Whitby Town hit form at the right time as they took on relegation rivals in a frenetic February

By Andrew Snaith

Nathan Haslam acted to bring in midfielder Joe Wheatley, on loan from Spennymoor Town and former Halifax, Matlock Town and Buxton striker Shaun Tuton, from rivals Belper Town.

Tuton netted the winner against Marske United on debut in a 2-1 victory. Harry Green had volleyed the Blues ahead after a dominant first half but the other Seasiders levelled quickly. Nearly 1,000 supporters enjoyed the coastal derby.

However, a new hotshot has emerged in the unfamiliar form of Harrison Beeden. The centre-half popped up with a 90th-minute winner in the 1-0 victory at Stalybridge Celtic. He then repeated the dose a week later in a 1-0 success at home to Warrington Rylands.

The three wins on the trot gave Haslam’s men important breathing space. However, possibly the most positive sign in the Rylands win was Lewis Ritson appearing on the bench. Former Hull City defender Ritson has been sidelined for 16 months with a serious knee injury.

Leaving Whitby Town after five months and five goals is Jake Day. The ex-Scarborough Athletic striker linked up with his former manager at Bridlington Town, Curtis Woodhouse, at Marske United.

Also departing is physio Jeff Miller, who’s retiring. Formerly with York City, Jeff spent six seasons at the Towbar Express Stadium. Whitby end their season with a mixed runtaking on the top two- South Shields and Hyde- plus play-off chasers Marine. They also lock horns with bottom half sides Stafford Rangers, Atherton Colls and basement club Belper.

Town’s NPL Premier run-in:

Sat 25 Mar v Marine H 3pm

Sat 1 Apr v Hyde A 3pm

Sat 8 Apr v Stafford A 3pm

Mon 10 Apr v South Shields H 3pm

Sat 15 Apr v Atherton Colls A 3pm

Sat 22 Apr v Belper Town H 3pm when Roxburgh came for a right wing cross but couldn’t collect, leaving Will Russ with the simple task of heading into an empty net as Marske’s losing run continued.

The following Tuesday, Marske made their shortest journey of the season with a trip down

Off the field activities at Marske United

By Bob Ryan

Welcome to this edition of what is happening off the field at Marske United. The club are still very active in the community and welcoming new groups etc to the club. Work is continuing behind the scenes both for the ground upgrading works and developing more junior teams and community activities.

Schools Interaction

The club continue to develop their links with the local schools. We have various activities lined up be it Flag Wavers/Mascots etc. We also have interschools football tournament planned for the end of the season participating for the Mike Findlay Shield. This was greatly received by the children of the schools taking part and we hope this year’s event will be another success.

Girls Team

The club have made great progress in the setting up of a girls’ team at Under 11 under Marske United. We have had a great response towards this and the girls who have already registered an interest are really enjoying it. If you are interested in signing up for the team, please contact Amanda on the following to register your interest at girls@ marskeunitedfc.org or visit the Facebook page Marske United FC Girls.

Junior Teams

We are continually growing our Junior section of teams and are hoping to be able to launch further Junior teams shortly. This is testament to the hard work the Junior coaches are putting in with growing the number of junior teams.

Matchday Volunteers

The club have once again teamed up with Middlesbrough College to offer the students the opportunity to become involved in the matchday activities at Marske United. We are grateful to the college for working with the club and it is proving to be very beneficial to the students as part of their courses. The opportunity to volunteer on a matchday is open to anyone of any age and we always welcome the opportunity to speak to anyone who is thinking of helping or just enquiring on what opportunities there could be.

Matchday Mascot

The club are looking for volunteers who would the coast to face Whitby Town in a crucial derby. Marske gave a debut to goalkeeper Oliver Swan, signed on loan from Middlesbrough, with fellow goalkeeper and ex-Marske United player, Matty Wilkinson taking his place on the bench. The home side dominated the first half but Swan like to be involved in being the club mascot for the day (Seasider Sid). The full outfit is available and we are looking for a number of volunteers to carry out the role on a matchday etc. This is in order that we can have a roster and share the workload. This is another great opportunity to become involved at the matchday and interact with the supporters etc.

