New football pitch christened with The Commissioners Quay Inn

General manager Scott Ramsay joined with Blyth Mayor Aileen Barrass to crown the winners of The Commissioner Quay Inn Shield last weekend, as Blyth Rangers FC christened Bede Academy’s new artificial football pitch.

Organised as the Rangers’ first match on the state-of-the-art new surface, The Inn Collection Group’s Quay Road pub with rooms agreed on sponsorship of the inter-club friendly and provided the trophy awarded.

It is the latest show of support for the club by the team at the Inn, who have used their Give Inn Back fund over recent seasons to provide the Rangers with the first donation coming with the fund’s inception back in 2022.

A football team in orange kits is presented with a winners shield
Footballers playing a game

Played in changeable conditions, it was appropriately the Rangers A side who took the glory with a 3-1 win, looking resplendent in their bright orange kits which are also sponsored by The Commissioners Quay Inn.

The match is planned to become an annual event with Scott and the Rangers discussing how to make the game part of a wider family fun day and charity fundraiser.

Scott said: “We’ve got a brilliant relationship with the Rangers and have been supporting them for a couple of years now, so making this friendly into a bit more of an occasion was something we were keen to do.

“We’ve sponsored the A side’s kit for the last two seasons, and we often see the players down after matches for food and drinks, so it’s a nice little community we’ve built up as part of our customer base.

“The Rangers are a great grassroots club so to have them as ‘our team’ is a great way to be involved with the football community in the town.”

Opened earlier in the month by Newcastle United defender Dan Burn, the pitch culminates a two-year project, developed alongside local Grassroots Sports Partners and the Football Foundation.

FIFA and WRU-compliant., the new pitch includes both rugby and football posts, a viewing area for coaches and parents, and it becomes ESF’s first outdoor sports space to be lit with energy-saving LED floodlights.

Give Inn Back is an initiative by The Inn Collection Group that sees each of its 30 pubs with rooms across northern England and Wales given a fund to support local good causes and foster great community links.

Since its formation in 2022, the fund has donated more than £100,000 across Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Co Durham, North Yorkshire, the Lake District, Lancashire and Anglesey.