Northfield Town - Shenley Lane CA

Northfield Town FC

Community Association & Sports Centre

472 Shenley Lane

Northfield

Birmingham 

B29 4HZ

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Ground Number: 1570

Saturday 1st August 2026

Northfield Town - Kirby Muxloe

Midland League D1

NORTHFIELD TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Although the name Northfield Town Football Club came into being in 1966, its origins go back to the 1930s, when it played under the name Allens Cross. In its early days, they had spells in the Kings Norton League, Warwickshire & West Midlands Alliance and the Mercian League. They joined the Worcestershire Combination in 1956 and won the title in 1962. Following an amalgamation with another successful local side, Castle Rovers, the club played briefly as Cross Castle United before adopting the present name, Northfield Town, in 1966. They carried on in the soon-to-be renamed Midland Combination, winning the title again in 1976. Northfield were relegated in  1980, spending one season in Division 2, finishing 8th but getting promoted back up. The top tier of the league was renamed the Premier Division in 1983. The club finished as runners-up in the Premier Division to Boldmere St Michaels in 1990 before winning the title in 1995.

Despite this title win, Northfield Town finished rock-bottom of the league the following season and were relegated to Division 1. They spent three seasons in the lower division, finishing as runners-up to Alveston in 1998 before winning the title and regaining their Premier Division status the following year. They lasted for two seasons before relegation. Despite finishing as runners-up to Bartley Green in 2007, Northfield Town were relegated to Division 2 in 2013. Reorganisation saw the club placed in the Midland League Division 2 in 2014, with the club finishing bottom in their debut season. A 4th place finish in 2017 was good enough for promotion to Division 2. The pandemic seasons saw mixed results, and Northfield Town left for a short spell in the Birmingham & District League. They won Division 2 (step 10) in 2022 and Division 1 in 2023. The rapid rise continued with a runners-up spot and a promotion from the Midland D3 in 2024. Division 2 was won in 2025, but Northfield lacked the facilities for promotion. This was remedied last season; the title was won again, and the club starts the season in step 6 for the first time in modern history.

The club has yet to enter the FA Cup but has had several seasons in the FA Vase. Their best run came in 1988 when they beat Coleshill Town, Baker Perkins, Solihull Borough and Racing Club Warwick before a 4-2 defeat at Ilkeston Town in the 3rd Round. Local cup wins include the Midland Football Combination Cup in 1957, the Midland Football Combination Challenge Vase in 1984, the Midland Football Combination Tony Allden Memorial Cup in 1977 and the Midland Football Combination Challenge Trophy in 1989. They've also won two Midland Football Combination Presidents Cups, the Birmingham & District Football League Holder Cup in 2023, the Birmingham & District Football League Intermediate Cup in 2022, two Birmingham County Saturday Challenge Vases, two Birmingham Saturday Amateur Cups, the Birmingham Senior Amateur Cup in 1975 and the Smedley Crooke Memorial Charity Cup in 1990.

Northfield is a residential area in outer south Birmingham, near the boundary with Worcestershire, which it was historically within. It has a population of around 10,500. A centre of the Midlands nail-making industry during the 19th century and home to both the Kalamazoo paper factory and the Austin Motor Company's Longbridge factory in the 20th century, today Northfield is predominantly a residential and dormitory suburb of metropolitan Birmingham. Northfield lies on either side of the main A38, which heads south from the centre of Birmingham to Bromsgrove and onwards to Cornwall. Famous people from the area include George Cadbury – industrialist and founder of the famous chocolate brand as well as actor Ian Lavender, most well known for playing Pike in Dad's Army. Also, Britain's tallest-ever person, Jane Bunford, who stood at a colossal 7 ft 11 in and hailed from the suburb of Bartley Green. Bunford died at her home in Jiggins Lane on 1 April 1922. According to her death certificate, Bunford died of hyperpituitarism and gigantism.

MY VISIT

I was getting tired of friendlies and so was hoping to do a competitive game. With me having done and due to do a fair few miles in my car, something on public transport was a must. That rather limited my options; New Milton Town was a possibility, but it didn't look the best or easiest day out on the train and was better saved for midweek. That only left one option, Northfield Town v Kirby Muxloe. It allowed me to get the elusive Bicester Wetherspoons on the way up and also do a few more in Birmingham. It was one of the shorter trips and not especially good value on the train. But the pubs were key, and I roped Colin in with his Disabled Railcard, cutting the fare by a third. A rare thing for me to benefit from it, given his relative inexperience compared to me.

