Sutton Coldfield Town F.C.
Based
in Sutton Coldfield & formed in 1879 (some sources state
1876) and currently play in the Southern League Division One
Midlands. Despite being the largest team in a town with a
population of over 105,000 people (more than that of the
home towns of many full-time professional teams) their
profile suffers due to their geographical proximity to Aston
Villa, who draw much of their support from the town. The
club was founded in 1879 and played its first match against
Birmingham (no connection to the modern Birmingham City) on
February 1st of that year. In their early years they played
in Sutton Park and competed in the Central Birmingham
League, Aston and District League, Small Heath League and
Suburban League. In the 1930s, now playing at Coles Lane,
they competed in the Birmingham Alliance and Birmingham
Combination, but met with little success. After World War II
the club, at the time playing under the name Sutton Town (a
name which lasted until 1964) played in the Walsall League
and Birmingham Combination before joining the Birmingham &
District League (soon to be renamed the West Midlands
(Regional) League) in 1954. During the next decade they
struggled in the league, with financial problems caused by a
devastating fire at their ground forcing them to field only
amateur players, before switching leagues to the
Worcestershire Combination (soon to be renamed the Midland
Football Combination) in 1964. They were champions of this
league on two occasions before rejoining the West Midlands
(Regional) League in 1979, where they were champions at the
first attempt. In 1982, after a second-place finish, they
stepped up to the Southern League. At the very first attempt
they were promoted to the Premier Division but were
relegated straight back to the second tier where they have
remained ever since.