Bromsgrove are one of the better supported clubs in the division and their average home attendance of 798 last season was the highest in the league despite the club finishing in the lower half of the table. The club was founded in 2009 after the historic Bromsgrove Rovers were expelled from the Southern League and subsequently dissolved. Sporting have a short but very successful history so far with their first nine completed seasons seeing two league title wins and five promotions from the Midland Combination Division Two to their current level. After the two season cancellations Sporting finished 18th in their first full season at this level last season.

Bromsgrove are currently 17th in the league table with ten points from their first eight games. On Saturday a goal eleven minutes from time earned their first draw of the season after they had three wins and four defeats to start the season. There are a number of former Pitmen in the visiting squad with defenders Kieran Dawes, Ryan Pryce and Lewis Wright, midfielders Michael McGrath, Callum King-Harmes and George Forsyth and strikers Matthew Barnes-Homer, Andre Brown and Dan Sweeney all having played for Hednesford in the past. As we already know, Dan Sweeney in particular is an excellent striker who is prolific in front of goal and has scored seven goals already this season, four of those in the league.

Hednesford will be without striker Riley O’Sullivan who will be out for a number of weeks following his nasty looking injury from Saturday and midfielder Luke Rowe is still not fully fit. The management team, reflecting on the performance and the 3-2 defeat at Coalville said: “We were delighted with how we played first half on Saturday but football is 90 minutes so we have to be more resilient. The mood in the dressing after the game was mainly disappointment but we focused on what we did well and the positives that we must take into tonight’s game.”

Looking forward to this evening’s opponent and the test that Bromsgrove Sporting will provide the management team said: “Bromsgrove are a good side with a new management team this season who have bags of experience at this level and know how to get results so it will be a good test for us.”

The Pitmen need to start picking up wins to match their improving performances and hopefully we should be in for an entertaining game at the RACE stadium this evening.

Since then Steve has announced the appointment of Neil Tooth as his assistant and new signings Adam Livingstone and returning Pitmen hero from years gone by Chris Clements have arrived at the club.

We have a dreadful recent record against Coalville Town although we did manage a 0-0 draw there last season and played well at home in 0-2 defeat. Coalville are a well established football club at this level and are improving every year. They have a settled and consistent squad of players which undoubtedly has assisted them in moving up the table year after year. This is their fifth season at this level if you take out the two Covid affected seasons and after two bottom half finishes they have since finished 6th and last season’s high of 3rd, which culminated in the Ravens being beaten by Peterborough Sports in the promotion play-off final.

Coalville manager Adam Stevens was appointed in May 2018 which saw him return to the club having already managed the club to a promotion and FA Vase final in his first spell. Despite their success last season the club have been able to hold on to all of their players and have had a good start to the season. They started the season with three wins scoring 11 goals against Rushall, Alvechurch and Mickleover, and they also won 4-1 at Tamworth at the end of August. However, they have lost their last two league games, both at home, to Basford (0-1) and Ilkeston (1-4). They have progressed in the FA Cup with wins over Shepshed and Macclesfield to set up a third qualifying round tie against AFC Sudbury next Saturday.

The Pitmen are still looking for their first win of the season but no doubt confidence amongst the fanbase will have been boosted by recent arrivals on and off the pitch.

The management team have a fully fit and available squad to choose from although midfielder Luke Rowe has a little knock that is being monitored and is the only concern for tomorrow. The management team have been delighted with how the players have applied themselves in training since the last match. They said: “It’s never easy when things change but we have to give the lads a lot of credit as they have been superb and taken on what we want them to do very quickly. We have had three really good sessions this week and that’s been really pleasing.”

Looking forward to the game tomorrow against Coalville, the management team said: “Coalville are a really good side and it’s never easy going to play them. Stevo (manager Adam Stevens) always has them well drilled and fit and they have players who can really hurt you but when you look at our team so do we. We are all looking forward to going up against them.”

The kick off tomorrow is 3pm and it would be great to see a big following of Hednesford supporters travelling to support the lads as a new and exciting period of the club’s history has started.

