The first seeds had been sown three years earlier, in 1960, when the Ryhope Youth Club Centre opened in the Welfare Hall.

[citation needed] Rejected by the Wearside League because a Ryhope team already played in it, the club folded after the 1974–75 season.

Re-formed three years later, the club joined the Northern Alliance in 1978 and won the League Challenge Cup at St James Park in Newcastle, in only their third season.

After some persuasion, the club convinced the council to lease then some derelict land - Meadow Park was underway.

[citation needed] In 1982 the club was a founder member of the Northern League Second Division, achieving promotion as runner up in the 1983–84 season.