Tividale FC - FA Cup Football in the Black Country

Football is back and Saturday took me to Tividale in the Black Country, which is a stone’s throw from Dudley in the West Midlands.

Tividale Football Club welcomed Clay Cross Town, who are based near Chesterfield. It was their first ever time in the FA Cup.

The ground, which is called The Beeches, is located at the end of a residential road and was easily accessible and first impressions once inside were fantastic!

The match ticket was £8, and the programme was £2, and I was given a warm welcome by the people on the gate. I was then introduced to Dan Young, who takes care of all their media work. He showed me around and introduced me to other members of the club before he had to get the team sheets ready for the game.

Liz, the lady in hospitality, was an absolute credit to the club. She is originally from East London but has lived in the local area for 30+ years. She was great, happy to chat, made me a drink, and told me a bit about herself and the club.

It was also lovely to have a quick chat with Mick, who was the club secretary. Mick struck me as someone who is the heartbeat of a club like this. Someone who was easily approachable and a real community man!

Chatting about Tividale’s FA Cup success, it became apparent there was not much of note with their best run looking to be when they got to the 4th qualifying round in 1975-76 where they lost to Leamington. There was an overwhelming acceptance, however, knowing the level they are at and having more of a focus on the FA Vase competition where one year they made the quarter final.

Tividale have a wonderful clubhouse, fresh, modern with a great choice of food and drink. It's a perfect spot to hire as well. One thing I absolutely loved was the remembrance photos and the recognition of the men of Tividale from World War I! This is such a lovely touch from the club.

As the game got underway, I found a spot behind the dugout, up on the grass verge, giving me a heightened view of the action. I was joined by 88-year-old Tividale fan Barry Thomas.

What a wonderful man Barry was, he had watched his beloved club for over 50 years, and he told many, many stories from their FA Vase run to Playing Telford at home when Geoff Hurst was managing the visitors. There is also a book out called 'From Tividale to Wembley'.

I can not speak highly enough of Barry, though, who was everything that encapsulates non-league football and Proper Football. He even told me he used to have a seat on the top of the grass bank, but that isn’t there anymore, and I told him about our trip to Merthyr, where they had a sofa underneath the terracing for the fans to sit on! See the photo below, and wouldn’t it be wonderful for Tividale to do something similar!

On to the game itself, Tividale started well and had most of the ball early on without creating much. Clay Cros grew into the game midway through the 1st half. The Clay Cross number 11 (left winger) looked heads and shoulders above the rest and was causing the Tividale right back all sorts of problems.

The Tividale goalkeeper pulled off a terrific double save to keep the game 0-0, but late in the first half, the number 11 we have previously mentioned cut inside, bent one to the back post for an easy tap-in for the Clay Cross striker.

It was a blow to the home side with the goal coming seconds before the half-time whistle.

The 2nd half got underway, and Clay Cross looked on a mission to put the game to bed, and that is exactly what they did! Two quick goals made it 3-0 to the away side. They were simply clinical.

There was a late Tividale goal as a free kick was swung out wide before being played first time into the box, where it was finished off from 6 yards out. A very well-taken goal.

All in all, Tividale didn’t really have anyone who had a cutting edge and were very direct, whereas the away side had the left winger who caused all sorts of problems. Clay Cross also moved the ball quicker, got the ball out wide and took their chances. It was a deserved away victory, and one which we learned after was their first ever in the FA Cup.

After the game, I spoke to both assistant managers to get their thoughts on the game and the season ahead, first up was Tividale's Simon Worton.

Here's Clay Cross number two, Ian Birtley.

For Tividale, it is very much a case of getting ready for the league season, which starts this weekend, where they will want to see improvement from last season when they only just survived.

For Clay Cross, they have another game in the FA Cup to look forward to and their league season, which will be a new league following promotion last year.

It was a wonderful day at Tividale, a real community club, with a great feel and wonderful people. If you are in the area, why not pay them a visit as clubs like this need all the support they can get! You won’t be disappointed.