Supporters Club Members and guests turned out in force for the Sunderland versus Newcastle derby on Saturday. We rolled down the giant screen and everyone there could take advantage of the £2:50 on draft beers and hot food laid on by The Supporters Club.

In an eye-catching and impressive appointment. Graeme Lee and his assistant Ian Clarke (Who had a spell as as player at Spennymoor in the late 2000’s) have stepped away from struggling Marske United to join Spennymoor. 

Lee who had also previously been in charge at Hartlepool, where he was harshly sacked despite leading Pools to League Two safety, the fourth round of the FA Cup and semi-finals of the Papa John's Trophy, and before that he was the well respected boss of Middlesbrough's Under-23s.

Lee’s long playing career included spells at Hartlepool, Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers.

Read below a selection of football firsts about our new manager first published in the Football League Paper in September 2022

First game you watched live?

My dad, Tony, was a manager (Note* Tony managed Spennymoor United over two spells in 2001 and 2004 and sadly passed in February 2023) when we were kids so my earliest memories are of going to watch his Whitby team. I also remember going to a lot of Middlesbrough games. But the first one I specifically remember was the 1987 FA Cup final, when Coventry beat Spurs. I was nine at the time. 

My dad had got us four tickets, two in each end. At the hotel before the game, some fans had written ‘Spurs’ across my forehead, which didn’t go down too well when I walked into the Coventry end!Strangely enough, Keith Houchen scored for Coventry that day and it was him who gave me my debut eight years later.

First football hero?

My dad was the first one. I wasn’t old enough to watch him play - my older brother did a little bit but my main memories are of him managing in the Northern League. As a young kid playing in the garden, though, I always wanted to be Gary Lineker. Not just because he scored the goals, but because his initials were GL. I used to say ‘I’m going to be the next GL’.

First football boots?

I had some dodgy Umbros, which were about five sizes too big. But I mainly remember playing in Puma Kings when I was growing up. They haven’t changed to this day - they still look exactly the same and they’re still a brilliant pair of boots.

First kit?

Our parents were football obsessed, so me and my brother had many, many kits. I always remember my mam used to say that we had a different shirt for every day of the week. Looking back at pictures of myself, the earliest one I can find is me wearing an adidas Middlesbrough kit when I was three or four.

First professional game?

I came on as a sub for Hartlepool against Arsenal at Highbury in what was then the Coca-Cola Cup. It was 1995 and I’d only just turned 17. Keith (Houchen) had gave me the last ten minutes and it was absolutely surreal. I’d never been involved with the first-team before. I went from playing for the youth team at Blackhall in front of about 20 people to playing in front of 27,000 fans. Then there were all these superstars who I’d only ever seen on the telly - Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, David Seaman, Ian Wright. I still kick myself now that I didn’t even think about trying to get someone’s shirt. I was just in awe of the whole situation.

First professional goal?

Against Tranmere at the Vic, in about 1996 or 1997. It was a near post header, like a lot of my goals tended to be.

First red card?

I’ve had a few, which tends to happen when you play at the back. However, the first one came when I was playing centre-forward for Hartlepool against Lincoln at the Vic. It was a straight red and I was adamant I’d got the ball. Next day we got hold of the Betamax, and I sat down with the manager to watch it. We just looked at each other and were like ‘Yeah, we can’t appeal that one’. I still say the camera was just at a bad angle!

Spennymoor Town Manager Lewis Dickman, became the latest casualty in what can only be described as a bizarre sequence of sackings at NLN clubs in our area. Darlington, Blyth and South Shields have all parted company with their mangers and Spennymoor weighed in shortly after their abandoned game at Chorley on Saturday. Dickman took over on a short term contract after the surprise resignation from long time servant Jamie Chandler early into the new season, Dickman maintained some good form initially, but a spell away from the sidelines due to an inflamed appendix that coincided with a string of poor results means that Spennymoor Town, again, have a vacancy in the dugout. 

So what next for Spennymoor?

Dickman’s departure follows unsuccessful and or short spells from Miller, Johnson & Morley and Chandler, leaving sentimental fans yearning for something similar to the security blanket provided by Jason Ainsley for many years. For the more ambitious fans only a high profile name will do, though it’s not clear how practical that would be given terrace talk of belt tightening and redundancies. Only time will tell.

Back to Dickman, without meeting him, he spoke and conducted himself admirably and we wish him nothing but success and good health in the future. 👏

Christmas Eve will be forever remembered as the day we lost our dear friend Fred Hughes.

Fred was a staunch advocate for STFC Supporters Club, followed the football club through the United days right up to the present, and was a familiar face on match days both home and away.

Fred, (who’s late partner Connie Wailes served as Supporters Club Secretary and Treasurer) has suffered from serious health problems over the last few years, but still managed to follow the team home and away, as well as attending Supporters Club events when his condition allowed it.

It was a fitting tribute, that the Brewery Field stood in unison to applaud 👏 Fred’s life on 74 minutes (Fred’s age at passing) during our Boxing Day fixture against Chorley.

The 1 minute applause was delivered immaculately by supporters of Spennymoor & Chorley and STFC Supporters Club thank everyone in attendance for taking part.

RIP Fred ⚽️ 🖤🤍🖤🤍 True Legend