Newcastle Falcons vs Sale Sharks Match-Day Programme

with the building society of that name which was to be another
high profile casualty of the 2008 financial crash, but came
about as a result a merger between the Bradford and Bingley
clubs. The match was uneventful and dominated by the
home side who ran in seven tries through Derek Briggs, Tony
Henderson, Ross Wilkinson, Sheldon Byrne, Dave Morley and
two from Denis Clegg. Fly-half Peter Clark – Banty Johnson had
moved to Northern after they secured employment for him
in the construction industry – kicked two penalties and four
conversions.
The Gosforth team that day was:
D.Briggs; T.Henderson; R.Wilkinson; D.Clegg: T.Elliott; P.Clark;
D.Walker; C.White; G.Cooper; M.Fraser; T.Roberts; C.Hall; S.Byrne;
I.Grayson; D.Morley.
their own grounds at that time, and both played their home
matches at the County Ground. These discussions were
resurrected in the late 1980s as both clubs were losing money
and facing uncertain futures.
Gosforth had been in steady decline since the glory years of the
late 1970s, whilst Northern’s playing decline had commenced
earlier and had progressed rather more sharply. The premise
behind the possible merger was that the clubs would merge
and the proceeds from the sale of Gosforth’s ground would be
invested in developing Northern’s McCracken Park into a top
class rugby venue. Talks were complicated by the fact that
McCracken Park was not actually owned by the rugby club, but
by a separate ground company. Nevertheless, the smart money
at the time was on the merger going ahead. On the Monday
following the cup replay Alan Hedley bemoaned the lack of
For the record, Northern,
inspired by Johnson, won the
cup final replay 24-16. It was
this result that was to acquire
much greater significance.
Despite the cup replay and
Gosforth’s victory subsequent
press reports were dominated
by talk of the progress, or
rather lack of it, on possible
merger talks between
Gosforth and Northern, which
were running the risk of
leaving Gosforth temporarily
homeless. This was not the
first time that such a merger
had been on the agenda.
Preliminary discussions
between senior elements in
the two clubs had taken place
over 50 years earlier when
neither club owned
George Graham
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