Club History - Over 125 Years of Boldmere St Michaels FC
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Manager History |
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Club Crest Explained |
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Club History Summarised |
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Club Honours |
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For detailed Player of The Year History CLICK HERE |
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For detailed league and competition records CLICK HERE |
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Manager History | |||
| PERIOD | MANAGER | ASSISTANT(S) |
| 1960 - 1964 | Cliff Sayers | |
| 1964 - 1966 | Arthur Morrall | |
| 1966 - 1971 | Norman Lancaster | |
| 1971 - 1973 | Eddie Caulfield | |
| 1973 - 1973 | Alan Hampton | |
| 1973 - 1974 | Robin Whetnall | |
| 1974 - 1983 | Dave Bates | |
| 1983 - 1988 | John Morris | Brian Hampson, Alan Parsons |
| 1988 - 2004 | Alan Parsons | Nick Everest, Ricky Smith, Mick Hawkins |
| 2004 - 2005 | Rob Mallaband | John Morris |
| 2005 - 2008 | Mick Bayley | Trevor Burroughs |
| 2008 to date | Rob Mallaband | Craig Feasey |
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Our Club Crest Explained | |||
Until the Local Government Act 1972 came into force in 1974, Sutton Coldfield was a municipal borough in its own right and part of Warwickshire, enjoying the title of "Royal Town". The Boldmere St. Michaels badge that was seen on a 1950 club letterhead, reflects symbols from the town’s rich historical past.
Top left: the Tudor rose is to commemorate that in 1528, a charter of King Henry VIII gave the town the right to be known for ever as "The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield. The bear and staff is the famous badge of the Earls of Warwick. It is also used by the Warwickshire cricket club. The Deer and Crown recognises nearby Sutton Park, which was a medieval deer park and was given to Sutton Coldfield by King Henry VIII in 1528.
The sword signifies that at the turn of the 18th century, Sutton Coldfield was introduced to industry. The manufacture of blades, gun barrels, spades and spade handles as well as the grinding of knives, bayonets and axes, further helped the town prosper.
The club produced a special edition badge to celebrate the club's 125th Anniversary for 2008. This featured the regular club crest accompanied by ornate silver scrolls to celebrate this significant milestone in the club's proud history..
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Club History | |||
The `Mikes` are a semi-professional football team founded in 1883 as a Youth football team attached to the local church Bible class. They played friendly matches against other local church teams until 1912.
Eventually, the desire for competitive football became evident so the teams entered a local league. As the years passed, the boys wanted to continue playing football together so open age football came about. Several minor local Leagues were played in and progression was achieved, culminating in the Club entering the Birmingham + District Amateur League.
In 1920-1921 season was successful with the capture of the Aston Villa Cup, The Birmingham Shield and the Cadbury Cup. However a split in the club occurred and a team called `Boldmere` was formed to play elsewhere. Several seasons later the two teams reformed. The club was renamed Boldmere St. Michaels Social Club and the adopted in 1925 the black and white colours for their playing kit.
Just prior to and after the Second World War, Boldmere was amongst the leading amateur clubs in the country and immediately after winning the Birmingham + District Amateur League Championship, the club entered the Central Amateur League for the 1937/38 season in which they finished 8th out of twelve teams.
The following season saw an improvement to 5th place. In Easter 1939 Boldmere ventured into Europe to play and win the` Verviers Trophy in Belgium. However before a ball was kicked in the 1939/40 season, footballing activities ceased as War broke out on 3rd September 1939.
Hostilities over and Boldmere marked the return to normality by taking the opening post-war Central Amateur League Championship on goal average from Coventry Amateurs.
That success was a prelude to gaining national recognition by reaching the semi-final of the F.A. Amateur Cup. They started their run in the 1947-1948 campaign on 27th September 1947. They progressed through the rounds by defeating Sheldon Town by a 2-0 scoreline, Coventry Amateurs 5-0, Bridgett United (Stoke) 4-0, Sheffield 4-1, Coalville Town 7-0 at home. The `Mikes` then beat Shildon of Durham 4~1 away, Gosport Borough Athletic 4~1 at home on Saturday 14th February 1948 in front of a crowd of 3,481.
