NATIONWIDE NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH. TUESDAY, 18th AUGUST 2026.
It wouldn’t be Morecambe Football Club if we weren’t going to start a match report with bad news from off the field. The appallingly patronising and dishonest attitude of the Panjab Warriors to regulation in general, its fans – and particularly its loyal members of staff – has already been made all too obvious in so many ways. But the Shrimps Trust – the fans’ representative group – issued a statement on Monday, August 17th 2026 referring to the latest development in the on-going crises which already involved the Pension regulator and the Independent Football Regulator:
“National League embargo
Following the National League’s decision to place Morecambe Football Club under an embargo on 11 August 2026, the Shrimps Trust has sought clarification from the club regarding the situation and its implications.
We contacted representatives of Morecambe FC on 11 August and again on 14 August, seeking clarification on:
- the reason for the embargo;
- the expected timescale for its resolution; and
- the club’s understanding of the impact the embargo has on new player registrations.
Unfortunately, we have received no response from the club to date. We acknowledge the understandable concern and frustration expressed by our members and the wider supporter base over this situation, and the lack of response by the club to date.
We share supporters’ desire for clear and timely communication. Our aim is to represent their interests and concerns while maintaining a constructive relationship with the club.”
As we wish them good luck with that, we can now turn to tonight’s opponents in the National League North, South Shields:
South Shields is a club with a quite extraordinary history. By rights, they should certainly be far higher up the football pyramid in England then they currently find themselves. Perhaps more importantly, they put local rivals Gateshead to utter shame: these doppelgangers have stolen the club’s identity not just once, but twice in the past.
There have been three incarnations of South Shields to date. The original one was founded in 1888 as South Shields Adelaide United. This club was created as a Boys Team initially and was centred on the long-disappeared Adelaide Terrace in the town, initially playing at a simple ground close to Hartington Terrace. The club grew steadily, however and was invited to join the Football League during 1919. Facing financial problems, this incarnation of the club migrated lock, stock and barrel to the town just to the west down the River Tyne and played as Gateshead until 1960, when it was – very unusually – booted out of the Closed Shop of the Football League to the advantage of Peterborough United. When the failed club folded altogether in 1973, the second iteration of South Shields was also exported from the town to be known henceforth as Gateshead United.
Undaunted, hardcore Mariners supporters set up a new, third, version of their club. Deprived of the large and impressive ground Simonside Park (25,000 capacity and with pylon floodlights from Sunderland’s Roker Park ) which had been gifted to the old club – it initially had nowhere to play.
It settled on a Council-owned pitch at Jack Clark Park in the town. The new club joined the lowly Northern Alliance and, having won it in 1976, moved to the Wearside League and won this too – first time of asking – in1977. Plans to join the Northern League were constantly hampered by the club’s lack of a proper home ground though. They played as from 1992 on a ground owned by a cigarette filter manufacturing company – Filtrona – in Jarrow and have been there more or less ever since. They were exiled in 2013 after a dispute with the landlord and played at Eden Lane in Peterlee in front of a handful of fans but returned to the ground two years later as the owner of the time bought it. During 1995 they were finally promoted to the Second Division of the Northern League and were soon promoted to its First Division but only survived in it until 2000. They struggled after this and faced both a possible return to the Wearside League and the reality of being locked out of their own ground during 2006. New ownership saw the club rally once more though and fight its way back into the First Division of the Northern League. In 2017, they won the FA Vase at Wembley by beating Cleethorpes Town 4-0 in the final. Finally, in 2018, the Mariners were promoted to the Northern Premier League and were able to compete at exactly the same level as the club which became Gateshead United over forty years after South Shields Mark II had jumped ship from the town. The club became fully professional in 2021 and – with former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips at the helm – won the NPL title in 2023 and was rewarded with promotion to where they are now: the National League North.
Last season, they finished second in the table with 95 points; a whole eight more than third club Kidderminster. Crucially – and arguably unfairly too – the Harriers then beat them on their own patch in the Play-Off Final by two goals to nil to pip them to promotion to the National League.
Footballers who have played for both South Shields and Morecambe include Lewis Alessandra and Adam Campbell.
