Tomorrow Darlaston Town (1874), for the first time in the month, travel away from The Paycare Ground for a League fixture, fortunately its only a small distance to Dudley to take on Team Dudley who currently top the league table after their 5-2 away win at Bustleholme and Darlaston’s loss to Sikh Hunters last week.

So tomorrow is top vs second place a huge game, It is unusual to have such an important game so early into the season. During the summer months Team Dudley Manager, Lee Mills, has added to his already strong squad after their eighth placed finish last season. The recruitment includes the likes of Nathan Jones from Lye Town, Jack Bailey who played for Stourport Swifts and Dudley Sports last season and Paul Blagrove. Team Dudley also welcome back Craig Edwards who unfortunately suffered a serious injury after 12 games at the beginning of last season, his loss was significant because he had scored 10 goals within those games.

Team Dudley also will have the services of ex-Kidderminster Harriers & Stourbridge forward Chris Knight all this season.

After a 100% record in pre-season beating teams such as Enville, Cadbury’s, Shenstone Path Finders, Feckenham and Cotton Green, Lee Mills’ squad could not have been better prepared for the season’s start.

The opening weekend of the season saw a home game against Telford Juniors with Team Dudley winning 2-1, the second week of August a 3-0 away win at Old Wulf’s followed by a 2-2 home draw against Allscott.

The busy Bank Holiday period resulted in Team Dudley beating Tipton 6-4 on Saturday at home in an exciting game, with Team Dudley leading 3-2 at half-time after scoring the first goal and finding themselves 2-1 down.

Bank Holiday Monday Team Dudley travel the short distance to Gornal Athletic but returned home on the end of a 3-0 loss, their only loss this season so far.

September so far has seen two games. A 3-1 home win against Bromyard Town followed last weekend by a 5-2 away win at Bustleholme.

Team Dudley are currently top of the Division having played seven games, winning five with a draw and a loss and a goal difference of 8. The top scorer in the first seven games so far is Tyrone Clarke with six, followed by fellow forward Craig Edwards and midfielders Vlad Lungu both with three each.

Manager Parkes’ squad has trained well this week on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and the squad appears to be fit and healthy with just a couple of availability issues. The Management duo of Parkes & Moore will be looking for a positive response after last weekends first loss of the season and Assistant Manage Scott Moore said in midweek “this Saturday we will be looking for the players to bounce back from last weekends poor performance. To have such an important game so early on in the season is unusual to say the least, whilst every game is important as the next, we cannot afford to slip up again against Team Dudley because all the momentum that has been built up in the first five games will be lost and wasted”

Tomorrow offers an excellent opportunity for two teams to hopefully play football on a quality surface and we hope that many of the Darlaston faithful will make the short journey to Dudley.

Team Dudley were formed in 2010, the squad made up of Dudley College students past and present as well as number of college staff. The team entered into the West Midlands (Regional) League Division Two and were initially playing from Dell Stadium at Brierley Hill. The season before in 2012/13 Team Dudley made a clean sweep at The Annual West Midlands Regional League Presentation Evening in winning the Disciplinary, Fair Play and F.A. Respect Awards and received a £500 bonus for club funds as well.

Team Dudley continued in Division Two until 2014 season when the finished fourth, gaining promotion into Division One. In their promotion season they were awarded the same trophies again for the second successive season at the Leagues Annual Dinner.

In their first season in Division One they achieved a creditable 11th place finish and also won their first piece of silverware, The Division One League Cup after beating A.F. Ludlow in a closely fought final 1-0.

The following season in 2015/16 saw a lot of the previous season’s squad move to other clubs after finishing their college courses and of course going to University. During the season, Team Dudley also suffered their first managerial change since the team was formed, with Stuart Holmes stepping down just after Christmas after a poor run. Stuart not only managed the first Team but also worked with Dudley colleges’ A Team to provide a development pathway into the Adult Team set-up. This over the years has seen a constant stream of players go onto play for not only Team Dudley but many other Teams at much higher levels.

Rob Elkin and Ashley Davies were installed as interim Managers until the end of the season and after they continued into the start of the 2016/17 season. Shortly after the season started they recruited the services of Lee Mills the former Professional Footballer who has played for the likes of Wolves, Bradford City, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Coventry & Stoke City and Lee was given the task of continuing previous Managers’ Stuart Holmes’ hard work.

Lee Mills has brought a tremendous wealth of football knowledge and experience to Team Dudley and the college. With Lee’s input, the club has progressed from the bottom of Division One to now looking to challenge for promotion into the West Midlands Regional Premier League.

Tomorrow’s game will be taking place at Team Dudley’s Priory Road 3G Complex situated off Priory Road, Dudley, DY1 4AD. The ground is situated just outside Dudley Town Centre.

Kick-off is 3.00 p.m., admission prices are £3.00 adults, £1.00 concessions (OAP’s & Children)