First Team
Matches
Sat 23 Dec 2017  ·  WMRL Division One
Darlaston Town (1874) FC
First Team
M Stanton (38'), (66'), L Taylor (54')
3
3
Team Dudley
L Clarke (16'), A Pinches (34'), M Blackham (77')

Match Preview

Simon Cox22 Dec 2017 - 10:44
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Tomorrow, looking at the weather forecast suggests that West Midlands (Regional) League action will return to the Paycare Ground when Darlaston Town (1874) take on Team Dudley in a vital league fixture, given that Team Dudley are currently in fourth place and ourselves in seventh.

Team Dudley’s season so far; they started this current season exceptionally well and in fact headed the Division for some weeks at the beginning of the Season. In August Dudley had a good month playing four games, winning three against Bustleholme, Gornal Athletic and Kington Town and being held at home to a 1-1 draw by Bromyard Town.

September saw another successful month beating the Divisions current second place team Wem Town 5-1 at home, Wren’s Nest 4-0 and spanking Willenhall 7-1 and drawing with Tipton Town. The only blemish was a 3-2 loss to Old Wulfrunians.

October saw a change in fortunes. The month started well with a 5-2 win against Telford Juniors but a 4-0 reversal away at Wem Town and a 3-3 draw at Wyrley saw Team Dudley knocked from the top of the Division. The poor run continued into November with a 5-0 loss at home against St. Martins, but the goals returned with a 4-2 home win against Wren’s Nest, a 3-2 home win at Tipton Town and then a creditable 2-2 draw at Alscot.

December has seen one game only due to the weather, in the first week when Team Dudley went down 2-1 to Bromyard Town.

Team Dudley will always provide a stiff test under the management of ex- professional Lee Mills.

Team Dudley were formed in 2010 the squad made up of Dudley College Students past and present as well as a number of College Staff. The team entered into the West Midlands (Regional) League Division Two and were initially playing from the Dell Stadium at Brierley Hill.

The season before in 2012/13 Team Dudley made a clean sweep of awards 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.

Team Dudley continued in Division Two until 2013/14 Season when they finished fourth, gaining promotion into the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One. In their Promotion Season they awarded the same trophies again for a second successive Season at the League’s Annual Dinner.

In their first Season in Division One they achieved an 11th place finish and also won their first Cup, The Division One League Cup beating A.F.C. Ludlow in a closely fought final 1-0.

After such a successful Season the following Season 2015/16 saw a lot of the previous seasons squad move to other Clubs, including going to University to continue their studies. In Season 2015/16 they saw the first managerial change at Team Dudley since the team was formed with Stuart Holmes stepping down on January 4th after a poor run. Stuart not only managed the first team but worked with Dudley college’s A Team to provide a development pathway into the adult set-up. This over the years has seen a conveyor belt of players gone on to play for not only Team Dudley but also many other teams a higher level.

Rob Elkin and Ashley Davies were installed as interim managers until the end of the Season. They started the 2016/17 Season without appointing a Manager but shortly after the season started they managed to secure the services of Lee Mills the former Professional Footballer who had spells at Wolves, Bradford City, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Coventry & Stoke City and he was given the task of continuing previous Manager’s Stuart Holmes’ work.

Lee Mills has bought a wealth of football knowledge and experience to the students and squad members and has seen the club progress from the foot of Division One where it has remained for the previous two Seasons to now challenging for promotion.

WMRL Division One Fixtures

Sat 23 Dec 2017KO: 14:00
Allscott
2
Telford Juniors
0
Sat 23 Dec 2017KO: 14:00
Newport Town
3
Wrens Nest
1
Sat 23 Dec 2017KO: 14:00
Old Wulfrunians
1
Wyrley
0
Sat 23 Dec 2017KO: 15:00
Wem Town
1
Worcester Raiders
0
Sat 23 Dec 2017KO: 15:00
Bromyard Town
3
Willenhall Town
0
Sat 23 Dec 2017KO: 15:00
St Martins
4
Gornal Athletic
3

Match details

Match date

Sat 23 Dec 2017

Kickoff

14:00

Competition

WMRL Division One

League position

4
Team Dudley
7
Darlaston Town (1874)
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Main Club Sponsor - Paycare
Sponsor - PRG Roofing & Construction Ltd