Halesowen Town F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Halesowen Town are an English association football club formed in 1873, currently playing in the Southern League Premier Division. They are nicknamed The Yeltz.
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[edit] History
Halesowen Town entered into the Birmingham Combination several years after their formation and at the breakout of war in 1939 had not won any major honours.
Following the declaration of peace and the eventual reorganisation of the standard leagues the club joined the West Midlands Regional League in 1946. Their first season in the competition proved to be a fruitful one as they were crowned league champions, albeit with only ten teams competing.
The next thirty years did not bring much cheer to the Yeltz faithful, with only a couple of Worcestershire Senior Cup victories being added to the honours list in 1952 and 1962.
1955 did see the club’s current record attendance set when 5000 spectators saw Hendon pick up a 4-2 victory at The Grove in the FA Cup.
The most successful decade in Halesowen’s history came in the 1980’s when several appearances at Wembley put the club onto the non-league map.
Their first piece of silverware won was in the 1982/3 season when after thirty-seven years the club were re-crowned West Midlands League champions. And the season ended on an even better note when the league and cup double was completed with a victory over Hednesford Town.
1983 also saw the club reach its first FA Vase final at Wembley against league rivals VS Rugby. However Rugby would win the contest 1-0.
The Yeltz did get some retribution for the defeat when days after the final they beat Heybridge Swifts in the Thorn EMI Floodlight six-a-side tournament. The prize was a set of floodlights.
The 1984/1985 season proved to be the greatest in the club’s history. Not only was the league (third successive West Midlands League championship) and cup double completed for the second time but the FA Vase was captured at Wembley in front of a crowd of 16,715 against Fleetwood. The goals in a 3-1 victory came from Geoff Moss and a brace from Lee Joinson.
1985/1986 proved to be Halesowen’s last in the West Midlands League. The November saw Town reach the first round of the FA Cup loosing out to then Conference Frickley in a replay. The disappointment of this was muted with another league championship and an FA Vase win, this time a 3-0 victory over Southall at Wembley.
The 1986/7 season saw the club enter the Southern League. Another FA Cup 1st round fixture was on the cards this time loosing out to Southend. This was the second of eventually seven consecutive FA Cup first round appearances.
Promotion to the Premier League was gained in 1988/1989 when they were crowned Midland Division champions.
The early nineties were dominated by players leaving The Grove to join league clubs. In this pack were Dean Spink (Aston Villa), Stuart Cash (Notts Forest), Andy Pearce, Tim Clarke, Sean Flynn (all Coventry City) and Evran Wright (Walsall).
In 1994 the club appointed Stuart Hall as manager to replace John Morris. After a disappointing finish of 13th in his first season Hall built a side strong enough to challenge at the top and did so the following year. The Yeltz took the title race down to the wire before being pipped by Rushden to promotion.
A series of top five finishes continued until the first signs of trouble came at the beginning of the 1998/1999 season. The club struggled and after a 1-0 loss at home to King’s Lynn languished in fifteenth position. Hall resigned and was replaced by Willenhall boss John Chambers. Chambers turned the clubs fortunes around and with the help of the leagues top scorer, Steve Piearce, guided them to an eighth place finish.
The 1999/2000 season started badly with the news that the club would work on a reduced budget for the season. Chambers however was the right man for the job and although The Yeltz struggled at times he took them to a top-half finish.
Chambers did eventually run out of time after a dismal start to the following season. Alan Moore was his replacement but could not turn things around. By February the club were rooted to the foot of the table and in came Brendan Phillips. Phillips couldn’t keep the club up but some improved performances gave them confidence going into the next season.
A mixture of youth and experience were the right tonic in 2001/2002 as the Yeltz cruised to the league championship. Only Chippenham Town showed any resistance in the title race. The Yeltz only lost once on the road, a 2-0 defeat at Sutton.
2002/2003 saw a lack of inconstancy which resulted in relegation. Phillips did squeeze everything he could from the smallest squad in the league but missed out on another season in the Premier Division on the last day of the season.
Phillips tenure at the club ended in March 2003 when he was replaced by Solihull Borough manager Paul Holleran. Holleran initially had a good run in charge of the side leading them to the top of the re-branded Southern Premier League and to the FA Cup 1st round for the first time in twelve years. However the loss of Assistant Manager Darren Grocutt in December affected the side who eventually misssed out on a play-off spot that season.
Season 2005/2006 was a big disappointment with the club failing to mount a realistic challenge on the playoffs all season amid calls from certain sections of support for the removal of Holleran.
The summer of 2006 has brought much optimism to the club with the arrival of former Hednesford Town manager Chris Brindley who will bring some much needed experience to the dugout.
[edit] The Grove
Despite being one of the eldest clubs in the world the documentation of the club's early days is pretty sketchy. It does appear that the club played for several years in Hayley Green before moving to their current home at the Grove Recreational Ground.
The ground itself started life as a cricket pitch and was therefore a three sided stadium. In the 1930's a small wooden stand was constructed along the perimeter of the James Grove Button Factory (now housing).
During the 1950's the Old Hawne Lane end was constructed along with changing rooms, built on the site of former tennis courts. During this time sides had to change in the Waggon and Horses public house on Stourbridge Road (still a good venue for a pre-match drink!).
It wasn't until the 1980's when the ground really started to take shape. The three sided ground was converted to four with the addition of the uncovered terracing along the Recreation Park side of the ground. Floodlights meanwhile were installed in 1983 and in 2001 were sold on to Leamington.
In 1987 the 420 seater Harry Rudge Stand was completed on the site of the 1930's vintage wooden cover whilst at the same time the rest of the ground received a face lift. The stand was extended in 1998 and again in 2000.
In one of his last moves as chairman Ron Moseley secured a new set of floodlights with the help of the Football Foundation. The state of the art structures were installed in late 2001 and were officially switched on in a friendly against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
[edit] Current First Team Squad
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[edit] External links
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Banbury United | Bath City | Cheshunt | Chippenham Town | Cirencester Town | Clevedon Town | Corby Town | Gloucester City | Halesowen Town | Hemel Hempstead Town | Hitchin Town | King's Lynn | Maidenhead United | Mangotsfield United | Merthyr Tydfil | Northwood | Rugby Town | Stamford | Team Bath | Tiverton Town | Wealdstone | Yate Town edit |
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