Ground: 138
Date: Saturday 23rd April 2022
Sutton Coldfield Town 3-0 Yaxley
Northern Premier League Division 1 Midlands
Attendance: 214 (official)
Sutton Coldfield Town - History
Sutton Coldfield Town were founded in 1879 as Sutton Coldfield FC and initially played in local leagues such as the Central Birmingham League, the Aston & District League, the Small Heath League, the Suburban League and the Birmingham Alliance League. In 1920, the club moved into their current ground and at some point around this time they changed name to Sutton Town.
During the 1930s, the club stepped up to the Birmingham Combination League and remained here until the outbreak of World War 2. After the war ended, they joined the Walsall Senior League for a few years before returning to the Birmingham Combination League in 1950. Success on the pitch was limited though and the club moved on to the Birmingham & District League in 1954, joining its Southern Division.
In 1955, their ground was devastated by a fire and this began a period of financial troubles for the club. In 1964, the club changed to their current name and, after finishing bottom of what was now the West Midlands (Regional League) for the third season running, they dropped down to the Worcestershire Combination League in 1965. This league became the Midland Combination League in 1968 and they quickly became one of the strongest clubs in the league. This culminated in back-to-back league titles in 1978 and 1979 as they secured a return to the West Midlands (Regional League).
After winning the league at the first attempt, they spent two more seasons there before stepping up to the Southern League's Midland Division in 1982. They won promotion at the first attempt with a runners-up finish, but the Premier Division proved a step too far and they were immediately relegated back to the Midland Division. They remained in this league (which changed name a few times over the years) until the end of the 2009/10 season, at which point they were transferred to Division 1 South of the Northern Premier League.
The 2014/15 season saw the club finish 4th and earn promotion through the play-offs by beating Newcastle Town in the semi-final and Leek Town in the final. After this, they spent three seasons in the Northern Premier League's Premier Division before finishing bottom in the 2017/18 season to be relegated back to Step 4. This time, they were placed in Division 1 Central of the Southern League and finished the 2018/19 season in 5th, losing to Bromsgrove Sporting in the play-off semi-final. They were then transferred back to the Northern Premier League for the 2019/20 season, where they have remained ever since.
The club have twice reached the 1st Round of the FA Cup: in the 1980/81 season, they beat Telford United, Oldbury United, Witton Albion and Hitchin Town before losing to Doncaster Rovers; in the 1992/93 season, they beat West Bromwich Town, Stewarts & Lloyds Corby, Eastwood Hanley, Rushall Olympic and Leyton before losing to Bolton Wanderers. They competed in the FA Amateur Cup for one season (the 1970/71 season), but they lost their only match in the competition to Skelmersdale United. As for the FA Trophy, they reached the 3rd Round in the 2004/05 season by beating Stourport Swifts and Blyth Spartans before losing to Morecambe.
My Visit
After missing out on Yaxley's visit to Daventry Town last weekend, and having not gone to anywhere near as many of our away games as I'd intended this season, I wanted to make sure I got to our final one of the season away at Sutton Coldfield Town. Thankfully, on Monday it was confirmed that we would definitely be putting a coach on for this game and I immediately reserved myself a seat on it.
The build-up to the game was a quiet week as usual as I continued to assess more potential groundhopping options for the final few weeks of the season. I did have a little trouble getting cash out for the coach thanks to the Tesco cashpoints being out of service again, but I was able to resolve that on Friday by walking to a different set of cash points.
That aside, I researched the club's history for the blog on Friday and made sure I was ready for a relatively early departure the next morning. We ended up leaving the house just before 11am and I was dropped off at the Yaxley ground not long after to get on the coach. By this point, I had realised that I'd forgotten to ask to be put on our complimentary admissions list and that I would hence have to pay to get in this time (a mistake that might force me to change my plans somewhat).
In the end, we arrived at Sutton Coldfield not long after 1:30pm despite a brief stop at some services near Coventry on the way up. After I paid for admission, I headed into the ground with everyone else and into the boardroom where tea and biscuits were on offer. At around 2:40pm, I headed out to do my circuit of photos and then some of us took a seat in the main stand for the first half. After some half-time hospitality, we stood behind the goal Yaxley were shooting at for the second half in the hope of seeing some goalmouth action.
A defeat on the final day for Yaxley was sealed by the concession of two goals in a minute early on. In the sixth minute, a ball over the top found Leo Brown in acres of space and he coolly chipped over Aaron Butcher to give Sutton Coldfield the lead. A minute later, it was 2-0 as Connor Peters' attempted clearance set Brown through one-on-one and he shot low beyond Butcher to score. To make matters worse, Peters injured himself during the attempted clearance to force Yaxley into an early defensive substitution and tactical reshuffle.
Sutton Coldfield remained on top throughout the first half, the balls over the top proving a constant threat. By contrast, Yaxley's best chance of the half came on the 36th minute when Toby Salmon glanced a header wide from a corner. But apart from that, chances were hard to come by for the Cuckoos.
Yaxley made a brighter start to the second half, Matt Sparrow testing Sutton Coldfield keeper Kieran Hart early on and Florian Tsaguim coming inches away from opening his account with a header. However, any hope of a comeback was extinguished on the hour mark after a loose pass on the edge of the Sutton Coldfield box set them up for a quick counter which culminated in an easy finish for Nathan Caine. Sutton Coldfield dropped the intensity after that, but they had little to worry about as Yaxley's forays forward proved consistently unsuccessful.
A disappointing note to end our season on, with three consecutive 3-0 defeats in the end. Conceding two goals so quickly so early on completely killed the game, but we did nowhere near enough to try and get back into it after that. Overall, this was a tough season for us as we adapted to the move to a stronger league (the NPL Midlands division is considerably stronger than the Southern League D1 Central, based on what I've seen of both) and managed to comfortably stay up despite having such a terrible start to the season. Already, thoughts are turning to next season and what needs to be done to repeat that feat.
After the full-time whistle, we headed back into the boardroom and, contrary to the approach of most clubs I've visited on the road with Yaxley this year, the main hot food was saved until after the game (most this season have opted for half-time). There was pie, sausages, chips and a fair bit more besides for some great post-match food while we discussed the match and what lies ahead next season.
It was closing in on 6pm by the time we started the journey back on the coach and, with the season now over, the players were drinking and sharing them around with everyone. One asked me to double-check his goal numbers to see if he can reach 100 for the club next season, and others thanked us for our support this season. I also managed to get my report written up on the way to save some time when I got back. Despite the poor result, it was an enjoyable coach journey back and were back at Yaxley by 8pm. I got a taxi back home and went straight into sorting out my photos before settling for a relaxing evening.
After that slight miscalculation of having to pay for admission for this game, I'm still not entirely sure what my plans for the final few weeks of the season are. I'm still very split between doing two and three games and what those should be. I've still got a few days to think about it, though.
The Ground
Coles Lane is a characterful Step 4 ground with an interesting mix of old and new. The main stand is an impressive structure, providing great elevated views of the pitch and a mixture of bench and plastic seating for around 200-300 people. It also curiously looks thinner than you would expect for its height when you look at it from the side.
On the other side of the pitch, in the corner directly next to the clubhouse is a modern 100-seater metal stand (thankfully not an Arena stand, but a similar sort of structure). Behind the near goal is a very small stand which seems to be primarily intended for disabled supporters to use. There is also a small area of covered standing behind the far goal.
The rest of the ground is open hard standing with blue-white fencing panels enclosing the ground. Space for expansion is limited as the ground is penned in by housing, but it is more than good enough for Step 4 due to the club's recent time at Step 3. Step 6 side Paget Rangers also groundshare here.
Photos
