In December 2022 the Club received an extremely interesting E-Mail from David Rice, someone unknown to the Club at the time.
It transpired that David, from Epsom in Surrey, was a collector/researcher of soccer and rugby memorabilia who had recently acquired a fascinating poster advertising a Tynedale v Stargate match to be played on November 28th, 1896 – a small matter of 126 years previously!!

David, who had been collecting football and rugby memorabilia for 20 years, couldn’t remember seeing an original match poster anywhere near this old and he even thought that it might be unique as a 19th century football/ rugby poster. The poster, considering its age, was in reasonably good condition although understandably a little bit on the fragile side.

Very kindly, David offered to donate the poster to the club as long as we suitably mounted and framed it and hung it in a prominent and safe place in the Clubhouse – thinking that it was very fitting that such a very early memento of our Club’s history should be on display at the Club as our 150th anniversary approached.

The poster has now been framed and sits proudly on our bar wall.

The Poster
Looking at the poster itself there are several interesting points:-
• Admission charge of 3d for Gentlemen – Roughly equivalent to £2.00 in today’s money.
• Ladies Admission Free! - Males discriminated against even then.
• Matches played at Bridge End, Hexham.
• Kick Off time of 2.30pm on 28th November but British Summer Time didn’t come in until 1916.
• Chris Armstrong's printer ancestors based in the Market Place, Hexham 126 year ago.

Tynedale v Stargate Rovers (1896-1897)
The match advertised on the poster ended as a 3-3 draw. Below are two small newspaper articles relating to the match.

The Tynedale and Stargate 2nd XV’s played each other at Stargate on the same day, 28th November 1896, with Tynedale winning 3-0.
The return fixture was played at Stargate on January 2nd 1897 and resulted in a narrow 8-5 Tynedale victory.

The Tynedale RFC Fixture/Membership Booklet for the 1896-1897 season, with scores carefully recorded, can be viewed HERE.

Tynedale v Stargate Rovers(1897-1898)
The following season, 1897-1898, Tynedale hosted Stargate on Sept 4th 1897, in the opening fixture of the season, and the match resulted in a 29-0 home win with Stargate playing with only 12 players. . Perhaps the cause of Stargate’s imminent demise can be evidenced from the fact that they could only muster a team of 12 for this particular match.
Two newspaper articles relating to this fixture:-

The return match at Stargate in 1897-1898 resulted in a 16-5 Tynedale victory.

Stargate Rovers

Stargate Rovers played at Stargate which is immediately to the east of Ryton in the Borough of Gateshead.
Stargate Rovers were established c.October 1890 but sadly folded c.November 1898 when they were no longer able to field one full team for their matches. They did, however have some success during their brief life reaching the final of the Durham Junior Cup in February 1897.