Northern Leagues United: the Video

With many, many thanks to Scott at The Footy Blog.net, here’s a fantastic video from the Northern Leagues United fundraising event at Birtley Town FC on 9th July. The programme includes:

• highlights of the Northern League Fans v Football Writers match
• the awarding of the Onagawa Cup to the winning captain
• representatives of Onagawa Supporters delivering a message direct from Cobaltore Onagawa
• player interviews, including Northern Leagues United co-organisers Michael and Andy Hudson

Charity Football Match (Northern Leagues United) 2011 from Philip Johnston on Vimeo.

Link: Blog Video – the Big Match! @ The Footy Blog.net

From Birtley to Japan – a day to remember

What happens when a football team made up entirely of football writers, bloggers, tweeters and journos gets together to play football against a team made up entirely of fans, in support of a worthy cause ?  If you want to know what the resulting football is like, please read no further but go straight to Northern Leagues United, where you can see a gallery of photos and links to post-match coverage.  This is an OnagawaSupporters view of the most memorable day in our campaign so far, but the hacks have already said all there is to say about the football so we’ll take it as read that a good time was had by all.  (And by the way, the hacks were soundly thrashed by the fans ).

Torrential rain had been forecast, yet the day started fine and more or less stayed that way.  Birtley Town FC men and women had turned out very early to tackle the unglamorous but necessary tasks of raising tents, making sandwiches, brewing tea, setting up the PA system,  and getting the clubhouse in sparkling form to host the club’s first event since refurbishment.  When OnagawaSupporters arrived, the bacon butty, burger and chip van had just started serving and did a brisk trade throughout the day.  There was no shortage of advance publicity for the Northern Leagues United game with press coverage in the South Shields Gazette, the Northern Echo, and BBC Radio Newcastle’s Total Sport, not to mention a piece on the Newcastle United fans’ website, nufc.com. The Birtley ground was decorated with English and Japanese flags and of course, the magnificent Onagawa Cup was on display, reflecting back the splendour of the FA Vase brought along specially for the occasion by players and supporters from three-time winners, Whitley Bay.

Cobaltore Onagawa had sent us a selection of the few items still left on their shelves after the big wave had passed through their storehouse. By the end of the first game,   Birtley Under 17′s vs. Birtley Under 18′s, OnagawaSupporters had set out these wares,  alongside donated T-shirts, classy-looking programmes, books by Ian Cusack (‘Village Voice’) and Mark Cowan (‘Far from the Massive Crowds’), plus raffle tickets, and were ready for customers.  Cobaltore pin badges were immediately snapped up and one was soon sported by @el_quesogrande whose headgear attracted the attention of several cameras.

Cobaltore towel mufflers proved the most popular items on sale. A poignant detail is that several of these were donated back to Cobaltore by youth team players or their families and were marked with the young player’s name.  An offer to sign the mufflers with the new owner’s name in Japanese katakana script proved even more popular and the last muffler was soon snapped up.  As the main event kicked off, the crowd numbers grew and the word spread, meaning that OnagawaSupporters were kept busy selling things and had to rely on the brilliant wisecracking commentator for coverage of the fans against writers game.  We did catch glimpses of the writers’ team warming up and they looked as if they meant business, but as we now know, they were no match for the supporters’ team, possibly because they were all too busy planning their next tweet to think about what they were doing on the pitch.

In no time at all, the game was over and it was time to present the Cup to fans’ captain Adam Taylor-Christensen and the champagne to the Men of the Match, NL Fans defender Danny Newell and the writers’ Paul Fraser. There was a sympathetic silence while the message from Cobaltore Onagawa was delivered in Japanese and English, and then it was on to the third game, the Birtley vs. Ryton & Crawcrook friendly. Ryton secretary Ken Rodgers explained to us that he had donated Ryton’s share of the day’s takings to our cause, so we were delighted when Ken won the top raffle prize, a pair of tickets for the hospitality suite at Blackburn Rovers.

As the day drew towards its end, with a win for the home side, Birtley and Whitley Bay entrusted OnagawaSupporters with shirts signed by the whole team. These are on their way to Cobaltore as a memento of the Birtley event and will be followed in the very near future by the days’ proceeds, which after sharing with Birtley turned out to be a very impressive £500.

Birtley and Ryton and Whitley Bay aren’t big, rich football clubs. They can’t afford even a fraction of the kind of money that clubs in the Premier Leagues throw around. But what they are rich in, incredibly rich, is the grassroots generosity of spirit that bridges continents and gives joy to everyone who gets involved. Northern Leagues United day was that kind of day, and as we made our way home down the A1, we didn’t forget to say a big thank you to the Angel of the North and the fantastic people of England’s North East who made this event possible.

