The fifth edition of our new 'Around the Grounds' series is upon us already! With this one we head south to Allscott Heath, one of the clubs that the FA transferred to us from the Midlands League this summer. My visit to the Allscott Sports & Social Club ground was for their clash with Wolverhampton Sporting Community, who happen to be one of the other clubs laterally moved. The ground is currently only three-sided, with the far end behind the goal inaccessible to supporters. There's a tea bar near the turnstile offering the usual football fayre and cover for standing supporters just beyond that, heading down towards the halfway line. The players entrance is on the halfway line as is traditional, with hardstanding continuing down to the far byline but with little else in the way of facilities, other than the hospitality cabin for visiting officials at half time. Down the other touchline is a seated stand roughly opposite the dressing rooms. The cricket club is just over the fence on this side, with the social club and bowling green just beyond that. There used to be a sugar beet factory just over the road from the ground, but this closed in 2007 and a housing estate is currently being built on the site - possibly giving rise to a new generation of Allscott Heath supporters!
Back to on-field matters, Allscott have started the season relatively well, with 10 points accumulated from the seven games prior to the visit of Wolves Sporting. They finished second in the Midlands League Division 1 last term in their debut season at this level so come to us off the back of two very successful years on the pitch. The visitors have struggled on the pitch somewhat and had won two of their opening seven games in the division heading into this fixture. The first half was fairly nondescript with neither team managing to break the deadlock, but the game sprang into life courtesy of veteran striker Craig Bannister six minutes after the interval as he put Wolves Sporting into the lead. This changed the complexion of the game and led to more attacking play from both sides, but the away side looked the most likely to score again and duly did so on 82 minutes as the Wolves number 10 got his second of the evening. A late penalty from Steven Hole gave Allscott something to fight for in added time but they couldn't get an equaliser and Wolves Sporting left with all three points.
During the game, I spoke to Vice Chairman Keith Fletcher about Allscott Heath's past, present and future...
Firstly, how have you found life in the NWCFL so far?
"We're enjoying it. We've found the standard of football to be higher than we were used to last season and we're playing against teams who are playing football 'the right way'. We've come undone late on in a few games which seems like a sign of improved fitness in this division, against Cheadle Heath Nomads and Alsager Town it was 0-0 going into the last 20 minutes and in both games we ended up losing 3-0."
Tell us about the history of the club...
"Myself and Tom Ford [Club Chairman] have been at the club since we were players for what was Allscott AFC. The club changed name to Allscott Heath in 2019 when we were in the West Midlands (Regional) League and obviously Covid dealt us a few blows as staff and players fell out of love with the game a bit and left the club. In the first full season after the pandemic we finished bottom of the league but luckily were handed a reprieve. In the summer of 2022 we appointed Steve Rogers and Stu Corns as manager and assistant and we stormed the league that season - we actually won the quadruple! We were promoted to the Midland League Division 1 for last season and ended up finishing 2nd in our first season. Droitwich Spa beat us here in the semi-final, they were the better side really and deserved the win.”
Sounds like a rollercoaster ride! Did the move to the NWCFL take you by surprise or had you expected it? What are you hoping for this season after an impressive first year at Step 6?
"We sort of expected it really. We knew that given our location, a lateral transfer was on the cards and when we first applied to Step 6 it was to the Counties. There are some longer trips but we're looking forward to meeting new faces.
Our aims for the season hinge a lot on where we are at Christmas time. We'd be happy with mid-table this season as we consolidate but equally if we're not too far off the play-off picture at the turn of the year then we'll have an eye on pushing on into the top 5."
Have you got anything in the pipeline for the ground?
"We do, actually! The current tea bar and changing rooms were only ever a short-term arrangement and we have solid plans to build a brand new pavilion complex with a bigger clubhouse and better facilities all round really for fans and for players. As part of this we'll also add a second turnstile. In the longer term we are looking at filling in the far end behind the goal and turning that into an area for away fans if a big crowd is expected, with another turnstile down there and some more cover for fans.
A new housing estate is being built over the road and we hope to be able to attract a few new supporters off the back of that. The club as a whole is more than just the men's football team, we've got teams in various sports, including cricket, and have a load of youth teams playing on small-sided pitches next to the social club just down the road from the football ground. With a new clubhouse we could then look at diversifying our income streams and opening on non-match days as currently we are only open when we've got a game on."
