The Casual Vacancy

Wolverhampton Casuals   3   Cradley Town   2

West Midlands Regional League – Premier Division

I’ve been watching football in the West Midlands Regional League on a relatively consistent basis since 2003, but, one team that for some explicable reason, I’ve never ever seen play, is Wolverhampton Casuals.

My first ever forays into the league would have been way back in the late Eighties, watching the likes of Tamworth and Gresley Rovers.  But, it was in 2003 that I started the task of working my way through the divisions, which to be fair over a spell of about three years proved to be something of a mission, and then thereafter it was a case of picking up on new teams and new grounds.

To be honest, one of the early grounds I went to in 2003-04 season was indeed the Brinsford Lane home of Wolves Casuals, but it was a midweek game where ground sharers with Casuals, Ettingshall Holy Trinity, were at home to an up and coming Market Drayton Town outfit.

Weirdly though, despite watching as many games as I did in the competition, Casuals were never to crop up as an opponent, and being a bit Sinclair Spectrum, that bothered me somewhat! In fact it bothered me to a point that I was starting to look specifically for games involving Casuals, just to get that itch scratched.

It didn’t work though, and to be fair due to not a lot really changing in the WMRL over the past few years I’ve kind of not really focussed my attention on it. Whereas to be honest I’ve only  had a few cursory looks at midweek fixtures to see if I could get down to Casuals, and on the odd occasion where an opportunity had presented itself, something has come along and scuppered it, be it the weather or something that appealed slightly more.

I suppose the first thing to point out about Wolves Casuals is that you don’t have to go to Wolverhampton and fight your way around the City to watch them play, in fact it’s one of the easiest grounds to get to that you could imagine. Coming from my part of the World you head down the A38, then along the A5 past Bridgtown, and then when you get to the roundabout on the A449 Stafford Road you head down it for a few miles and the ground is just off to the left. Coming from further afield, it’s about two minutes from the M54, or about five minutes from the M6, so it’s an absolute doddle!

So, I spotted the game against Cradley Town on a Tuesday night, kept an eye on the chaotic World that is ‘Covid Cancellations’ and before you could sing the opening lines to “Hi-Ho Wolverhampton”, I was trundling in the general direction of Cannock.

Brinsford Lane is a narrow road that leads off the A449 and it’s only a few hundred yards from the M54, but it is a very rural setting. The ground is off to your left and once through the games you can drive up past the West goal and to the car parking areas to the rear of the ground.

Facilities wise, they have a seated stand on the North side of the ground, while to it’s right are the changing rooms, a tea bar and the clubhouse. You can stand down two sides and behind one of the goals, but the area behind the West goal is out of bounds.

They also have a second railed pitch behind the ground, and who uses that I’m not sure. I know Old Wulfrunians share the main pitch with Casuals, and that arrangement has come about because they need a floodlit arena to secure promotion.

The pitch was in great condition and the floodlights were of a good standard, while with it’s tree lined exterior, I have to say Brinsford Lane is a very nice place to visit.

But what about the team?

Well they joined the West Midlands League in 1982, and since then they’ve stayed there! That’s being a bit simplistic though, they have had it a little more exciting than that as I shall explain.

They started in Division Two, then got promoted to Division One, and after a number of second placed finishes they were promoted to the Premier Division in 1988, where they remained for three seasons before dropping back down to the First Division again.

They won Division One in 1994-95 to regain their Premier Division place and it is in the top flight that they have remained ever since. Recent seasons have in fact been very good to them and to be fair they’ve threatened promotion to Step 5 and the Midland Football League Premier Division. In the past eight seasons, they’ve finished in the top three on five occasions, and never been outside the top nine. Last season before matters were curtailed they’d only lost two of their 23 games so once again they were well placed.

It will be difficult though this season, with the likes of Worcester Raiders and Shifnal Town splashing the cash, but to be fair, I’ve a feeling that due to the delayed restructuring and the vacancies that are currently available higher up the pyramid, I suspect more than one club will go up. Add into the mix as well that the West Midlands Regional League top flight will not exist after this season, and your guess is as good as mine what might happen. Then of course we’ve actually got to complete the season, so perhaps it’s best to simply not think about it!

What about the game then?

Casuals opened brightly and took a first half lead through Yannick Gomes who rifled home from close range, and despite Cradley coming out at the start of the second period looking the stronger of the two sides, it was the hosts who made it 2-0 via Scott Broadway who capitalised on a defensive mistake.

Player Manager Sean Geddes netted a penalty to reduce the arrears in the 80^th minute but then another penalty was awarded, this time to Casuals and up stepped Broadway to net his second and the hosts third.

Jason Wellings reduced the arrears once again in the 85^th minute but it was the injury hit Casuals outfit that hung on for an important three points.

Escaping Brinsford Lane was easy, and I was soon heading back up towards Cannock and on the drag North back to Casa Hatt. The Casual Vacancy had finally been filled.