ARDLEY’S DRIVE FOR SUCCESS
SOLIHULL MOORS, whose ground was once a golf driving range, will be on the fairway to EFL heaven with victory today against Grimsby in the National League Play-off Final.
And Neal Ardley’s side will be hoping their ambitions don’t end up in a bunker at West Ham’s London stadium.
The Birmingham club – formed following a merger between Solihull Borough and Moor Green in 2007 – have raced up the football leaderboard since the days of being immersed in the lower reaches of the non-league pyramid.
Former Sunderland and
Everton defender Ian Atkins lives locally and has helped out whenever he can, never forgetting the opportunity Moor Green gave him as a schoolboy.
Legend
“I played for the school on a Saturday morning and Moor Green in the afternoon at the age of 15 before joining Shrewsbury Town as an apprentice,” he said.
“I would also train with them. The manager, Bob Faulkner, became a non-league legend having been there for years and becoming the first Solihull Moors boss until sadly losing his battle against cancer.
“It made sense for the two clubs to join together because neither had any money.
“Solihull Borough, for instance, were playing in front of gates of 50, 60 people in the Midland Combination, while Moor Green were always on the lookout for new owners to invest any cash.
“But since the merger the new club has gone from strength to strength. To think that the ground used to be a driving range. The infrastructure now is brilliant.”
It’s also a club that has managed the impossible – to unite diehard Aston Villa and Birmingham City fans.
Atkins added: “There will be thousands of Villa and Birmingham supporters going down to the London Stadium, happily mixing together supporting Solihull Moors.
“The fanbase has gone from around 150 to 1,800 in a few years. If they get into the Football League you’re talking about 2,500 or 3,000 on a regular basis.”