It was disappointing to depart ten minutes late on an otherwise impeccable Flixbus service. It would most likely mean I'd have to wait for the later tube home, but it wasn't the end of the world. Things did work out in the end, and I was back at Amersham by 10 and home 20 minutes later. I treated myself to a nightcap, watched YouTube for a bit and was asleep about 11.30. I felt OK the next morning, and it wasn't bad for a Sunday; busy, but the time went quickly. The Monday was similarly fine, and Tuesday's revisit to Horley Town is covered elsewhere on this blog. It was the annual time to renew car insurance and breakdown cover, and by shopping around, I was able to save £150 and also ditch RAC in favour of the better-rated Green Flag.

It had been a busy but ultimately satisfying week at work. I knocked off at 1 on the Friday, came home and walked straight down Wycombe. The Wetherspoons craft cider festival was my aim, and The Falcon came up trumps with a pint of Mr Whithead's Novo Pyrus Perry, which happily was my number one aim. A plate of shawarma-topped chips soaked them up. The other two halves - Rich's Sunset Gold and Hunts Mango & Passionfruit were mediocre at best. A couple of cans of Irn-Bru fuelled my trip home, with me back by 6 pm. It was a couple more at home before bed at 10. I awoke just before 6. Despite waking early, it was still a bit of a rush due to watching YouTube. I was out of the door at 7. 20, stopping at Tesco for a meal deal as I'd missed breakfast. I was with Colin at the station at 8.40 to find that he had cancelled our proposed Hamburg trip as PuffPuff had organised a trip to Scotland with him behind my back and he couldn't afford both. He did at least help me out with his disabled railcard, meaning the fare to Birmingham was £22.

It was a quiet but basic train to Oxford, with us getting off at Bicester Village. It was a plethora of suitcases and pushchairs blocking the way. The Penny Black Wetherspoons was just over ten minutes' walk away. What should have been four new ciders became three; an error meant that I got a retry of Harry's Scrummage, which was no bad thing as it was great. Alongside my breakfast muffin, I got Broadoak Lemon Haze, Barbourne Vumpy and Sandford Orchards Blackberry as well as the Scrummage in third measures. It made me feel better and we were half an hour ahead of schedule. The train was a warm and busy one, but at least we were on our way. We were in Birmingham at 11.35, and then it was 15 minutes wait for the 50 bus, which took us to The Elizabeth of York in Molesey. It was then the 35 to King's Norton. Twelve minutes walk got us to the Navigation Inn, where I had a pint of Farmer Jim's Prickly Pear. Then to the bus stop and a 19 to Northfield itself. I ordered a pint of Scrummage, but it was out of stock, so I got Aspalls instead. Also some chicken wings, with the cost being £6.14. Colin was whining as the world wasn't revolving around him, and we were cutting it fine for the football. But we got on the bus that got us to the ground ten minutes before kickoff; as someone who works 38 hours opposed to Colin's 12, I like to make the most of my time off.

The club was nice and welcoming. Colin continued his whining: the kit was the wrong colour, the way in was complicated, they'd not erected floodlights, you could see in the ground from outside. It always seems to be the people that get free money from the government that whine the most. I thought it was a great place, not a metal stand in sight. Division 2 champions Northfield faced off against Kirby Muxloe, who finished 17th in Division 1 last season. It was all Northfield early on; they shot just wide with the keeper stranded just as Colin was whining that the pitch barriers weren't to his liking. There was a lovely dog who loved having her belly rubbed. Shortly after Colin complained about the hard standing not going all the way around the pitch, Northfield opened the scoring. They poked home a loose ball in the area on 28 minutes to take a deserved lead. The hosts made it 2-0 just before half-time, catching out the keeper with a rocket from distance. I went to the toilet at half-time, walking past my fellow hopper having a sleep in the stand behind the goal. It was 3-0 on 64 minutes, an attack down the left and a finish from a narrow angle. A header made it 4-0 on 81 minutes as the pressure told. Colin had been wanting to go home since 4.30, and indeed, we did have to get our skates on as soon as the whistle went. If we'd missed the 4.59 bus, it would have meant hanging around in Birmingham for an hour. Goals from Graham, Wootten (2) and Green had got the goals for Northfield. We made the train just and met our Wycombe friends after getting slightly confused as the train was split in two.

