Former Blyth Spartans favourite JJ O'Donnell hails community-led takeover at Croft Park

Former Blyth Spartans forward JJ O’Donnell has expressed his delight over the recent community-led takeover of the National League North club.

O’Donnell became a firm favourite with the Croft Park faithful after spending the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan with the club before signing on a permanent basis during the following summer. A serious shoulder injury hampered his involvement during last season as Spartans were relegated for only the second time in their history and O’Donnell left the club in June. After working his way back to fitness, the former Gateshead and Luton Town winger has now joined Northern Premier League East club Dunston UTS and achieved a new career high at the age of 33 on Tuesday night when he scored his first ever hat-trick in a 6-1 hammering of Consett.

Although he is firmly focused on Dunston’s push for promotion into the Northern Premier League Premier Division, O’Donnell has kept a close eye on events at Spartans after a community interest company led by Spartans supporter Martin Trinder successfully completely a takeover of the club and brought an end to Irfan Liaquat’s ownership. The new regime have already appointed Blyth Town stalwart Michael Connor as their new manager and are hoping to add to his squad as a new era at Croft Park gets underway with a home game against Matlock Town on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking after Dunston’s win, O’Donnell stressed Spartans were ‘only going one way’ under their former owner - but has been enthused by the fact a club so close to his heart is now in the hands of the local community.

He told The Gazette: “It’s amazing because it’s a proper football club. Make no bones about it, it’s a proper non-league football club. They say it’s the most famous non-league club in the world for a reason and it’s a terrific place full of terrific people. I loved it, I genuinely loved it there and the last two years have been difficult for me for different reasons but the club is still amazing, the people behind it are amazing and the volunteers, the people in the bar, they are all part of something special.

“It’s only right that it’s back in the right hands now and I just hope it’s not too late and they can turn their season around and bring in some players with real quality to help them do that. It was never going to work under the old regime, I don’t mind saying that, but it’s now a community club as it always should have been and it’s now all about those that are at Croft Park at 3pm on a Saturday and there on a Tuesday night. When I left I knew which way it was going and it was only going one way - but with a bit of community spirit and a packed Croft Park on a Saturday, it can be reborn again with supporters leading it.”

On-loan Sunderland goalkeeper Adam Richardson will make his home debut after making his Spartans bow in last weekend’s narrow loss at Warrington Rylands.