Ground address:

Mander Cruickshank Solicitors Stadium, Owen Street, Coalville, Leicestershire, LE67 3DA

Alvechurch had a fantastic campaign last season clinching 5th place in the league table and edging into the play-offs places on the last day of the season. They were beaten in the semi-final by eventual play-off winners Peterborough Sports and are currently 16th in the table so far this season with seven points from their six games.

Alvechurch started their season with a thrilling 3-0 win over local rivals Stourbridge, but then they suffered two away defeats with a 1-4 loss at Coalville and a 1-3 loss at Bromsgrove. Two goals in the last 18 minutes then saw off bottom markers AFC Rushden & Diamonds 2-0, before a last minute equaliser clinched a point for the ‘Church at Barwell. Their last league game was a Bank Holiday Monday 1-3 defeat at home to Tamworth.

Former Pitman Jack Hallahan is in the Alvechurch squad but unfortunately he hasn’t been able to play since a sickening clash of heads on the opening day of the season put him out of action. We wish Jack all the best in his recovery. Alvechurch’s most recent game saw them come from two goals down to beat Mickleover 3-2 in a FA Cup 1st qualifying round game and now they meet Harborough Town on Saturday for a place in the next round.

Since the Pitmen’s last game there have been some changes to the squad with the loss of defensive trio Nathan Cameron, Lewis Hayden and Josh Webb but added to the squad have been the returning Ben Bailey from Tamworth, full backs Mikkel Hurst from Heather St Johns and Mason Birch from Sporting Khalsa, and goalkeeper Aaron Clayton has arrived at the club from Bromsgrove Sporting.

It’s all change on and off the pitch for the Pitmen at the moment so let’s all get down to Alvechurch and cheer the Pitmen on to what will hopefully be their first victory of the season.

Ground address: Lye Meadow, 53 Redditch Road, Alvechurch, B48 7RS

It was September 2020 when the two clubs last met in this famous competition when the Pitmen won 3-2. Midland League side Long Eaton equalised twice but Hednesford striker Danny Glover scored his second goal of the game deep into injury time to fire the Pitmen into the next round. Long Eaton had won seven of their eight Midland League games that season when the league was suspended and eventually abandoned due to the Covid pandemic. Last season the club were affected by the reorganisation of the pyramid as they were laterally moved to the United Counties League Premier Division North. Their stay in that league lasted just one season as they lost only one game out of 34 and scored 106 goals to win the league and promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One East.
Long Eaton’s season started with an extra preliminary round FA Cup tie on 6th August where a late goal from Rod Orlando-Young secured a 2-2 draw and an FA Cup replay against Sherwood Colliery, which they won 3-0. Two more goals from Orlando-Young earned the club this tie against Hednesford with a 4-1 home win over Quorn in the preliminary round. In the league they have won one game, drawn two and lost one to leave them in 12th place. Their league campaign started with 1-1 draws away at Bridlington Town and at home against Grantham Town and over the Bank Holiday weekend Long Eaton beat North Shields 3-1 at home and then lost 2-0 against Carlton Town.

Hednesford Town have added goalkeeper Tiernan Brooks to the squad, joining on loan from Notts County until January 2023. In addition winger Chay Tilt has rejoined the Pitmen just a few weeks after leaving the club.

If this game is anything as good as the last one between these two teams then we should be in for a cracking FA Cup tie. If the match ends as a draw there will be a midweek replay at Long Eaton’s Station Road ground on a date to be confirmed.

Last season The Bards did the double over the Pitmen over games that were played only two weeks apart at the end of February and the beginning of March. Firstly, Stratford won the home game 1-0 in a tight encounter that was settled by a stunning strike from former Pitman Ashley Sammons. The return game at Keys Park saw the visitors surge into a 2-0 half time lead, the second goal coming from Leroy Lita. Although the Pitmen pulled one back in the second half the game was lost 2-1, and then 19 days later Lita signed for the Pitmen. Stratford ended the season in 13th place and of course they had their fantastic run to the first round of the FA Cup where they took the lead against League One Shrewsbury Town in a packed Arden Garages stadium but ended up losing the match 5-1.

Stratford Town made a high profile appointment in May by announcing former Wimbledon and Bolton striker Dean Holdsworth as their new manager and coming in with him was his assistant, former Pitman Gavin Hurren.

