NEHL - References made in newspapers and contemporary sources suggests there was a primitive football ground at Lawe Heugh, otherwise known as Shields Heugh on the Lawe top. This was as early as the 1870s, and may have been the home ground for various local clubs. At this time Football was emerging as a popular sport, and dozens of clubs will have sprouted up in South Shields.

Shields Heugh was an wide open field covering about 2/3 of the way between the Tyne and the North Sea. It was built on by terraced housing in the 1880s and 1890s, but it can be visible on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey seen below.