Walking Football

This is still going strong with more and more new members trying it out for themselves. The sessions are now at De Brus Centre Skelton on the following days: Monday 6pm-7pm and Thursday 11am-12 Noon. It is all about the social aspect of the game with the emphasis on social inclusion without trying to be the best footballer. Anyone is welcome to attend. Please email msrpfootball@outlook.com for more details or just come along. Refreshments are provided on a Thursday morning after the session.

Mascot Opportunities

The club have once again launched their popular matchday mascot opportunities for children to become mascots for the day at Mount Pleasant. This is for children aged 5-12 and gives the child the opportunity to meet the team, lead the team out on the pitch with the opportunity for you to take a photo of your child with your favourite player. The child can also join the substitutes at half time on the pitch. This is FREE for all children with the only stipulation your child MUST wear the Marske United 2022/23 Home Shirt when walking out with the team. For further information or to put your child’s name down for this please contact msrpfootball@outlook.com

Easter Draw

The club will once again be running an Easter Draw for the club. We have some great prizes for this and are hoping that the community will support as they did the Christmas Draw which was greatly appreciated. This will once again be run by Eddie McNamee and the Commercial team who will be selling tickets at every home game and hopefully in the Co-op and Sainsburys where the club were warmly welcomed.

If anyone would like to sell some books on behalf of the club or would like to purchase any please contact Eddie Mac via Facebook or email the Commercial team commercial@marskeunitedfc. org.

Marske United Ground Grading made a couple of decent saves to keep the score goalless. As the game reached the half way mark in the second half, the home side took the lead when a shot from Harry Green took a slight deflection and flew past Swan. However, Marske levelled soon after when a cross from Connor Smith was deflected into the path of Chimalilo who volleyed home from 15 yards. Marske suffered a blow with the loss of Kev Burgess to injury and conceded what proved to be the winner on 76 minutes when a backpass from Smith was intercepted by sub Shaun Tuton who rounded Swan and finished well from a tight angle.

The club have, with the support of everyone who has managed to support the Go Fund Me campaign, been able to already complete some of the work required to reach the required Ground Grade ahead of 31st March 2023. New seats have been installed into the main stand raising our seating capacity.

Prior to the crucial away game against 5th bottom Atherton Collieries, Marske were boosted by a double signing with forwards Eddie Church and Jake Day signing from Bradford (Park Avenue) and Whitby respectively. Both started with Church playing behind Day and Boyes. However, the changes didn’t help Marske to a much needed win, with the home side taking the lead just before half time from the penalty spot after Jordan Emery fouled Scott Bakkor. Captain Danny Lafferty made no mistake from the spot hammering the ball down the middle. Marske huffed and puffed in

Floodlights have been changed on the far side of the pitch following vandalism plus extra hard standing behind the goal. The Tin Shed has been extended to provide further shelter for supporters, with a sheltered walkway to be completed soon. Work is also due to start soon to further expand the toilet facilities within the ground.

With the success of Marske United on the field, comes the challenge of the club keeping pace with the ground grading requirements that are required for the club to participate at Step 3 of the English Football Pyramid. Significant improvements need to be made to the ground ahead of the FA Deadline of 31st March 2023. The club have set up a GO FUND ME page on the Clubs website: www. marskeunitedfc.org (at the top of the first page). This is with the hope that Supporters and Businesses can help the club complete the works needed to achieve this level: a further turnstile, improved floodlights to the near side, and extra covered areas around the ground are essential in passing this grading. The club are always grateful for any help supporters and the local people of East Cleveland can give to help them maintain their current level of football and their representation of the area. Huge thanks again to those supporters who have backed this and also backed the weekly blind cards which are all making the improvements that bit easier.

