Hednesford Town F.C.

History

The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top. Based at the Anglesey Hotel, they were sometimes known as Hednesford Anglesey. The club were founder members of the Birmingham & District League in 1889 and finished sixth in their first season. Despite finishing third in 1890–91, they left the league at the end of the season, and played only friendly matches before joining the Walsall & District Junior League in 1894. The club were runners-up in the league in their first two seasons, before the league was renamed the Walsall & District League in 1897.

Hednesford were league runners-up again in 1899–1900 and 1901–02. After finishing third in 1907–08, they joined the Birmingham Combination, which they won in 1909–10. After World War II the club rejoined the Birmingham & District League. They withdrew from the league during the 1937–38 season and folded before reforming as Hednesford. The new club rejoined the Birmingham & District League for the 1938–39 season; however, with the league reduced to 10 clubs, two round robin leagues were played – the King's Cup, in which the club finished bottom of the table, and the League Cup, in which they finished second-from-bottom.

After World War II Hednesford joined the Birmingham Combination. They won the league in 1950–51 and were runners-up in 1952–53, The club returned to its original name in 1971, returning to the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League. They were league champions in 1977–78, and after finishing as runners-up in 1983–84, the club moved up to the Midland Division of the Southern League.

In 1991–92 Hednesford were Midland Division runners-up, earning promotion to the Premier Division; they also reached the final of the Welsh Cup, losing 1–0 to Cardiff City. They won the Premier Division in 1994–95 and were promoted to the Football Conference. In their first season in the Conference the club finished third. The 1996–97 season saw the club reach the first round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1919–20. After beating Southport 2–1 in the first round, they defeated Second Division clubs Blackpool in the second round and York City in the third round, winning both games 1–0. In the fourth round they were drawn at home to Premier League Middlesbrough. However, the match was played at Boro's Riverside Stadium. In what was a close game Hednesford lost the tie 3–2.

The following season saw Hednesford entered directly into the first round of the FA Cup, where they defeated Hull City 2–0, before losing 1–0 to Darlington in the second round. The club reached the second round again in 1998–99, beating Barnet 1–0 in the first round before losing 3–1 at Cardiff City. A gradual decline in league performances saw them finish bottom of the table in 2000–01, resulting in relegation back to the Southern League's Premier Division.

Hednesford finished bottom of the Conference North in 2005–06, resulting in an immediate relegation, this time to the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League. In 2009 they were transferred to the Southern League's Premier Division, and a fourth-place finish in 2009–10 saw them qualify for the play-offs again, this time losing 2–0 to Chippenham in the semi-finals. They were Premier Division runners-up the following season; another play-off campaign saw them beat Leamington 3–1 in the semi-finals before losing 3–2 on penalties to Salisbury City in the final after the game had ended 2–2. The club were transferred back to the Northern Premier League in 2011 and finished fifth in 2011–12 before losing 5–0 to Bradford Park Avenue in the play-off semi-finals.

A fourth successive play-off campaign was secured when Hednesford were Premier Division runners-up in 2012–13. After beating AFC Fylde 3–1 on penalties in the semi-finals following a 3–3 draw, they defeated F.C. United of Manchester 2–1 in the final, earning promotion to the Conference North. In 2024–25 they were runners-up in Division One West. After beating Vauxhall Motors 3–1 in the play-off semi-finals, the club defeated Congleton Town 2–0 in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division.

Ground

Main article: Keys Park

The club originally played at a ground behind the Anglesey Hotel, which became known as 'the Tins' due to the metal sheeting that was erected around the ground. The first match at the new stadium drew a crowd of 900 to see Hednesford beat Stafford 3–1. A large wooden stand was erected on one side of the pitch and banking on the other. The banking was replaced by a pitch-length stand in the 1950s and floodlights were installed in 1953, with over 7,000 attending the inauguration match in which local rivals Wolves defeated West Brom 4–2.

By the 1990s the capacity of Cross Keys had been reduced to around 4,000. The ground initially had a capacity of 3,500, but was expanded during the 1997–98 season and now has a capacity of 6,039, of which 1,011 is seated and 5,335 covered.

