HOT-SHOT KESTRELS ARE FLY-AWAY CHAMPIONS
Having been beaten to the top spot by Aston Villa the previous season, Blyth Spartans Kestrels made no mistake at this time of asking. They stormed to the title by winning 20 games out of 22, racking up a goal difference of plus-69 and along the way brushing aside the competition from Bangor City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Their opening day 10-1 win against Arnold Town said a lot about the Kestrels’ prowess and intent but also, sadly, about the struggling East Midlands side, who would be relegated in late March. Whilst Cheryl Foster regularly found the net for Bangor and the defence and goalkeeper Jo Roberts did well throughout the season, injury problems meant the North Wales side’s push for top spot never quite materialised.
Interestingly, it was a 2-0 loss to Bangor City in the League Cup that marked a turning point in the season for the Kestrels as in October they switched from Blyth’s Croft Park to the Howletch Centre in Peterlee, County Durham to link up with East Durham & Houghall College (hence clipping the team’s name to ‘BS’).
Head Coach Michael Mulhern and assistant Alan Snowdon came in for manager Granville Mervin and, as the club’s association with the first-ever residential Women’s Football Academy in the UK was further tightened, a handful of talented young players from outside of the region (notably Southampton, Brighton and north of the border) made the move to don the purple and white of the college.
What was effectively full-time football training certainly gave the Kestrels’ cohort of student footballers, like the division’s 23-goal top scorer Melanie Reay, an extra edge.
However, the level of dedication required was still impressive, as Reay reflects: ”I lived away from home [at college] for those two years. Dad used to pick me up every Friday night, drive back to Northumberland and take me straight to ‘Iceland’ for my part-time job. I always worked three hours on a Friday and then all day Saturday.
“If it was an away game, like Wolves – who were always a good team – you would get up at ‘daft o’clock’ to go there and back in a day. The bus would drop us off on the motorway, on the way back, and we used to go straight back to college. We totally lived and were absorbed in football, on repeat, for two years.”
Set-piece and penalty specialist Reay, who went on to pick up further scoring accolades for both Sunderland and Newcastle in subsequent seasons, despite spells at left back and as a winger, was part of a potent forward line that hit home 90 goals in the promotion season.
She was also quick to praise her partnership with diminutive fellow striker Donna Lanaghan: “We kind of had a bit of a telepathic... like we knew where each other was. She was very unselfish and very much a team player.
“She probably didn’t score as many as she should have but she was quicker than me and could get at the back line better and worked really hard.
“I could shoot from distance and Donna was a bit like a fox in the box, getting the little scraps. She was obviously a lot older than me as well, so I did look up to her.”
The bubbly was flowing as BS Kestrels sealed promotion with a midweek 4-1 win at Huddersfield Town in late March. “I remember Lynsey Baxter bouncing on the massage table in the dressing room, banging on the ceiling and then the celebrations in the bar afterwards,” recalls Reay.
“I’m really proud to be the first manager to take a team from the North East into the National Division,” remarked Michael Mulhern, at the time.
It was the turn of the Terriers themselves to be full of smiles just a few weeks later – a brilliant 3-2 win at Garswood Saints offered them a lifeline for safety and ultimately sent Bradford City down, along with Arnold.
Oldham Curzon and Newcastle Town were promoted from the Northern and Midland Combinations, respectively, to take their places.
FINAL TABLE
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BS Kestrels | 22 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 90 | 21 | 61 | +69 |
| 2 | Bangor City | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 44 | 19 | 48 | +25 |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 64 | 34 | 42 | +20 |
| 4 | Leeds United | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 48 | 30 | 39 | +17 |
| 5 | Sheffield Wednesday | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 44 | 42 | 35 | +2 |
| 6 | Garswood Saints | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 39 | 34 | +6 |
| 7 | Ilkeston Town | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 33 | 40 | 25 | -8 |
| 8 | Birmingham City | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 32 | 47 | 23 | -14 |
| 9 | Coventry City | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 24 | 48 | 19 | -24 |
| 10 | Huddersfield Town | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 28 | 56 | 19 | -28 |
| 11 | Bradford City | 22 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 40 | 69 | 17 | -29 |
| 12 | Arnold Town | 22 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 61 | 11 | -36 |
FA WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE NORTHERN DIVISION RESULTS 1999-00
22/8/1999
Bangor City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Birmingham City 3-1 Sheffield Wednesday
BS Kestrels 10-1 Arnold Town
Bradford City 4-0 Coventry City
Garswood Saints 2-4 Ilkeston Town
Leeds United 1-2 Huddersfield Town
25/8/1999
Bangor City 2-3 Garswood Saints
Huddersfield Town 0-5 Bradford City
Ilkeston Town 4-1 Arnold Town
