York Road
Oldbury
Rowley Regis
West Midlands
B65 0RR
Ground Number: 1552
Saturday 9th May 2026
Oldbury United 1-3 Wyreley United
West Midlands (Regional) Premier
OLDBURY UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was established in 1958 and was initially known as Queens Colts. They joined the Oldbury League upon formation and won Division 2 in 1962, after which they changed their name to Whiteheath United. They then had a three-season spell in the Warwickshire and West Midlands Alliance. In 1965, they merged with Oldbury Town to become Oldbury United. A year later, they joined the Worcestershire Combination, which became the Midland Football Combination. Oldbury were runners-up to Alvechurch in 1972 and Sutton Coldfield in 1979. Despite only finishing 5th in 1982, they were admitted to the Southern League - Midland Division. A 6th-place finish was a great achievement in their debut season, but this was followed by a couple of mid-table seasons before relegation in 1986.
Local cup wins include the Walsall Senior Cup in 1983, the Staffordshire Senior Cup in 1988 and the Midland Alliance League Cup in 1989. Oldbury United have played at York Road since 1973. Floodlights were installed in 1982, with a friendly against European champions Aston Villa marking the occasion. The club represents Oldbury, population 13,500 to 25,500 depending on what metric you use. Comedian Frank Skinner lived there as a youngster. The ground itself is in Rowley Regis, which has its own station, a Wetherspoons, several other good pubs and a population of around 50,000. The delightfully named King Cnut reigned here from 990 to 1035. In more recent times, England footballer Carlton Palmer was its most famous resident.
MY VISIT
There were around fifty options at step 7 for this weekend. My requirements for a Saturday game are for it to be on public transport unless it is two games or better. Also, a good day out that, of course, involves pubs. Thirdly, I wanted a day that was reasonably priced on public transport. This was probably the hardest aspect, as normally, it is cheaper to drive. A fourth complication was that I had custody of Colin again, but as we both liked ticking Wetherspoons, albeit with different drink requirements, that seemed like a sound bet. I had plotted all of the options onto a map to try to help. It was the last of those options, Oldbury United, that I initially favoured on Tuesday, as there was potential for up to five new Spoons, plus it looked like a great ground. I would have a further look at the Football Traveller when it came to see if there were any better options.
After arriving back from AFC Shirley, I discovered that Colin had left one of his bags in my car. That boy really has the brain of a rocking horse, as at the start of the journey, he left his phone on my car roof. About the third or fourth time, he's done it, before remembering when we had started our journey. One pleasing result of the day was that Hearts had beaten Rangers to stay top of the Scottish Premiership. It's been 41 years since someone other than the Old Firm won it and 61 years since the Tynecastle club last won it. I have no foot in any camp in Scotland, but it's nice to see a change. Tuesday was my day off and was the usual chilled day. It was disappointing to have no midweek football, though. I started to finalise my plans on Thursday. When I checked the fare, it was a disgraceful £40 return, so I was only going to do it if Colin came along with his railcard. It was shocking that it was cheaper to drive solo, and it sums up this ridiculous country pretty well, where trying to do the right thing by keeping cars off the road is punished. But that is where Twitter came in useful. A helpful person informed me that I could get off a stop early and save £6 with the price looking a lot fairer that way. Friday was more work, but also a few drinks in the evening and a lot of enjoyable research into the club's history.
It had only been three drinks on Friday night, but it was strong stuff so I went to bed around 10 in a relaxed mood. I was in bed by 9.30 and, disappointingly, woke up at my normal work time. It was a few hours of watching YouTube and having breakfast before leaving at 7.50. Colin insisted on walking down with me, so I only got to listen to my podcasts for ten minutes. We were there at 9.15 and got our return tickets to Rowley Regis for £22.55 with Colin's disabled Railcard. It is frustrating that I can't get one for myself, up to 21 and old folks I understand, but offering after that and not including everyone smacks of discrimination to me. We were in Solihull at 10.55 and walked the ten minutes to the Spoons. A strange town, from what we saw, with just a parade of shops, but pleasant and some interesting food options. Wetherspoons 512 was the White Swan, where a breakfast muffin, black pudding, energy drink and a pint of Old Rosie was £7.18. From there, we managed to get an earlier train, despite Colin's dawdling. We were in Rowley Regis at 12.15 but had to wait 25 minutes for a bus due to traffic. Colin got his free, for me it was a return ticket for £5.20. The money was well spent. Roberto's Bar was supposed to be a bonus but it turned out to be fantastic with an incredible range of cider. I shall 100% be returning at some point in the future and it took the place as pub of the season for me. From there, to Wetherspoons The William Shenstone. This did for chicken Jalfrezi, chips and Aspalls for £6.50. From there, a bus to the ground, where it was £5 entry and £4 for a bottle of Thatchers Gold. I then met some lovely people who read my blog. My mission is to record memories and get people visiting new places, so I was glad that the latter had occurred.
Oldbury United were in 8th and had won 13, drawn 7 and lost 12. Form was patchy; they had lost 2-1 to Wrens Nest on Tuesday and 3-2 in the reverse fixture recently. But discounting those results, they'd won seven in a row. Wyreley were four places lower in 12th and had won 12, drawn 6 and lost 13. They were in worse form; their win in the corresponding game was their only victory in ten games. The hosts took the lead on 13 minutes, following up a parried shot. Both sides had chances, but I was fairly pissed by this point, as opportunities to visit great pubs do not come along that often. Colin had a snooze in the second half, disappearing, his head down as I sobered up. The away side had come back to win 3-1 by now, with some well-taken goals. It was deserved on the balance of play as the hosts lost their way. From there, it was a lengthy 25-minute walk to the out-of-town Wetherspoons. Colin was urgent to get home despite winning 2-0 on the day off.s the lucky boy, a black dragon and some wings did me. Colin had to wait for his due to some error, his usual sense of entitlement coming to the fore. I myself was in a good mood as we headed for a well-timed connection back home.
THE GROUND
YORK ROAD is an excellent facility with cover on three sides. It could probably be a step 3 ground with little adjustment. It's located around 15 - 20 minutes from the station and the same from the Wetherspoons on the edge of town. A small range of drinks is available at the ground, but not food.
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