Ultimately, chairman John Rundle and his family provided the long wished-for new ground by purchasing the run down and vandalized facilities next door to the Filtrona factory, the ground was refurbished and ready for use in 1992,[1] the team thanks to the management of Bobby Elwell and the goals of the strike partnership of Steve Harkus and club's record goalscorer Paul Thompson, responded by winning a double of the Wearside League for the first time since 1977 and the Sunderland Shipowners Cup.
After several seasons stuck in mid table in Division Two, John Rundle again threatened the club with closure in 2006, locking the gates at Filtrona Park before a home game.
However, a new committee was formed, headed by new chairman Gary Crutwell, and the club was saved, the team was quickly rebuilt under the management of Micky Taylor and come the end of the season, a 2–1 win at home to Penrith on the final day prevented what could have been a near fatal relegation back to the Wearside League.
An FA Vase run to the 3rd round that season was a big highlight, coming to end in a 7-goal thriller at home to eventual semi-finalists Curzon Ashton.
In the 2012–13 season, despite uncertainty regarding the ground, there were early positive signs shown in a good FA Cup run which included a win over Darlington RA and knocking out NPL opposition in the form of Harrogate Railway Athletic before falling to Spennymoor Town in the 1st Qualifying Round.
Things took a turn for the worse when the club were forced to move to Eden Lane in Peterlee, after its lease on Filtrona Park expired.
The club spent the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons in Division Two of the Northern League, despite having to play home games 20 miles away in Peterlee in front of double digit crowds and difficulties when it came to raising teams to play, manager Jon King still managed to maintain the club's Northern League status with 17th and 15th-place finishes.
In the summer of 2015 however, a local businessman by the name of Geoff Thompson (founder of Utilitywise) became chairman and bought the original Filtrona Park from John Rundle.
[4] The new season itself started off brightly with genuine hopes for promotion back to Division 1 before the club pulled off a massive coup, tempting the former Sunderland and Middlesbrough midfielder Julio Arca out of retirement to sign for South Shields.
[8] The rebuild continued throughout the summer of 2016 with Jon Shaw, Gavin Cogdon, Carl Finnigan and Craig Baxter brought in as Shields attempted to push for the Division 1 championship.
[13] South Shields went on to lose just one game in all competitions out of 55, this included a period between November 2016 and April 2017 of 32 successive wins, an unofficial world record.
After beating Bridlington Town[18] and Witton Albion,[19] South Shields inflicted two big cup shocks against higher division Darlington and York City.
A 4–2 defeat at Colwyn Bay in September ended an unbeaten run in all competitions that stretched back 11 months and the 100 point mark was surpassed for the third successive season.
For the first time in the history of the current incarnation, the Mariners made the first round of the FA Cup following a win against National League side FC Halifax Town.
[39] Initially brought in on an interim basis, academy boss and U19's coach Elliott Dickman took the reigns after the club had dropped into mid-table.
[citation needed] The ground was home to the Filtrona factory's works football team before previous chairman John Rundle bought the facility and moved Shields in during the summer of 1992.
[citation needed] The club were forced to leave the facility after the 2012–13 season by the former chairman who still acted as landlord until funds or a buyer could be found.
[46] The current club (when reformed in 1974) played in Dundee United style tangerine and black before altering to Claret and Blue at some point during the mid-1980s.
[citation needed] The previous incarnations of the club played (for the vast majority of their existences) in green, white and red[46] which was an ode to the town's booming shipbuilding industry in the early part of the 20th century,[citation needed] red and green being the indicating colours for Port and Starboard respectively.
[46] The second incarnation when formed in 1936 played in red and green quarters until the early 1960s when the club mirrored Leeds United's change in colours to all white with blue trim.
[47] It is a traditional roundel coloured in claret and blue made unique by it overlapping an anchor, a nod to the town's maritime heritage.
The "Always Ready" motif is retained from the town's coat of arms and within the anchor are waves of blue and white, depicting the Tyne Lifeboat which is preserved as a display on Ocean Road.
Board Management and backroom staff Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.