Midland Football League (Division One) preview for 23 to 24

AFC Bridgnorth

​Last Season: 20th

AFC Bridgnorth have had a busy off season and have made additions to their playing and coaching staff in preparation for the new season. The Shropshire club have signed Brett Taylor who played for Newtown in the Welsh Premier League last season. They have also appointed Mark Danks as assistant manager and Juan Dopazo as first team coach to add to the coaching staff.  

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Paget Rangers (H)
09/08/23: Shawbury United (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Smethwick Rangers (A)
16/08/23: Droitwich Spa (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Ingles (A)
23/08/23: Wolverhampton SC (H) (7:45pm KO)

Allscott Heath

Last Season: 1st (WMRL, Premier)

The West Midlands Regional League (Premier) winners are preparing for life in MFL Division One and have an exciting league campaign ahead. The Shropshire club have retained a lot of last season’s squad and have kept players such as Ryan Mansell. They have also recently signed Leigh Brindley for the league campaign which begins this Saturday.

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Ingles (H)
08/08/23: Wolverhampton SC (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: OJM Black Country (H)
15/08/23: Wednesfield (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Cradley Town (H)
23/08/23: Shawbury United (A) (7:45pm KO)

Bilston Town Community

Last Season: 6th

Bilston Town enter the season having missed out on the play-offs last season in what was a very competitive MFL Division One where OJM Black Country managed to claim the last play-off place with an astonishing 82 points. None the less, there were a lot of positives to take from last season and Bilston have retained manager Mike Dunn for the new season and signed Adam Nazir from Smethwick Rangers who scored 18 goals last season.  

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Stapenhill (H)
08/08/23: Droitwich Spa (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Hinckley AFC (H)
16/08/23: Shawbury United (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Coton Green (A)
26/08/23: Droitwich Spa (A) (FA Vase)

Chelmsley Town

Last Season: 14th

Chelmsley Town had a good season competing in MFL Division One and have kept most of the squad and coaching staff from last season. The key retention is striker Mark Rose who had a breakout campaign and scored 13 goals. They have also kept key defenders Aidan Doherty and Corey Soloman and midfielder Joe Summers ahead of the new season.      

First Six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Shawbury United (H)
07/08/23: Coventry Copsewood (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Paget Rangers (A)
14/08/23: Stapenhill (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Heather St John’s (H)
22/08/23: Smethwick Rangers (A) (7:45pm KO)

Coton Green

Last Season: 9th

Coton Green had a really positive season competing in MFL Division One and were competing with teams in and around the playoff places. They have kept key striker Matt Gardner who scored 26 goals last season and have appointed Jason Pyott as their new manager. They have also made under the radar signings such as bringing in Tyrike Richards-Burke from Coventry Alvis.  

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Wednesfield (H)
08/08/23: Ingles (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Cradley Town (A)
16:08:23: Smethwick Rangers (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Bilston Town (H)
21/08/23: Hinckley AFC (A) (7:45pm KO)

Coventry Copsewood

Last Season: 12th

Coventry Copsewood had a good season competing in MFL Division one and finished in a respectable 12th position. The club will look to build on that finish and have retained key players such as striker Bryan Kohyrelon who scored 13 goals last season. They have a challenging start to the season with seven away games with their home form standing out last season (10 wins from 20).

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Cradley Town (A)
07/08/23: Chelmsley Town (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Stapenhill (A)
15/08/23: Heather St John’s (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Wolverhampton SC (A)
26/08/23: Wolverhampton Casuals (A) (FA Vase)

Cradley Town

Last Season: 16th  

Cradley finished the season strongly and finished 16th with 6 wins from their last 10 games to avoid relegation. They have retained key players such as striker Chris Bladen who scored 12 goals for the hammers last season. Last season’s skipper Darren Whitley also returns for another season to provide leadership alongside new signings such as Tom Coles from Wolverhampton Casuals.    

