Blyth fan Gary Oakes chooses his 10 best Blyth goals:

1 Allan Young v Stockport FAC Rd 2 '71
I was 10 years old at the time and remember standing on a packed Kingsway end with my father. I had an old fashioned football rattle with me and I recall everyone around us being totally peed off with the noise I was making . Or was it because I was holding it in the air and getting dangerously close to their heads, possibly.
After about half an hour Allan Young won the ball and was about
30 yards out on the left hand side. He clattered the ball into the
net before the keeper could move, a great goal and the winner.

2 Ian Nixon v Leatherhead Amateur Cup Rd 3 Jan '73
Not an outstanding goal for quality but at the time the most important goal in Blyth's history. Des Jardine set it up and the hard working Nixon scored but it put us through to our only Amateur Cup Semi Final appearance. We were lucky enough to get a home draw and play at St James only to play well below par and lose 2-0 to Enfield. The Leatherhead game is worth a mention as it takes up nearly a whole chapter in Colin Ward's excellent book "Steaming In" . Next time you're in Dillons take ten minutes and read the Leatherhead chapter. Absolutely brilliant.

3 Allan Young v North Shields Amateur Cup Rd 3 Jan '73
After a great win over Hendon in Rd 2 courtesy of another Allan Young goal we were drawn at North Shields. Another game I attended with my father, we stood behind the goal in the covered end which was packed with Blyth fans, in fact the whole ground was heaving. Shields were near the bottom of the Northern League but played well above themselves. Mick Morgan, the Shields keeper, made two great saves. But 20 minutes from time at the opposite end of the field Ray Young crossed and Allan Young jumped and seemed to fly through the air and crashed an unstoppable header into the net for the winner. A superb goal but unfortunately a next round defeat at Slough.

4 Mick Dagless v Preston FAC Rd 1 '74
Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles , David Sadler your boys took a hell of a beating , well nearly. The publicity surrounding this game was immense ,with those mentioned above playing and Preston being top of Div 3 the hysteria of the FA Cup was evident everywhere. After a couple of minutes Blyth were given a free kick 25 yards out on the left hand side. Mick Dagless stepped up and I couldn't believe how hard he hit it. Off the ball went and screamed into the net. Unfortunately we couldn't hold on and settled for a hard earned draw.

5 Ron Guthrie v Crook FAC 2nd Qual Rd '77
A draw at Crook resulted in this replay which Blyth won comfortably. This goal was a direct free kick about 25 yards out pretty central to goal. Guthrie lined it up and I remember thinking "What the hell is he taking it for" as he wasn't exactly noted for his goalscoring exploits. I class this goal as memorable as the shot seemed to float through the air for hours before ever so slowly hitting the net. It was hit with no power whatsoever but completely deceived the whole defence.

6 Ian Mutrie v Bishop Auckland FAC 4th Qual Rd '77
Archie was a bit of a cult hero with myself and schoolmates at the time.
Not because he was that good a player but because he was superbly entertaining. He scored goals for fun but would just as easily fall over the ball or completely miss it altogether. This goal was scored in the glorious Cup run of 77/78 and came about in the second half of a very hard game.
A cross came over and Archies header was brilliantly saved to give us a corner. Another brilliant header from Archie from this was un-saveable.
He then took off like a deranged ferret charging all the way down the pitch in celebration. This brought about the hilariously funny interview on the "Blyth Spirit" LP about running all the way back to Blyth. Well worth a listen.

7 Alan Shoulder v Enfield FAC Rd 3 '78
The last two non league clubs left in the FA CUP of 77/78 drawn together and luckily we were at home. I have to say that Enfield should have been 3 or 4 up as they ran the game almost throughout until we won a second half corner. The corner was played in at The Kingsway end the recently signed midget Alan Shoulder rose like the proverbial salmon and smashed the ball home with his head. The ground erupted and we were into the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in our history.

8 Terry Johnson v Wrexham FAC Rd 5 Replay '78
A memorable night at St James Park , after falling behind to two goals in the first half a scramble in the Wrexham box at the Leazes End resulted in Terry getting his foot to the ball and scoring . The noise was amazing. It wasn't the best goal you could ever see but the feeling it gave you as it hit the net and you realised that the whole country was listening on radio could not be repeated.

9 Ian Mutrie v Spennymoor Away League '78
The cup run was over and all we had to play for was pride. Spennymoor had all but won the league but Blyth had thrashed them 6-1 at Croft Park a few weeks before we travelled to Durham. Early in the first half Archie got the ball just inside the Blyth half on the right hand side and began to run. There wasn't a defender in sight and he could and should have run up to the keeper and slotted it home. But no , this was Archie and having run about ten yards he hit it from about 40 and it fairly screamed into the net. Every Blyth fan went mental and we ended up winning 5-1 with an Archie hat-trick.
A superb nights entertainment .

10 Eddie Alder v Reading FA Cup Rd 3 '72
Finally a goal that wasn't a goal but should have been. If the 78 Cup run was brought to an end by a crap referee then it wasn't the first time. Third division Reading had completely outclassed Blyth at a once again packed Croft Park. They led 2-0 and it was well deserved. Then came that Blyth Spirit once again. In the last fifteen minutes we murdered them. We pulled it back to 2-2 and the atmosphere was electric as the crowd willed Blyth forwards. An indirect free kick was awarded 20 yards out. Up stepped the balding Alder , whether he hadn't realised it was indirect I don't know but he shot for goal. If it had been a direct free kick it would have been superb but it wasn't. However the noise must have got to Reading's keeper , the ghoulishly named "Steve Death" as instead of leaving the ball he flung himself to his right and clearly to everyone in the ground punched the ball into the top of the net. It was clear to everyone except the referee who disallowed the goal saying that the keeper never got a touch. It was a shocking decision made even worse by the fact that Mondays draw paired the winners at home to Arsenal.
How ironic that six years later the same draw was again cheated out of us by a crap referee.