The beginnings of Hednesford Town back in 1880 were of a modest nature, with the club originally playing it's football at the "The Tins" at the rear of the Anglesey hotel in the town centre before moving to the Cross Keys ground in September 1904.
After playing their early football in the Walsall & District League, Hednesford became founder members of the Birmingham Combination where they stayed until 1915, winning the Title in 1909/10. Following the conclusion of the First World War, they joined the Birmingham League and remained members until 1939. During the War Years, a Hednesford Town side competed in a revised Birmingham League, re-joining the Birmingham Combination in 1945 and becoming champions in 1950/1 when a crowd of 7,000 saw "The Pitmen" beat Lockheed to claim the Title.
In 1953 the club moved back into the Birmingham League (which was renamed the West Midlands League in 1962) and apart from two seasons in the Midland Counties League in 1972-74, remained there until 1984. The West Midlands League Championship was won in 1977/8 when Coventry Sporting were crushed 10-0 in the final game of the season and Hednesford Town were promoted to the Beazer Homes League Midlands Division in 1983/4 by virtue of their runners-up spot.
Promotion was gained to the Premier Division in 1991/2 with the clubs finest moment coming in 1994/5 when they became Beazer Homes Premier Division Champions, equaling Wimbledon's record points total and sealing the Title with a 3-0 win over Leek Town in front of a crowd of 2,776 in what was the clubs last ever appearance at the Cross Keys before their move to their new Keys Park ground.
On the cup front, their best ever FA Trophy run came in 1977/8 when they reached the Second Round only to go out in a second replay to Bedford Town. The club were Birmingham Senior Cup winners in 1935/6, runners-up in 1993/4 and winners of the Staffs Senior Cup in 1969/70 and 1973/4 while finishing as runners-up in 1992/3. They also won the West Midlands League Cup in 1986/7.
In the1986/87 season Hednesford fought their way to the final of the Bill Dellow (Southern League) Cup. Fighting all the way, Hednesford, in the second round, firstly drew at home against Willenhall Town 1-1 but asserted their presence in the replay at Willenhall where Keeling scored a hat trick for the Hednesford side whilst Willenhall could only manage to score once. Beating Alvechurch 1-0 (Rowe) took Hednesford through to the quarter final on 11th March 1987 where goals by Storey and Winwood against Mile Oak Rovers secured a semi-final place against Bromsgrove Rovers. In the semi-final, on 9th April, Hednesford could only manage a 1-1 draw against Bromsgrove and needed a replay on 16th April which also had a 0-0 scoreline at the end of play. The game had to be completed with penalties which were won by Hednesford 4-2. The Final against Waterlooville was a two leg affair, the first being held on 4th May when Hednesford could only manage a single goal (Glover) against Waterloovilles two. However Hednesford were not disheartened as they felt that they would have the advantage in the second leg at their home ground. This was not to be as Hednesford were unable to break through the Waterlooville defence and the game ended with a victory to Waterlooville 0-1
Before the 1997/98 FA Cup Run, Hednesford's greatest cup run had been in 1991/2 when
they reached the Final of the Welsh Cup,
unluckily losing to then Fourth Division Champions Cardiff City at the Welsh
National Stadium, Cardiff.
Hednesfords route to the Welsh Cup was :
The First Round was held against Welshpool at Hednesford on September 9th 1991
where goals from Steve Snaith and Archie King brought a 2 - 0 victory to the Pitmen.
Round Two on October 5th saw goals from Marcus Malcolm, his first of the season, Mark
Freeman, his first for the Pitmen and Dale Rudge beat Pen Rhyncoch 3 - 1 in front
of a crowd of 337.
On November 2nd brought the Third Round where Archie Kings hat trick saw the end of New
Broughton with a result of 3 - 0 in front of only 260 people.
Fourth Round was an away match against Llay Royal British Legion on the outskirts
of Wrexham. A 0 - 0 result was all that could be achieved but the replay, the following
Thursday, brought a 3 - 0 victory for Hednesford with goals from Archie King, Dale Rudge
and Russ Turley in front of a crowd of 371.
