Sassco’s 11-a-side team sprung into action in 2002, developed from a set of players from the different 6-a-side teams, who were playing in the Sassco Leagues since 1999.
The team never really achieved a great deal in terms of silverware, coming close in a final in their second season. However, the events undertaken by Sassco far surpass any other teams in their generation. Pioneering Adidas team kits from overseas, recording 11-a-side games in widescreen, customised soccer balls developed in Asia, overseas football tours and prestigious friendlies against Northern League teams and teams from outside their own leagues.
The team is still active and recently played at the Stadium of Light, as well as regular friendly games against local opponents. For one of their most recent games, five players from the original line up back in 2002 were present.
Wonderful morning for football though. After the heights of last seasons’ three game series and wins, it was crashing back down to Earth on a warm day in Rickleton. The squad,…
To celebrate three back to back wins, we’re looking to upgrade the shirts. Kappa is still the chosen make, but this combines the simple retro look of the previous Awdis designs…
The traffic beats the Tash, and a 5-1 defeat. Sassco traditionally had a huge pre-season programme – sometimes up to 10 games. We usually played higher level teams, but always enjoyed…
“There’s nee one here!” …said Bunta in an SMS message which even looked angry. Luckily for him the players were there, he just didn’t know them. Most of the players didn’t…
Over 60’s superstar, Nelly Richardson, fires in a (geri)hat-trick. Only 5 players remained from our previous, resounding 8-4 win over AFC Washington. This time we were playing on Washington’s favoured day,…
Best performance for a while. Our third 11-a-side game was rapidly coming up and the squad was a bit up and down. We had entrants, then drop-outs, and with temperatures heading…
Washington Deaf walloping. So, heading back to the car; tails between our legs and blowing out of our arses, then finding out some shithousery activity. Washington Hub was where the game…
Post-pandemic Sassco unbeaten so far in 2021. Our first game after the lock down saw a similar team and similar performance to the previous game v Hillarys. We were 2-1 down…
Another defeat for the 11-a-side. A late report from the 11-a-side game back in October, Sassco’s last one for 2020. A mix of players with debuts from Michael Brown, David Cruickshanks.…
Devastated to hear that we’ve lost Dean Matthews to Covid. Dean played for Sassco in the 6-a-side and 11-a-side from 2006 for a couple of years. He also helped to source one…
A bit of a shambles. Normally we cobble together a squad of bare 11, but with so many missing from the usual bunch, we really cobbled together a big squad. The…
Here’s a quick fitness guide and some advice based on some articles on the Internet and general common sense. As you’ll end up being a bunch of tubby’s, it’s recommended having…
9 then 15 then 12 before ending up with 11 Not a great deal to say. We had, what I thought was, our biggest squad since I created an imaginary Sassco…
Scheduled for Friday 15th May 2020 We’re back at the SOL, which is the finest League One stadium we’ve ever played in. This time it’s against Workwear Express, who kindly sponsored…
Sassco 11-a-side and 6-a-side have been Adidas since 1999 to around 2008 when we decided to have a one-season dalliance with Kappa, which was abandoned mainly because most of the team…
No more Mr. Nice Guy. Player power was booted up the arse and consigned to the dust bin as I shoved all the fat lads into my favourite, defensive 4-5-1 system.…
Dog Turd Formations. So it was the final hurrah in the competitive set of games. We needed a win to be in contention of the play off to get to the…
Introductions on Facebook Messenger . . . after the game. As with all things, the hectic prelude to the game completely gets turned around by the performance. This was one of…
We had our strongest team out so it was predictable we got a hammering. From last weeks’ positive result, we just didn’t get it on. Two quick goals in the opening…
Wardle must score…and does. After last weeks debacle in attack, when Wardle, clean through on goal, in the final moments, where I’d bet my rented house on him, stumbled into a…
Wardle must score! Picture the moment. Fatty Wardle, returning for Sassco in only his second game in the last 9 years (2016 being the most recent one and 2009 before then),…
Overconfidence…something unusual for Sassco. We were exceptionally confident for this one. So confident I even suggested a strong goalkeeper to them. So confident I told Kyle Burns he was centre half…
We’re delighted that HFF Civil Engineering are sponsoring Sassco 11-a-side. This if for the duration of the Durham Elevens Football League, which is played at Gateshead on Monday evenings over the…
