Club’s winning line nears after 60 years
Sep 26 2007 by Dave Black, The Journal
A PROUD North-East athletics club could finally be nearing the winning line in a lengthy campaign to secure its own running track.
Formed in 1947, Morpeth Harriers went on to become the top track and field outfit in the region, despite the permanent handicap of not having its own synthetic track on which to compete and train.
Today, home matches in the North-East Athletics League have to be held almost 20 miles away at Jarrow and the club was relegated from the national league some years ago, mainly because of its lack of facilities.
Now – amid growing concern that talented young athletes in sprinting, hurdling and field events are deterred from joining the Northumberland club – a solution could finally be in sight.
Tomorrow, Castle Morpeth councillors will be asked to agree in principle to help develop a running track for the harriers and allocate £300,000 funding towards the project. Craik Park on Morpeth Common, the home of the town’s Northern League football club, has been earmarked as the preferred location.
Ideally Morpeth Harriers – who would have to secure matching funding of £300,000 – would like to see an eight-lane synthetic track built, together with competition and training facilities for field events.
Established by a group of local running enthusiasts, Morpeth Harriers has produced many top athletes, including 1966 Commonwealth Games marathon gold medallist Jim Alder. It currently has about 350 members. Management committee member Tony Bray, who is also secretary of Castle Morpeth Sports Council, said talks had been going on for some time with the borough council on plans for a synthetic running track and associated facilities.
“It seems that at long last, after many years of frustration, things might be moving in the right direction. However, it is early days yet and we have to wait and see how things develop.
“The basic infrastructure is there at Craik Park, which has an ash running track, but other issues such as accessibility, security and parking have to be considered.
“This has been a problem for us for many years. We are having difficulties in attracting and retaining young athletes interested in sprinting, hurdling and field events because we don’t have the facilities.
“We can do road running and cross-country from our Morpeth clubhouse, but we have to hold home athletics matches at Jarrow. That is not really good enough for what is the strongest club in the North-East in terms of members.”
Jim Alder, 67, who recently said there was more chance of a new track being built on the moon than at his old club, yesterday welcomed the news of a possible breakthrough. “I am a bit stunned to hear about this, but if it happens, I will be absolutely delighted.
“We were the only national league team in Britain that didn’t have its own home track, which was an unbelievable situation. Now, sprint and field event athletes are gravitating to other clubs because of the Harriers’ lack of facilities. There have been many false dawns over the years, but this is excellent news if it comes off.”
A report to Castle Morpeth’s executive board tomorrow proposes that the council takes the lead in resolving the need for an athletics track for the Harriers. It says that would assist a bid by Morpeth Tennis and Hockey Club to provide a training base for the 2012 Olympics.