Sheffield Wednesday 1-3 Leeds United
29/8/1999
Birmingham City 0-3 Ilkeston Town
Coventry City 2-2 Leeds United
Garswood Saints 3-1 Bradford City
Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 Arnold Town
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Huddersfield Town
1/9/1999
Huddersfield Town 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Leeds United 1-1 Bradford City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-2 Garswood Saints
5/9/1999
Bangor City 4-1 Huddersfield Town
Birmingham City 1-6 BS Kestrels
Bradford City 6-1 Arnold Town
Coventry City 1-1 Garswood Saints
Ilkeston Town 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Leeds United 3-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
12/9/1999
BS Kestrels 4-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Coventry City 3-0 Arnold Town
Garswood Saints 5-4 Huddersfield Town
19/9/1999
Arnold Town 0-0 Huddersfield Town
Bangor City 1-1 Birmingham City
BS Kestrels 2-0 Coventry City
Bradford City 1-4 Ilkeston Town
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday
3/10/1999
Birmingham City 2-0 Arnold Town
Bradford City 1-3 Leeds United
Ilkeston Town 0-4 Wolverhampton Wanderers
10/10/1999
Arnold Town 0-2 Bradford City
BS Kestrels 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Garswood Saints 1-1 Birmingham City
Ilkeston Town 6-0 Huddersfield Town
Leeds United 0-1 Bangor City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Coventry City
17/10/1999
Bangor City 3-1 Ilkeston Town
Sheffield Wednesday 2-3 Bradford City
20/10/1999
Arnold Town 2-0 Ilkeston Town
24/10/1999
Coventry City 0-3 BS Kestrels
Sheffield Wednesday 2-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
31/10/1999
Garswood Saints 4-0 Coventry City
7/11/1999
Bradford City 3-5 BS Kestrels
Coventry City 1-2 Ilkeston Town
Huddersfield Town 1-2 Arnold Town
Leeds United 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
14/11/1999
Arnold Town 1-2 Garswood Saints
BS Kestrels 2-1 Leeds United
Huddersfield Town 2-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Ilkeston Town 0-0 Bradford City
Sheffield Wednesday 2-2 Birmingham City
21/11/1999
Bangor City 2-1 Huddersfield Town
Garswood Saints 4-1 Arnold Town
Leeds United 2-5 BS Kestrels
Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 Ilkeston Town
28/11/1999
Arnold Town 1-2 Leeds United
BS Kestrels 11-1 Birmingham City
Coventry City 1-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Huddersfield Town 1-1 Ilkeston Town
Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Garswood Saints
5/11/1999
Arnold Town 2-1 Coventry City
Bangor City 0-2 BS Kestrels
Birmingham City 4-1 Bradford City
Sheffield Wednesday 4-3 Huddersfield Town
Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-2 Ilkeston Town
16/1/2000
Bangor City 3-1 Bradford City
23/1/2000
Arnold Town 0-1 Birmingham City
Huddersfield Town 0-4 Leeds United
Ilkeston Town 0-1 Bangor City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 7-1 Bradford City
30/1/2000
Coventry City 2-1 Birmingham City
Leeds United 2-0 Ilkeston Town
Sheffield Wednesday 1-6 BS Kestrels
6/2/2000
Arnold Town 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Birmingham City 0-1 Huddersfield Town
Coventry City 1-2 Bangor City
13/2/2000
Arnold Town 0-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
BS Kestrels 7-2 Bradford City
Coventry City 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday
20/2/2000
Bradford City 3-9 Birmingham City
Blyth Spartans Kestrels 3-1 Garswood Saints
Ilkeston Town 1-1 Coventry City
27/2/2000
Arnold Town 0-0 Bangor City
Birmingham City 1-3 Garswood Saints
Bradford City 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Huddersfield Town 0-1 Coventry City
Ilkeston Town 1-2 BS Kestrels
5/3/2000
Bangor City 2-0 Arnold Town
Birmingham City 3-6 Leeds United
Bradford City 1-3 Huddersfield Town
Ilkeston Town 1-1 Garswood Saints
Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 Coventry City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-3 BS Kestrels
12/3/2000
Bangor City 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
BS Kestrels 4-0 Ilkeston Town
Leeds United 1-1 Garswood Saints
Huddersfield Town Town 2-1 Birmingham City
Wolverhampton 7-0 Arnold Town
19/3/2000
Birmingham City 1-2 Coventry City
Garswood Saints 0-2 BS Kestrels
26/3/2000
Arnold Town 0-2 BS Kestrels
Birmingham City 1-1 Bangor City
Bradford City 1-4 Garswood Saints
Coventry City 1-1 Huddersfield Town
29/3/2000
Huddersfield Town 1-4 BS Kestrels
2/4/2000
BS Kestrels 1-1 Bangor City
Coventry City 3-2 Bradford City
Garswood Saints 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Leeds United 0-1 Birmingham City
6/4/2000
Sheffield Wednesday 2-2 Bangor City
9/4/2000
Bangor City 6-1 Coventry City
BS Kestrels 5-0 Huddersfield Town
Garswood Saints 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Ilkeston Town 1-0 Birmingham City
16/4/2000
Bradford City 0-5 Birmingham City
Huddersfield Town 3-2 Garswood Saints
Ilkeston Town 0-3 Leeds United
28/4/2000
Bangor City 4-0 Leeds United
30/4/2000
Garswood Saints 0-2 Leeds United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Bangor City
1/5/2000
Bradford City 1-3 Bangor City
2/5/2000
Leeds United 4-1 Arnold Town
4/5/2000
Leeds United 5-0 Coventry City
5/5/2000
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Birmingham City
7/5/2000
Garswood Saints 1-1 Bangor City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Leeds United
8/5/2000
Birmingham City 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
