A potted history of Delph... (with apologies if I've missed anything out!)


Delph started as a 5-a-side works team, with players from the Delph Garage on the Wellington Road in Dudley (www.delphgaragecars.co.uk) - and managed by Colin Nash, the Delph Garage owner.

To 'flesh out' the Delph squad a few of Colin's friends were asked to play, and Delph started off playing competitive 5-a-side matches at the Cradley Ballpark indoor football centre.

Early results were good, and soon a 2nd team (Delph Reserves - aka Bridge motors FC) was formed to play at the Cradley Ballpark too - consisting of mainly younger players and Colin's - two sons Warrick and Jamie, along with some 'elder' players for some much needed experience.

Soon, both teams were consistantly winning trophies with their all-out attacking style of play - backed up by good fitness, and often ran teams into submission by wearing them down with some non-stop movement throughout the game and effective use of substitutes.

After a couple of years some of the players from the Delph team retired from footy and the two Delph teams became one. After some initial adjustments to the style of play Dleph were soon winning trophies once more - proving a match for many of the better teams at the Ballpark - and also had some players represent the football centre in the National Indoor Football League.

Micky Johns then took on the manager reigns from Colin Nash - and results and trophies - along with some great matches and top memories continued to roll on.

Age, work, and family commitments took its toll on some of the Delph players - and younger replacements were needed once more - this time coming in the shape of Phil Caldicott's repected 'Villains' team and Darren Parson's physical 'Stand Around Daz' side, as well as some friend of Jason Sadler who were playing for various 5-a-side teams at the time.

The playing style changed dramatically to a more tactical and conter-attacking team - suited to most of the players at the time - and soon enough Delph were back winning more trophies, annoying the so-called best players and stifling 'better' teams. This was often to the point of the opposition coming off the pitch not sure on how they'd actually lost matches they felt they had dominated possession, shots or most of the attacking play.

Towards the end of the 90's it was decided to call time on Delph - players were off to university, other players were considering retiring from footy and a number of injuries over the years playing indoor football had taken their toll on most of the players.


Over the years everyone who was fortunate enough to play for Delph enjoyed their time at the club, and hopefully took some great memories and a fair share of trophies along with them along the way. It's always pleasing to see the past Delph players out and about - as well as some of our opponents too, especially some of the younger opponents at the time have gone onto play at pro, semi-pro or at a quality level in 11-a-side footy since.

It also serves as a reminder of the level of quality football played by a works-based 5-a-side team who went onto become a group of mates - and were one of the best indoor football teams around for near on 10 years.



Playing Squad:-

Steve Piekos, Micky Johns, Jason Sadler, Mike Kain, Paul Evans, Paul Massey, Darren Field, Steve Woods, Mark Callaghan, Frank Kent, Clive Nettleford, Steve Caldicot, Nick Glover, Richard Lowe, Dave Lowe, Darren Carver, Phil Caldicot, Paul Botley, Carl Botley, Andy Johnson, Roy Baker, Ian Brookes, John Darton, Andy Aston, Nigel Aston, Warrick Nash, Jamie Nash, Eddie Homer, Chris Shingles, Adrian Lewis.


Managers:-

Colin Nash, Steve Piekos, Martin Johnson, Micky Johns, Jason Sadler.

RIP Mark 'Cal' Callaghan