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 (178)
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Sunderland sporting heritage
At its zenith, Ashbrooke Sports Ground thronged to crowds of 25,000 to witness a touring Australian cricket team take on Durham. Despite the struggles of the General Strike across the northeast’s industrial communities, the chance to see a top-class visiting team in 1926 was too much for a sports crazy region to miss.
By Andy Potts12 months ago in Unbalanced
Playlist: Cove, coal, concrete
Palma Louca – The Cove Working from home is one of those topics guaranteed to get readers of tabloid newspapers foaming at the mouth. So it might be a bad idea to mention that Palma Louca’s most recent single, The Cove, owes much of its gentle vibe to band members quietly tinkering in their bedrooms. After all, if rock musicians are going to renounce debauchery and excess in favour of WFH, we really might be approaching the end times.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Beat
The contemporary temple of Apollo
In the heart of a County Durham housing estate, the Apollo Pavilion is rare example of uncompromising public art. Since its unveiling in 1969, Victor Pasmore’s piece of brutalist constructivist design has prompted much head-scratching. Is it architecture? Sculpture? Both? Neither? Do the stark concrete outlines enhance Peterlee’s Sunny Blunts estate, or is it simply an eyesore? Is it the kind of artwork beloved only of those who don’t have to live with it, or does it have a role to play in its community more than 50 years after it was built.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Wander
Football from the Morgue
With the kind of gallows humour typical of non-league fans, they call it the Morgue. Officially, North Shields’ home ground in Ralph Gardner Park is the Daren Persson Stadium. Since Daren Persson is a local undertaker and club sponsor, the jokes write themselves. Visiting teams might find themselves buried, hopes of victory turned to ashes. The atmosphere tends to the raucous side of reverent, the weekly ritual brash and beery.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Cleats
Playlist: Singing in the new. Top Story - February 2025.
Pit Pony – Cut Open One of the most exciting releases scheduled for early 2025 is Pit Pony’s second album, Dead Stars, is set to be one of the most exciting releases scheduled for early 2025. Their debut, World to Me, emerged from the wreckage of lockdown back in 2022 with a noisy blast of indie rock. But the new stuff shows signs of greater breadth.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Beat
Playlists of 2024
In 2024, I started a new semi-regular column, Playlist, picking out tracks that caught my ear. It quickly turned into a way to try and promote the work of artists from around the Northeast of England and formed a natural counterpoint to my Talking Northeast project.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Beat
Rugby special
Somebody once described 80 minutes of rugby league as the equivalent of running a half marathon while being run over by a truck 10 times. It’s an uncompromisingly physical sport, full of juddering full-body collisions and the kind of tackles that would earn you an assault charge anywhere off the field of play.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Unbalanced
Pints & Parkruns: Cardiff (main course)
This wasn’t my first look at Cardiff parkrun. Almost exactly a year ago, working in the Welsh capital at the same event, I got along and ran the reserve course. But today was a first look at the usual route on the opposite side of the River Taff and it feels like a sufficiently different experience to justify a new write-up.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Longevity
Derby day
It’s not often I get to spend most of a day in town when there’s a big game on. It’s even less often this happens when the game doesn’t involve my team. But last Saturday I was in Cardiff for the South Wales Derby. And it made for a more engaging time than my previous trip to a match in Wales.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Cleats
Jolabokaflod - a word I never knew I needed
The December nights are long and cold in Iceland. And, with alcohol at prohibitive prices, literature becomes the local solution. Jolabokaflod is the festive tradition of turning up at your mate’s on Christmas Eve with the gift of a book. Volumes exchanged, everybody slumps by the fire in a companionable silence and reads the night away.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in BookClub
Transactional relationship
Jeff, I love you too But don't forget where we met Onlyfans; pay up! Another entry in Raymond's 'Oh, Jeff' challenge. You asked for succinct, and a haiku is about as brief as I can offer. I first saw the brief when there was a frankly grim Onlyfans-related story in the news, which sparked the idea for me.
By Andy Pottsabout a year ago in Poets
