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Cradley Town

The Hammers

Address:  
Beeches View Avenue, Cradley,
Halesowen, West Midlands. B63 2HB
Telephone:
01384 569658
Fax:
-
Website:
www.clubwebsite.co.uk/cradleytownfc/
Map of area Directions Five Day Weather
Club Notes
Cradley Town was formed as a result of a merger between Albion Rovers and Haden Rangers in 1970. These two clubs had a history dating back to 1944. Albion Rovers had put in some hard work at the private Beeches View Ground and this, combined with Rangers ability to attract quality players, provided the platform for immediate success. The original name was Albion Rangers, but this was soon changed to the more explicit Cradley Town.

The first Season 1970/71 saw the Club win the Premier Division of the Metropolitan League, with Bobby Beasley and Jim Nugent scoring 85 goals between them.

This early success saw the Club elected to the Midland Combination in 1971 and they stayed there for twelve seasons winning the Division Two title in 1972/73 and finishing as runners up in 1975/76 and 1977/78. They also won the Presidents Cup two seasons running in 1974/75 and 1975/76.

The Club was frustrated in their attempts to get into the Premier Division because their pitch was too narrow. Much time and effort went into widening the pitch and in inserting drainage. A licensed bar followed and a small stand erected, enabling the Club to take its place in the Midland Combination Premier Division in 1980.

In 1983 they moved across to the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division where they finished bottom in their first season and were relegated. They spent the next seven seasons in Division One before they won the championship in 1990/91 and, with the erection of floodlights in the same season, they were promoted to the Premier Division.

Despite the return to the Premier Division, it seemed the Club might fold when the owners quit mid way through the Season 1991/92, but a share of the transfer fee of John Williams (the Football League sprint champion) made the Club solvent again.

Their largest win to date was in 1990 when, in their championship winning season, they trounced Wolverhampton United 9-1 at Beeches View Avenue. Three years later they suffered their record defeat to a team who were themselves en route to winning the Premier Division, Ilkeston Town, who beat Cradley 8-0. Cradley also lost by a similar margin last season to Romulus 9-1 and Biddulph Victoria 8-0.

Cradley have had a number of players who have progressed to the Football League including Alan Nicholls (Plymouth Argyle). John Williams, Jon Ford, Andy McFarlane (all Swansea City) and Duane Darby (Torquay United). Cradley also enjoyed nationwide media attention when the then Chairman and Under 16s manager Kevin Cullis in 1996 sensationally sold the Club to take over as manager at Swansea City for a short spell.

Current Chairman Trevor Thomas then took over the running of the Club and in 1998/99 decided to manage the first team as well. Cradley subsequently enjoyed its best ever season, gaining promotion and reaching the final of the Banks' League Cup.

This is the Hammers' ninth consecutive season in the Midland Football Alliance, their best season being 2000-1 when they finished 12th. Last season was a particularly miserable one for Cradley. The Black Country outfit didn't win any cup games and finished bottom of the table with just 18 points to their credit. This was a higher MFA total than Stafford Town 8 pts (2003-4), Wednesfield 12 pts (2002-3), Brierley Hill Town 14 pts (1994-5) and Shifnal Town 14 pts (1997-8) but with just four wins all season it was very frustrating for players, management and supporters.

On the bright side they didn't get relegated due to a re-jigging of the non-league pyramid.This season they were shocked when their new management team of Dave Porter and Nik Cipolla resigned after just two matches claiming that the travelling between Cradley and their homes in Stoke-on-Trent was too much. Fortunately the former Wednesfield and Wyrley Rangers manager Paul Davies quickly came forward to take on the job and, even though he has no budget to work with, he is confident he can improve the fortunes of the Hammers.
Club Connections:
Stefan Ashman, Jovan Blake-Walker, Lewis Clarke, Joe Cole, Jaroslaw Cyran, Luke Darby, Danny Edwards, Shaun Edwards, Karl Gardner, Chris Gleadow, Jake Harvey, James Johnson, Craig Jones, Joe Lawley, Daniel Ludlow, Brett Mander, Daniel Pitt, Matt Poyner, Danny Priest, Will Tibbetts, Sam Wilkinson, Sean Williams
Matchtype filter:
Venue Matches W D L Goals + / -
Home 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 +0
Away 2 0 0 2 0 - 2 -2
Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 +0
Total 2 0 0 2 0 - 2 -2


Date Comp. Venue Score Stadium Crowd
18.07.2015 Friendly Away 0 - 1 The Beeches 100
30.07.2010 Friendly Away 0 - 1 Beeches View