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Both Newcastle United and Sunderland are sending their Under-23 sides to play Hebburn Town, in a bid to help save the stricken club.

The South Tyneside outfit revealed their financial woes earlier this season, but have been stunned by the response of the North East footballing community.

Since launching a publicity campaign to raise their profile in the local community there has been a resurgence in crowds, which has put the club on a surer footing.

Club press officer Mick Laffey said: “Gates were dropping and our income was falling. It got to the stage where we thought we were not going to have enough money to survive to the end of the season.

“We decided that we would have a campaign to see if there was anyone in the local community who cared.

“We needed two things – people to come through the gates and support us and the help of the local business community.”

The club committee decided to launch a local publicity campaign – effectively to save the club. It had an instant, positive impact.

“Facebook and Twitter went berserk,” Laffey added. “It must have struck a chord. We’ve been quite humbled by how many people have shown their support.

“We always try and push ourselves when asked, of course, but we consistently encourage people to attend their local Northern League team if that’s not us.

“We’re all in this together and we have received messages from numerous other clubs wishing us well and empathising with our plight. It’s not just about us. It’s a rallying cry for the whole Northern League.

“We have a strong and relatively large committee and everyone is doing everything they can. It’s very much a team effort.”

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Their last game before the campaign and appeal saw just 34 people through the gate. The highest all season before the campaign was 74.

At their first game after it started they had 281 spectators. That went up again to 452 for their next game. Apart from people in Hebburn, they had non-league fans come from other clubs – including South Shields and Heaton Stannington – as well as ground hoppers. Their social media outlets doubled in traffic.

Now Newcastle and Sunderland will send their Under-23 sides to the Hebburn Sports Ground for fixtures in April.

Newcastle will take on Hebburn on Tuesday, April 18 (7.30pm), with Sunderland visiting on Wednesday, April 26 (6.30pm).

“Both clubs have been excellent,” Laffey said. “I couldn’t believe it when Peter Beardsley phoned me up. He offered to do a talk-in after the game and that’s already sold out.”

Both u23 games are “pay on the door” and everyone is welcome.

The club is aiming for a record league attendance for their last game of the season when they take on Blyth Town. The current highest attendance for a league game is 479.

While the future is looking brighter, Hebburn are still facing challenges.

“It will be crucial to keep people interested and coming back next season,” Laffey explained. “More spectators mean more revenue and that means we can build a good squad and hopefully aim for the First Division. The story doesn’t end here – in fact I genuinely believe the hard work is only just beginning.

“We have to be sure this isn’t a flash in the pan. We had a gate of 115 for our last home game although there was a relatively important FA Vase fixture being played a few miles away at the same time.”