Redditch
United Football Club is one of the oldest established
clubs in the Midlands. Redditch Town first played in the
Birmingham Combination in 1891/92 and although the club
has been reformed on at least two occasions, the Reds
have recently celebrated their Centenary.
The
club achieved its first success by winning the Worcestershire
Senior Cup in 1894 and becoming runners up in 1898. In
1914 they won the Birmingham Combination Championship
for the first time and, finally, the Birmingham Senior
Cup in 1925. The 1930’s were a much more rewarding
period for the club and its supporters, starting by winning
the Worcestershire Senior Cup and the Birmingham Senior
Cup in successive seasons. Reds almost achieved a notable
double in 1932/33 when, having won the Combination, they
were defeated in the Senior Cup Final.
Apart
from an unsuccessful appearance in the Birmingham Senior
Cup final just before the Second World War, the Reds moved
into a fallow period. In 1953 Redditch regained the Combination
Championship and were runners up in the Worcestershire
Senior Cup. This Championship success was repeated in
1955. In 1957 they were runners up in the Birmingham Senior
Cup. The most successful period in the 1970’s started
with joining the Southern League and reaching the First
Round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 6-0 in
the replay at Peterborough after a 1-1 draw at home in
front of a crowd of 4500.
Reds
made a dream start to their first season in the Southern
League, winning their first six matches before settling
for a mid table finish. In the Worcestershire Senior Cup
they were beaten finalists, but went on to win the competition
in the following two seasons. After narrowly missing promotion
in 1974/75 they won the Championship in convincing style
in 1975/76, scoring over 100 goals and losing only two
games. Their first Premier Division season started better
than the eventual champions, Wimbledon, but an injury
crisis put paid to hopes of successive championships.
Huge ground improvements were made in readiness for the
Alliance Premier League, but drainage problems on the
pitch caused havoc with home fixtures and almost led to
relegation from the Division.
Despite
these setbacks. Reds were founder members of the Alliance
Premier League, but financial problems resulted in relegation
after one season and three years of struggle on and off
the pitch followed. Ron Berry and a new board of directors
were elected and, together with a loyal band of supporters,
they saw off the threat of liquidation. In 1985/6 they
won promotion to the Premier Division again.
In
recent years Reds have had several managers but with limited
success in the league, including relegation from the Premier
at the end of the 1988-89 season. The following season,
though, they did reach the First Round proper of the FA
Cup, losing 3-1 to Merthyr Tydfil (then of the Vauxhall
Conference) in front of a crowd of 2,000. Ex-Worcester
City player, Graham Selby, brought better success and
a creditable 10th position at the end of the season and
won their first trophy for 13 years when they beat Conference
side Northwich Victoria 4-3 over the two-legged final
of the Staffordshire Senior Cup. Sadly, after one season
the management team moved en bloc to West Midlands Leaguers
Malvern Town.
After
more managerial changes, Paul Hendrie joined the Reds
in November 1991, and it looked as if the club was about
to begin a new era of success. Sadly this was not to be
as Hendrie moved on to Tamworth and Reds hit another slump.
This looked like being terminal last season, as at the
beginning of November Reds had only 4 points from 12 games.
Manager Mike Tuohy was dismissed and replaced by Phil
Mullen who had played for the Reds and for Bromsgrove
Rovers with great success. He brought in virtually a new
side which fought its way out of danger, and from Christmas
on had the third best record in the BHL Midland Division.
Season
1997/98 saw the Reds reaching two cup finals, the Southern
League Cup and the Birmingham Senior Cup. Both were lost
but this was to some degree the result of massive fixture
backlog. The season ended with what must be a Southern
League record and maybe even a world record for semi-professional
football - nine games in nine days. Even ‘The Sun’
covered the final game.
Season
1998/99 proved to be one of the most exciting in the last
decade. Third place in the Dr Martens Midland Division,
progression to the Fourth round of the FA Trophy and silver
wear in the form of the Worcester Royal Infirmary Cup
made for the greatest interest throughout.
In
the 2000/01 season Rob Smith and his squad maintained
a top six position throughout the campaign however, the
winds of change saw Nicky Cross take charge for the final
six matches. Despite making the managers role permanent
for the start of the 2001/02 season, a bad string of results
saw Cross Leave the club to be replaced by Rod Brown.
Things didn't exactly improve for Redditch as they failed
to maintain any consistency throughout the season, finishing
in a lowly 18th place. However, things improved in 2003
as the club finished seventh.
Redditch
then enjoyed a fantastic season in 2003/04, winning the
Western Division title by a street. This saw them enter
into a one off Play-Off with Eastern Division champions
Kings Lynn for a place in the new Conference North. Redditch
triumphed 1-0 to seal a place at the higher level.
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