FT Newcastle Blue Star 1 RACA 1

RACA enjoyed a good run out at Scotswood, coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against their first division opponents, Louis Calvert being the man on target for Albion.

RACA start off the pre-season tomorrow night (Tuesday) with a relatively short trip to Denton Road to face first division Newcastle Blue Star. Kick off is at 7:30pm & for anyone not familiar with getting to Blue Star’s stadium the post code is NE15 7HB

Please note the original friendly at Brandon United has been cancelled & instead a trip to Northern Alliance side Newcastle East End has been arranged for Monday 6th with a 7pm kick off

The fixtures for the 2026/27 Ebac Northern Football League Division Two season have been released, and Ryton & Crawcrook Albion will begin the new campaign with a home fixture against Tow Law Town at the Oldhaulage Stadium on Saturday 25 July.

Just three days later, Albion make the trip to FC Hartlepool for their first away fixture of the season.

Manager Nathan Beckham and his side will need to hit the ground running in what promises to be a demanding start to the campaign. Nine league fixtures are provisionally scheduled before the end of August, including five midweek rounds, ensuring a busy opening month.

The regular season is due to conclude on Saturday 17 April 2027 when Albion welcome newly-promoted Seaton Carew to the Oldhaulage Stadium.

As in previous seasons, the Division Two champions will earn automatic promotion to the Northern League’s top tier, while a four-team play-off will determine the second promotion place. At the other end of the table, the bottom three clubs will be liable to relegation.

Local interest will peak on Boxing Day when Albion make the short journey to Essity Park to face Prudhoe YC Seniors in the first eagerly anticipated Tyne Valley derby of the season. The return fixture in Crawcrook is scheduled for the Easter weekend in March.

Albion will also face two newly-promoted sides during the campaign. Alongside Wearside League champions Seaton Carew, who visit NE40 on the final day after Albion’s trip there in early November, North Riding League champions Stokesley Sports Club make their first league visit to the Oldhaulage Stadium on 29 August. The reverse fixture is scheduled for late January.

The FA Vase will once again begin early in the season, with the First and Second Qualifying Rounds scheduled for 15 August and 12 September respectively. The draw for the opening rounds is expected to be released on 3 July.

You can view the full fixture list on the graphic below and listed, alongside our pre-season fixtures, on the Matches page of our website.

Please note that all fixtures are subject to change. Supporters are encouraged to check the website regularly and follow our social media channels (@RACAFC1970) for the latest updates throughout the season.

With just 38 league games to play the start of the season thankfully isn’t quite as hectic as last season when we played every midweek up to the start of October. And with our first pre-season friendly just 10 days away, the season proper will soon be upon us.

The website will be regularly updated with news of the friendlies & of the players as they register with us for the coming season

RACA are scheduled to play six friendlies before the Northern League season starts on Saturday 25th July. While these are subject to change at short notice, as it stands the games are as below-

Tues 30th June- Newcastle Blue Star (A) ko 7:30pm

Sat 4th July- Easington Colliery (Neutral Venue) ko 2:15pm

Mon 6th July- Newcastle East End (A) ko 7pm

Wed 8th July- Ponteland United (A) ko 7pm

Sat 11th July Whickham (H) ko 1:30pm

Fri 17th July- Winlaton Community (H) ko 7:30pm

The site will be updated nearer the time of each friendly to confirm they are going ahead,when & where.

This month’s lucky winners are-

1st prize No 75 P Cameron who wins £100

2nd Prize No 4 T Fawcett who wins £75

3rd Prize No 52 N Beckwith who wins £25

Next month’s draw is on 05/07/2026

Well done to our three winners, if you’d like to take part in this monthly fundraiser from just £5 a month, please contact us via the usual channels on the foot of the homepage or contact Paul le Patourel on 07720 413390. Thank-you

The players’ awards for the season gone were presented by manager Nathan Beckham on a day at the races & were as follows-

Top Scorer- Louis Calvert with 28 goals

Young Player of the Year- Albe Fletcher

Committee Player of the Year- Callum Corkhill

Supporters’ Player of the Year- Glenn Caygill

Manager’s Player of the Year- Nathan Beesley

Player’s Player of the Season- Louis Anderson

Congratulations to all the winners & look forward to you donning the black and blue stripes next season

Michael Woud has been selected to represent New Zealand in next month’s World Cup. The goalkeeper played six times for Albion in the 2015-16 season while on loan from Sunderland Academy (in the same arrangement Sunderland & Millwall keeper Anthony Patterson was with us), and during his time at Kingsley Park represented the All Whites at the Under 17 World Cup in Chile. Woud has made 6 senior appearances for New Zealand and plays for Auckland FC in the A League having failed to breakthrough to the first team at Sunderland in his time there. As 3rd choice keeper he’s unlikely to start a game in the finals, but it’s still great to have someone associated with RACAFC at the sport’s premium competition.

