"He is the club" - Seaham Red Star boss Mark Collingwood hailed after reaching managerial landmark

Mark Collingwood has been described as ‘the life and soul of Seaham Red Star’ after he oversaw his 500th game in charge of the Northern League Division One club.

After being initially appointed during the summer of 2012, Collingwood led Red Star to promotion into the Northern League’s top tier three years later and they have remained in the same division ever since. The stalwart was honoured for his achievement of reaching 500 games in the dugout ahead of Saturday’s home draw with Guisborough Town - and assistant manager Michael Johnson believes Collingwood has become essential to Red Star in a number of ways.

He told The Echo: “Colly is the life of the club. The work he does away from the club is sensational, bringing in sponsorship and his effort, hard work is incredible. He is the club. You don’t see many people get to 500 games at a club and that’s a testament to Colly. It tells you what he is all about and what kind of person he is. Without Colly, there is no Seaham, I firmly believe that and he is just a top, top bloke that means everything to the club. It’s a fantastic achievement and one you won’t see a lot these days. He’s the life and soul of the club, it’s as simple as that.”

The goalless draw with the Priorymen now means only goal difference is keeping Red Star in the Division One relegation zone and Johnson was delighted to see them gain a point despite playing with ten men for half an hour.

He said: “We couldn’t ask for more from the lads and it’s another point gained and another step towards safety. It was a good old-fashioned Northern League game, tackles flying in and we could have won it in the last minute but had a goal disallowed for offside and battling for 25 to 30 minutes with ten men. When you don’t win, make sure you don’t lose and that’s what we did.”

Division One results: Boro Rangers 2-0 Blyth Town, Newcastle Benfield 4-0 Whickham, North Shields 1-3 Kendal Town, Northallerton Town 0-0 Newcastle Blue Star, Penrith 0-2 Redcar Athletic, Seaham Red Star 0-0 Guisborough Town, Tow Law Town 3-3 Easington Colliery, West Auckland Town 3-4 Shildon, Whitley Bay 1-0 Carlisle City