THE GROUND

Shenley Lane Community Association is a work in progress but still a nice ground for the level. You enter through the bar, the entrance clearly signposted, but it's a case of working it out yourself once you are inside. The bar itself is very decent with a reasonable range but no food. Pin badges are available. The ground itself has lights and more hard standing is on the way. It's refreshing to see no metal stands, but there are two brick-built structures. A standing area on halfway provides shelter from the sun and rain and offers a great view. Behind the goal is seating for around 150, which also offers good views. Overall, it's a decent place to watch football. Transport links are plentiful, with a bus stop right outside the ground and various other options for getting back to Birmingham.

Horley Town - The New Defence

Horley Town FC

The New Defence
Court Lodge Road
Horley
Surrey
RH6 8SP

07545 697234
Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 521
Tuesday 22nd September 2015
Horley Town 3-0 Sutton Common Rovers
CCL Premier







HORLEY TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

HORLEY TOWN FC was founded in 1896, known back then as Horley FC. They also merged with Gatwick Rovers in 1903, but continued under the same name. In 1975, they changed their name to the present one. Horley joined the Surrey Intermediate League in 1924 and won the title in 1927. They won the Eastern Section in 1951, moving up to the Surrey Premier League for four seasons and finishing as high as 9th before relegation. They moved back up in 1971, winning the Surrey Senior League title in 1977. Between 1978 & 1981, they played in the London Spartan League. They then spent three seasons in the Athenian League.

In 1984, the club joined the league where they have spent most of their modern history, the Combined Counties League. Whilst it was a single-tier league, they finished a best-ever 5th in 1995 but finished bottom the following season and were relegated. Horley played in the Crawley & District League for six seasons. In 2002, they rejoined the Surrey County Premier League. After a 3rd place finish behind Hersham Royal British Legion and Colliers Wood United, they were promoted back to the Combined Counties League. Jumping straight up to the Premier Division, they spent three seasons here and, despite finishing 5th in 2006, were relegated due to ground grading issues. The problems were remedied, and Horley were promoted back the following years as runners-up to Farnham Town. They continued as long-time members of the Premier Division, aside from the pandemic seasons when they played in the Southern Combination League. In 2026, they finished 5th in the Premier Division South, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Tadley Calleva 3–0 in the semi-finals, they defeated Fleet Town 4–2 in the final, earning promotion to the Isthmian South East.

The club originally played at the King's Head Ground. In 1947, they moved to The Defence, named after people who had died in defence of the UK. They stayed until 2003 when they moved to their current home. Their best progress in the FA Cup had been the 1st Qualifying Round, which they have reached on five occasions.  Horley Town's record FA Vase run came in 2017 when they beat Worthing United, AC London, Erith & Belvedere, Meridian VP and Baffins Milton Rovers before a 2-1 loss to Chichester City in the 4th Round. Local cup wins include the Surrey Junior Cup in 1925. Their most famous former player was Nicky Forster, who starred for the club as a youngster before going on to have an excellent career in the Football League. The club's record attendance of 1,570 came against AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday 16th December 2003. The Dons won 4-2, their nineteenth league win in a row.

Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey. The county border with West Sussex is to the south, with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own economy that comprises business parks and a shopping centre with a long high street. Because of its position, it has good commuter links to London and other surrounding towns. The population is around 22,000. Horley has been twinned with the town of Vimy, France since 1991. At one time, the airline Dan-Air had its head office in the now demolished Newman House in Horley. The former airline sponsored the Combined Counties League before being merged into British Airways in 1992. Horley railway station is served by Southern and Thameslink on the Brighton Main Line. Robert Smith, the founding member of The Cure, lived in Horley as a child. The local Wetherspoons is named after former Formula 1 driver Jack Fairman, who came from the town.