Flag Bearers

The club have launched their opportunity for schools and children’s organisations to be Flag Bearers at the club’s home matches. We have recently welcomed St Bedes who took the opportunity up recently and the children had a fantastic day being able to welcome the players of both teams onto the pitch ahead of the game. Our next game will welcome the brownies from Saltburn. We already have the Cubs and other schools lined up to take up this opportunity which is Free to children. If any organisation within the East Cleveland area wishes to take part in this, please contact the commercial team on commercial@marskeunitedfc. org or contact one of the team as below. This is an occasion that is free for the children and we are getting great feedback from those who have taken part already.

Easy Fundraising

The club are reminding everyone that you can support Marske United at NO COST to yourself. If you go via the clubs EasyFundraising link at the top of the website www.marskeunitedfc.org when doing your online shopping. Just go via the link and then find the retailer you wish to shop with and continue as normal with your shopping. By going this way a percentage of the cost goes to Marske United.

Weekly Club Draw

The club are looking to expand their weekly draw the second half with Day and Boyes testing the Atherton keeper. However, Atherton broke away from a Marske corner to make it 2-0 as Marske suffered their 7th consecutive defeat.

Marske’s upcoming games are as follows and the club would be delighted to welcome any fans, old and new, to Mount Pleasant. As you can see, there are plenty of home games in March:

Saturday 4th March – South

Shields (H) KO 3.00pm

Tuesday 7th March – Morpeth

Town (H) KO 7.45pm

Saturday 11th March – Belper

Town (A) KO 3.00pm

Tuesday 14th March – Radcliffe

(H) KO 7.45pm

Saturday 18th March – Matlock

Town (H) KO 3.00pm

Tuesday 21st March – Liversedge

(H) KO 7.45pm

Saturday 25th March – FC United of Manchester (A) KO 3.00pm

Tuesday 28th March – Warrington Rylands (H) KO 7.45pm to give supporters the chance to win a large cash prize every week. This will be revamped soon to include the option to be able to purchase and participate online. The cost is £1 per week and the more participants the more money you can win. To enquire about this please contact one of the Commercial team.

As always, please check our website and social media channels for any updated fixtures and all things Marske United.

Sponsorship Opportunities

With the club progressing they certainly rely on business and individual sponsorships to allow the club to compete at the highest level. The club are always grateful to our sponsors and are seeking further businesses and individuals alike who would like to promote their business etc via the club’s footprint.

The club have various sponsorship opportunities for individuals and businesses alike. Promote your business via the ground/club website (regularly in the Top 50 Pitchero Websites) Twitter and Facebook Media Pages with over 20,000 followers and via the matchday programme etc. They are from Player Sponsorship, Matchday Sponsorship, Matchball Sponsorship and Advertising Board/Programme Sponsorship. Businesses could also have their name on the Away Shirt as part of a sponsorship deal or even have a stand at the stadium or even the stadium named after their company. It is certainly a great way to expand the reach of your business and to get behind Marske United as they continue to progress. Full details of packages etc are contained in our brochure on the club website www.marskeunitedfc. org. If anyone is interested in any sponsorship opportunities, please contact one of the Commercial team Eddie Mcnameeeddie.mcnamee@btinternet.com

David Lawsondavid_lawson@hotmail.co.uk

Paul Hartpaul.hart@sky.com

The Clubmsrpfootball@outlook.com

Marske United Club Shop

The club have replica shirts, scarves, hats, coats, Hoodies, Polo Shirts etc available for immediate collection etc. These are available from the Club Shop on matchdays or you can email diryan699@ hotmail. com

Thank you once again to everyone who has supported Marske United and we hope to see more supporters at Mount Pleasant enjoying the football. If anyone has any ideas or if they would like their organisation to work with the club please speak to: Bob Ryan or Stan Glover or email msrpfootball@ outlook.com