It takes a total of 16 minutes for McDermont to come alive. Our rearranged encounter v Newton & Co. which was originally abandoned on around 25 minutes when one of our…
Sunday morning pasting. It was the first game after the tragic events from the previous Wednesday, tragic as we had to wear white socks instead of our usual red ones, as…
Muers steals the show. It was horrifying. Muers in agony on the floor and the paramedic, scissors in hand, cutting away his boot and sock. It was too much for me…
Muers, McDermont and Nelly provide the pace. We were returning to our old stomping ground and nothing has really changed. It was The Shipwright’s Field in Redhouse. Shite on the pitch,…
That’s 25 goals scored in two games Shockingly, after the last game’s dirty drop outs, all 12 turned up for this one, and it was in distant Durham. Stubba and Muers…
Drop outs; panic attacks; vintage players returning and a handsome victory. The usual for Sassco. 12 announced and then slowly whittled back to around 10 – but what a 10! Before…
Unfortunately, at the wrong end. A truly mercenary team was decimated beforehand, against strong opponents, Hylton Castle FC. Unfortunately, we lost our goalkeeper, soon followed by another player. We managed to…
Gateshead 3G squads set Unfortunately, the Gateshead Stadium pitch was unavailable, but we were offered the Premier League Standard Training Pitch as an alternative, so we happily accepted. The squads of…
Iceland still unbeaten against England. It was all square at Sassco’s third encounter at the Stadium of Light. A loss in 2016, a win in 2017 and now a draw in…
Great photography from Kev Wilson during our game at the Stadium of Light.
Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur “Throttur” line up. If you thought Sassco’s line up look rough….. Here we have our esteemed opponents, with their huge squad. in the “Panini” format. The game against Reykjavik’s…
Got, Got, NEED! We’ve launched the official Panini Stickers for the Play on the Pitch 2018 game. Apparently, Jake Dyke’s worth at least two swaps. The game against Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur, our…
A full set of players! Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur have announced their large squad for the game v Sassco.co.uk at the Stadium of Light on the 17th May. They will be bringing a…
The rules and regulations for Play on the Pitch 2018 have been passed on from Sunderland AFC. Those who took part last year, will know what to expect. Rules of Play…
Game confirmed! The game has now been officially confirmed and booked in to the Stadium of Light for the 17th May 2018. The kick off is 7:00pm. Our illustrious guests, Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur,…
3 Absent, but 3 in. Delighted to have confirmed 11 Sassco players for the Play on the Pitch event at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, in May 2018. The team is scheduled…
Our first overseas guests? Not 100% confirmed, but Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur, a semi-professional side which defeated Sassco in the Iceland Tour 2017 in one game (Sassco won the other) are looking to travel…
Avoiding the wire above the pitch and Bear avoiding the goal. There were a couple of challenges in our repeat game v Sunderland Deaf: Avoiding hitting the two pieces of wire…
The Harpers return and both last a full game (nearly). Our O35’s 11-a-side adventure ended in a whimper, so it was good to be invited to a full 90 minute session…
Martin Smith: over 300 pro appearances. David Duke over 200 pro appearances. Stubba: Priceless! We were struggling again. This time, we’d lost half the side from last week, due to holidays,…
McDermont concussed – wakes up thinking he’s Danny Dichio. It was when he was off getting no treatment that we scored the winner. The game was up and down up to…
Finally, we managed to get a win, However, the circumstances were all too familiar, with new faces coming in, but this time slotting in perfectly. Team talk was just about who…
McDermont foaming at the mouth. Another disappointing game topped off with McDermont foaming at the mouth, requesting to be subbed, then fannying around in the box to concede the fourth goal.…
Searing heat, another injury and McDermont roars like a kangaroo to hit the crossbar. It was quite disappointing. We were missing a few from last week: Barker, Dan Smith and Dave…
Disputed penalty, and it wasn’t McDermont this time. A solid performance, again, from Sassco against, arguably, the strongest team in the competition. We were up against it and had three enforced…
Last competitive game was 6 years, 9 months, and 19 days ago. Yes, a total of, approximately, 2484 days, 17 hours and 30 minutes had lapsed since Sassco played it’s last…
Great photography from Dean Matthews at the Stadium of Light.