Stratford Town retained a number of their players from last season and have also made some new signings as well. Defender Josh Kilbride and striker Jake Collins have been promoted from the youth team, and the club also made the signings of strikers Curvin Ellis (Sutton Coldfield) and Jamie Molyneux (Bromsgrove), midfielders Josh Hawker (Halesowen), Lucas Powell (Barwell) and Dexter Walters (Tamworth), right winger Kurtis Revan (Rugby) and defenders James O’Neill and Josh Endall (Stafford) and Paul McCone (Halesowen). There are three former Pitmen in the Stratford squad; McCone and Ashley Sammons, as well as Endall who was with us for a short spell last season.

Stratford have had a similar start to the new season as Hednesford with two draws and one defeat so far. The campaign started with a home match against newly promoted Bedford Town, who equalised in the last two minutes for a 1-1 draw. Then the Bards travelled to St Ives, had the misfortune of an early sending off of Jack Storer and succumbed to a 5-0 defeat before drawing last Monday 2-2 at Redditch despite having taken a two goal lead through Josh Hawker and Will Grocott.

Earlier today Stratford announced the signing of prolific striker Adam Rooney who was most recently at Solihull Moors and played a part in their run to the National League play-off final and he goes straight into the squad for the match tomorrow.

Ground address: The Arden Garages Stadium, Knights Lane, Tiddington, Stratford upon Avon, CV37 7BZ

Stourbridge are jointly managed by club legends Stuart Pierpoint and Leon Broadhurst. They took over last season with the club in the relegation zone only to galvanise the squad and end the season in 11th place. A number of players left Stourbridge at the end of last season with the departures of Kieran Cook (Leamington), Ben O’Hanlon (Ilkeston), Kyle Rowley (Barwell), Lathaniel Rowe-Turner (Nuneaton), Dan Gyasi (Redditch), George Forsyth and James McQuilkin. The club also welcomed a host of new signings with winger Rackeem Reid and midfielder Alex Moore both arriving from Rushall, defensive midfielder Callum Gittings from Leamington, central defender Joel Kettle coming to the club from Bromsgrove and defender Alex Worley, who came through the youth set up at Walsall and ended last season at Haverfordwest County.

Pitmen fans will need no introduction to last season’s 18 goal top scorer and the managers’ and supporters’ player of the season Reece Styche and also combative midfielder Reece King, both former Hednesford Town players. Their squad oozes quality and experience with the likes of striker Jason Cowley, former Solihull and Tamworth player Darryl Knights, defender Lee Vaughan spent most of his career at AFC Telford and Kidderminster and winger Greg Mills, who thankfully is back from the serious injury he suffered against us in August last season.

With both teams looking to kick-start their season with their first win, we should be in for an entertaining game not to be missed!

Our last two visits to Mickleover in September 2017 and 2018 have seen the Pitmen come away with 0-1 and 0-5 defeats in the Northern Premier League. The Pitmen were then moved laterally to the Southern League Central at the beginning of the 2019/20 season and Mickleover were switched during the summer of this year.
The club were named Mickleover Sports when we last played them but in 2020 it was decided that the club would drop the “Sports” and club secretary Tony Shaw said: “The football club has changed its name to Mickleover FC, as it was felt that many locals associated the club as a general sports club or even a private club. But by changing the name we are hoping to widen our audience to the whole of the local area, appealing specifically to football enthusiasts”. The club’s attendances have increased by 73% and they have also laid a new 3G pitch since we last played there.

Mickleover’s new signings over the summer have been striker Elliott Reeves from Alfreton Town, midfielders Marcus Marshall from AFC Telford United and Callum Chettle from Basford United, as well as trialist Jordan Mbakop Fankwe.
Mickleover’s pre-season campaign includes wins over Clipstone (8-0), a Burton Albion XI (3-0), Derby County Academy (4-0) and Gresley Rovers (2-0) as well as a 1-1 draw with Hanley Town and a 5-2 defeat against Long Eaton United.

Mickleover played their first ever game in the Southern League Premier Central last Saturday with a 2-2 draw against King’s Langley with goals from Elliott Reeves and James Butler. The club is managed by John McGrath, a former midfielder who spent most of his career at Burton Albion and was a key figure during their rise through the leagues. He was a player at Mickleover before taking over as player-manager in April 2016 making him one of the longest serving managers in Non-League football.

