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Last Result: Tuesday 25th March 2008 Pelsall Villa 0 Wednesfield 4
West Midlands (Regional) League - Premier Division
Current League Position: 13th
Ground Address: The Bush Ground, Walsall Road, Heath End, Pelsall, West Midlands, WS3 4BP
Telephone: 01922 692748
Ground Directions: Leave M6 at junction 7 signposted A34 Birmingham. Take A34 towards Walsall to the first roundabout, turn right marked Ring Road A4148 Broadway North and continue. Eventually you will descend a long hill. At the large roundabout at the bottom of the hill by Walsall Arboretum take last exit to right into Lichfield Street A461. Go up the hill to the next roundabout and take the first exit to the left following the A461. At the first set of traffic lights continue straight on for a few metres to the second set of lights and turn left, following the B4154 for one mile. Pelsall Villa FC is situated on the right hand side of the road, just to the left of the Old Bush public house.
Pelsall Villa had eight seasons in the Midland Alliance before being relegated back to the West Midlands League in 2004.
Recent History
In 1982 Pelsall Villa left the Staffordshire County League to join the West Midlands (Regional) League Division Two. After two seasons they gained promotion to Division One. This was the signal for major developments off the pitch at the Bush Ground. Floodlights were erected during the summer of 1991 and were officially opened with a game against
Aston Villa in the November in front of a crowd of 2000.
New Manager Reg Priest was quick to strengthen the playing squad to match the improvements off the field. Pelsall Villa had some great successes in cup competitions over the following seasons, the highlight being within three games of a Wembley Final in the FA Vase in 1992 / 1993 before being defeated at Buckingham Town by an extra time own goal in the sixth round of the competition.
The next stage of the development of The Bush ground was put into action. Hard standing all around the playing area was
laid and an impressive stand containing 500 seats was erected behind the goal at The Bush end of the ground. The Club was now ready for the newly formed Midland Football Alliance. The winning of the Championship by two points from
Blakenall did not bring the promotion that the Club wanted. A year later, second place behind Wednesfield and League Cup success over Walsall Wood proved to be enough to gain promotion to the Midland Alliance.
Pelsall Villa finished in a mid table position in their first season in the Midland Alliance, the other notable success in their first season was the winning of the award for the Best Programme of the Year.
The changing rooms, left, and the press box, right, at Pelsall Villa
The following season, 1997/98, saw manager Reg Priest depart in early November, together with no less than eight players, including Dean Walters, who left with a magnificent scoring record of 244 goals in 269 games!
The new Management team of Kevin Gough and Adrian Horne had a huge rebuilding job on their hands.
The turnstyles and burger hut at the Bush Ground. You can get a great cheese burger for £1.70. The burger hut is open for all Pelsall and Oldbury games at the Bush Ground this season, the same person sorts out the refreshments for both clubs, showing once again how much dedication goes into the non-league game. I'm not sure who uncle Tom is but he has his own cabin at Pelsall so he can collect the gate money!!
A decent start to the 1999/00 season was encouraging but Pelsall Villa slipped away at around the turn of the year and had a battle to avoid relegation on their hands. The arrival of Duane Donovan in attack was to prove a major success. His twelve goals in fourteen appearances, together with seventeen from Paul Thompson and fourteen from Matt Cartwright were enough to see Pelsall Villa avoid the drop.
2000/01 saw Pelsall Villa make an excellent start, staying in the top seven until the beginning of December. Heavy rainfall then saw them play just one game in six weeks and fall to eighteenth place in the table. A relegation battle then ensued with Pelsall Villa gaining twelve points out of fifteen to avoid the dreaded drop once again.
Another good start was made in the 2001/02 season under new Manager Craig Davison. Pelsall Villa finished 17th that season, well clear of relegation.
For the start of the 2002/03 season Pelsall Villa appointed Steve Hinks as Manager. Steve was previously at Stapenhill and Great Wyrley. Steve was assisted by Paul Baker, with former Albion and Manchester City player Steve Mackenzie as player coach. At the end of February both Steve Hinks and Paul Baker resigned. Pelsall Villa quickly appointed former Hednesford Town Youth Development Officer, Youth Team and Reserve Team Manager James Thomas, assisted by Mike Chambers. The pair set about building a young side that maintained Pelsall’s Alliance League status for another season.
The middle photo shows the hospitality hut where officials can get a cup of tea & a buscuit at half time.
Season 2003/04 was a disaster for Pelsall Villa. Manager James Thomas resigned after a couple of games, forcing Pelsall Villa to pull out of the FA Vase on the eve of a match. Derek Christopher was then named as the new Manager but results were poor and he resigned at Christmas. Dean Edwards, the former Wolves player took over the reigns and results steadily improved but unfortunately that was not good enough to avoid relegation back to the West Midlands League.
2004/05 was a new start for Pelsall Villa. The previous seasons Chairman, President and other Committee Members resigned, leaving Vice Chairman Vic Dolphin looking to rebuild the Club. Near the end of June a new Chairman and Committee had been formed and former Pelsall Villa player Shaun Mason took over the Managers role, enlisting former Pelsall Villa player Mark Bentley as assistant. The new Committee had just a few weeks to get all the grass around the ground and the pitch cut down to size. The dressing rooms were painted, seats in the stand were repaired and a general tidy up was done ready for the first friendly game. The league season started brightly and Pelsall Villa were in top spot at the end of the first month. Results however started to fade and Pelsall slipped down the table settling around fifteenth place for the rest of the campaign.
Season 2005/06 saw another change in the Committee with President Vic Dolphin retiring after 27 years of excellent service to the Club. John Roberts was named as President and Shaun Mason took over the position of Chairman from Gareth Evans who moved to Ground Manager and Match Secretary. Mark Bentley was installed as Manager assisted by Ray Day. Pelsall Villa had a steady season finishing in 14th place. In the League Cup Pelsall Villa progressed to the Quarter Final. Pelsall Villa also enjoyed a good run in the FA Vase beating Radford and Kirby Muxloe away before losing away to Arnold Town after extra time.
2006/07 saw a new addition to the management team. Pelsall Villa announced the signing of Keith Holmes from Hednesford Town FC. Keith joined as First Team Coach and his considerable experience, including working at West Bromwich Albion FC, added a new dimension to life at Pelsall Villa.
This season sees Pelsall Villa occupying a mid-table position in the Premier Division of the West Midlands League. They also play host to Oldbury United of the Midland Alliance who suddendly found themselves homeless after the social club at Oldbury forced them out of their ground. This picture shows Oldbury United defending a free kick in their recent FA Vase second round game against Dunkirk at the Bush Ground.
Best Performance in the FA Cup:
Best Performance in the FA Vase: 5th Round 1992/93
The Pelsall Villa Matchday Programme for the 2007/08 season.
An excellent edition costing £1.00 and worth every penny. Consists of 44 pages, this is a well put together programme and certaintly one of the best in the West Midlands (Regional) League - Premier Division.
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