Seaham Red Star: Season Review
Seaham Red Star went into the 2025/26 season aiming for an immediate return to Northern League Division Two after last season’s disappointing relegation from Division One. The club stuck with the experienced Mark Collingwood for the upcoming season, continuing his mammoth career at Red Star.
Early signs suggested that The Star would be title contenders come April, going unbeaten in the league for their first 15 matches. Attacking midfielder, Matthew Weirs, played a pivotal role in Seaham’s early form, including an opening day hat-trick against Sunderland West End. Other key victories during that period included a derby day win against Sunderland RCA, and a 5-0 thrashing of Prudhoe YC.
Seaham’s first loss of the campaign came against Colne in the first qualifying round of the FA Vase, but the first league defeat wouldn’t come until a month later on September 23, a 3-1 away loss to Billingham Town. The Star’s form didn’t take a big hit despite their first loss of the season, bouncing back with comfortable victories over Newbiggin and Grangetown BC, largely down to the in-form Ryan Appleby.
The club were poised for promotion going into the New Year, sitting amongst Redcar Town and Yarm & Eaglescliffe at the top of the table. However, Seaham’s first six games of 2026 all resulted in defeat, including elimination from the Durham Challenge Cup at the hands of Shildon, and conceding 13 goals in three games against Ryton & Crawcrook Albion, Yarm & Eaglescliffe, and Billingham Synthonia. 2026 had been nothing short of a disaster for The Star.
The form turned on its head, however. Seven straight victories followed the early misery of 2026, including a 2-0 win against promotion rivals Jarrow. Whilst Seaham were out of contention for automatic promotion, their late revival helped secure a playoff place against Yarm & Eaglescliffe at Bedford Terrace.
Red Star knew an away playoff semi-final against Yarm & Eaflescliffe would be no easy task, the hosts had accumulated 19 more points than them in the regular league season, including two victories against Seaham. The visitor’s played well for most of the game, but two lapses of concentration allowed the hosts a 2-0 victory, Y&E went on to beat Jarrow in thee final.
Club captain, Mason Burton, lashed out on social media in the wake of the defeat. In reply to assistant manager, Michael Johnson’s, post-match interview the defender posted: “Our team should have won the league but unfortunately it was completely mismanaged.”
Overall, Seaham Red Star’s season was a failure. Promotion was demanded and in the end, several teams deserved it more than them. It is yet to be seen whether any changes will be made for next season, but the importance of promotion back to Division One is as important as ever.
Season Rating: 3/10