PS. If you too would like a souvenir program or T-shirt from Northern Leagues United please email us at onagawasupporters@hotmail.co.uk

The Countdown to Northern Leagues United

It’s nearly here! Saturday 9th July marks the biggest day so far in the Onagawa Supporters campaign, with the staging of the Grassroots International: Northern Leagues United event at Birtley Town FC in Gateshead. It’s an occasion that represents a massive display of support by the grassroots football community in the north-east of England for Cobaltore Onagawa, the small football club in Japan working to aid the recovery of its hometown from the 11th March tsunami.

So what can fans attending Northern Leagues United expect? There will be football, of course – but also a whole host of fun, the grand opening of Birtley Town’s brand new clubhouse, merchandise for sale, a filmmaker, live commentary, a raffle with some genuinely fantastic football prizes and the presentation of the magnificent Onagawa Cup, thanks to our friends at ExecTalk Sports. We’re also pleased and proud to say that representatives of Onagawa Supporters will be there to deliver a message direct from Japan and Cobaltore.

Northern Leagues United has a theme of international solidarity through football and acts as a fundraiser not only for Cobaltore Onagawa, but also for the host club at Birtley. The day features no fewer than three matches that will be contested – fiercely contested, that is – by top class players from across the Northern League, passionate fans of the grassroots game, football writers eager to put their money where their not inconsiderable mouths are and youngsters representing the next generation of local football, not to mention a bona fide former Premiership and international player in former Newcastle United and Republic of Ireland defender John Anderson.

Cobaltore’s proportion of the money raised on 9th July will go via Onagawa Supporters to fund the activities of the three squads of young players that the club are trying to maintain through 2011, despite having lost all of their equipment in the annihilation of Onagawa town by the tsunami. While the Cobaltore first team will play no matches this year as the players concentrate on local recovery work – meaning that the club have no income – staff are pouring their energy into organising the activities of about 100 players in the Cobaltore U12, U15 and U18 squads. The intention is that, rather than leaving their ruined hometown, these youngsters will through football see a future in Onagawa.

It’s this idea – that grassroots football can play a vital part in supporting and sustaining a community – that Northern Leagues United is all about. If you’re able to get to Birtley Town, close to the Angel of the North, the gates open at 11am on Saturday 9th July with a kick-off of the first game at 11.30am. You can express your support by attending the event and by buying raffle tickets and merchandise. You can also make a donation either at Birtley, or simply by clicking the Donate button on the right-hand side of this page (you don’t need a Paypal account to donate via this means!). Thank you very much – and see you at Birtley Town!

Stand by for good news

We have excellent news to tell you about your donations at work, and we’d like to let you in on the story today, but we’re waiting for pictures to arrive and will have to be patient for just a bit longer. Keep watching this space !
Meanwhile we have news of a gruelling training session hosted recently by Whickham, a Northern League Division Two club who won the 1981 FA Vase at Wembley. Whickham generously offered to put on a training session for the football writers and Northern League fans in preparation for Northern Leagues day. Paul Cavanagh (second right in this picture), club captain and Whickham’s longest serving player, gave up an evening at short notice to put eleven brave trainess through their (half) paces. Whickham have also offered to provide strips to the football writers’ team to wear on July 9th, when the Fans’ side will be playing in Birtley Town’s away colours.

Whitley Bay fan Steven White provided the photos for the training session and has offered to do the same on July 9th. You can see more of his work here:

Whitley Bay have confirmed they’ll be bringing the FA Vase along on July 9th (seen in this picture). Holding it is David Jameson, a Newcastle and Whitley Bay fan who’ll be playing for the fans’ team. Feel free to pass on the word !
皆さんの寄付金がどのように使われているか、素晴らしいニュースがあります。その話を今日したいのですが、写真を待っていることもあり、もう少し辛抱しなければなりません。続きを見てください。話は変わって、Whickhamは、1981年ロンドン近くにあるWembleyフットボールスタジアムでFA Vase（世界で有名）の決勝戦を制したノーザンリーグ　ディビジョンツウのクラブです。そのクラブが、女川のための試合（Northern Leagues day、7月9日開催）に向けて、参加選手である英国のスポーツ記者、それとノーザンリーグのフアン達に厳しいトレーニングを行いました。Whickhamのクラブ　キャプテインでかつ最長年プレーでもあるPaul Cavanagh （写真右側2番目）さんは、自分の時間を犠牲にして、全参加選手の内で元気な11人の選手（訓練生）にタフな訓練を行いました。また、Whickhamはスポーツ記者に7月9日に着るユニフォームを準備し、一方，ノーザンリーグのフアン達はBirtley Townのアウェイーカラーを着ることになります。Whitley Bay のフアン、Steven White さんは、自分のウエブhttp://www.imagesbysw.comへの訓練模様の写真、また、7月9日にも同様な写真を撮ることになってます。彼のそれらを見られます。Whitley Bayは当日にFA Vaseのカップを持込することは確認済みで、写真のそのカップを持っているのは、David Jameson さんで Newcastle and Whitley のフアンでもあると同時に、ノーザンリーグフアンチームの選手としてプレーします。友達にこの話をしませんか。（訳は日本読者向けにに判り易いよう、一部追加などもあります）

The Onagawa Cup is here, via Whitley Bay

THIS glittering prize

The Onagawa Cup

will be handed to the winning side in the Writers vs Fans game at the Northern Leagues United event taking place from 1pm on Saturday July 9th 2011 at the Birtley Sports Ground near the Angel of the North.