The Fifth Round on 8th February against Haverfordwest County ended in a goaless
draw, rumours say that the party the previous night may have affected the performance of
the players even though John baldwin and Tony Turner patrolled the chalets in an
unsuccessful attempt to keep the players from the party. The replay on February 24th at
the Cross Keys attracted the Pitmens largest gate of the season (1214) cheering the
players on to a 4 - 0 victory with goals from Terry Knight, Steve Burr, Archie King and
Joe O'Connor
Monday 23rd March saw the Semi-final First Leg against Colwyn Bay, leaders of
division one of the HFS Loans League. The Cross Keys ground was packed with 2456 fans in
an electric atmosphere which saw Joe O'Connor score the only goal. The second leg on
Tuesday 14th April saw Hednesford at the beautiful welsh seaside resort of Colwyn bay. An
army of 400 Pitmen supporters made their way to the all ticket game to witness goals from
Terry Knight , Joe O'Connor and Andy Welsh seeing Hednesford through 3 - 2 giving an
aggregate of 4 - 2 to Hednesford. Champagne flowed in the dressing room as the party got
under way. What a Party it would have been if Hednesford had WON the WELSH CUP.
The then new Cannock M.P. Dr.Tony Wright made mention of Hednesford's achievement in the
Welsh Cup during his Maiden Speech in the House of Commons.
Hednesford Town first reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in 1921, losing to Southend United but the 1996/97 season was the year that Hednesford Town came alive when they reached the third round proper of the FA Cup when on the way they beat Blackpool 1-0 (Joe O'Connor), York 1-0 (Keith Russell - penalty) and meeting Middlesbrough in the third round only just lost 3-2, with a Hednesford home goal giving Middlesbrough the extra goal after Hednesford had scored the first goal of the match (Joe O'Connor scored both Hednesford goals)
Although Hednesford Town Football Club have a long and proud history, it wasn't until
the month of January 1990 that things began to happen for them. The 1989/90 season had
been one long struggle for the Pitmen and at the start of the New Year, 1990, they found
themselves in a deep battle against relegation from the Beazer Homes League Midland
Division. Gates were under 300 and their prospects looked dim. Then in January 1990 the
club appointed present day boss John Baldwin as the new Manager and gradually he began to
turn things around. However, at first he must have wondered what he had let himself in for
when following a 1-1 draw at home against Redditch United on Saturday 13th January,
his first game in charge, Hednesford lost the next three league games conceding eight
goals in the process. However, two draws against Stourbridge and Banbury
followed and then that elusive first win, a 2-1 success at Spalding United,
followed. Four more victories that season ensured that Hednesford had beated the dreaded
drop.
In the closed season, Baldwin then made what he often describes as his best signing ever
when he snapped up striker Joe O'Connor from Stafford Rangers. Joe first came to
Baldwins attention when he was a raw youngster playing for Lye Town in the West
Midland Premier Division but he starred for Lye in an F.A. Cup tie against the Rangers,
who shortly after took him to Marston Road. For one reason or another O'Connor wasn't a
raving success at Stafford but after moving to Hednesford he has made the number 11 shirt
his own with some devastating performances, not forgetting of course his goals. It has
been goals all the way for O'Connor and at the end of the 96/97 season he had scored 207
goals in 380 games, an incredible strike record by anyones standard.
The 1990/91 season saw Hednesford just miss out on promotion, finishing third, but the
following season they and Solihull Borough romped away in the Midland Division with
the Pitmen runners up to Solihull. Hednesfords first season in the Beazer Homes Premier
Division was also a success when after playing some splendid football, the team finished
fourth. Season 1993/4 was a big disappointment when they could only end in thirteenth
position but they more than made up for it in 1994/5 by winning the Premier Division
title, thus gaining promotion to the Vauxhall Conference.
The start of 1995/96 season heralded a new era for Hednesford town football club, not
only their first ever season in the top flight of UK non-league football, the GM Vauxhhall
Conference, but also their first ever season at their purpose built new stadium, Keys
Park.
John Baldwin must of course take a great deal of the credit for Hednesfords success. Gates
have also risen dramatically, the attendance for John Baldwins opening game against
Redditch was just 291 while for their game against Telford United, in 1995, a
ground record for the new Keys Park of 2480 packed in to see Hednesford win 4-0.
The average attendance at Keys park for GM Vauxhall Conference games during the 95/96
season was 1310.
The magnificent performance of the team in their first season of the GM Vauxhall
Conference resulted in them achieving third place, a truly unbelievable result for a teams
first season in the league.
Hednesford Town's ambition is now the GM Vauxhall Conference Championship and promotion to
the Endsleigh Football League.
See Photographs of the FA cup match against Blackpool
See 1995/1996 Fixtures & Results
See 1996/1997 Fixtures & Results
See 1997/1998 Fixtures & Results