NEHL - The Blue House field was the home of Shildon United from the mid 1890s til around 1898 when they moved to the old cycling ground at Dean Street.

The ground was least fit for purpose. According to a local newspaper piece on the history of Shildon football (https://swd.news/history-of-football-in-shildon/) it had a slope similar to that at St James' Park, and "on a bleak day no field could be more unpleasant to stand upon", from a piece in the Middlesbrough Gazette of 1898. The piece states it was also 2 miles from Shildon Telegraph Office, meaning a long run for the lad to run and give the results to the paper.

The team were pretty good though - in an 1896 report, they hadn't lost at home until February in a 5-4 result against Eldon Albion, though the Shildonites were "said to have behaved in a very unsportsmanlike manner" with the visiting players "being mobbed and pelted with mud and stones".

During the time they were at this ground, the team played in the Amateur Cup and the Durham Association Cup.