The story of how this magnificent trophy was born is an impressive tale of footballing solidarity. Whitley Bay fans sourced it, Andrew Watchman (local football fan, FIFA-licensed agent and one of the sponsors of the Northern League Day poster) was the major donor, and the Bay fans chipped in with the rest. Andrew’s company name is on the bottom. He’s on Twitter at @daddywatchy. Andrew will be at the game on the 9th and his son, Jack, is playing for the Northern League Fans’ Team. The writers and fans will play for the cup on July 9th and it will be on display in Birtley’s clubhouse afterwards.

This is promising to be a fund-raising event to remember, and we hope it will bring a smile to a few faces in Onagawa as well.

７月９日にノーザンリーグクラブ主催で二つのチャリティ対抗戦が行われることは以前に報告しました。それはスポーツ記者とフアンの試合、さらに２クラブによる戦いです。そこで、やっぱり、勝ったからには勝利カップが欲しいな、またそれを女川カップとして記念に残したいなどの声が盛り上がり、ウイットリー　ベイのフアン達とアンドリュウ　ウオッチマンさんがカップを購入寄贈しました。カップの台座には、女川カップの銘が刻まれています。また、このカップはノーザンリーグクラブの一つ、バートリクラブハウスに記念として残ります。

Sports Illustrated features Cobaltore Onagawa

Onagawa Supporters are happy to report more mainstream media coverage of Cobaltore Onagawa and its General Manager, Koichi Ohmi, who are featured in a Sports Illustrated article by Iain MacIntosh in his Inside Soccer column, out today. Sports Illustrated contacted us at the very beginning of our campaign and this article features an in-depth interview with Mr Ohmi, plus coverage of OnagawaSupporters. Our thanks go to Iain, and also to Sports Illustrated readers who have quickly responded with donations – with global support like this from the sports community we can do much more to help Cobaltore and Onagawa.

Link: In aftermath of the tsunami, Onagawa’s local team provides aid by Iain MacIntosh at sportsillustrated.cnn.com

what global support really means

Here at OnagawaSupporters we’ve been amazed on an almost daily basis at the worldwide strength of feeling from people all over the world. It seems that so many of us just want to do anything we can to support people who’ve been through an ordeal that shocked everyone.  And it has truly come from the grassroots, especially (in our case) from people who either just love football, or just love Japan, or most often both.

Today’s good surprise comes from Brazil, where a journalism student, Tiago Bontempo, has translated our appeal into Portuguese.   Thanks Tiago for bringing the word about Cobaltore Onagawa to a new continent !

Link: Qual a funcao de un time de futebol

Pledge For Cobaltore!

On 9th July, Northern League club Birtley Town FC will stage Grassroots International: Northern Leagues United, an event featuring games between Birtley Town and Ryton & Crawbrook Albion, and a Northern League Fans’ XI against a Football Writers’ XI.

A celebration of grassroots football, the purpose of the Grassroots International event is to raise money for the hosts and for Cobaltore Onagawa, the Japanese non-league football team that’s trying to help its community recover from the tsunami. We hope that as many people as possible will attend, have a great time and raise a lot of money for Cobaltore and Birtley.

But even if you can’t be there on 9th July, you can still take part! It doesn’t matter where in the world you live – everyone can join in and make a contribution to support international grassroots football.

Organisers Northern League Day and Onagawa Supporters have joined together to set up a pledge: you can sponsor us based on whether or not we reach our target attendance at Birtley on 9th July!

Take a look at the FAQs below for more information:

Q. So what exactly is the target?

A. Cobaltore Onagawa’s record home crowd is 470 – the photos accompanying this post were taken at the game, in fact – and we’re aiming to break that record. We want to attract 471 or more people to the Grassroots International event on 9th July.

Q. How do I make a pledge?

A. It’s easy. All you have to do is go to our page at Pledgebank.com, confirm your email address and sign the pledge.

Q. What will happen after that?

A. The attendance at Grassroots International on 9th July will be counted through the gate by staff of Birtley Town FC. If we achieve our target of a crowd of 471 or more, we’ll then email you a reminder of your pledge and information on how to make a payment.

Q. How much money can I pledge?

A. It’s up to you, of course. As much or as little as you can afford – it all goes to the same cause and we offer you our thanks in advance.

Q. What will the money be used for?

A. All money pledged will go to Onagawa Supporters to help fund Cobaltore Onagawa, as the club and it community try to recover from the tsunami. For example, the money raised by Onagawa Supporters up to now has been spent on absolute basics like kit for the Cobaltore youth team players.

But the club lost all their equipment in the tsunami and they have no income, which is why it’s so important that the grassroots football community support them. Whatever you give will make a difference. Thank you very much!