Sassco’s most glorious moment in their 18 year history. Sassco 11-a-side, finally won their first game in over a year, and what a place to do it in. It was their first…
Delighted to announce that the shirts supplied by Woven Inc. have arrived and are ready for our second game at the Stadium of Light on 18th May.
Sassco return to action on the 3rd June at 10am against South Tyne Building Supplies. Squad has been confirmed with the following players: 1. Davinder Sangha 2. Chris Dixon 3. Marc…
The rules and regulations for Play on the Pitch 2017 have been passed on from Sunderland AFC. Those who took part last year, will know what to expect. Rules of Play…
A hastily arranged game against Mark Muers’ U35 team, Washington United FC. We really cobbled a team together. High hopes were for the Stadium of Light team, but Smith, Sangha, Dixon,…
Please to announce that Woven Inc, one of the UK leaders in custom workwear and fashion clothing based in Washington, are supplying the AWDis kit for our game at the Stadium…
We’re looking to revive the 11-a-side team in, albeit, an over 35 format. Durham FA are organising a 50 minute game league, which is played on a Saturday morning at Durham…
Sassco travelled to the beyond (i.e. Walker Dome) to take on the Northumbria University Officer Training Corp team. A team which we somehow defeated 6-1 last year, albeit with what we’d…
We have a number of choices for our game at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light in May. Last year, we chose orange as the sponsor colour, but our opponents are looking at…
Delighted to have confirmed 11 Sassco players for the Play on the Pitch event at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, in May 2017. The team is scheduled to play against a similar…
New shirt for the nomadic 11-a-side team. Sassco have had branded team kits and custom made team shirts since the foundation back in 1999. So we are now proud to announce…
Our regular tri or bi-annual game took place again, but this time off the 3G (or is it 4G) and on to grass at Castle View, where we suffered a defeat…
Plenty of dinosaurs were dug out for Sassco’s difficult game against O’Briens, a team organised by Steve Farrer (himself a rare dinosaur), and containing a lot of ex-Redhouse FC players. For…
Trepidation meant I wanted everyone to be at the stadium early. All arrived promptly, probably because their subs were £163 each. But it was a bit of a hiccup from the…
Learn about our opponents! Here’s a very detailed player biography provided by David Duke from GB Outfitters. Jonny Prested (Goalkeeper) The many faced man; Ronnie O’Sullivan, Peter Whittingham, the count from…
We’ve finally discovered our opponents, GB Outfitters, a strong side which includes David Duke, who played for us in a friendly v Sunderland Deaf AFC not too long ago. Kick off…
Itinerary – Thursday 9th June 2016 7.00pm – Team Arrival, taken to changing rooms 7.15pm – Team Photographs 7.20pm – Pre- Match Warm Up 7.30pm – Kick off 8.15pm – Half Time…
The initial 11 who have paid the money for the Stadium of Light game have been set to start as we now have had two drop outs from the original 13.…
Safe to say that this was a remarkable result in Sassco’s modern nomadic lifestyle. The team, since 2010, have cobbled together teams to play opponents (mainly Sunderland Deaf FC) and this…
“Nothing is impossible, you just haven’t done it yet. Dreams are hard to achieve, otherwise they wouldn’t be a dream. In the darkest of hours when all seems hopeless, that’s when…
Despite thinking that he deserves a full 90 minutes and extra time and corner kicks and free-kicks and pre-match pies, Mike “Max Factor Baxter” Barker has signed up for the SAFC…
So, our usual pre-match meal would be a fry up, or even being late for a game at Silksworth, due to Fatty wanting a McDonald’s. But as we’re spending around £120…
McDermont’s 35 yard “screamer”. Our bi- or tri-annual game against Sunderland AFC’s Deaf team took place at Chester-Le-Street, and shockingly, we had more than a full turn out. A total of…
Pleased to announce that Workwear Express are now providing the tops for the game at the Stadium of Light on the 9th June. The company have provided the uniform and kit for the every…
Sassco will be roaring back into action in the New Year. Our regular game against Sunderland DFC is arranged and will take place at 2pm on the 3rd January 2016. The venue…
