And so to another trip to Worcestershire, this time to the Victoria Ground, for a Southern League Premier Central clash between Bromsgrove Sporting and Barwell.
Bromsgrove Rovers FC was
formed in 1885 and initially played in the local Studley & District League,
during which time they played on at least four grounds before arriving at the
Victoria Ground in 1910. Rovers were promoted to the Birmingham & District
League in 1898, then switching to the Birmingham Combination in 1908, where
they were to remain until 1954 when it was absorbed into the Birmingham &
District League, later renamed the West Midlands (Regional) League. Rovers
were champions of the Combination on two occasions (1946–47 & 1959–60) and
reached the FA Cup first round Proper for the first time in 1947, losing 2–1 to
Aldershot.
In 1972 the club joined the
Southern Football League, and, under Bobby Hope, Rovers won the Midland
Division in 1985–86 to gain a place in the Premier Division. The 1991–92
season saw a remarkable run of 15 home wins in a row to pip Dover Athletic
to the Premier Division title with a game to spare, meaning Bromsgrove were
promoted to the pinnacle of non league football, the Football Conference.
This
remarkable form from the promotion season continued during the 1992–93 season,
with Bromsgrove, despite being one of the smallest clubs in the
Conference, finishing runners-up to the eventual champions Wycombe
Wanderers. The following season, 1993–94, saw Bromsgrove get past the
first round (Proper) of the FA Cup for the first time, claiming their only
ever league scalp with an away 2–1 victory over Northampton Town. After another
away victory in the second round against fellow Conference side Yeovil Town,
Bromsgrove lost at home to Barnsley 2-1, the Tykes scoring twice in the
last two minutes.
Rovers were relegated from
the Conference back to the Southern League in 1996–97, and after this the club
went into almost permanent decline. Further relegations to Division
One West in 1998–99 and then to the Midland Football Alliance in 2001 followed,
although promotion back to the Southern League was gained at the first attempt.
In 2007 Bromsgrove reached the Division One West playoffs, defeating
Evesham United 1–0 in the semi-final then coming from a goal down in the final
to beat Willenhall Town 2–1 in the final, to return to the Southern League
Premier Division.
After a bright start to
2007–08, a poor run of results saw manager Rod Brown dismissed, and Duane Darby
was put in temporary charge. But under his charge the team plummeted to an
abysmal set of results which saw Rovers relegated leading to protests
against the controlling shareholder and sole director, Tom Herbert, in the
close season and an attempted takeover by a fans' consortium. Darby was sacked
shortly afterwards.....
Any hopes of bouncing back
were abruptly brought back down to earth with first the presentation of a winding-up
petition, and then a fans' consortium bid and takeover from Mike Ward
both failing. With the lease of the Victoria Ground expiring in the close
season, the landlord declared that it was open to applications for a new lease.
The fans' consortium announced that they had started a new club, Bromsgrove
Sporting – and had applied for the lease.
In June 2010, the District
Council announced that Bromsgrove Sporting were to be awarded the new lease for
the ground; it was planned that Bromsgrove Rovers would continue to play their
home matches there. However Rovers then said that they could not afford to
pay the hire charge, following which a court order removed them from the
ground. On 11 August 2010, Rovers were slung out of the Southern League
after not being able to show that they had a ground to play at, and never
played again.
Bromsgrove Sporting Football
Club was formed in 2009 by a group of former Bromsgrove Rovers directors and
supporters with Rovers in serious financial difficulty and facing closure. Whilst
being offered the tenancy of the town’s Victoria Ground, Sporting
initially had to play all home matches at the Beehive, home of Studley FC,
as the pitch at the Victoria Ground had been left in an unplayable condition.
After a lot of work and expenditure,
Sporting were able to play their first match in Bromsgrove on 6th November
2010 in front of a crowd of 458 and despite The Rouslers missing out
on the two promotion places a reorganisation of the Midland Combination
saw them move into Division One for season 2011/12. Deja vu the following
season, as again they missed out on automatic promotion, but Sporting
were elevated to the Midland Combination Premier Division when the League
increased the number of teams at the top level.
The Rouslers finished runners
up in 2014 and 2015, the latter featuring a run to the 3rd Round of the FA Vase before
losing to the marvellously named Thurnby Nirvana. 2015/16
saw Sporting as the bridesmaids again, finishing second in the Midland
Football League Division One to Coventry United.
But season 2016/17 was the
club’s most successful to date - finally winning the league with 104 points (19
ahead of Hinckley AFC) and reaching the semi finals of the FA Vase, losing
2-1 on aggregate to Cleethorpes Town, with a record crowd
of 3349 for the home tie.
The
Rouslers were then crowned champions of the Midland Football
League Premier Division in 2017/18, moving up to Step 4. Last term Sporting won
a third consecutive promotion via the play-offs in a crazy final game against
Corby Town, where Bromsgrove ran out 4-3 winners after extra-time. This time Sporting
sit fourth in the BetVictor Southern League Premier Division Central, but
with form starting to stutter.
