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 The
West Midlands Police Football Club was formed in 1974,
following the re-organisation of police forces countrywide.
The core of the club was founded from the Birmingham
City Police team whose competitive history began in
the Wednesday League in 1928. Immediately following
the Second World War the team moved to the Mercian League
and remained there until 1953 whereupon they joined
the Birmingham AFA Works League and enjoyed considerable
success. They won both the Black and White and Aston
Villa Cups before claiming three successive League Championship
between 1961 and 1964.
The club moved to the Midland Combination
in 1969 but success eluded them at first. However, the
1974 re-organisation of police forces gave the new team
a larger pool of players from which to select and success
was immediate in the 1974/75 season with a 2-1 win over
Smethwick Highfield in the Challenge Cup Final. The
following season saw the team claim the Tony Allden
Memorial Cup a feat, which was repeated in 1994. During
that 20-year period the team won the Worcestershire
Senior Urn on three occasions and reached the final
in all three competitions on a number of occasions.
The highlight of the club’s twenty-five-year stay
in the Midland Combination was winning the League Championship
in 1990/91, an achievement that included a run of 27
games without defeat. West Midlands Police were consistently
one of the top teams in the Combination and finished
third on four occasions and runners-up in 1993/94, which
was their final season in the Combination before becoming
founder members of the Midland Football Alliance.
An important competition for police footballers
is the Police Athletic Association Cup, which is competed
for by the 50 plus police forces of the United Kingdom.
The West Midlands have won the trophy on five occasions
following on from the earlier successes of the Birmingham
City Police. The team last collected the cup in 1991/92
when they defeated the Royal Ulster Constabulary at
Highfield Road, Coventry. They were the losing finalists
in 1993/94 and 1994/95 and have reached the latter stages
of the competition on a regular basis in recent years.
Season 2001/2002 saw the team knock out the Metropolitan
Police in the semi-final, a major achievement, as they
had been undefeated in the competition for six years
culminating in a 3-0 defeat to Fife Police in the final
at Glenrothes in Scotland in 2002.
Players also have the opportunity to play
for the English Police and British Police representative
teams. Many West Midlands players have done so over
the years, including current squad members Paul Shaw,
Darren Carmell, Ollie Latchford, Mark Bellingham, Andy
Reece, Carl Hancox, Ian Millward and Mike Mason.
The club play annual fixtures versus Strathclyde
Police for the Normansell Shield and are the current
holders. The trophy was first competed for between Birmingham
City and Glasgow City Police Forces in 1950 and is the
source of an enduring friendship between the forces.
We also have strong links with the Queens Royal Hussars
with whom we compete annually for the Hyderabad Trophy,
a trophy that also currently sits in our cabinet.
The club also enters the prestigious F.A.
Vase, the highlight of which was a quarter-final appearance
in the 1991/92 season. We also reached the Third Round
Proper (last 64 clubs) of the F.A. Vase in the 1999/2000
season when we travelled north to visit Crook Town and
on a snowbound pitch we lost the tie 3-1. We have also
participated in the F.A. Cup for many years although
we are not currently eligible to enter the competition.
In 1994 we were proud to be inaugural members of the
Midland Football Alliance, finishing eleventh in that
first season. Our fortunes fluctuated throughout a seven-year
stay with seasons 1997/98 and 1998/99 providing our
best placed finishes of eighth and ninth respectively.
The latter of those two seasons also saw us lose narrowly
to Oldbury United in the final of the Midland Alliance
League Challenge Cup.
Following
relegation from the Midland Alliance in season
2000-2001, our form in the Midland Football Combination
has been very inconsistent and our only notable
achievement has been a semi-final victory over the
Metropolitan Police in the 2001/2002 National Police
Athletic Association Cup. We lost 3-0 away to Fife
Police in the Final. At the end of the 2003/04 season
the club saw the retirement of
Manager, Jim Scott, Secretary, John Black and
Player/Treasurer Peter Grimshaw.
Following Jim Scott's retirement Rob Sutton and Ron
Harvey took over the First team together with ex players
Dave Scriven (Secretary) and Gez Moore (Vice-Chairman)
they tried in vain to keep the side in the Premier
Division. Unfortunately the team finished bottom.
With the reserves finishing mid-table in the Second
Division the season 2005/06 saw the club fold the
reserves and one team is to run in the Midland
Combination First Division. It is hoped that in
time the club will be able to attract the players
available from the Police who currently play elsewhere
and one day the team will be able to compete at a higher
level.
Updated January 2006
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