Walsall Wood F.C.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walsall Wood
150pxWalsall Wood FC badge
Full name Walsall Wood Football Club
Nickname(s) The Prims
Founded c.1915 (as Walsall Wood Ebenezer
Primitive Methodists)
Ground Oak Park
Walsall Wood
(Capacity tbc)
Chairman Joan Ankrett
Manager Rob Mallaband [1]
League Midland Football Combination
Premier Division
2006-07 Midland Football Combination
Premier Division, 12th[2]
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Walsall Wood F.C. are a football club based in Walsall Wood in the West Midlands, England. For the 2007-08 season, they are members of the Midland Combination Premier Division, which sits at level 10 of the English football league system.

The team play their home games at the Oak Park ground and are nicknamed "The Prims".

Contents

[edit] History

The club was formed in the early part of the 20th century, although the exact date is unknown, the earliest surviving records being from 1915. The club's original name was Walsall Wood Ebenezer Primitive Methodists, stemming from its affiliation with a local Methodist chapel. It is from this that the team's nickname derives.[3]

In the inter-war years they were considered amongst the strongest non-league clubs in the region, and won the Walsall Senior Cup in 1923. The club joined the Worcestershire Combination in 1951, winning the championship at the very first attempt and finishing as runners-up five times in the next decade. In 1982 they merged with Walsall Sportsco F.C. and the new club became known as Walsall Borough F.C. and continued to play in what was now known as the Midland Combination. In 1986 the Walsall Wood name was re-adopted.

In 1992 the club switched to the Staffordshire Senior League for one season before re-locating once again to the West Midlands Regional League, starting in Division One but gaining promotion to the Premier Division at the first attempt. In 2000 they finished in 21st place and were relegated, but an appeal to the FA saw them reinstated in the top flight.

In 2006, due to a redrafting of the league boundaries, the Prims returned to the Midland Combination after 14 years.

[edit] Crest

The club's badge incorporates the winding gear of a coal mine, symbolising the area's coal mining tradition, a cross, representing the club's original affiliation with a Methodist chapel, a castle, representing a castle which once stood in the area, and an oak tree, symbolising the "Shire Oak", a former local landmark after which Oak Park is named. The club's motto is "Pro Bono Silvae", Latin for "For the good of the wood".[3]

[edit] Ground

Walsall Wood's home ground, Oak Park
Walsall Wood's home ground, Oak Park

The Oak Park ground boasts a stand which dates from the 1930s, which the club claim is the only surviving stand of its type in England. Wolverhampton Wanderers visited the ground for its official opening. The ground has been the subject of a spate of vandalism in recent years, with some of the brickwork of the stand having been removed.

[edit] Club honours

[4]

  • Worcestershire Combination
    • Winners 1951-52
    • Runners-up 1953-54, 1954-55, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1960-61
  • Walsall Senior Cup
    • Winners 1922-23(joint), 1934-35(joint), 1945-46, 1951-52, 1957-58, 1960-61
    • Runners-up 1925-26, 1946-47, 1950-51, 1956-57, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1981-82
  • Staffordshire FA Challenge Cup
    • Winners 1953-54
    • Runners-up 1922-23, 1934-35
  • JW Hunt Cup
    • Runners-up 1932-33, 1948-49
  • Wednesbury Charity Cup
    • Winners 2001-02, 2005-06

[edit] Club records

  • Best league performance: Worcestershire Combination champions, 1951-52
  • Best FA Cup performance: 2nd qualifying round, 1988-89
  • Best FA Vase performance: 2nd round, 1975-76, 1980-81 and 1990-91

[edit] References

  1. ^ IC Walsall
  2. ^ Walsall Wood at the Football Club History Database
  3. ^ a b Official website
  4. ^ Programme for match v Heath Hayes, 24 March 2008

[edit] External links


Midland Combination Premier Division 2007-08
v  d  e

Barnt Green Spartak | Bartley Green | Bolehall Swifts | Brereton Social | Brocton | Cadbury Athletic | Castle Vale | Coleshill Town | Continental Star | Coventry Copsewood | Feckenham | Heath Hayes | Heather St Johns | Highgate United | Loughborough University | Massey Ferguson | Meir KA | Nuneaton Griff | Pershore Town | Pilkington XXX | Southam United | Walsall Wood

Football in England
v  d  e
League competitions The FA Cup competitions
Premier League England (B) (C) FA Cup
The Football League (Champ, 1, 2) (U-21) (U-20) (U-19) Football League Cup
Football Conference (Nat, N, S) (U-18) (U-17) (U-16) FA Community Shield
Northern Premier (Prem, 1N, 1S) List of clubs Football League Trophy
Southern League (Prem, 1Mid, 1S&W) List of venues FA Trophy
Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S) (by capacity) Conference League Cup
English football league system List of leagues FA Vase
Records FA NLS Cup
Foreign players