Barwell FC, formerly
nicknamed The Kirkby Roaders (where the club play with seats in the main
stand acquired from Filbert Street), and now known as the Canaries, was
established in 1992 as a merger of Hinckley FC and Barwell Athletic. They took Hinckley's
place in the Midland Combination, before becoming a founder member of the
Midland Alliance in 1994. The club reached the last sixteen of the FA Vase in
1995/96 losing 3-1 away to Flixton.
After finishing as runners-up
in 2008/09, they won the league the following year, earning promotion to
Division One South of the Northern Premier League. Their inaugural season
in the division saw them win the title, earning promotion to Step Three, but
instead of playing in the Northern Premier League's Premier Division, the club
were moved to the Premier Division of the Southern League. Barwell also reached
the semi finals of the FA Vase that term, ultimately losing out to eventual
winners Whitley Bay.
Two seasons later they were
transferred back to the Northern Premier League, and then laterally transferred
again to the Premier Central Division of the Southern League in 2018 following
another non league pyramid restructure. The Canaries finished 16th last time,
and currently sit 13th.
I set out to
a parliament of magpies in the trees (yes really - and how apposite !!)
and then an industrial unit occupied by Office Refurb, specialising in
'Delapidation' (not quite ELCTRICALS. TOILETORIES but close !!), numberplates
of 000 321, LE55 GAS (?) and D13 BRO... Matched by a hoarding on a rusting
truck by the side of the M6 'Avertise - Rent Space Here'....
Then Smart Motorway and
distracting red bridge signs - this week Eccleshall Road, reminding me of a
trip to see the Eagles, the dirt track, unseen tractors, and spectators
stranded on the mud bath of a 'car park'. This leads to that jolly good
storage place and the West Midlands this time shimmering in the spring sunshine.
The M5 provides a French
lorry, carrying Belzebuth Violette biere, flirting with the fast lane, and more
Oldbury viaduct testing and speed restrictions. Off at junction 4 to the A38,
bypassing Lydiate Ash and Lickey End and the A448 (the A38 closed in both
directions beyond because of an accident), leading to Bromsgrove, famous
for its cloth, leather and nailmaking industries (and Harris paint brushes !!)
I park in the last free spot
on School Drive, by the leisure centre, and head into town, past Hoiti Toyti
and a bust of AE Housman, born in Bromsgrove, but famous for his poetry 'A
Shropshire Lad'. Then a pint of Legend at the Golden Cross, before a walk
taking me beyond Artyfacts to the Victoria Ground.
£10 in, the league's highest
crowd today of 846, and a tidy ground with the club shop on approach and a
walkway spanning the perimeter of the stadium. Immediately I come to the
Sporting Lounge and Rouslers Bar with the Shed End, a deep covered
terrace, up top - alongside is the Shed End Snack Shack.
Across the way is the main
grandstand with a shallow terrace in front, incorporating 30 blue (?) seats
where we perch; to the right is The Rouslers Return snack bar and the Town End
open terrace looking out onto Georgian buildings (and Aldi !!)
The Canaries are in lime
green, with their stopper Max Bramley (wearing 13 rather than 1), and Sporting
in red with white pinstripes and blue shorts.
An open and entertaining
first half ensues; Jack Wilson's marauding run on 8 minutes ends with a shot
straight at Bramley, whilst two minutes later Barwell's Tristan Dunkley is
played through, one on one, but overruns the ball. It is a lesson not learnt however....
Dunkley is given a further
opportunity on 25 minutes but home keeper Daniel Platt saves with his feet.
From the resulting corner there is indecision, haphazard defending and Dunkley,
scruffily, toe pokes the ball into the corner of the net.
On the half hour Greg Mills'
perseverance wins a corner which he then takes. Bramley loses it in the air,
allowing Leon Broadhurst to head home the equaliser from a yard out. Kai
Williams blasts over for the Canaries before we reach the break at 1-1.
Five minutes into the second
period and Mills, fortuitously, makes and then passes up a chance, shooting
into the side netting when a lay off was the better option - it proves to be
the turning point of the game. Three minutes later Williams is given far too
much time and space to drill the ball across Platt into the far corner and the
Canaries are chirping....
Barwell then take advantage
of Bromsgrove's attacking policy, Sporting's full backs bombing forward much
more than defending and their centre backs lacking pace, leaving gaping
holes at the back. Williams hits the post and number nine Omotolani Omotola
misses a sitter. It's not all one way though as the Rouslers' Gibraltar
international Reece Styche flashes one just over the far angle, and sub Richard
Gregory has a header tipped away by Bramley.
With a quarter of an hour to
go Kieren Westwood brings down Williams in the penalty box, and Canaries'
captain Brady Hickey scores from the spot down the middle to make it 3-1.
Worse is to follow six minutes later when Platt gets the ball trapped under his
feet from a back pass and Omotola brushes him aside to tap into an empty net
for 4-1.
Styche's dreadful miss,
chipping wide after outmuscling his defender in injury time, is the final nail
in a bad afternoon at the office for the Rouslers...
