Match Information
- Coventry United 2-1 North Shields
- When: Saturday 7th February 2026
- Kick-off: 3pm
- Where: Butts Park Arena, Butts Road, Coventry CV1 3GE.
- Competition: The Isuzu FA Vase – Fifth Round Proper
- Attendance: 347
I love my role as the roaming reporter for competition sponsors Isuzu getting out and about to compile video match reports in both the Isuzu FA Trophy and Isuzu FA Vase. Furthermore, the Vase is my favourite knock-out tournament anywhere in football.
Essentially I like the fact that any team entering stands a realistic chance of winning it. The eventual showpiece takes place at Wembley Stadium on Non-League Finals Day and is always a true highlight of my football spectating season.
But all the wet weather we have endured recently meant selecting an Isuzu FA Vase Fifth Round encounter for filming entailed careful consideration. We needed to choose a fixture taking place on an artificial pitch to avoid any waterlogging postponement problems.
Accordingly, the tie at Coventry United of the GCE Hire Fleet United Counties League Premier Division South suited our requirements perfectly. I had previously been to Butts Park Arena on Sunday 10th September 2017 when United beat Tipton Town 3-1 (attendance 282) – also in the FA Vase.
The visitors this time around were Ebac Northern League Division One outfit North Shields who made a 212 mile journey from the North-East on the Friday beforehand staying in Coventry overnight.
They actually won the FA Vase in 2015 by edging Glossop North End 2-1 at Wembley. It was a golden era for the Northern League at Non-League Step 5.
Their member clubs dominated football betting stakes within this great Vase competition without necessarily going forward for promotion to a higher level (and FA Trophy participation) owing to vastly increased travelling costs.
But that scenario doesn’t happen anymore because the Northern Premier League now has a Step 4 East Division - launched in 2018 - which presently incorporates nine former Northern League clubs as a result of promotion becoming compulsory.
As for North Shields, I had seen them play in the past at their old and current home grounds:
Bank Holiday Monday 30th August 1982, lost 1-0 versus Evenwood Town at Appleby Park (attendance 174).
Good Friday morning 18th April 2014, won 3-0 versus West Auckland Town at Daren Persson Stadium (attendance 1,312).
So with multiple pleasant memories swirling in my mind, I set off on a 180 mile round trip up to Coventry via the M1 and M45 motorways.
Ground Description
Situated less than a mile from the city centre, Butts Park Arena is shared predominantly by Coventry Rugby Club, Coventry United FC and Coventry Netball.
The main feature of the 5,250 capacity venue is an imposing seated stand for 3,000 spectators running down one touchline.
Programme Details
An online edition exuberantly entitled ‘FINAL SIXTEEN!’ to reflect the importance of our Isuzu FA Vase contest. Some 40 pages delivering copious interesting reading.
The Match
I admired the commitment of 100 noisy North Shields fans leaving home at 8am on the morning of the game.
Since both sides were doing well in the top half of their respective league tables, any betting enthusiasts in attendance at Butts Park Arena would have anticipated a close encounter.
Charlie Faulkner (28 minutes) and Nehemia Zazi (79 mins) gave Coventry United a two goal advantage prior to Ben Sampson pulling one back for North Shields eight minutes into added time.
The People
Coventry United’s media manager Liam Cook expertly organised everything for our filming itinerary.
Furthermore, I really admired the way he performed his matchday tannoy duties in the fervent manner of boxing ringside announcer shouting his head off at times! I tweeted a video of Liam in full flow and it received numerous favourable comments from my followers.
In addition, it was nice to chat to the Northern League’s former chairman Mike Amos. He launched the historic first ever specifically designated groundhopping weekend in 1992.
On that occasion, I joined 150 other ‘hoppers’ witnessing matches at Peterlee Newtown, Billingham Town, Murton, Consett, Chester-le-Street Town, Brandon United and West Auckland Town across a hectic Easter period. Nowadays retired, Mike still frequents plenty of games and is a refined football connoisseur.