MY FIRST VISIT

For a change, on a Tuesday I'd be on my own. My usual hopping companion Anwar was on a tight budget as he was going to Arsenal on Wednesday and he also had to look after his kids on Tuesday. With the nearest potential groundhop being Lutterworth Athletic, he decided against it and so I was left to search for something on my own. I looked through the Non-League Paper for the shortest journeys, and I plumped for Horley Town as I was getting close to completing the Combined Counties League. Croydon Athletic v Beckenham Town was the shortest trip, but I didn't fancy tackling rush hour London. Lingfield and Loxwood were also in the reckoning, and I kept them in mind should my original choice be weather-affected. On the day of the game, I was off work as per usual for a Tuesday. Usually, I'd walk down Wyvombe for a bit of exercise, but sadly due to the rain I had to get a lift down with my Dad. I picked up some Irn Bru before coming back home. At least the extra time gained allowed me to catch up on the TV I had missed by going to sleep early last night and also do a few other jobs that I'd been needing to do. I had dinner and left at 5.15 as I needed to fill my car up with diesel if I wanted to get there and back. It wasn't a bad journey over for the time of night, with only 15 minutes delay around the usual problem area on the M25 at Heathrow. By 6.50 I was at Horley's ground, paying £6 to get in. I went for a walk around the ground, going to the toilet before doing a circuit of the pitch and taking pictures. By the time I'd gone round, the programmes had arrived, and with 35 minutes until kick-off I went and sat in the bar and flicked through the programme as well as catching up on Facebook.

The visitors dominated the opening 10 minutes without really threatening but it was Horley who had the first real chance on the break when Liam Cox's cross from the right flashed across the goal-line before going just wide of the left-hand post. Though Sutton continued to press, it was another cross from the right that opened the scoring. The ball hit the post only for the visiting defender Kieran Wright to deflect the ball into his own net, despite being under no pressure. The game quietened down a bit after that with the hosts looking comfortable in possession, but Sutton did spurn a great opportunity to make it all square just before the break. Horley had the better of the game at the start of the second half, and they doubled their lead on 54 minutes when Ryan Brackpool netted from close range. An error in the Sutton defence was taken advantage of by Leyton Regards on 70 minutes to give Horley Town a 3-0 lead and seemingly settle the game. After the game, I made good progress on the journey home. Initially, I tried to listen to BBC Radio Surrey, knowing that the area's Conference teams had been in action. But there was no sports programme, so I stuck my Two Mikes podcast on instead, and that kept me entertained until I arrived home an hour later. I caught up on Facebook and watched a bit of TV before going to sleep just before midnight.

MY SECOND VISIT

2-1 v Reigate Priory, Friendly 28/07/26 

This game was only decided upon on Monday afternoon when I found out that my planned New Milton Town v Laverstock & Ford game had been reversed to a ground that I had already been to. Colin suggested Horley Town, and with no local revisits, I was happy to go along with it. This revisit had been on the cards for a while as I needed the Wetherspoons in the town. The day of the game came, and it was my day off work. It was the standard ten-mile walk to Wycombe & back. The afternoon was spent fairly unproductively at home before I left at 4.30. Despite doing Colin a favour by doing a revisit and picking him up, I still had to wait five minutes for him.

The journey to Horley was not great. I thought I might have had a bit of a break with it being the school holidays. But no, the usual delay around Heathrow, which is expected and then additional delay around junction 8 for no conceivable reason. It meant we got into Horley at 6.45. Parking in Waitrose for free, it was only a couple of minutes' walk to the Jack Fairman, Wetherspoons 544 for me. It was an excellent Spoons for a small town, with a huge selection of boxed cider, though I was there for the Buffalo Burger meal for £8.66 with a cranberry juice. All was excellent and delivered to the table in a timely fashion. It was then over to Waitrose where I picked up a couple of new ciders before it was less than ten minutes to the ground. Entry was a bargain £2, but the ground had not changed much aside from a cosmetic facelift.

The game got going a few minutes late and was played at a leisurely pace. Horley Town were the better side, and they took the lead on 20 minutes with a header from a corner. Reigate Priory had a chance on the break, but it was mainly the hosts coming close on several occasions. The second half started at 20:51. Horley made it 2-0 on 76 minutes. On 84 minutes, Reigate Priory reduced the arrears; a good ball forward, quick feet and a low shot from the edge of the area made it 2-1. That was how it stayed, fair result on balance. We left at 9.45 and hit issues as the M23 was closed, so we had to go cross country. It was the season for messing about with roads, with lane closures on the M25 and a closure on the M40 meaning another diversion. The worst road pests of them all, Cadent, meant a minor delay once we got off the M25, and I dropped Colin off at 10.50. I was home myself 15 minutes later and trying to get to sleep by midnight.

THE GROUND

THE NEW DEFENCE is a smart and modern ground. The main stand, built into the main building, is well-designed and seats just over 100 people. There is further cover behind both goals, probably adding around another 200 covered standing. The rest of the ground is open standing. There is a bar and a tea bar, but I didn't make any purchases from either on the night, though they looked like your usual football fare.

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