Dudley Sports F.C.

Dudley Sports
Full nameDudley Sports Football Club
Nickname(s)The Piemen
Founded1979
GroundHillcrest Avenue, Brierley Hill
ChairmanJames Taylor
ManagerTony Gore
LeagueWest Midlands (Regional) League Division One
2023–24West Midlands (Regional) League Division One, 14th of 16

Dudley Sports Football Club is a football club based in Dudley, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One and play at Hillcrest Avenue in Brierley Hill.

History

The club was established in 1979 after the Marsh & Baxter company folded and was initially named Dudley Employees Sports & Social Club.[1] They joined the Birmingham & District Work and Combination, where they played until joining Division Two of the Midland Combination in 1985.[2] Despite only finishing ninth in their first season in Division Two, the club were promoted to Division One. They won the league's Presidents Cup in 1989–90.[1] The club remained in Division One until 1997, when they were promoted to the Premier Division after a seventh-place finish.[2]

Dudley Sports finished bottom of the Midland Combination Premier Division in 1998–99 and were relegated back to Division One. They returned to the Premier Division after finishing fourth in Division One in 2002–03, a season which also saw them win the Presidents Cup again.[1] In 2006 the club transferred to the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League, where they have remained since.[2] In 2007–08 they won the Premier Division League Cup,[3] beating Wednesfield 2–1 in the final.

At the end of the 2020–21 season Dudley Sports were transferred to Division One of the Midland League when the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League lost its status as a step six division. In 2021–22 the club finished bottom of Division One of the Midland League, and were relegated to Division One of the West Midlands (Regional) League.

Honours

  • West Midlands (Regional) League
    • Premier Division League Cup winners 2007–08
  • Midland Combination
    • Presidents Cup winners 1989–90, 2002–03

Records

  • Best FA Cup performance: First qualifying round, 2009–10[2]
  • Best FA Vase performance: Second qualifying round, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c About Dudley Sports Express & Star, 3 October 2007
  2. ^ a b c d e Dudley Sports at the Football Club History Database
  3. ^ Cup winners Archived 2017-09-12 at the Wayback Machine West Midlands (Regional) League

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