children involved and it’s a fantastic sight when you come
down of an evening to see the pitch filled with so many
youngsters enjoying themselves; each proud to be a part of the
Football Club, wearing Club kit.
FF: Would you consider yours to be a community club?
RH: Certainly! With Senior Saturday teams, U18s, U21s,
Over 35s, Sunday team, 41 Junior teams, along with Walking
Football, Over 45s and Over 55s Teams as well as Girls Wildcats
sessions, Mini-Mikes sessions for those aged 4+ there’s
something for everyone. Having over 400 Junior players alone
means Boldmere St Michaels FC are a part of the lives of at
least 1200 people in the local community.
FF: What do you believe could be some of the biggest challenges
the club may face in the coming years?
RH: For the Juniors, it has to be ensuring that we maintain
standards, retain current playing facilities and look to secure
new facilities for the future. We are very fortunate in that we
have an incredible 3G playing facility that the majority of our
team’s train on, however with this everyone wants to play their
matches on it; internally it could be challenging to manage the
expectation of team managers.
S.D.P Bathrooms
YOUR LOCAL INSTALLATION SPECIALISTS
Kitchens
Kitchen Design & Installation
Supply & Fit or Fitting Only
Kitchen Refurbishments
Appliances Supplied & Installed
Elderly & Disabled Access
Underfloor Heating Installed
Ceramic Wall & Floor Tiling
Bathroom Refurbishment
Showers Installed
Wetrooms & Disabled Access
Plumbing & Electrical Work
SUTT
With an increased footfall through the Football Club this has
had an impact in the local area with regards to traffic and
parking. We will be working hard with residents to ensure a
good relationship is maintained.
FF: What are the club’s ambitions for the next five years?
RH: The Junior section has gone through its largest growth
period; however, we’ll be looking to have four more teams at
the U7s age-group next season and every season thereafter.
We will also be looking to grow Girls Football at the Club too,
particularly with both Aston Villa Ladies and West Bromwich
Albion Ladies playing their home matches at The Trevor
Brown Memorial Ground.
Personally, I hope the relationship between the Juniors and
Seniors continues to develop even closer. I’m hopeful that in
five years’ time a number of the current crop of U12s to U18s
players either featuring or banging rather noisily on the door
of the 1st Team Squad.
“I joined Boldmere in 1984 from Walsall Wood at the age of 18
and made my debut against Studley Town in August 1984, we
won 3-0 and Andy Brazier got a hattrick, we were the match of
the day on BRMB.
We won the Midland Combination League in 1985-86
and were runners up in 1987-88, Walsall Senior Cup
winners in 1986-87 and League Cup winners in
1990-91.
I left Boldmere in January 1989 to join Red-
ditch United, the team I left behind was
arguably the best team I have ever had the
privilege to play with. After a bad knee in-
jury, I was invited to re-join Boldmere in
1990 where I stayed for a couple of seasons.
Although there were no definitive records,
I believe I made just short of 300 first team
appearances for Boldmere.
Alan Parsons asked me to return to the club in
1996 with no particular role, I played for the re-
serves as the old head and played a handful of first team
games, my last being a home fixture against Halesowen Harri-
ers where I lasted only three minutes before being carried off
after a freak injury!
Contact Andrew Ray
07788 865371 | 0121 353 5813
SUTTON COLDFIELD | TAMWORTH | LICHFIELD
Cpmpetitive Prices
FREE Written Quotes
“We are always keen to support the community whenever
we can, so it seemed a good idea to sponsor the Mikes.
My 22-year-old son George previously graduated from
the BMet Academy and has been promoted to the first
team squad after impressing for the U21s. This is our
first year of sponsorship and has coincided with my son
joining the first team as a defender.”
Anthony Ray, SDP Kitchens and Bathrooms
I was Player/Assistant manager for the reserves in 1999 and
with Colin Burton we won the reserve league in 2000-01. In
season 2002-03, Craig Feasey joined me as assistant manager
and the reserves came runners up in the league and won the
League Cup; I was named Reserve manager of the year.
In 2008 I was appointed first team manager with
Craig Feasey as my assistant and I remained in
the position for five great years until I chose to
step down due to work commitments; I came
3rd in 2009 and we reached the League Cup
final twice where we lost to Market Dray-
ton and Stratford Town in 2009 and 2011
respectively.
I was invited to become Boldmere chair-
man in 2015 where I still hold the position
today. As chairman, I am greatly supported
by a fantastic team of directors, who between
us have transformed the club and introduced
a youth feeder system that will provide Boldmere
with a long-term future!”
Rob Mallaband, Current Club Chairman, Former Player and
Manager
www.footballfocusmag.com
11