Winter Sports
GLASSBOYS etch their name in history ... W
Evo-Stick League Southern Premier club, Stourbridge FC, have hit the headlines this season with their exploits in the FA Cup - progressing through four rounds of qualifying to reach the first round proper of the competition. Their reward, an away tie at league two-side Plymouth Argyle, ended in a scintillating 3-3 draw and the prospect of a televised reply back at their Amblecote ground.
Amenity Land Solutions Area Sales Manager, Mark Allen, caught up with the madness as the media circus rolled into town
ith ten days between the draw at Plymouth and the replay, things could be described as ‘a little hectic’ at Stourbridge FC. For a
club more accustomed to playing in front of a few hundred home fans, the impending arrival of a league two side is a big deal. Such a big deal, in fact, that the television cameras of ESPN have been wheeled out to broadcast the potential ‘giant killing’ live to the armchair nation. Almost 3,000 tickets were expected to be snapped up for what was being billed as the biggest game in Stourbridge FC’s 135-year history. I am here on ‘the Monday after the weekend before’ and the place is swarming with local council officials, FA and police representatives, as well as local and national media. Temporary stands are being erected, pitch-side advertisements rearranged, and it feels like ‘the world and his wife’ are queuing up to speak to Club Chairman, Ian Pilkington.
A lifelong fan of his hometown team, Ian has held various positions within the club, not least that of groundsman - before taking over the chair in 2009. That puts him in an extremely well informed position regarding pitch maintenance. “I fell into the role as groundsman, as
the chap who was doing it broke his leg and it was a case of ‘what do we do now?’ I work in transport for Sandwell Council and the horticultural section is next door, so they knew a few people to point me in the right direction - I was groundsman for the next five years!” With Ian latterly occupied as Chairman, the Head Groundsman’s position has been taken over by Mark Wiley - himself a long-time supporter of the club.
Ian and Mark are typical of the type of characters that bind sporting institutions together - local guys who are tireless in their efforts to progress their beloved club. With the money generated from the
FA cup run expected to approach £100,000, Stourbridge have been thrown a financial lifeline in these difficult economic times. Not that you’ll find Ian getting carried away with any grand ideas; “The money is important, but we are not going to do anything stupid - what it will do will be to allow us to keeping pushing the club forward.”
And push forward they certainly have. Under Pilkington’s guidance ‘The Glassboys’ are rapidly becoming the talk of the West Midlands non-league scene, and their ambitions of competing at a higher level are looking increasingly
View from the shed end
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