The two teams contested two extremely tight games last season with a 2-2 draw at Keys Park in October followed by a 1-1 draw at Redditch in February. The Pitmen took the lead three times over those two games with Redditch equalising each time. Hednesford ended the season in 9th place, six places above Redditch in 15th having achieved nine points more across the 40 game season.
In an exciting twist Redditch arrive here at the Race Stadium with Hednesford’s top scorer from  last season in their squad as midfielder Reece Flanagan scored ten goals for us, nine in the league of which two of those were penalties. Also in the Redditch squad is his brother Calum Flanagan who was here at Hednesford under manager Liam McDonald and departed for Solihull along with McDonald in December 2016, and midfielder Aram Soleman who had a short spell with us at the beginning of last season but who is likely to miss the game through injury. A player we will not be seeing is former Pitman Dan Sweeney who top scored for Redditch last season but has moved to Bromsgrove over the summer. Other players to have left Redditch since the end of last season are midfielder Luke Rowe (Hednesford), utility player Ryan Edmunds (Bromsgrove), Dennis Digie and Victor Sodeinde.

Redditch have signed seven new players during the summer with attacker Dan Gyasi arriving from Stourbridge, striker Bernard Mensah arriving from Gloucester City (although he was on loan to Redditch during last season), attacking midfielder Cam Moore coming in from Loughborough University, and Ukrainian full-back Yan Osadchyi, who was playing for Alians Lypova Dolyna in the Ukrainian second tier last season until he had to flee the war to settle in Worcester. The striking department has also been bolstered by the signings of Ryan Nesbitt, who scored 22 goals for three different clubs last season and Dylan Hart, who scored 26 goals for Bewdley Town and Lye Town last season.

Redditch have had an impressive pre-season campaign with four wins and three draws from their seven games with wins at home to Cradley Town (6-1) and Studley (3-0) as well as away wins at Rugby Town (2-0) and AFC Blackpool (3-1). Their last two games ended in 1-1 draws away at Evesham United and at home to Worcester City and there was also a 3-3 draw at Pershore Town earlier in the campaign. The friendlies have produced some good performances but the team has also suffered with injuries and the failure to take far more of the chances they created to score more goals. The club also did excellent work during pre-season when they raised over £2,500 for mental health charity Kaleidoscope Plus from the Tom Rankin memorial game in July.

Redditch’s first month of the campaign includes home games against King’s Langley, Stratford Town and Nuneaton Borough along with away trips to Ilkeston Town and Stourbridge.

Redditch are managed by Matt Clarke, who has been in charge since September 2020 and who had an excellent playing career, as a youngster with Wolves and WBA and then with Kidderminster Harriers, Hereford United, AFC Telford United as well as Redditch before becoming manager. He also strengthened his coaching team with goalkeeper coach Dan Price and UEFA A licence coach Ryan Conneely coming in, and in a recent interview Matt Clarke said this will be “a very tough game against a very good team with lofty ambitions of being a play-off contender.”

Saturday 6th August 2022 & a 3.00pm Kick Off (gates and bars open at 1pm) @ RACE Stadium, Hednesford, Keys Park Road, Hednesford, Cannock, WS12 2DZ.

All Tickets Pay on the Gate
Adult – £12.00
Concessions – £9.00
(Student showing NUS card, over 60’s, disabled (inc Carer) and 16 & 17 year olds)
U16s – £5.00
(Attendance will only be allowed with a supervising adult)
U5s – free
(Attendance will only be allowed with a supervising adult)
Family Ticket – £15
(1 Adult & 1 Child (15 & under) – additional children can be added for £5 per child (free if under 5))
Car Park – £3

After being voted the best in the Southern Premier Central Division and ninth best in all of non-league football by Soccer Club Swap Shop last season, our matchday programme is back.

Issue 1 of 2022/23 looks back at the Pitmen’s pre-season campaign, introduces you to the new signings and academy graduates to the first team as well as some new interactive features for the new season.

Be sure to pick up your copy at the RACE Stadium tomorrow.