Halesowen Town F.C.
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Halesowen Town aew a football club currently playing in the Southern League. They are nicknamed The Yeltz and they play their home matches at The Grove. Their current manager (As at March 7 2005) is Paul Holleran.
Halesowen Town Football Club has a long and proud history stretching back to 1873, actually making them one of the oldest clubs in existence. Records show the club has always played at The Grove. Early competition was in the Birmingham Combination until 1939, without any notable achievements.
In 1946 they joined the Birmingham and District League, later to be re named the West Midlands League. The club did win the Worcestershire Senior Cup in 1952 and again in 1962.
For long periods the club struggled and only an FA Cup First Round tie in 1955 with the then mighty Hendon highlighted what was otherwise a poor time for the club in general. They enjoyed success in the 1960's regularly finishing in a high league position. The 1970's almost saw the club go out of existence finishing bottom of the West Midlands League two out of three seasons.
No one could then have expected the results which came in the 1980's and which transformed the club into a major force in the world of non-league football, with 1300 goals scored in 10 seasons.
Three appearances at Wembley Stadium in the FA Vase Final put the club firmly on the national football map, and brought pride to at least one corner of the Black Country.
The first real success came with the 1983 Vase final at Wembley Stadium, which was won by VS Rugby. Disappointed followers were soon to be rewarded. In 1983, the League Cup was won together with the West Midlands League title, an epic season for such a small club. That year the club won the final of the Thorn-EMI 6-a side competition at the Alexandra Stadium Birmingham to win the £20,000 of floodlights. the eight pylons stood until they were replaced in 2002 with the most up-to-date lights available consisting of 4 pylons and costing in excess of £65,000.
In 1984 Halesowen played at Molineux stadium in the Birmingham Senior Cup Final beating Dudley Town and retained the league title.
The following year they reached the FA Cup First Round and were paired with Gola League side Frickley. This was at the height of the miners dispute. they earned in a replay in the hostile surroundings of South Yorkshire before losing the replay in front of a 3000+ crowd and the TV cameras. This was the first of seven successive seasons in which Halesowen reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup. 1985 also saw the return to Wembley and victory over Fleetwood a success that was to be repeated again in 1986 with victory over Southall in the Vase Final, in front of a crowd of 18234 at Wembley. That year the club retained the league title and visited Southend in the FA Cup first round.
Major pitch alterations took place and there will be a few who can forget those long hard nights of toil on the pitch.
The year 1986 saw Halesowen finally achieve their dream of promotion to the Southern Football League.
In November 1987, it was FA Cup action again with Kidderminster Harriers F.C. the opponents in the First Round.
In 1988 the Harry Rudge stand was erected and the successful reign of Paddy Page as manager came to an end. 1988 also saw another First Round FA Cup appearance against Brentford F.C. at Griffin Park
In 1989 Dean Spink was transferred to Aston Villa F.C. for a club record fee of £30,000 and four months later Stuart Cash left to join Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest F.C. for £5,000. In November of that year they gave Cardiff City F.C. a run for their money in the FA Cup First Round at Ninian Park before losing 1-0.
Promotion to the Southern League Premier division followed in 1989/90 after three near misses and twins Lee and Paul Joinson together with defender Les Randle enjoyed a unique 3 way testimonial against Graham Taylor (football manager)'s Aston Villa F.C., including Paul McGrath and David Platt.
In local senior competitions Halesowen lifted the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1984 and again in 1988. They lifted the Staffordshire Senior Cup in 1989 and more recently won the Worcestershire Senior Cup in 2003 beating Evesham Utd.
In 1990 defender Andy Pearce joined Coventry City F.C. for £15,000 in a deal which took Tim Clarke also to Highfield Road. Pearce joined Sheffield Wednesday three years later for £500,000. Nearly 4,000 fans packed the Grove in November of 1990 to see FA Cup First Round action when Tranmere Rovers F.C. became the first Football League side to play a competitive match at the Grove. An exciting game was edged by the Merseysiders 2-1.
In November 1991 Sean Flynn completed a trio of players going to Coventry City. Dean Stokes moved to Port Vale F.C. in January 1993 and one month later Frankie Bennett became a Southampton F.C. player. Evran Wright moved to Walsall F.C. in August 1993 before returning to become a prolific scorer for The Yeltz and Julian Alsop signed for Bristol Rovers F.C. in February 1997.
A record fee of £40,000 was received for Jim Rodwell when he was sold to Rushden and Diamonds F.C. in August 1996.
1995-96 was the club's most successful season when they finished runners-up to Rushden with 92 points and just failed to gain promotion to the Football Conference.
Season 2000-01 saw the club relegated after eleven seasons in the Premier Division but they bounced straight back when season 2001-02 saw Halesowen win the Western Division title to return to the Dr Martens Premier Division, at the first time of asking under the guidance of manager Brendan Phillips. Then came disappointment with an immediate return to the Western Division despite picking up 49 points. Season 2002-03 saw Halesowen finish 4th in the Western Division to reclaim a place in the newly formed Southern Premier Division.
Town enjoyed a highly successful 2004-05 season finishing just outside the play-offs after their best start to a league campaign for 15 years. They were narrowly beaten at Yeading in the first round proper of the FA Cup. Success was also achieved when the Worcestershire Senior Cup was lifted for the second time in three seasons.
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