Andy Potts
Bio
Community focused sports fan from Northeast England. Tends to root for the little guy. Look out for Talking Northeast, my new project coming soon.
Stories (103/0)
Positivity in crisis
Social distancing doesn’t have to mean isolated. At lunchtime in Bean Social, a lively café on Durham’s North Road, the tables may be spaced out, but conversation still ebbs and flows between them. A couple of weeks after returning from lockdown, it feels appealingly normal; a space to meet and eat.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Feast
Typical York
This weekend should have been Bootham Crescent’s swansong. Typically, though, things didn’t go to plan. York City, predictably unpredictable, saw the final season at the club’s much-loved old home turn into a characteristic roller-coaster. Top of the league when coronavirus struck, the Minstermen missed out on promotion from National League North via a points-per-game calculation that put them behind King’s Lynn. Next came a vociferous appeal to ‘promote two’, via a playoff if necessary, and York returned to action on July 25 against Altrincham. City hadn’t played a game since March 7 Alty defeated Chester in the previous week’s eliminator and recent form made the difference in front of a deserted Bootham Crescent. So, instead of a final showdown against Boston United, the season ends in Lincolnshire as York’s fans contemplate the club’s retained list and hope that next time – at last – the team might start climbing the football pyramid once again.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Cleats
A retro football experience
Four years ago, when ‘lockdown’ was merely an adaptation of the notorious catenaccio tactic beloved of Italian defenders for decades, the football season was getting underway just now. On July 30, I was off to Shildon to see the curtain-raiser for the Northern League season. Shildon, defending champion and league cup winner, took on Marske United, runner-up in both competitions, for the Cleator Cup. League action would resume the following weekend.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Cleats
Emerging from lockdown
When lockdown struck, Teesside singer-songwriter Amelia Coburn was on the point of getting back to the recording studio. Nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards in 2017, she put the music on pause to complete her studies in Modern Languages at Nottingham University – only to re-emerge into a very different cultural climate.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Beat
The Art of Isolation
It started as a project to highlight the failings of Britain’s care system. By a quirk of timing, it turned into something that captured the zeitgeist of 2020. ‘Home Alone’, Sharon Bailey’s exploration of the often-isolated lives of elderly people, unexpectedly tapped into a universal experience as the COVID lockdown struck.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Photography
Waiting for hockey to come back
When Britain announced its lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the hockey players at Whitley Bay ice rink feared the worst. The refrigeration unit was switched off and, for the first time since the rink opened in 1955, the ice melted. For the ‘pay-to-play’ teams that operate from the Hillheads venue, things looked bleak.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Unbalanced
Football archaeology
Once, Cockfield’s playing field was home to some of the unlikely heroes of amateur football. In the 1920s, a time of industrial strife and economic depression, the miners of Cockfield FC twice took the name of this ‘two-street pit village’ deep into the FA Amateur Cup. A run to the semis in 1923 had the so-called ‘village wonder team’ making headlines; only Evesham United could halt their march.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Cleats
Keeping the beat alive
For Britain’s independent music scene, lockdown is taking a toll. Venues are closed, so no gigs. Studios are closed, so no rehearsal space or recording time. The innovation shown in producing virtual performances can plug a gap, but it struggles to recapture the thrill of performing live in front of an audience. Even though the easing of lockdown means pubs can reopen this weekend, bars that specialise in live music are ordered to keep their stages closed.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Beat
- Top Story - June 2020
Socially distant soccerTop Story - June 2020
The training session came to an end and one of the triallists made his way over to say thanks for the opportunity. Instinctively, he offered his hand ... but right now in England, handshakes are off limits. As sport cautiously returns to action, everyone has plenty to learn.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Cleats
Durham's beautiful launderette
By day, the soundtrack is the throb of dryers and the roar of the spin cycle, at night, the Old Cinema Launderette dances to a different beat. The distinctive Durham venue has created a special niche for itself as one of the best bijou concert halls in the country. Quirky and intimate, it’s invited an impressive array of artists – from folksters to punks – to put on a show in front of the tumble dryers, earning rave write-ups in the national press along the way.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Beat
Come for the beer, but what about the community?
With Britain’s coronavirus lockdown coming to an end, more and more pubs are talking up the possibility of pulling pints once again after July 4. Welcome as that news is, though, it is far from clear what a post-COVID pub might look like. For many publicans, there’s still some way to go before a ‘new normal’ can be ready.
By Andy Potts4 years ago in Proof