It has been another season of progress for Heaton Stannington, while Hebburn Town tasted glory and Cleveland became a centre of success in the 2025-6 season.
More progress for Heaton Stannington
When I last reported on Heaton Stannington at the end of 2025, they were on a tremendous run of form and had just about made it into the playoff places in the Northern Premier League East. After a 1-1 draw at a cold but sunny Consett on Boxing Day, it looked as though Heaton Stannington might just achieve a third promotion in five seasons.
However, the new year arrived bringing a lot of gloomy weather and similarly gloomy form for Heaton Stannington. January and February were difficult months for Heaton Stannington with a number of disappointing defeats and also a number of games callled off due to the weather.
That said, Heaton Stannington did rally during March, and the club can be very proud of their seventh top finish in the Northern Premier League East. This has been another season of real progress for Heaton Stannington, who just a few years ago were competing in Northern League Division Two.
The league season saw a number of notable results, not least a fine 3-2 win away at Matlock Town in Derbyshire, a club who went on to finish second in the league. The addition of Dale Pearson at centre forward was just what Heaton Stannington needed as he has led the line very well and scored crucial goals right from his first competitive match back on 2 August in the FA Cup away at Whitley Bay.
The rest of the squad have also performed well and they and the management team deserve credit for the way they have now established themselves as a major force in the Northern Premier League east. Heaton Stannington supporters can look forward to more progress in the seasons to come, as the great adventure goes on.
Promotion glory for Hebburn Town
Real non league glory for this season in the North East however, belongs to Hebburn Town, who having lead the Northern Premier League for many weeks came to the last league game of the season on Saturday 25 April just needing to beat Rushall Olympic to claim the top spot and automatic promotion into National League North.
This they duly did, winning 2-0 with goals from Michael Turner and Joao Carington In front of a highly impressive crowd of 3000. Hebburn Town can now look forward to playing in the National League North next season, alongside Spennymoor town and possibly South Shields although at the time of writing they still have a playoff final to play on 9 May which could see similar glory for them and see them promoted to the National League, the fifth tier of English football.
Speaking of the National League it did look for a time as if Gateshead may end up in the same league as Hebburn Town, as they were facing relegation for much of the season. However, the reinstatement of Robbie Elliott as manager saw a dramatic turnaround in their form and Gateshead was able to stave off relegation with a number of points to spare.
Morpeth Town however, were not so lucky and found themselves relegated from the Northern Premier League to Northern Premier League East.
Cleveland: a hotbed of non-league football
Along with South Tyneside, the other area of great success in North East non-league football this season has been Cleveland. Redcar Athletic following significant investment from a local businessman in 2025 ran away with the Northern Premier League East, winning it by 17 clear points and amassing an incredible total of 105 points all season and goal difference of plus 102.
Meanwhile Guisborough in the Cleveland hills above Redcar won the Northern League Division One by eight points from Shildon, while Redcar Town won100 points to win the Northern League Two by two points from local rivals Yarm and Eaglescliffe.
Comment
It has been another season of progress for Heaton Stannington on the east side of Newcastle and it is also been another great season of non-league football for clubs in the North East. Crowds continue to grow and non-league football has shown that it can be an exciting and worthwhile alternative to Premier League and championship football.
It usually costs about a tenner to watch what are often very good games of football and spectators can do so knowing that they’re watching teams rooted in their local area who are simply interested in providing entertainment and support for the local community and have no other, darker agendas.
So, if you want a good 90 minutes of entertainment and honest football why not head along to your local non-league club next season?
You can learn more about Heaton Stannington here .
You can learn more about the Northern League here
You can learn more about the Northern Premier League here
