Former FA Cup hero 'hopeful' Myers can stabilise Blyth Spartans

Blyth Spartans FA Cup hero Jarrett Rivers has revealed his sadness over seeing his old club suffer successive relegations as they prepare for life in the Northern Premier League East Division.

The former Croft Park favourite wrote his name into Spartans folklore when he scored the winning goal in a shock FA Cup second round win at Hartlepool United in front of the BBC Match of the Day cameras in December 2014 and was part of the side that suffered an agonising 3-2 third round defeat against Championship club Birmingham City just a month later.

After earning a move to Blackpool during the summer of 2015, Rivers returned to Croft Park just one year later and helped Spartans secure the Northern Premier League Premier Division title under former manager Alun Armstrong before playing a lead role in establishing the club in the National League North. The winger’s final game for Spartans came in a play-off eliminator round loss against Altrincham as Armstrong’s men suffered an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat that ended any hopes of a historic promotion into non-league’s top tier.

Rivers followed Armstrong to Darlington during the summer that followed but has kept a close eye on his old club over the last six years and is hopeful new manager Colin Myers, who worked with the winger during his time as assistant manager at Spartans, can bring some stability to life at Croft Park.

He told The Gazette: “It’s really disappointing to see where they are now and it’s only 18 months or two years since they were near the play-offs in the National League North midway through the season. They’ve plummeted a bit and it’s sad to see. When I left we had been pushing for promotion into the National League. Colin Myers is back in there now and obviously I know Colin from working under him at Blyth and hopefully he can stabilise them a bit. Then they can start to rebuild gradually and starting trying to make their way back up. It’s not going to be easy because the East Division is a tough division to get out of and there are some top teams in there like Dunston and Matlock, who seem to be spending quite a bit. Hopefully, Colin can stabilise Spartans and build on things from there.”

“Our teams will wear the Port of Blyth's logo with pride”

Meanwhile, Spartans have confirmed one major piece of off-field business has been concluded after long-term sponsors Port of Blyth agreed to become the club’s front of shirt sponsor for their men’s and women’s teams during the 2025/26 season.

Speaking about the agreement with the club website, Spartans chairman Kevin Miles said: “Building on the historic partnership between the Port of Blyth and the football club, this new enhancement of our relationship will underline the bond between Blyth's two most iconic entities: the Port and the Spartans. Our teams will wear the Port of Blyth's logo with pride.”

Port of Blyth chief executive Martin Lawlor added: “I am delighted to further strengthen our longstanding partnership with Blyth Spartans AFC — a relationship between two organisations that are very much at the heart of the local community. We look forward to supporting the club's continued progress on the pitch and celebrating success in the season ahead.”

Your next football read: Lynch disappointed as Morpeth Town fall to Senior Cup final defeat