Delighted to announce that the attack pairing for the forthcoming game at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light will be Scott Hembrough and Mark Cresswell. The game takes place Thursday 9th June, 7:00pm…
Sassco are looking to play at their most ambitious venue yet. After the warm climes of the Victor Tedesco Stadium in Malta, the balmy FC Ferreiras Stadium in Portugal and various…
25th October 2003 | Mav, Wardle and Muers get sent off early to keep me company on the sidelines. Trawling through our many archives sometimes brings up amazing victories, cracking photos,…
Our regular run out against Sunderland Deaf was a bit short notice, as their cup game was cancelled. However, two days before the game, the Sassco.co.uk squad was coming together and…
Victory again. Charlie doesn’t score. A bit of a headache today, as we had so many drop outs for our regular football game against Sunderland Deaf FC. One by one, Si,…
Game is arranged and will take place at lunchtime on the 21st. The venue is the Durham FA at Chester-le-Street Riverside, either grass or 3G. More details will be posted shortly,…
A new year and another win for Sassco 11-a-side, who are now unbeaten in nearly two years. Sunderland Deaf Football Club were the opponents and the venue changed time due to…
Charlie’s third hat-trick in as many games and Titch’s “dummy” goal! A much changed line-up saw Sassco take on Sunderland Deaf Football Club at their new venue, Sandhill Centre. Only Craig…
Sassco 11-a-side are back in action against Sunderland DFC. This time, the game is due to take place at Sandhill Centre. The game is to be played on grass. The kick…
Callum defies the laws of gravity and physics. It was all laughs and giggles before the game. Callum showed up around two shirt sizes bigger and managed to squeeze in the…
Sassco storm back in action, but McDermont still rubbish. It always surprising to me that a team which hasn’t kicked a ball in anger since 2010, can still manage to be…
Sassco take to the 11-a-side pitch at Castle View Enterprise Academy, in Sunderland, to play against Sunderland Deaf FC. This is a re-scheduled game, as Sassco were due to play Rutherford…
Sassco are back again with another pre-season (despite not having a season) game against Rutherford DFC. Last Summer, Sassco suffered a bit of a hammering, so an improvement is needed this…
Muers still firing blanks. It was Sassco’s regular Summer encounter against Rutherford DFC, but the preparations were thrown into chaos, when firstly Marc McDermont claimed he couldn’t make it as he…
Sassco 11-a-side are returning for a game against Rutherford DFC on 22nd July 2012. The game is to take place in the early afternoon and to be played at Beggarswood again.…
Painful defeat in the searing heat. Age takes it’s toll. So, He Who Cannot Be Named didn’t actually turn up. Campbell then refused to show complaining about “gayness.” Eventually, my team…
…but nothing’s really changed. Isn’t it fab when a bunch of mates can get together and decide to have a random game of football. Had a quick glance around and…
The regular 11-a-side team may be a distant memory after a disastrous final season, but the bulk of the side over the last few years is making a comeback in the…
Sassco 11-a-side have ended their eight year run as a competing team in local leagues. Unfortunately, Anthony Pearson, who was reluctantly thrust into running the team wasn’t given much help in…
League Games August 24 2002 Sassco.co.uk 5 – 2 Low Fell Jon Wardle 0 Jon Wardle 0 Chris Dixon 0 Keith Mouat 0 Phil McNerney 0 Sassco.co.uk: David Watson; Michael Booth;…
6th May 2004 End of season show. Wardle, Gourlay, Muers, Kelsey and Junt on the score sheet I expected another dodgy day. We were very short of staff. Stapes, Cola Boy,…
28th May 2003 Extraordinary finish Final day win against a very good team. Yes, we did it. Sassco finally won a game in style. Up against the New Derby, we had…
28th April 2007 Season Review. 2006-2007. And don’t think I spent all day writing this out. It’s been done bit by bit over the last few weeks and just edited in…
6th May 2006 Sassco.co.uk 2 TWR 4. Twice in the lead, same old story. Lets look at the positives first. Greenwell and Wardle are now back as regulars, although we’ll have…
Our dispute with the Tyne & Wear League in the Summer of 2004 dragged on. We had looked to move to a Saturday morning league elsewhere, which included a Christian League.…