Dudley Town Football Club was founded in 1888 by a group from Dudley St John's and members of the disbanded Rugby club. The club had a very chequered beginning playing friendly and West Midland Amateur League Matches. In June 1898 it was decided that Dudley should have a Birmingham League team, made up from both Dudley Town and Dudley St John's and that they should play on the latter's ground at Shavers End, playing there until 1911/1912 when they moved on to the Birmingham Road Cricket Ground where they remained until the onset of the First World War.
The Club was reformed in 1928/29 and entered the Cradley Heath and District League taking over the fixtures of Dudley West End. A red letter day in the clubs history was in September 1932 with the opening of the Sports Centre. During this era Dudley Town won the Worcestershire Combination in 1931/32 and the Birmingham Combination in 1933/34, succumbing to financial problems in 1938. The end of the Second World War again saw the resurrection of the club, this time in the Birmingham Combination. The Club rejoined the Birmingham League in 1953/54 but suffered their worse spell of results and were unable to finish outside the bottom three until 1963.
From this time the clubs playing position and financial situation improved, joining the Southern Premier League for the 1981/82 season, winning the Midland Division in 1984/85. Sadly in the May of 1985 disaster struck when the lime stone caverns under the nearby County Cricket Ground collapsed and without any warning the council closed the 30,000 capacity ground, which was destined never to be opened again. The club took the decision to purchase the Round Oak Stadium in Brierley Hill after a long battle with the council and local residents. Unfortunately, the enforced ground share for two years prior to this took it's toll financially forcing the club to look for a major sponsor, even after this, large debts and excessive rate demands forced the closure of the club at the end of the 1996/97 season.
In late 1997, Dudley Club President Nevil Jeynes reformed the club and with a new committee now in place, applied for and were accepted into The West Midlands (Regional) League, (Formally the Birmingham League), exactly 98 years after joining it. The 'Robins' were enrolled into The Premier Division for the start of the 1998/99 season. Since this time, the club have had to ground share at Gornal Athletic (2 seasons), Tividale (4), and last season at Stourbridge. Dudley MBC have offered and agreed upon a 10 year lease for the club to play at the Dell but Club Officials still hope that one day they will be able to return to the centre of Dudley.
Last year 06/07, the club enjoyed their best season since rejoining the WMRL, finishing 5th in the league and finishing runners -up in the Birmingham Floodlit Cup, and the West Midlands Regional League, Premier Division Cup.
This season's programme, pictured above, and right the Dudley Town programme from the 1978/79 season. A 12 page programme costing 3p. In the editor's notes supporters are advised that parking is restricted to officials' cars only due to 'the subsidence problem' at the ground.
Best Performance in the FA Cup:
Best Performance in the FA Trophy: 1st Round 2000/01, 2004/05
Special thanks to Mark McIntyre for the photographs and the majority of the information in this feature.
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