We have people staying in our house
next door and they are bringing two Bedlington terriers. You know
what I mean, sheep faced, curly haired dogs, well behaved, like all
dogs are, know what I mean.
I am sure they will have a very nice
stay in the Pennines. Bedlington is a mining village north of
Newcastle on Tyne, near Blyth and Morpeth.
In 1949 Bedlington Mechanics formed a
football team and by 1950 they were called the Bedlington Colliery
Welfare, marking their origins from the Doctor Pitt mine nearby. The
team became known as Bedlington United and then disbanded in 1963,
reforming three years later, playing at the Welfare Park.
In 1993 they took on the Terriers name
and this sparked the club into success as they got through to the
second round proper of the FA Cup beating Colchester Utd on the way,
4-1 and eventually losing out to Scunthorpe. (you can put the “t”
in Britain....).
In this period they also got to the
Wembley Final in the FA Vase missing out on a famous victory 0-1 to
Tiverton Town.
An arson attack on the clubhouse and
some financial difficulties left the club in a bit of a dog house. So
Robert Rich, an American, and 488th richest man in the
world became their the fairy godfather. Why?
His wife bought him the Lordship of the
Manor of Bedlington in 2010, a meaningless honour but one that
attracted him and her to the football (sorry, soccer) club. She had
been tracing his family tree and found a relative so one thing led to
another.
He already owned a few baseball teams
including the Buffalo Bisons and the Jamestown Jammers-so with the
goodness of his heart, he paid for the renovation of their pitch at
Welfare Park, financed an electronic scoreboard and nice sponsored
kit, holding the name of his company-Rich Food Products. There was
also a USA tour and a TV documentary called “Mr Rich and the
Terriers” in 2011.
In 2013 the club faced more debt but he
was not prepared to put his hand into his pocket, so somehow they
survived, because the club is still performing in Division One of the
Northern League, alongside Ashington, West Auckland Town and North
Shields, so they can't be bad.
You have to see this video. Woof Woof.
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