A NEW GIANT IS RE-AWAKENING
SLEEPING giant is a term which can often be overused amidst our everyday football parlance – but it certainly applies to Dudley Town who are joyfully celebrating a first league title triumph in almost four decades.
The Black Country outfit have been crowned Midland League Division One champions at Step 6. It follows years in the doldrums for a team that maintained firmly established Southern League membership through the 1980’s and 1990’s. Matters weren’t helped by losing two home grounds in a steady decline.
I went to watch their final league game of the 2022/23 campaign away to Stapenhill where a 4-1 victory took Dudley to 100 points and 101 goals scored in 40 fixtures.
It was great fun to stand among vociferous old-school away fans as I chatted to club director Jon Edwards about the new-found renaissance.
“We are absolutely ecstatic to clinch our division,” he told said. “The team just doesn’t know when to lie down. It is very much an attitude spread throughout our club and has kept us alive all these years. “We’re immensely proud of our management and players. They exude the Dudley Town survival spirit. Promotion is one foot back on the path to our former higher status, although it has felt an unbelievably long time in arriving. “Our previous title success came in 1985 when we claimed the Southern League Midland Division. In that era, it elevated us to what would be considered Step 2 now.” Whilst admiring Dudley Town’s renewed good fortunes, I also recall major problems the club encountered prior to dropping out of Southern League football in 1997 after 15 seasons of tenure. Edwards filled me in on what happened.
“We had it all until adversity struck,” he said. “We played at The Sports Centre in Dudley – our base from 1932. It was the largest Non-League venue across the UK possessing a capacity of 30,000. “During the mid-1980’s, the aim was to reach the Gola League (now the National League). The floodlights met Football League standards and our 1,500 seat grandstand was magnificent. “Some huge crowds were recorded in bygone days. My father saw us play a friendly against Notts County in front of 11,200 at The Sports Centre some 71 years ago. And Dudley’s own Duncan Edwards even appeared there for England Schoolboys. “However in 1985, the Dudley Cricket ground to the rear of our stadium sadly suffered a mining collapse. Consequently, both grounds were declared unsafe and two fantastic Dudley sporting facilities disappeared forever.
Homeless
“An interval of groundsharing ensued. Eventually we bought the Round Oak Steelworks sports ground in our neighbouring town of Brierley Hill in 1988. This became home for eight years. “Then unfortunately, the club began undergoing financial troubles. Our stadium was accordingly sold to recover losses. Again, it rendered us homeless and left Dudley Town with little option but to resign from the Southern League in 1997. “Thankfully, our late chairman Nevil Jeynes relaunched the club 12 months later when we joined the West Midlands (Regional) League.” Dudley Town have groundshared ever since. The continuing situation has posed deep-rooted difficulties according to Edwards. “Many supporters found it hard to accept. Basically going from a team enjoying one of the best Non-League arenas in the land to a nomadic existence. We have ended up renting the facilities of various local clubs. We’re currently in Willenhall, at Sporting Khalsa FC, six miles from Dudley. “There is no getting away from the fact we’ve had it tough. Playing outside the locality is very off-putting for your own townsfolk. Attendances obviously depend on results too. Our lean spell has often delivered quite a miserable experience. If it wasn’t for the steadfast commitment of long-serving directors Stephen Austin and Dave Ferrier, the club would definitely have folded. Things were that bleak.”
Grounded
Having negotiated such massive hurdles, I’m pleased to see newly promoted Dudley anticipating a bright future in the Midland League Premier and beyond. Indeed, Edwards revealed exciting ambitions hovering on the horizon. “Enduring lengthy periods of just managing to stay afloat, we slowly grew within our means. So we can look at our next challenges. “We never stop searching for a ground of our own in Dudley and we never will. We’re the main football team to represent our beloved area. We’ve done it from our formation in 1888, it is our town and we want to go home. That is no secret. “Yes it is a fight but we’re still standing and we won’t give in. We’re more determined than ever because the scenario has gone on far too long. We’ve made small strides on the pitch recently and we realise where we historically belong in Non-League’s rankings. Nevertheless, getting there will be a methodical process so we won’t risk everything trying to achieve it. “The Southern League has to be our new target. Even so, we hold enough acquired knowledge in our camp to be aware of ongoing limitations. Being homeless keeps us very grounded.
“On the bright side, it has been ages since everything has seemed so positive. We suddenly sense those grey clouds have parted and the sun is shining once again.”