Morecambe have never played the latest version of South Shields but beat the second one 2-1 in an FA Cup tie at Christie Park way back in 1961. They have also encountered each other in the Northern Premier League:
The Shrimps will travel the 120 miles to South Shields on Tuesday 9th March 2027 to play a game which will kick-off at 19:45hrs. But the first fixture will be at the Halo on Tuesday 18th August 2026 for a match which will start at 19:45hrs.
You can find a copy of tonight’s digital match programme here:
The Mariners arrived in sixth place in the table with a hundred percent record from their two games so far: 2-1 against Chorley at home last Saturday and away at Scarborough by the only goal of the game in their first game of the season.
The Shrimps, by contrast, have struggled. They were perhaps a little lucky to draw their first game against a much bigger Spennymoor team in their opening game in the campaign given a weak first half display. Against another physically large side – Harborough Town – they were never in the game last Saturday and lost tamely one-nil but it could have been more. Morecambe look uncertain at set-pieces; too slow in midfield and virtually toothless up-front. This won’t be helped by the bad cut to Ronnie Blois on Saturday, when a bad challenge by a Harborough defender saw him crash into a wall by the side of the pitch which damaged the back of his head and left him bloodied and concussed. He will be out for the next few weeks. The latest embargo stops Manager Adam Lakeland making any emergency replacements – or any signings at all. To end this ludicrous situation, all our utterly useless owners have to do is release the information the National League North authorities have demanded from them. So why don’t they?
This is what Adam wrote in the club programme prior to tonight’s latest challenge:
“It’s obvious to say that the opening games of the season haven’t produced the results we wanted. After drawing our opening game here to Spennymoor, we travelled to Harborough Town on Saturday and deservedly came away defeated, which pains me to admit.
More disappointing than the result itself was our performance. We were nowhere near the levels that we expect or demand, and as a group we must take responsibility for that.
The opening two fixtures have provided us with a harsh introduction to what this league is all about, particularly Saturday’s game. We knew before the season started that the National League North would present different challenges and the last week or so has only reinforced that.
There are certain qualities you simply must show consistently if you want to be competitive and successful at this level. You have to compete, work relentlessly, deal with the physical side of the game and show resilience when things aren’t going your way. Alongside that, we have to be brave enough to impose ourselves and play the football we know we are capable of playing.
We’ve spoken a lot since I arrived about the standards we want to set and the type of team we want to become. Those words have to be backed up by our actions, and when we fall below those standards, as we did on Saturday, we have to recognise it, learn from it quickly and respond.”
Would they, though?
There was little sign of it as the game started in breezy and occasionally wet conditions. The Mariners looked sharp, fit and cohesive. They obviously had a plan and in trying to implement it, showed everybody that the National League North doesn’t have to be all brute force and ignorance: they played the ball well on the deck, passed it around confidently and were the far better team until right at the end of the period.
The bad news for the Shrimps was that promising midfielder Lewis Leigh didn’t even last a quarter of an hour: he went down off the ball with nobody near him and that was the end of that. His team-mates were chasing shadows for most of the half; slower to react to most second balls and playing on the back foot virtually throughout. Having said that, there were few chances. After eight minutes, Sonny Finch and our old pal Adam Campbell combined well on the Shields’ right and Joe Young had to make a smart save at the cost of a corner from Finch’s fierce shot. Morecambe conceded a lot of corners in the first half. They offered little going forwards until the latter stages of the period. Then – with 40 minutes on the clock – Cameron Coxe slung over a lovely ball from the Shrimps’ right and Joe Garner’s effort was blocked by the visiting defence. Better still, Elijah Buckley-Ricketts had a clear run on goal right at the death but as the Mariners’ desperately closed ranks, he elected to pass the ball to Elliot Newby rather than shoot and probably the best chance of the game so far was lost. Just before the whistle blew for half time, Skipper Will Smith connected with a free-kick from the right wing and headed just wide.
Morecambe kept up the pressure right from the off in the second half. From a Jake Cain corner, Coxe’s strike was blocked by the away defence with six minutes played. Two minutes later, relatively small Mariners’ goalkeeper Jasper Sheik rushed from his goal to deal with a ball coming in from the Morecambe left; missed it but flattened home Skipper Smith.
