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Tividale F.C.

Coordinates: 52°30′38.380″N 2°3′0.641″W / 52.51066111°N 2.05017806°W / 52.51066111; -2.05017806
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Tividale
Tividale FC badge
Full nameTividale Football Club
Nickname(s)The Dale
Founded1954; 70 years ago (1954)
GroundThe Beeches
Tividale
West Midlands
Capacity2,800
ManagerPhil Rann
LeagueMidland League Premier Division
2023–24Midland League Premier Division, 17th of 18

Tividale Football Club is a football club based in Tividale, near Dudley, West Midlands, England. They were established in 1954. In the 2011–12 season, under the management of Dean Whitehouse, they reached the 5th round of the FA Vase, the furthest the club has progressed in the competition.[1] They won the Midland Football Alliance in 2013–14. They now play in the Midland League Premier Division, having been relegated from the Northern Premier League Division One South at the end of the 2015–16 season.

History

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Tividale (yellow shirts) playing Oadby Town in the FA Vase in 2010

Tividale F.C. was formed in 1954 as the senior branch of Tividale Hall Youth Club F.C. and originally played in the Handsworth and District League, before moving on to the Warwickshire & West Midlands Alliance. In 1966 they joined the newly formed West Midlands (Regional) League Division One. In 1973 they gained promotion to the Premier Division and remained there for nearly 20 years, with a best-placed finish of 4th.

In the 1976–77 season, Tividale were the primary subject of a best-selling book, Journey to Wembley by Brian James, which charted that season's FA Cup tournament from the preliminary qualifying round to the final. It began at Tividale and focused on their progress through the competition until they were eliminated, the focus then shifting to the club that defeated them and so on till it ended with the eventual cupwinners.[2]

In 1991 the club were relegated to Division One due to no longer being able to meet the required ground standards for the top division, and these events led to a number of management and playing staff leaving the club. New manager Terry Jones was able to turn the club's fortunes around and in 1993 Tividale finished second in Division One and won promotion back into the Premier. Unfortunately in the same year the Midland Football Alliance was formed, moving the West Midlands League one step down the pyramid, so in a sense the club had not advanced.

Since their return to the Premier Division Tividale have generally been a mid-table side, although in 2001–02 they finished second, despite having three points deducted. Between 2002 and 2004 the club reached the final of the Walsall Senior Cup in three successive seasons, winning the trophy in 2003.

Ian Long joined as joint manager with Stuart Scriven in 2013. After Scriven left the club due to work commitments in 2013, Long assumed sole managership of the first team.[3] In their first season in the Northern Premier League Division One South Tividale finished in 8th position. Long left his position as manager in May 2015, and was replaced by Philip Male and Ross Thorpe as joint managers.

With the loss of the complete 2014–15 squad with Long, the 2015–16 season proved a season too long and Tividale suffered relegation from the Northern Premier League. With outside commitments taking its toll Male decided to step down after the one season and so Tividale were looking for their third manager in three seasons. Relegation meant a return to Step 5 football in the newly formed Midland Football League Premier Division. The club next appointed the prolific Stourbridge Youth team manager Dave King as Tividale manager. However, the following season saw the team suffer another relegation and a return to the West Midlands (Regional) League. In the 2017–18 season the club finished as runners up to Wolverhampton Sporting Community in the league, but the club was denied promotion. The team went one better in the 2018–19 season, winning the league by four points from second place Haughmond.

Ground

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Tividale moved to their current ground in Packwood Road in 1974, renaming it The Beeches. This name was chosen to honour a British Waterways official who had granted the site's lease to the club. The new ground was situated in a newly developed residential street on the Tividale Hall Estate on land which had previously been inaccessible to motor vehicles and which had required the demolition of four houses in order to open up the land for development.

In 1991 a new rule was introduced by the West Midlands League that all Premier Division clubs must have floodlights. As Tividale could not afford to erect lights at The Beeches, they had no option but to step down to Division One. Floodlights were eventually erected two years later.

More recent development work has seen the building of a 200-seater stand, new changing rooms, a boardroom, and the refurbishment of the Social Club. In spring 2014 the club achieved the ground grading that allowed them to play in the Northern Premier League Division One South for the 2014–15 season.

Honours

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  • Midland Football Alliance
    • Champions, 2013–14
  • West Midlands (Regional) League
    • Premier Division champions, 2010–11, 2018–19
    • Premier Division Cup winners, 2010–11
    • Premier Division runners-up, 2001–02
    • Division One champions, 1972–73
  • J.W. Hunt Cup winners 2013–14
  • Walsall Senior Cup
    • Winners, 2002–03
    • Runners-up, 2001–02, 2003–04

Club records

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  • Best league performance: 8th in Northern Premier League Division One South , 2013–14[4]
  • Best FA Cup performance: 4th qualifying round, 1975–76[4]
  • Best FA Vase performance: 5th round, 2011–12[4]

Players

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Current squad

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As of 9 August 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK England ENG Ethan Hawk
DF England ENG Charlie Jew
DF England ENG Samuel Bratt-Wyton (captain)
DF England ENG Matt Holland
DF England ENG Mohammed Sahil Sajad
DF England ENG Callum Lloyd
MF England ENG Jamie Hunt
MF Spain ESP Mario Mendez
MF England ENG Mohammed Abbas
MF England ENG Michael Agyemang
FW England ENG Ryan Piggott
FW England ENG Vishav Kumar
FW England ENG TJ Davies
No. Pos. Nation Player
GK England ENG Charlie Jew
DF England ENG Tom Rann
DF England ENG Harry Higginson
DF England ENG Alex Young
DF England ENG Jake Willetts
MF Spain ESP Brandon Mossini
MF England ENG Eddie Rann
MF England ENG Jordan Sangha
MF England ENG Alfie Higgs
MF England ENG Jevani Robinson
MF England ENG Oliver Hartland
FW England ENG Jevani Robinson
FW England ENG Tyrese Segree
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References

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  1. ^ [1][dead link]
  2. ^ "Brian James, who forecast England 1966 win, dies at 87". Sports Journalists Association. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Scriv Steps Down". tividalefc.com.
  4. ^ a b c Tividale at the Football Club History Database

52°30′38.380″N 2°3′0.641″W / 52.51066111°N 2.05017806°W / 52.51066111; -2.05017806 52:30:38.380N 2:3:0.641W