Football in North Shields

Football runs deep in North Shields, a town that has known both grassroots devotion and a genuine day of glory. Whether you want to stand on the terraces on a Saturday, get the children into their first team, or lace up your own boots, there is a club for you. Here is our guide to football in North Shields.

North Shields F.C.

The town's senior club, North Shields F.C., are known as the Robins and were founded back in 1896. Their proudest moment came on 9 May 2015, when they beat Glossop North End 2-1 after extra time in the FA Vase final at Wembley Stadium, coming from behind to lift the trophy in front of a huge travelling support. Today they play in Northern League Division One at the Daren Persson Stadium at Ralph Gardner Park, and a home game remains one of the best-value afternoons of local sport around.

Best for: Best for: proper non-league football with a genuine Wembley story behind it.

Percy Main Amateurs

Down at Purvis Park, Percy Main Community Sports Club is home to Percy Main Amateurs, a grassroots club founded in 1913 that plays in the Northern Football Alliance. A cornerstone of amateur football in the area for over a century, the club and its ground are a hub for community sport, with cricket played there in the summer too.

Best for: Best for: traditional Saturday amateur football with real local roots.

Junior and youth football

For young players, North Shields Juniors AFC is the main pathway in the town and one of the largest junior clubs in the North East. A registered charity, it runs around sixty teams and more than seven hundred players from under-7s to under-18s, with girls' teams and adult sides too, playing across sites including John Spence Community High School and the Collingwood and Preston playing fields. New players and volunteers are welcome throughout the age groups.

Where else to play and watch

Just along the coast, Cullercoats F.C. plays Northern Alliance football at Links Avenue and runs junior sides of its own. For those who want to keep playing later in life, The Parks Sports Centre on Howdon Road hosts free walking football sessions, a gentler, turn-up-and-play version of the game that is brilliant for staying active and social.

More North Shields sport

For more ways to get active locally, see our guides to running and cycling in North Shields and the best gyms in North Shields.

Run a North Shields football club we should list? Get in touch.