Stalwart leaves club in strong position

Serving as secretary of the club for more than 20 years, Mike Robinson has spearheaded the upturn in junior football in the village with more than 200 children playing the game on a weekly basis as a result of his hard work.

He believes now is the right time for a change and a new person to push the club forward, standing aside to allow somebody new to bring a fresh approach to the daily running of the community club.

He leaves the club in a healthy position and with a fantastic reputation as an instution at the heart of the community, a pivotal player in seeing Corbridge have teams at every age level in youth football.

A big personality across the North-East, Mike became involved with the youth section while still playing in goal for the village's senior team.

Starting out supporting Keith Lorraine as a goalkeeper coach, he ran his first junior team a couple of years later.

At that time, Corbridge United had three separate teams but Mike devised a scheme to start a community club to encompass teams at all age levels.

Within years, there were 10 teams playing in the blue and white hoops of United and Mike continued to develop the club.

In 1999, he formed a relationship with Tynedale Rugby Club which led to football and rugby sharing the facilities at Tynedale Park. That rapport was strengthened when the footballers raised £350,000 to build an extension at the clubhouse later that year!

Mike said: "That was a major step forward and such a huge building project, and although teams had been playing out of there already, the project really bonded the football and rugby clubs together in a really strong way.

"It was a massive effort and it was fantastic to bring two communities together for the same goal, and that was a fantastic achievement."

Another big highlight for Mike was meeting the Queen when he was invited along to represent football in Tynedale at a carers and volunteers event at Alnwick Castle.

He attended the event with other sporting personalities from the Tyne Valley, but didn't know Her Majesty herself was to be there.

He said: "I never knew I was meeting the Queen so that was a big surprise! She was wonderful, and came across and asked what we did and it was just a fantastic experience.

"She was with Alan Shearer, and when he came past I said to him, 'out of two of us, we are representing football in Northumberland but I think your credentials are better than mine!'"

Another famous encounter was with Sir Geoff Hurst, who scored the hat-trick in the final of the World Cup in 1966 to earn England their one and only triumph, when Corbridge played host to Northumberland FA Festival for five years.

Sir Geoff came up for the event which attracted 450 children, and the festivals were a big coup for a small community club like Corbridge.

The festivals meant a great deal to Mike, who picked up a national runners-up award for outstanding contribution to community football at Wembley back in 2010, as they encompassed everything he feels strongly about in junior football.

He said: "My ethos has always been that children in Corbridge wanting to play football should be able to play in the village.

"And the most important part is for community clubs to offer that and to have children on the field, over winning trophies and being the most successful team in the area."

With the club having played such a huge part in his life for the past two decades, it was with a heavy heart he made the decision to stand down - but he believes it is the correct one.

He said: "I have loved absolutely every minute of it, but it is time for the club to have somebody new with fresh ideas to inject fresh impetus which will push the club forward.

"I wouldn't be doing the club any favours if I kept doing it for another year, because it needs somebody new to come in.

"There has always been a fantastic group of people around us at the club, and they have all contributed in helping Corbridge United get to where it is today."