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Coventry Copsewood (H)
08/08/23: Smethwick Rangers (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Coton Green (H)
15/08/23: Paget Rangers (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Allscott Heath (A)
22/08/23: Droitwich Spa (A) (7:45pm KO)

Droitwich Spa

Last season: 4th

Droitwich had an excellent season in MFL Division One where they finished 4th before narrowly losing to Ashby Ivanhoe in the play-off final in front of a crowd of 1,024 supporters. They have retained the majority of last season’s squad and coaching staff to go again and should be an exciting club to follow this season. They have retained key striker James Lemon who scored 24 goals and Andy Crowther returns as manager for the upcoming campaign.  

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Hinckley AFC (A)
08/08/23: Bilston Town (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Wednesfield (H)
16/08/23: AFC Bridgnorth (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Paget Rangers (A)
22/08/23: Cradley Town (H) (7:45pm KO)

Heather St John’s

Last Season: 19th (UCL, Premier North)

It was a challenging season for Heather St John’s competing in the United Counties League (Premier North) and they start life in MFL Division One for the new campaign. Neil Costello has been appointed as their new manager and The Saints have brought in Jake McKintosh to be their new club captain. The Saints also have a home tie against Lichfield City in the FA Vase later this month.

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Wolverhampton SC (A)
07/08/23: Hinckley AFC (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Sutton United (H)
15/08/23: Coventry Copsewood (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Chelmsley Town (A)
22/08/23: Ingles (A) (7:45pm KO)

Hinckley AFC

Last Season: 3rd

Hinckley are looking to build on last season and have aspirations of being promoted to the premier division this season. Their main strength last season was how effective they were going forward, managing to score 122 goals in the league. A key part of this was Chandler Pegg who scored 39 goals and has been retained to play alongside Mitchell Piggon who has been signed from Atherstone Town.  

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Droitwich Spa (H)
07/08/23: Heather St John’s (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Bilston Town (A)
16/08/23: Nuneaton Griff (A) (7:30pm KO)
19/08/23: Shawbury United (H)
21/08/23: Coton Green (H) (7:45pm KO)

Ingles

Last Season: 13th

Ingles had a brilliant season and finished comfortably in mid-table in their first season at this level. They will look to build on that this season and have retained the management team of Shaun Wilkes and Adam Boulter from the previous campaign. Ben Tansley also commits for another season having scored 14 goals last term. The club have also signed experienced defender Daniel Chapman. 

First Six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Allscott Heath (A)
08/08/23: Coton Green (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Wolverhampton SC (H)
15/08/23: Sutton United (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: AFC Bridgnorth (H)
22/08/23: Heather St John’s (H) (7:45pm KO)

Nuneaton Griff

Last Season: 8th

Nuneaton Griff had a strong campaign and finished in the upper half of mid table last term. They have appointed Mitchell Thomson as their new manager and have brought in a lot of players over the summer. The Heartlanders have signed forward Nathan McGarrity from Coventrians who also has experience with Bedworth United and Coventry Sphinx. They have also brought in Ash Gray to provide leadership.   

First Six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: OJM Black Country (H)
08/08/23: Sutton United (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Shawbury United (A)
16/08/23: Hinckley AFC (H) (7:30pm KO)
19/08/23: Wednesfield (A)
22/08/23: Stapenhill (A) (7:45pm KO)

OJM Black Country 

Last Season: 5th

OJM had a promising season where they finished in the play-off positions with 82 points and had 26 wins from 40 games throughout the season. The club is in the process of moving to the Triplex Sports Association as their new home ground in Kings Norton and will play there from September. They have also appointed coaches Oliver Hartill and Sam Smith from Cadbury Athletic for the forthcoming season. A key signing for OJM is Daniel Westwood who was brilliant for Bilston last season and scored 25 goals. OJM have also signed midfielder Jordan Sangha from Gornal Athletic.        

