Redditch United F.C.
Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the Southern League Premier Division Central and play their home games at the Valley Stadium. They are managed by former Captain and Assistant Manager Matt Clarke
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| Full name | Redditch United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Reds | ||
| Founded | 1891 (as Redditch Town) | ||
| Ground | Valley Stadium, Redditch | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 (250 seating) | ||
| Coordinates | 52.307808°N 1.951551°W | ||
| Chairman | David Faulkner | ||
| Manager | Matt Clarke | ||
| League | Southern League Premier Division Central | ||
| 2019–20 | Southern League Premier Division Central (season abandoned) | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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History
Birmingham Combination
Redditch Town were established in 1891 and immediately joined the Birmingham Combination, where they played for a single season. The club achieved its first success by winning the Worcestershire Senior Cup in 1894 and becoming runners-up in 1898. In 1914 they won the Birmingham Combination Championship for the first time and, finally, the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1925. The 1930s were a much more rewarding period for the club and its supporters, starting by winning the Worcestershire Senior Cup and the Birmingham Senior Cup in successive seasons. Reds almost achieved a notable double in 1932–33 when, having won the Combination, they were defeated in the Senior Cup Final.
Apart from an unsuccessful appearance in the Birmingham Senior Cup final just before the World War, Reds moved into a fallow period. In 1953 Redditch regained the Combination Championship and were runners-up in the Worcestershire Senior Cup. This Championship success was repeated in 1955. In 1957 they were runners-up in the Birmingham Senior Cup.
Southern League
In 1971–72 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 6–0 in the replay at Peterborough United after a 1–1 draw at home in front of a crowd of 4,500 . At the end of the season they finished sixth in the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division and joined Division One North of the Southern League.
They won the Worcestershire Senior Cup in 1974 and 1975. The following season they won Division One North and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 1978–79 they finished eighth in the league, and became founder members of the Alliance Premier League (now the Football Conference). However, they finished bottom in its first season, and dropped into the Southern League's Midland Division.
After finishing as runners-up in 1985–86, the club were promoted to the Premier Division, where they remained until relegation in 1989. The following season, they reached the first round of the FA Cup, losing 3–1 to Merthyr Tydfil. At the end of the season they beat Northwich Victoria 4–3 over the two-legged final of the Staffordshire Senior Cup.
In 1997–98 the Reds reached two cup finals, the Southern League Cup and the Birmingham Senior Cup. Both were lost, and the cup run caused a large fixture backlog that resulted in the club having to play nine matches in nine days at the end of the season.
In 2003–04 the club won the Southern League Western Division. Due to league reorganisation caused by the establishment of the Conference North and South, the club entered play-offs to be promoted to the new leagues. After beating King's Lynn 1–0 and Merthyr Tydfil 3–0, the club were promoted to the Conference North.
Conference North
After a ninth-place finish in 2004–05, Redditch struggled in 2005–06, only avoiding relegation on the final day of the season. Although they won the Worcester Senior Cup, beating local rivals Worcester City the following year, they only avoided relegation again after Scarborough received a 10-point penalty for going into administration.
On 17 March 2011, businessman Chris Swan took over the club,[1] after a previous attempt to purchase Kidderminster Harriers fell through.[2] A short time later, in May 2011, the club was relegated from the Conference North after finishing bottom of the division.[3]
Return to the Southern League
Redditch United returned to the Southern Premier Division for the 2011-12 season following their relegation the previous season. At the end of the 2015-16 season, the club finished second in the division under the management of Liam McDonald, but were denied promotion after losing in the play-off semi-finals to Leamington on penalty kicks.[4] In May 2016, former Aston Villa and Jamaica striker Darren Byfield was appointed as the club's new manager.[5] However, in December 2017 the club turned to Tim Harris to be its new manager.[6] Harris remained at the club until the end of the 2017-18 season but departed in April 2018 to be replaced by new boss Paul Davis.[7] Paul Davis departed in September 2018 to be replaced by Paul Smith as manager.
Seasons
This is 5 recent Redditch United seasons for a full history look List of Redditch United F.C. seasons
| Year | League | Lvl | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Position | Leading league scorer | FA Cup | FA Trophy | Average home attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Goals | Res | Rec | Res | Rec | |||||||||||||
| 2015–16 | Southern Football League Premier Division |
7 | 46 | 24 | 15 | 7 | 82 | 37 | +45 | 84* | 2nd of 24 Lost in playoff semifinal |
Ashley Sammons Luke Shearer George Carline |
11 | QR1 | 0-0-1 | QR1 | 0-0-1 | 326 |
| 2016–17 | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 54 | 75 | -21 | 50 | 17th of 24 | Luke Keen | 9 | QR1 | 1-0-0 | QR2 | 1-0-1 | 260 | ||
| 2017–18 | 46 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 73 | 73 | 0 | 55 | 14th of 24 | QR2 | 1-0-1 | QR1 | 0-0-1 | |||||
| 2018–19 | Southern Football League Premier Division Central |
42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 63 | 79 | -16 | 50 | 15th of 24 | QR1 | 0-0-1 | QR1 | 0-0-1 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 27 | 24 | 89 | -65 | 12 | 24th of 24 Season abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic. Reprieved from Relegation. |
QR1 | 0-1-1 | QR3 | 2-0-1 | |||||
Players
Current squad
- As of 17 January 2021 [8]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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The Southern Football League does not use a squad numbering system.
Management and coaching staff
Current staff
- As of 15 September 2020 [8]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Matt Clarke |
| Assistant Manager |  Richard Sneekes |
| First Team Coach | |
| Goalkeeper Coach | |
| Physio | |
Honours
- Birmingham Combination
- Champions 1913–14, 1932–33, 1952–53
- Birmingham & District League
- Southern Division champions 1954–55
- Southern League
- Birmingham Senior Cup
- Winners 1925, 1932, 1939, 1977, 2005,
- Worcestershire Senior Cup
- Winners 1894, 1930, 1975, 1976, 2008, 2014
- Staffordshire Senior Cup
- Winners 1991
- Worcester Royal Infirmary Cup
- Winners 1999
See also
- Redditch United F.C. players
- Redditch United F.C. managers
References
- "Chris Swan completes Redditch United takeover". BBC News. BBC. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- "Chris Swan withdraws new offer for Kidderminster Harriers". BBC News. BBC. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- "Simon Redhead sacked by Redditch United". BBC Sport. 4 May 2011.
- "Reds suffer play-off heartbreak". Redditch Standard. 28 April 2016.
- "Redditch United unveil former Aston Villa and Walsall hitman Darren Byfield as new manager". Redditch Standard. 17 May 2016.
- "Redditch United appoint Tim Harris as manager". Redditch Advertiser. 23 December 2017.
- "Redditch United appoint Paul Davis as club's new manager". Redditch Advertiser. 1 May 2018.
- "Redditch United". Redditch United FC. Retrieved 21 December 2020.