Craik Park (Morpeth Town)

This is an interesting and picturesque visit but very hard to recommend to tourists. You have to take in a game there.

The ground is situated quite a distance outside the town of Morpeth itself, deep inside some woods. It means the stadium is also largely surrounded by tall trees, making it beautiful as a setting but difficult to see much as a spectator.

There are two stands either side of the pitch, both different to each other and also to most other grounds at this level, making it a welcome venue in my eyes. The main seated stand is perfectly reasonable if unspectacular, and opposite is a bright yellow shelter for standing spectators.

The ground looks like it used to house a running track or something similar, as the pitch is a decent distance from the stand and has an oval shape to it too. Oh, and there’s a shed that almost looks like an old railway carriage too. Always a winner.

And that’s about it, save for some wonderful dug outs. In terms of visiting, I didn’t enjoy it much. A young group of kids congregated behind the visiting goalkeeper and spent the game abusing him, generally using a variety of obscenities that aren’t to be encouraged to 12 year old children.

But the ground itself is very very decent and in beautiful surrounds, so taking in a game here isn’t something you should necessarily avoid.

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