtley Town, who were both promoted from the second division. Pickering Town have been transferred to the Northern Counties East League.

While the first division remains at 20 teams, Division Two has expanded to 22 teams for the new season. Thornaby were relegated from the NL’s top tier and they will be joined by the newly-promoted trio of FC Hartlepool, Newcastle Blue Star and Yarm & Eaglescliffe from the Wearside, Northern Alliance and North Riding leagues respectively.

Willington were the only club to be relegated from the second division with reprieves for Sunderland West End and Washington.

The allocations are subject to FA Council ratification.

Blue Star are based at Scotswood, Hartlepool play at the Grayfields Enclosure and Yarm will share Billingham Town’s Bedford Terrace.

The new campaign is expected to begin on Saturday 29th July with the fixtures due to be released soon after the league’s AGM, which is scheduled to be held on Saturday 17th June.

Ebac Northern League Division One: Birtley Town, Bishop Auckland, Boro Rangers, Carlisle City, Crook Town, Guisborough Town, Heaton Stannington, Newcastle Benfield, Northallerton Town, North Shields, Penrith, Redcar Athletic, Seaham Red Star, Shildon, Sunderland RCA, Tow Law Town, West Allotment Celtic, West Auckland Town, Whickham, Whitley Bay.

Ebac Northern League Division Two: Bedlington Terriers, Billingham Synthonia, Billingham Town, Blyth Town, Boldon CA, Brandon United, Chester-le-Street Town, Chester-le-Street United, Easington Colliery, Esh Winning, FC Hartlepool, Horden CW, Jarrow, Newcastle Blue Star, Newcastle University, Prudhoe YC Seniors, Redcar Town, Ryton & Crawcrook Albion, Sunderland West End, Thornaby, Washington, Yarm & Eaglescliffe.

The draw for May’s RACA 100 Club was held on Saturday.

The winners are:

•  No.89 Spare £100
•  No.9 V Wilkinson £75
•  No.81 A Wood £25

Congratulations to the lucky winners! The next draw is scheduled for June 3, 2023.

To join the RACA 100 Club or for more details, please contact Mr Paul Le-Patourel on 07720413390.