Darlaston Football Club

Little Darlaston (that`s near Walsall, West Midlands)! Never had any money. Still surviving in the Bankss` Lge div.1 on gates of maybe 50 or so people. Have a sloping pitch, the ground tucked away in the middle of rows of terraced houses. They are so dear to my heart. My Grandad and Dad both played for them, so many years ago, and that was when Darlaston operated in one of the Midlands` top amateur leagues, the Birmingham Senior League. I turned out for them just once, in a reserve team match at the end of the season when many of the other players had gone on holiday! I was so proud to be able to say that`s 3 generations of my family now, that has played for them. I was 37 then. As a boy in 1971, my brother and I attended probably Darlo`s biggest match of recent years, v the mighty Merthyr Tydfil! It was an FA Cup last qualifying round match, the only time I have seen the ground absolutely packed solid with spectators, maybe 1,800 - 2,000 in there, and the players won an unlikely replay in Wales, with a 1-1 draw. Lost the replay. I have never forgotten the excitement at that ground, with a possible FA Cup 1st round proper place at stake.
How about your recollections of your small clubs` exploits and what you remember of your club?

I wouldnt class my club Shelbourne a small one but compared to the teams we were competing against we would be but my favourite memory would be beating Hadluk Split in the champions league qualifying round 2 and keeping Deportivo la coruna scoreless for 150 minutes and holdng our own against them. Sadly our club has near went out of business and were relegated as champions to division1 but we will keep the red flag flyin high and we will be back

Yes, I have heard of Shelbourne. Sorry to hear that the players won the League and were then relegated on financial grounds, what a bitter pill to have to swallow.
The best of luck to them and their followers, I hope they do come back, who knows, to shake off the "small" club tag, as well!

Hi tony, good to read your report on Darlasdton Town FC, but i belive the match you refered to with the record gate, was Kettering Town, and Derek Dougan played for kettering that day, I was selling programmes outside the waverley road gate and my dad was operating the turnstile. we drew 1-1 and lost the replay, Kettering went on to play Sheffield Wednesday in the next round

Would love to obtain a programme from this game.Any help .Please.

Come on guys some one must have a spare on of these somewere.

Hallo Craig. The Merthyr game was in 1971, I didn`t refer to the crowd as the club`s record gate, just that the ground was packed with people like I`d never known it! I think Pat Foley got the Darlo goal that day. What year was the Kettering game? We shall never know the club`s biggest ever crowd, I don`t think, due to most club records and chattels being destroyed when vandals burnt down the clubhouse, some time way back in time. My granddad Albert Morgan was club treasurer up to his death in 1970. He lived to see Darlaston climb off the bottom of the West Midlands league, his last ambition! My Dad Albert jnr also played for them in the 50`s. That Kettering game sounded pretty special, probably one of the club`s biggest ever games.