A 1~0 win at home to Moor Green in front of a record crowd of nearly 5,000 meant they were just 90 minutes away from the F.A. Amateur Cup final.
The semi-final saw the club lose 2~0 to Barnet in the game played at Arsenal's Highbury stadium in front of a crowd of over 27,000.
That same season saw Boldmere also perform with great success in the A.F.A.Senior Cup. They played in the final at Villa Park on 1st May 1948 in front of 9,000. The game ended in a 2-2 draw. They shared the trophy with the holders Cambridge Town.
Boldmere also finished runners-up by a single point to Rugby Town in the League.
The following season saw Boldmere regain their crown by finishing two points ahead of Ibstock Penistone Rovers. It was the club's last campaign in the Central Amateur League as their ambitions gained momentum.
The first team were elected to the stronger Birmingham League and the first season saw the club finish 14th out of 19 teams. The new decade began well. Boldmere were placed third in their second season. As semi-professional status came more into being, Boldmere's desire to remain as an amateur club saw them struggle to compete at this level (as evidence by the 7-0 and 8-0 thrashings by Lockheed Leamington) and the playing fortunes of the club went into decline.
In 1963 Boldmere moved leagues again, this time to the Worcestershire Combination which has since become the Midlands Combination. In the first season, a mid-table position was achieved and then the next season saw them finish in third spot.
This placing was repeated in the 1966/67 season, however the 1970's saw them mainly in the lower reaches, although silverware did arrive at Church Road in the shape of the Combination's Challenge Cup after beating Blakenall 1-0 in the 1978-79 final. The following season saw Boldmere lift the Tony Allden Memorial Cup after a thrilling win against Sutton Coldfield Town. The 1980's got of to a slow start but eventually, in the 1985-86 season the Premier Division Championship was won by a three point margin over local rivals Paget Rangers.
There then followed a sustained period of success, which saw the Championship secured in both 1988-89 and 1989-90. While the Challenge Cup was won in 1989/90 and 1990/91. Additionally the `Runners Up` position was achieved in this competition in both 1987/88 and 1993/94 together with Tony Allden Memorial Cup wins in three successive seasons from 1989 to 1991.
In June 1971 a fire devasted the club and almost put them out of business however many changes have taken place with regard to upgrading the facilities and the building of a superb clubhouse. Other additions have been the erection of floodlights and the building of new dressing rooms and Boardroom facilities to raise the club up to Southern League standards, a level to which Boldmere aspire to play at.
The 1994/95 season saw Boldmere as founder members of the `Interlink Express` Midland Football Alliance and a successful campaign led to them finishing in a creditable 7th place in the inaugural season. The following season saw a slight improvement with the "Mikes" finishing in sixth position.
The 1996/97 season saw Boldmere challenging for honours throughout the season. A very creditable third place was achieved in the league behind the Champions, Blakenall and the runners up Hinckley Athletic both of whom, had a large budget and money to spend that season.
The 2004-2005 season began an new era with Rob Mallaband taking over the reins from Alan Parsons who had 15 seasons as a player and then Manager.
Church Road was renamed the "Trevor Brown Memorial Ground" after Trevor Brown who died while he was Club Chairman. He did so much to improve the club off the field that it was named in his honour.
The President of the club is Harry Peakman who has fulfilled nearly ever role in the club since 1943 and still inspires others at the club with his energies and lifetime of commitment. Harry does much to ensure that the traditional core values of the club are maintained and our reputation of doing things 'the right way' continues.
When Rob Mallaband resigned due to business commitments, 1st team Coach Mick Bayley took over as Caretaker Manager. After leading the team to some impressive results he was appointed as the Manager of the club in December 2005.
His first piece of silverware was the Walsall Senior Cup with a 1-0 win over Tipton Town in season 2005-2006 season at Bescot Stadium. The team retained the trophy at the end of the 2006-2007 season with a 3-1 win over Goodrich.
In 2004-2005 the Reserves won the Smedley Crooke Charity Cup beating Northfield Town at Bromsgrove Rovers ground.
In 2005-2006 the youth team were finalists in the Birmingham County F.A. Youth Midweek Cup losing 1-0 to Coleshill Town at Tamworth F.C and were runners up in the Midland Youth Floodlit League.
