Alvechurch Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

club based in

Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove district in northeast Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow. The Lickey Hills Country Park is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the northwest. It is south of Bir ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, England. They are currently members of the and play at Lye Meadow.

History

The club was established in 1929 as Alvechurch Juniors and played in the Redditch League until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

.Club history
Alvechurch F.C. They were runners-up in the West Midlands Alliance in 1960–61 and moved up to Division One of the Worcestershire Combination. After a seventh-place finish in their first season in the Combination, the next seven seasons saw the club finish either first or second in the league, winning the league title in 1962–63, 1964–65 and 1966–67 and the League Cup in 1964–65, 1965–66 and 1967–68. In 1965–66 they reached the semi-finals of the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

, eventually losing 1–0 to

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

at Stamford Bridge with around 10,000 supporters travelling to London for the game.Special feature: Brian Halford looks at the Blues links with Alvechurch Football Club
Birmingham Mail, 28 March 2013 The league was renamed the

Midland Combination The Midland Football Combination was an English football league covering parts of the West Midlands. It comprised five divisions, a Premier Division, Divisions One and Two and two Reserves Divisions. The league was one of three official feeder ...

in 1968 and Alvechurch were League Cup winners again in 1968–69. In 1971–72 they won their fourth Midland Combination title and the League Cup for the fifth time. The season also saw them make FA Cup history; in the

fourth qualifying round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

they were drawn against Oxford City. Following a 2–2 draw at home, the tie went to a record five replays; the first replay at Oxford City's ground was drawn 1–1. The second replay was at St Andrew's in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, as any replays after the first were required to be on a neutral ground, and ended 0–0. The third and fourth replays (both at the Manor Ground in Oxford) also ended 0–0, before Alvechurch finally won the fifth replay 1–0 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. Four of the games also went to extra time.22 November 1971: The longest-ever FA Cup tie finally finishes
The Guardian, 21 November 2009 The six matches, which were played over 17 days during which Alvechurch also had a league match, remains a record for an FA Cup tie, as in 1991 the FA scrapped any matches beyond the first replay, which would now end with penalties to decide a winner. The win meant that Alvechurch reached the

first round proper First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number 1 (number), one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, D ...

for the first time, also becoming the first club from the Midland Combination to do so. They went on to lose 4–2 at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

.Draw to a close
When Saturday Comes After finishing as runners-up in the Midland Combination in 1972–73 and winning the

Worcestershire Senior Cup The Worcestershire Senior Cup (officially ''The Worcestershire Football Association Senior Invitation Cup'') is a football competition organised by the Worcestershire County Football Association. It began in the 1893-94 season, with Redditch Town ...

,Honours
Alvechurch F.C. Alvechurch switched to the Premier Division of the

West Midlands (Regional) League The West Midlands (Regional) League is an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Worcestershire, southern Staffordshire and northern Herefordshire. It has tw ...

. The club's first season in the league saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup again, in which they defeated Fourth Division

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

1–0. This was followed by a 6–1 win at home to

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, nor ...

in the second round, before a 4–2 defeat at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

in the third. They also won the West Midlands (Regional) League title, the League Cup, the Birmingham Senior Amateur Cup and the Worcestershire Senior Cup. The club retained the league title for the next three seasons, also winning the League Cup again in 1974–75 and the Worcestershire Senior Cup in 1976–77. They were Premier Division runners-up and League Cup winners in 1977–78, after which the club moved up to Division One North of the Southern League. Following league reorganisation, Alvechurch were placed in the Southern League's Midland Division for the 1979–80 season, and were divisional champions in 1980–81, going on to beat

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

of the Southern Division in the championship play-off, winning 1–0 at home and losing 3–2 away, before winning the tie 4–3 on penalties. The club were Midland Division runners-up and League Cup winners the following season. League reorganisation then saw them placed in the new Premier Division for the 1982–83 season. The club's success subsequently dried up as the next three seasons saw them finish in the bottom half of the table. They finished second-from-bottom of the Premier Division in 1989–90 season, resulting in

