ANYMORE for Spennymoor? If it comes to bad luck then it's definitely a case of 'certainly not' - the Brewery Field outfit have had more than their fair share.

If it comes to success in the UniBond then United would give a resounding 'yes please' as they chase a return to the Premier Division.

Spennymoor United are a club with history firmly on their side, but their recent brushes with potential extinction appear to have made them even more determined to progress through the non-league ranks.

Under new manager Jamie Pollock they have set their sights on automatic promotion from the UniBond First Division.

And then the next target is the Vauxhall Conference, and the fringes of professional football.

The club's motto is 'With hope no-one shall fail'.

Over the last two years hope has appeared very thin on the ground as the club lurched from one crisis to the next.

In 2001 financial meltdown threatened to get the better of the club until hope did arrive in the form of Benny Mottram.

Without him according to both the secretary and chairman the club may in fact have buckled.

"We had a lot of interest in the club, but that did not materialise into anything concrete," said Barrie Hindmarch, chairman for more than 20 years.

"There were people who appeared to be keen to get involved but when they saw the situation we were in their interest soon disappeared.

"But Benny Mottram was a Victor Kiam type. He liked us so much he bought the company.

"The good thing was that he and the board shared ambitions."

Last summer though more problems hit the club after councillors voted to evict them from the ground they have graced since 1904.

The club eventually solved their problems with Spennymoor Town Council over a lease renewal, just in time to face a Football Association threat of expulsion.

The FA even stepped in to prevent the club from fulfilling its first fixtures of the season.

"The FA came along and said they were suspending our affiliation because of financial irregularities," said secretary Brian Boughen. "As far as they were concerned we hadn't come to an agreement with creditors - which simply wasn't true.

"We found them very difficult to talk to and at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon we were out of the FA Cup. But at 3.30pm we were back in it.

"After we brought in a solicitor to argue our case the suspension was lifted."

Spennymoor began their season a fortnight late, but they were soon on the tails of the leaders before suddenly things started going wrong - this time, however, the problems were on field

"We got off to a good start but then we started losing games when we were in strong positions," said Brian

"There was a game at Witton in December. We were 3-1 up with quarter of an hour left and lost 5-3.

"We were shipping goals and we had a meeting with the manager Tony Lee to discuss the problem."

Tony had taken the club from fourth bottom a year earlier to the play-offs at the end of last season - they eventually lost out to Ashton United.

But it appeared he had taken the club as far as he could and after he left, Jason Ainsley was appointed as temporary boss.

Brian added: "It was Jason who persuaded Jamie to come in. Jamie had taken some pre-season training with us last summer and we wanted him to sign on as a player.

"He turned us down as a player, but he was persuaded to come in as manager."

Pollock has added discipline in a playing sense on the field according to the chairman, with players knowing what their role is and knowing exactly what the manager expects of them.

And at 29 the former Middlesbrough, Osasuna, Manchester City and Crystal Palace midfielder has an old head on young soldiers.

"Jamie is the right man at the right time for Spennymoor," added Barrie.

"We know he is ambitious and we want to see some of those ambitions realised here.

"He doesn't have favourites and even his old mates like Jason (Ainsley) and Nicky (Mohan) know what he expects."

On Tuesday night Moors took a highly creditable point at leaders Alfreton Town, even after going down to ten men.

Brian said: "Tuesday night was an excellent result. If Stephen Bell hadn't been sent off we would have won it.

"If results go our way, and with the run-in we've got, the title is still on."

At present Alfreton and Radcliffe Borough occupy the top two spots but Spennymoor have two games in hand on both sides.

Both Barrie and Brian believe promotion will be achieved this season - either directly or though the play-offs.

The only problem with the play-off route is that it could mean Moors coming up against North-East rivals Gateshead or even Blyth Spartans - currently occupying third and fourth bottom of the Premier Division, respectively.

"I wouldn't like to have to play either of them for a place in the Premier Division," said Brian.

"I think it would take some of the gloss off the win.

"But I really believe we will get promotion, and hopefully we can avoid the lottery of the play-offs."

Then the new man in charge has his eyes firmly fixed on the Vauxhall Conference.

The former Boro fans' favourite - Teesside born and bred - has set about building from the back at Moors and one signing, goalkeeper Martin Kearney, has proved an inspired acquisition according to Brian.

"We've become a strong side defensively," said Brian. "A few players have left and we have been better for it.

"He brought Martin Kearney in goal and he's been fantastic."

What the club are waiting for now is to see the former England Under-21 international pull on the Moors' black-and-white shirt.

Barrie said: "Jamie has been having a look at the players first, but he's said he'll be looking to play for us next season."

Next season will also hopefully see an increase the crowds turning up at Brewery Field - which surprisingly may be boosted by Sunderland's imminent relegation from the top flight.

"When Sunderland went up into the Premiership it almost immediately halved our crowds," said Barrie. "I hate to see them go down but I think we'll see the benefits next season."

Sunderland fans switching allegiances to the black-and-whites. Now that could only happen in Spennymoor.

Published: ??/??/2003