Current squad

Management and coaching staff

Honours

• FA Trophy
  • Winners 2003–04
• Southern League
  • Premier Division champions 1994–95
  • League Cup winners 2010–11
  • Championship Trophy winners 1994–95
• West Midlands (Regional) League
  • Champions 1940–41, 1977–78
  • League Cup winners 1962–63, 1983–84
• Birmingham Combination
  • Champions 1909–10, 1950–51
• Birmingham Senior Cup
  • Winners 1935–36, 2008–09, 2012–13
• Staffordshire Senior Cup
  • Winners 1897–98, 1969–70, 1973–74, 2012–13

Records

• Best FA Cup performance: Fourth round, 1996–97
• Best FA Trophy performance: Winners, 2003–04
• Best Welsh Cup performance: Finalists, 1991–92
• Most appearances: Kevin Foster (470)
• Most goals: Joe O'Connor (220)
• Record transfer fee paid: £12,000 to Macclesfield Town for Steve Burr, 1992–93
• Record transfer fee received: £40,000 from Arsenal for Cohen Bramall, 2017
• Biggest win: 12–1 vs Redditch United, Birmingham Combination, 1952–53
• Heaviest defeat: 15–0 vs Burton

References

References

1. Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2016) ''Non-League Club Directory 2017'', Tony Williams Publications, p178 {{ISBN. 978-1869833695
2. [https://www.hednesfordtownfc.com/history Club History] Hednesford Town F.C.
3. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160531202309/http://www.hednesfordtownfc.com/history/stadium/the-tins The Tins] Hednesford Town F.C.
4. [http://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Addons/BDL90.html Birmingham & District League 1889–1930] Non-League Mattes
5. [http://hednesfordtown.com/HTFC-archive-leagues.php Archive leagues] Hednesford Town Statistics Site
6. [http://nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Aarg3EC/BCm92.html Birmingham Combination 1892–1915] Non-League Matters
7. They reached the first round of the [[FA Cup]] for the first time in [[1919–20 FA Cup. 1919–20]], losing 2–0 at [[Castleford Town F.C.
8. {{fchd
9. [http://nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Aarg3EC/BCm19.html Birmingham Combination 1919–1954] Non-League Matters
10. after which they rejoined the Birmingham & District League. The league was split into two divisions for the 1954–55 season, with Hednesford playing in the Northern Division. A thirteenth-place finish saw them placed in Division Two the following season. They remained in Division Two until the league was reduced to a single division in 1960. In 1962 the league was renamed the [[West Midlands (Regional) League]]. Hednesford became members of the Premier Division when the league gained a second division in 1965.[http://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Addons/WMRL62.html West Midlands (Regional) League 1962–1978] Non-League Matters
11. and in 1972 they joined the [[Midland Football League (1889). Midland League]]. However, after finishing bottom of the table in 1973–77, the club left the league,[http://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Regs1Df/MCL58.html Midland Counties League 1958–1982] Non-League Matters
12. In [[2003–04 FA Trophy. 2003–04]] the club reached [[2004 FA Trophy Final. the final]] of the [[FA Trophy]], winning the competition with a 3–2 win over [[Canvey Island F.C.. Canvey Island]] at [[Villa Park]]. In [[2004–05 Southern Football League. 2004–05]] they finished fourth in the Premier Division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs; after beating [[Merthyr Tydfil F.C.. Merthyr Tydfil]] 5–3 on penalties in the semi-finals after a 1–1 draw, they beat [[Chippenham Town F.C.. Chippenham Town]] 1–0 in the final to earn promotion to the [[National League North. Conference North]].[https://www.fchd.info/lghist/south2005.htm 2004–05 Southern League] Football Club History Database
13. link. (31 May 2016 Hednesford Town F.C.)
14. The final match at the ground saw Hednesford beat [[Leek Town F.C.
15. (27 December 2025). "Another Keys Park record".
16. "First Team Management & Backroom Staff".
17. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170710154638/http://www.hednesfordtownfc.com/history/honours Honours] Hednesford Town F.C.
18. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38519179 Cohen Bramall: Arsenal to sign left-back from non-league Hednesford Town] BBC Sport, 5 January 2017