The Albany Northern League

England are taking on Finland in their World Cup qualifier on March 24.

Most Northern League clubs switched when England played Germany in September, and the move was met with a measure of success, especially for those who played the night before.

Durham City moved their game with Bedlington to Friday January 5, and were rewarded with a crowd of well over 600.

A Durham official said: "We're trying to persuade a few more clubs to play on Fridays."

The league has no objection to clubs switching games.

Newcastle Blue Star chairman Tom Brash has resigned after three years in the job. Brash took over three seasons ago, and has put the club on a firmer financial footing, which has helped them improve facilities at the Wheatsheaf. Derek Sayers has taken over for the time being.

Guisborough Town have introduced a scheme to encourage more supporters to attend matches at the King George. For an outlay of £5 per game, the club is offering family tickets, sponsored by local firm Hensons, for two adults and two children to attend home matches.

Guisborough manager Mark Forster said: "We're trying to attract more people to come along and watch games. There have been some very exciting games on our ground this season, and we think to watch good entertainment like this is good value for money."

The scheme has been given full backing by the league, which is anxious to increase attendances at all of its matches.

The two semi-finals of the Albany Durham Challenge Cup were postponed because of waterlogged pitches in midweek.

Bishop Auckland and Tow Law has been rearranged for Wednesday and Brandon against West Auckland for the night before.

The revised Northern League Cup draw is: South Shields v West Auckland, Guisborough v Bedlington or Alnwick, Brandon or Whitley Bay v Billingham Town or Seaham Red Star, Marske v Easington.

Bedlington are attempting to play their outstanding game against Alnwick on Monday night while Brandon and Whitley Bay, whose game was abandoned last week with the scores level, were due to try again next Wednesday, but now Brandon will be playing West Auckland in the Durham Challenge Cup.

The two Northern League teams in Vase action tomorrow, Bedlington and Marske, face each other in league action at Welfare Park on Wednesday.

Easington manager Wilf Constantine is wondering how his side is going to fit in a minimum of 25 games between now and the end of the season. Easington are suffering now in terms of fixture congestion from their FA Cup success from earlier in the season, when they reached the fourth qualifying round, winning two replays on the way.

They have played 16 league games, and they also have a league cup tie to play at Marske, which means that they are looking at a two-game per week schedule between now and the end of the season.

"I will have to strengthen the squad," said Constantine. "We have a lot of midweek games to play when some lads work shifts, so I will have to bring players in to cover them.

"We've had a lot of postponed games recently, which has meant that we've been sucked back into the relegation zone. When we start playing again, then we need a couple of wins."

But there is a further snag. The club's boiler is in need of a repair, and until the part arrives, they cannot stage home games.

"Originally, we were due to be at home every Tuesday during February. But until the boiler is fixed, then we will have to play away games," said Constantine.

Easington's last game was at Crook over a fortnight ago when they played with an outfield player in goal. The two keepers in the squad, Paul Marsh and Joe Thompson, were both held up on the way to the game, so Paul Brown had to put on the keeper's jersey. Constantine tried to contact his two keepers by mobile phone, but accidentally dropped his phone into a bowl of water in the changing room. All games bar one were postponed in the Northern League during the week because of the bad weather. Kennek Ryhope CA and Murton drew 2-2 in their ground-share derby

l The Hertfordshire Senior County League have come up with a drastic solution to their fixture crisis, but the Northern League is very unlikely to copy the idea. Like many other leagues in the country, they are faced with a massive backlog of fixtures, and have extended their season up to May 28.

However, some of their clubs share their facilities with cricket clubs - just like Whickham, Hebburn and Evenwood in the Albany Northern League - so the league has decided to arrange double header matches in cases where clubs have yet to play each other this season.

Clubs will now play each other twice on the same day, at a venue to be fixed by the league. Both matches will consist of two halves of 30 minutes, with a 15-minute break between each game.

The Northern League is unlikely to resort to such measures, although it is becoming more and more likely that the season will be officially extended to the last Saturday in May.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

Durham City 28 17 5 6 67 30 56

Billingham Syn 23 14 4 5 55 37 46

Bedlington 20 14 2 4 61 18 44

Peterlee 22 13 4 5 43 31 43

Dunston 20 12 5 3 53 24 41

Guisborough 23 10 4 9 38 35 34

Marske 17 9 5 3 31 14 32

Brandon 23 9 5 9 42 36 32

Billingham Town 17 9 3 5 35 22 30

Tow Law 20 9 3 8 46 35 30

Seaham 22 9 2 11 39 63 29

Chester-le-Street 20 9 1 10 38 28 28

Whitley Bay 18 8 3 7 33 25 27

Consett 21 8 3 10 29 35 27

Newc'le Blue Star 19 7 5 7 31 39 26

Jarrow Roofing 24 6 7 11 39 49 25

West Auckland 20 6 5 9 23 32 23

Easington 16 5 2 9 25 34 17

Morpeth 22 4 4 14 24 51 16

Hebburn 22 2 4 16 21 56 10

Crook Town 23 1 2 20 17 101 5

Division Two

Thornaby 21 13 6 2 51 30 45

Ashington 18 12 3 2 53 23 39

Esh Winning 20 11 4 5 45 29 37

Horden 21 11 4 6 28 21 37

Willington 23 9 9 5 41 26 36

Washington 19 8 8 3 37 19 32

South Shields 20 9 5 6 46 36 32

Northallerton 17 8 6 3 45 19 30

Norton 21 8 6 7 29 34 30

Ryhope CA 24 7 8 9 33 37 29

Shildon 23 7 6 10 26 34 27

Murton 19 7 4 8 35 41 25

Shotton 18 5 9 4 33 29 24

Alnwick 20 5 9 6 30 31 24

Prudhoe 24 6 3 15 34 53 21

Penrith 16 4 7 5 19 27 19

Whickham 23 4 6 13 32 51 18

Evenwood 19 4 4 11 18 53 16

Eppleton 24 1 5 18 25 62 8