In the 2006-2007 season, under the leadership of Manager Paul Casey, the youth team went on their best F.A. Youth Cup run for 13 years in the F.A. Youth Cup. They beat Burton Albion (5-3) Stone Dominoes (6-0) and Malvern Town (on penalties) before losing 2-0 away to Lincoln City on 8th November 2006.
In the 2006-2007 season despite a feeling of under achievement in league matches they reached an impressive 7th position in the Midland Football Alliance-the best position for several seasons gaining more points, wins and goals. Mykel Beckley was the top scorer in the team and the 3rd best scorer in the MFA goal scoring charts.
In 2007-2008, the Mikes improved their league placing once again, finishing fourth in the Midland Football Alliance. They also marked the end of the season with a third consecutive Bescot Stadium appearance as they retained the Walsall Senior Cup for the third year in succession.
In the summer of 2008, Mick Bayley resigned his position as manager to take on a coaching role at Hednesford Town, paving the way for Rob Mallaband to return as Manager following a spell in charge of Walsall Wood. His management team followed, consisting of former Mikes players Craig Feasey, Steve Moore and Rob Clarke, who were joined by another ex-player, Stuart Grosvenor.
2008-2009 was a landmark season, making the 125th anniversary of the club’s formation. The first team managed to equal the fourth place finish of the previous season, but were unable to secure any silverware when they were beaten in the final of the Polymac Services League Cup at Bescot Stadium.
The Reserves ensured that the trophy cabinet wasn’t bare. They retained the Midland Combination Challenge Trophy in a dramatic comeback at Tamworth and regained the Smedley Crooke Cup by beating Fairfield Villa, as well as reaching the final of the Midland Combination Challenge Bowl.
2009-2010 started as somewhat of a transitional season, but The Mikes achieved their aim of a top six finish following a superb final third to the season. Progress in cup competition proved a disappointment, with the exception of the FA Vase. Our run came to an end in the Third Round Proper at Hillheads Park, home of eventual competition winners Whitley Bay.
The Reserves enjoyed more success in cup competition, winning both league cups. They won the Challenge Trophy for the third successive season by beating Barwell 3-1 at Kirkby Road, and secured the Challenge Bowl for the first time in a 2-1 victory over Quorn on home soil. Striker Johaine Thompson won the league Golden Boot with 34 goals, and was also rewarded with the overall Player of the Year award for the Midland Combination Reserve Division.
The Youth team overcame a difficult start to the season to finish strongly and secure a creditable 5th place in The Midland Floodlit Youth League Premier Division North.
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Club Honours | |||
| Midland Football Alliance | League Cup | Finalists | 2008-09 | |
| Midland Football Combination | Premier Division | Champions | 1985-86, 1988-89, 1989-90 | |
| Runners Up | 1987-88 | |||
| Challenge Cup | Winners | 1977-78, 1989-90, 1990-91 | ||
| Finalists | 1980-81, 1987-88, 1993-94 | |||
| Tony Allden Cup | Winners | 1978-79, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92 | ||
| Presidents Cup | Runners Up | 1984-85 | ||
| Reserve Division | Champions | 2000-01 | ||
| Challenge Trophy | Winners | 1986-87, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 | ||
| Challenge Bowl | Winners | 2009-10 | ||
| Finalists | 2008-09 | |||
| Midland Floodlit Youth League | Western Division | Champions | 2007-08 | |
| Walsall FA | Senior Cup | Winners | 1986-87, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 | |
| Worcestershire FA | Youth Cup | Winners | 1991-92 | |
| Finalists | 1992-93 | |||
| Birmingham County FA | Junior Cup | Winners | 1971-72 | |
| Youth Cup | Winners | 1997-98 | ||
| Finalists | 2005-06 | |||
| Staffordshire FA | Youth Cup | Winners | 2007-08 | |
| Fazeley Charity Cup | Winners | 1997-98 | ||
| Sutton Charity Cup | Winners | 1968-69, 1970-71, 1996-97, 1997-98 | ||
| Smedley Crooke Charity Cup | Winners | 2004-05, 2008-09 | ||
