Coleshill Town 1 v 0 Southam United

[Alan Beckett]

Saturday 10th January 1998
Endsleigh Midland Combination Premier
Coleshill Town 1 v 0 Southam United
Scorer: Mark Charnley.


P22 W13 D5 L4 F47 A25 Pts44 Pos1/21


Team: Mark Charnley. (Confirmed)


SUNDAY MERCURY WROTE
Mark Charnley ensued three points for leaders Coleshill Town who beat Southam United at Pack Meadow. Southam kept out their hosts until the 70th minute.


WARWICK COURIER WROTE
TROUBLE IN TRILICATE FOR UNITED AT COLESHILL
United were probably happy to arrive home unscathed on Saturday evening. Had the charabang hit every lamp post on the Coleshill road they would hardly have been surprised. "Everything else had gone wrong" said Manager Nigel Shanahan, refering to the preceding match, not the mode of transport. His team had suffered their second Premier Division defeat, they had Dick Bennett sent off, together with his opposing antagonist, after ten minutes, and midfield man Mark McKinney is sidelined for some weeks after a stud had penatrated his calf. "And we dominated the match in all but the important aspect, goalscoring" added Shanahan. "That's no exaggeration, and neither is it sour grapes. Quite simply, we desperately need a goalscorer." They should have had one within five minutes at Coleshill when Bennett, ironically in the light of his pending farewell, hit a point-blank chance straight at the keeper. If it had gone in a whole different ball game, as they say. Instead the territorial supremacy was constantly squandered. "I could see what was going to happen" added the manager. "they would nick a goal." Quite right. They did, 20 minutes from the end. Not only did it win the game, but also stretched Town's lead at the top of the table to two points. "We outplayed the top of the table team and got nothing for it. That made the day even worse!" United slip to 8th, but are still only nine points off the top with five matches in hand over Coleshill.


BIRMINGHAM EVENING MAIL WROTE
Final Whistle?
One of Birmingham's oldest football clubs could be forced to close unless a backer can be found immediately. Members of the 104 year old Coleshill Town FC are desperately appealing for a sponsor to inject urgently needed funds into the club and they claim that, if extra funding cannot be found, Coleshill Town will have to fold. Sid Kitchen, Chairman of Coleshill Town Colts, said: "We lost our regular sponsors in 1994 and what we need now is a sugar daddy. We've been playing football at this club for 104 years and it would be tragic if we had to fold now, particularly as our first team has an excellent chance of being promoted this season." The club, founded in 1894, currently has 116 players in six teams aged from 12 to adult and runs a Mini Soccer School for 30 children aged six to ten. In 1994, it received the Football Association's "Long Service Award." Mr Kitchen said the club's committee had planed to build a new stand and expand facilities to include a physio-therapy suite, a mini gym, changing facilities and officials rooms. But unless cash can be found to improve facilities, the first team cannot be promoted from the Endsleigh Insurance Midland Combination Premier to the Interlink Midlands Alliance division. "When I realised the club was under threat of closure I was close to tears," added Mr Kitchen. "There is no future for this club unless we get a regular sponsor and I'd like to appeal to anyone who can help to contact us immediately."

N.B. With Coleshill top of the league and heading for the championship why would Manager Martin Sockett decide to leave? I suspect this report didn't help and by the game with Wellesbourne on 24th January, Loz Cairns and Mark Charnley were in charge and Martin Sockett had gone to V.S.Rugby.