Accidental? I wonder…
Whatever, the fussy and officious Referee John Mulligan gave nothing as the home crowd yelled for a penalty. As the Shrimps were asking all the questions, Elijah headed agonisingly wide from a right-wing cross in the fifty-fifth minute which I suspect he only saw at the last moment. Then Smith went just as close with another good header with almost an hour played.
At this point, I at least thought that only one team was going to win. Which shows what I know because Shields rallied and started to press in the way they had during the first half. They had a Purple Patch around about the seventieth minute where they pinned the hosts in their own half for some time but created no actual scoring opportunities. After that, the game seemed to be drifting towards a predictable draw. But the Mariners stole all three points with a strike from Cedwyn Scott after the home team had failed to properly deal with a corner with just two minutes scheduled to play.
It was a classic sucker-punch. The Shrimps forced a couple of half-chances after this but it was too little; too late.
South Shields are a good side. Anyone could see why they came so close to being promoted to the National League last time out. They are the proof that it is possible to succeed in this Division by having enough nous not to be suckered-in to the agricultural tactics employed by usually much physically bigger sides who seem to be in abundance and actually play proper football.
Morecambe found themselves in a familiar place – the relegation zone – tonight in the National League North. It’s slightly concerning that – with three games played – we still haven’t scored a goal from open play. But it’s still very early days and there were signs tonight – unlike at this stage of last season – that the club is almost certainly in a false position.
The Mariners found themselves in second place in the table on goal difference alone from Chester with nine points out of nine as they headed back to the North-East in the darkness and the rain.
Safe journey home to them and their 162 supporters.
This is how Adam Lakeland reacted to this latest defeat after the game:
“I’m gutted for my players to be honest. I thought that the level of application; work ethic; spirit – was far better than what I saw on Saturday. South Shields are a top, top team. Five of the outfield players who started for them tonight started the Play-Off Final last year for the team that got 95; 96 points. They’ve had time. They have an identity. They’ve got a way of playing – they have a good fluidity. And we’re a team that’s missing two or three players; we’re a little bit light and we’re a newly-formed group. I felt we should have won the game. So we can only be positive about what we’ve seen there tonight. The first half – we had to be incredibly disciplined. I thought in the second half we were the better team. Joe’s had very, very little to do. And, in fairness, their keeper hasn’t had enough to do: the chances we had, we’ve not probably hit the target. We should have had a clear penalty. That baffles me what the Referee’s seen there. I mean: Will Smith’s headed the ball; the ball’s travelled towards the goal and the goalkeeper’s smashed him – he got absolutely nowhere near the ball. It’s a penalty all day long. Everything we asked them to give us tonight, they have. And that gives me so much confidence moving forwards. I’m full of encouragement after that tonight – and we’ll be fine”
Morecambe: 1 Joe Young; 2 Cameron Coxe; 3 Ben Williams 4 Liam Hogan (Y); 5 Will Smith (C); 8 Lewis Leigh (20 Jake Cain 16’); 9 Joe Garner (7 Teddy Collis 77‘); 10 Matty Daly (Y); 11 Elliot Newby; 14 Elijah Buckley-Ricketts; 17 Paul Lewis (Y).
Subs Not Used: 13 Myles Boney; 27 Adam Fairclough; 26 Lennon Dobson; 30 Corey Goodyear.
South Shields: 1 Jasper Sheik; 2 Robbie Tinkler (C); 3 Jordan Marshall (8 Toby Onanaye 83’); 4 Cian Sykes; 6 Khanya Leshabela (Y); 7 Sonny Finch (Y) (21 Caden Kelly 90’); 9 Paul Blackett; 11 Sean McGurk (22 Chinono Chibueze 72’); 14 Ethan Mann; 19 Cedwyn Scott; 27 Adam Campbell (20 Sam Ashford 90’).
Subs Not Used: 5 Dillon Morse; 10 Jack Roles; 28 Dan Savage.
Ref: John Mulligan.
Att: 2171 (162 from South Shields.)
