Tividale F.C.

Football club infobox |clubname = Tividale|

Premier Division, 11th | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
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Tividale F.C. are a football club based in Tividale, near Dudley, West Midlands, England. They were established in 1954. In the 1976-77 season, they reached the 4th round of the FA Vase ["From Tividale to Wembley" James,B: London, Marshall Cavendish, 1977 ISBN 0-8568-5321-6] . For the 2008-09 season, they are members of the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division.

History

Tividale F.C. was formed in 1954 as the senior branch of Tividale Hall Youth Club F.C and originally played in the Handsworth and District League, before moving on to the Warwickshire & West Midlands Alliance. In 1966 they joined the newly formed West Midlands (Regional) League Division One. In 1973 they gained promotion to the Premier Division and remained there for nearly 20 years, with a best-placed finish of 4th.

In 1991 the club were relegated to Division One due to no longer being able to meet the required ground standards for the top division, and these events led to a number of management and playing staff leaving the club. New manager Terry Jones was able to turn the club's fortunes around and in 1993 Tividale finished second in Division One and won promotion back into the Premier. Unfortunately in the same year the Midland Football Alliance was formed, moving the West Midlands League one step down the pyramid, so in a sense the club had not advanced.

Since their return to the Premier Division Tividale have generally been a mid-table side, although in 2001/02 they finished second, despite having three points deducted. Between 2002 and 2004 the club reached the final of the Walsall Senior Cup in three successive seasons, winning the trophy in 2003.

Honours

*West Midlands (Regional) League
**Division One Champions, 1972/73

Club records

*Best league performance: 2nd in West Midlands Regional League Premier Division, 2001-02 and 2006-07
*Best FA Cup performance: 4th qualifying round, 1975/76
*Best FA Vase performance: 4th round, 1976/77

Ground

Tividale moved to their current ground in Packwood Road in 1974, re-naming it The Beeches. This name was chosen to honour a British Waterways official who had granted the site's lease to the club. The new ground was situated in a newly-developed residential street on the Tividale Hall Estate. Unfortunately in 1991 a new rule was introduced by the West Midlands League that all Premier Division clubs must have floodlights. As Tividale could not afford to erect lights at The Beeches, they had no option but to step down to Division One. Floodlights were eventually erected two years later.

More recent development work has seen the building of new changing rooms, a boardroom, and the refurbishment of the Social Club [ [http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/tividalefootballclub/ Club website] ] . The ground now also boasts a 300-seat stand and the club hope to get the ground up to Southern League standard in the near future.

ources

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References