First Six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Nuneaton Griff (A)
08/08/23: Wednesfield (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Allscott Heath (A)
15/08/23: Wolverhampton SC (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Sutton United (A)
26/08/23: Chelmsley Town (A)

Paget Rangers

Last Season: 18th

Paget are going into the new season with a positive outlook following last season which was challenging in parts for the Bears. They started the season well but struggled for form from January to the end of the season. One of the positives going into this season is continuity with James Parker being retained as manager and midfielder Ryan Butler staying on to provide leadership to a youthful looking squad.      

First Six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: AFC Bridgnorth (A)
08/08/23: Stapenhill (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Chelmsley Town (H)
15/08/23: Cradley Town (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Droitwich Spa (H)
22/08/23: Wednesfield (H) (7:45pm KO)

Shawbury United

Last Season: 10th

Shawbury had an under the radar season in MFL Division one last season. They managed to finish comfortably mid-table and there were a lot of positives to take to build for this season. Richard Brown has been appointed as their new manager who has previous managerial experience with Market Drayton Town. The Shropshire club have also signed Emmanuel Williams and Liam Taylor.       

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Chelmsley Town (A)
09/08/23: AFC Bridgnorth (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Nuneaton Griff (H)
16/08/23: Bilston Town (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Hinckley AFC (A)
23/08/23: Allscott Heath (H) (7:45pm KO)

Smethwick Rangers

Last Season: 17th

Smethwick Rangers have appointed Daniel Lee as their new manager who has coaching experience at West Bromwich Albion. The club are playing home games at Castle Vale Stadium for the first few months before being at the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground from November onwards. They also have a partnership with Boldmere U21s for the new season.     

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Sutton United (A)
08/08/23: Cradley Town (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: AFC Bridgnorth (H)
16/08/23: Coton Green (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Stapenhill (H)
22/08/23: Chelmsley Town (H) (7:45pm KO)

Stapenhill

Last Season: 7th

Stapenhill have had a busy off-season and their looking to build on last season’s 7th place finish. They have appointed Mitchell Hennings who is the youngest manager in the division and have Stuart Birt in place as their new chairman. They have retained Ben Novis and Alex Weir for the new campaign who both scored 10 goals for the Swans last season.   

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Bilston Town (A)
08/08/23: Paget Rangers (A) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Coventry Copsewood (H)
14/08/23: Chelmsley Town (A) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Smethwick Rangers (A)
22/08/23: Nuneaton Griff (H) (7:45pm KO)

Sutton United

Last Season: 1st (MFL Division Two)

Sutton enter the new season with a lot of momentum having been promoted through division two as league winners in a thrilling title race with AFC Coventry Rangers and Knowle. They have managed to retain key players from the title winning season such as prolific striker Joe Gildea and their new ground Coleshill Road will be the home of MFL Division One football this season.  

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Smethwick Rangers (H)
08/08/23: Nuneaton Griff (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Heather St John’s (A)
15/08/23: Ingles (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: OJM Black Country (H)
28/08/23: Allscott Heath (H)

Wednesfield

Last season: 15th

Wednesfield had a solid season last year in MFL Division One and finished in a respectable 15th place. They will look to build on that this season and push up the table to challenge for a top half finish. The club have retained key players such as Dimitri Dunkley who scored 14 goals last season and Nathan Walker who started 36 games last term.    

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Coton Green (A)
08/08/23: OJM Black Country (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Droitwich Spa (A)
15/08/23: Allscott Heath (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Nuneaton Griff (H)
22/08/23: Paget Rangers (A) (7:45pm KO)

Wolverhampton Sporting Community

Last season: 11th

Wolverhampton SC had a reliably good season and finished comfortably in mid table. The club have made some new signings for the upcoming season and brought in Ryan Kimberley and Leslie Omorodion who played for Paget last season. The goal this season will be to push on and challenge for the play-off places at Pride Park.   

First six fixtures of the season:

05/08/23: Heather St John’s (H)
08/08/23: Allscott Heath (H) (7:45pm KO)
12/08/23: Ingles (A)
15/08/23: OJM Black Country (H) (7:45pm KO)
19/08/23: Coventry Copsewood (H)
23/08/23: AFC Bridgnorth (A) (7:45pm KO)