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open league ...

to the Midland Division. Another relegation two seasons later saw them drop back into the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League. The club subsequently folded in 1993. The club was re-established under the name Alvechurch Villa in 1994, entering the Premier Division of the Midland Combination. In 1996 they returned to the name Alvechurch. In 2002–03 the club were Premier Division champions and League Cup winners, and were promoted to the

Midland Alliance The Midland Football Alliance was an English association football league for semi-professional teams. It covered Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and also southern parts of Derbyshire and Not ...

. They subsequently won the Worcestershire Senior Urn in 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10 and 2012–13. When the Midland Combination merged with the Midland Combination to form the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

in 2014, Alvechurch were placed in the Premier Division. They were runners-up in the league and Worcestershire Senior Urn winners in 2015–16, and went on to win the league and League Cup double the following season,Cup History
Midland League earning promotion to Division One South of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

. Alvechurch's first season in the Northern Premier League saw them finish as runners-up in Division One South, resulting in promotion to the Premier Division Central of the Southern League. A fourth-place finish in 2018–19 led to the club qualifying for the promotion play-offs. However, after beating

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

2–1 in the semi-finals, they lost 3–0 to King's Lynn Town in the final. At the end of the season the club won the Worcestershire Senior Cup for the fourth time. In

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

the club reached the FA Cup first round again, winning 2–1 at League One club

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

to progress to the second round.FA Cup roundup: Alvechurch shock Cheltenham
The Guardian, 5 November 2022

Season-by-season record

Ground

The club originally played at the Meadows, a site donated to the village by Colonel Wiggins. However, the ground was unenclosed and the club could not charge for admission. Following World War II, they relocated to the Guants, a field on Snake Lane. However, this was soon needed for housing. The club then purchased a field on Redditch Road for £1,000, building a new ground that became opened in 1957 and was named Lye Meadow. A record attendance of 13,500 was set for an FA Amateur Cup quarter-final tie against

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

in 1964–65, although it is estimated that there were up to 16,000 in the ground.

Current squad

Management and coaching staff

Honours

*Southern League **Champions 1980–81 **Midland Division champions 1980–81 **League Cup winners 1982–83 *Midland League **Premier Division champions 2016–17 **League Cup winners 2016–17 *West Midlands (Regional) League **Premier Division champions 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77 **League Cup winners 1973–74, 1974–75, 1977–78 *Midland Combination **Champions 1962–63, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1971–72, 2002–03 **League Cup winners 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 2002–03 **Invitation Cup winners 1966–67, 1967–68 *Worcestershire Senior Cup **Winners 1972–73, 1973–74, 1976–77, 2018–19 *Worcestershire Senior Urn **Winners 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2015–16 *Birmingham Senior Amateur Cup **Winners 1973–74 * JW Hunt Cup **Winners 2016–17

Records

*Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

performance: Third round, 1973–74 *Best

performance: Semi-finals, 1965–66 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The com ...

performance: Third round, 1980–81 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...

performance: Fourth round, 2015–16 *Biggest win: 13–0 vs Alcester Town *Heaviest defeat: 9–0 vs Coalville Town *Most appearances: Kevin Palmer *Most goals: Graham Allner **Most goals in a season: Keith Rostill, 53 (2002–03) *Record transfer fee received: £34,000 from

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

for Andy Comyn , 1989 *Record transfer fee paid: £3,000 to Worcester City for Peter Gocan, 1989 *Record attendance: 13,500 vs

, FA Amateur Cup quarter-final, 1964–65Club Records
Alvechurch F.C.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 52, 20, 41.431, N, 1, 57, 22.709, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Football clubs in England Football clubs in Worcestershire 1929 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 1929 Midland Football Combination West Midlands (Regional) League Southern Football League clubs Midland Football Alliance Midland Football League Northern Premier League clubs