Albion found out who will make up Division 2 next season with the main headline a drop to 20 sides meaning just 38 league games instead of 42 last season. While we lost Esh Winning to the Wearside League, Prudhoe got a reprieve and no-one dropped down from the 1st Division, so the line-up is AFC Newbiggin, Alnwick Town, Billingham Synthonia, Billingham Town, Boldon CA, Chester-le-Street Town, Darlington Town, Durham United, FC Hartlepool, Grangetown BC, Jarrow, Newcastle University, Park View, Prudhoe YC, RACA, Seaham Red Star, Seaton Carew, Stokesley SC, Sunderland RCA and Tow Law Town.

TOP SCORERS AT EACH DIVISION 2 CLUB IN 2025/26 (all competitions)

AFC Newbiggin- Ethan Smith 20

Alnwick Town- Jamie Clarke 17

Billingham Synthonia- Sam Irvine 19

Billingham Town- Gary Mitchell & Charlie Watt 16

Boldon CA- Jack Robertson 9

Chester-le-Street Town- Scott Robson 23

Darlington Town- Reece Brown 12

Durham United- Phil Kay 23

Esh Winning- Aaron Zamor 4

FC Hartlepool- Nathan Bayes 28

Grangetown BC- Joe Dixon 10

Jarrow- Jay Barber & Ryan Hardie 16

Newcastle University- Kane Morris 12

Park View- Stephen Siyanbola 12

Prudhoe YC- 7 Jordan Plunkett, Tom Wilson & Kieron Symington

RACA- Louis Anderson 28

Redcar Town- McCorie Carmichael 18

Seaham Red Star- Ryan Appleby 15

Sunderland RCA- Aiden Stanton 16

Sunderland West End- Zouhair Benali 13

Tow Law Town- Harvey Walsh 12

Yarm and Eaglescliffe- Tom Atkinson 51

GOALS SCORED BY EACH DIVISION 2 CLUB IN 2025/26 (all competitions)

AFC Newbiggin- 69

Alnwick Town- 91

Billingham Synthonia- 81

Billingham Town- 84

Boldon CA- 58

Chester-le-Street Town- 81

Darlington Town- 76

Durham United- 75

Esh Winning- 27

FC Hartlepool- 94

Grangetown BC- 57

Jarrow- 105

Newcastle University- 78

Park View- 63

Prudhoe YC- 50

RACA- 98

Redcar Town- 111

Seaham Red Star- 83

Sunderland RCA- 65

Sunderland West End- 63

Tow Law Town- 56

Yarm and Eaglescliffe- 131

Number of Different Scorers At Each Club (All Competitions)

AFC Newbiggin- 19

Alnwick Town- 20

Billingham Synthonia- 22

Billingham Town- 19

Boldon CA- 24

Chester-le-Street Town- 20

Darlington Town- 16

Durham United- 17

Esh Winning- 14

FC Hartlepool- 16

Grangetown BC- 16

Jarrow- 18

Newcastle University- 22

Park View- 16

Prudhoe YC- 15

RACA- 13

Redcar Town- 23

Seaham Red Star- 23

Sunderland RCA- 17

Sunderland West End- 20

Tow Law Town- 24

Yarm and Eaglescliffe- 17

FT DARLINGTON TOWN 3 (McMahon, Jackson, Backhouse) YARM AND EAGLESCLIFFE 3 (o.g. Atkinson, Wild) Yarm win 3-2 on penalties

Yarm & Eaglescliffe completed a remarkable season today by winning the Ernest Armstrong Cup, the trophy RACA won four years ago, beating Darlington Town on penalties at FC Hartlepool’s Greyfields Enclosure. This is added to promotion to Division 1 for the first time, and also winning the North Riding Senior Cup. Congratulations to the Eagles for a fantastic season.