Alvechurch F.C.
Alvechurch Football Club is a football club based in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, England. They are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division Central and play at Lye Meadow.
club was established in 1929 as Alvechurch Juniors and played in the Redditch League until World War II.[3] They were runners-up in the West Midlands Alliance in 1960–61 and moved up to Division One of the Worcestershire Combination.[3][4] After a seventh-place finish in their first season in the Combination, the next seven seasons saw the club finish either first or second in the league, winning the league title in 1962–63, 1964–65 and 1966–67 and the League Cup in 1964–65, 1965–66 and 1967–68.[4][5] In 1965–66 they reached the semi-finals of the FA Amateur Cup, eventually losing 1–0 to Wealdstone at Stamford Bridge with around 10,000 supporters travelling to London for the game.[6]
The league was renamed the Midland Combination in 1968 and Alvechurch were League Cup winners again in 1968–69.[5] In 1971–72 they won their fourth Midland Combination title and the League Cup for the fifth time.[5] The season also saw them make FA Cup history; in the fourth qualifying round they were drawn against Oxford City. Following a 2–2 draw at home, the tie went to a record five replays; the first replay at Oxford City’s ground was drawn 1–1. The second replay was at St Andrew’s in Birmingham, as any replays after the first were required to be on a neutral ground, and ended 0–0. The third and fourth replays (both at the Manor Ground in Oxford) also ended 0–0, before Alvechurch finally won the fifth replay 1–0 at Villa Park. Four of the games also went to extra time.[7] The six matches, which were played over 17 days during which Alvechurch also had a league match,[8] remains a record for an FA Cup tie, as in 1991 the FA scrapped any matches beyond the first replay, which would now end with penalties to decide a winner.[7] The win meant that Alvechurch reached the first round proper for the first time, also becoming the first club from the Midland Combination to do so.[8] They went on to lose 4–2 at Aldershot.[8]
After finishing as runners-up in the Midland Combination in 1972–73 and winning the Worcestershire Senior Cup,[9] Alvechurch switched to the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League.[4] The club’s first season in the league saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup again, in which they defeated Fourth Division Exeter City 1–0. This was followed by a 6–1 win at home to King’s Lynn in the second round, before a 4–2 defeat at Bradford City in the third.[4] They also won the West Midlands (Regional) League title, the League Cup, the Birmingham Senior Amateur Cup and the Worcestershire Senior Cup.[3] The club retained the league title for the next three seasons, also winning the League Cup again in 1974–75 and the Worcestershire Senior Cup in 1976–77.[3] They were Premier Division runners-up and League Cup winners in 1977–78,[9][4] after which the club moved up to Division One North of the Southern League.
