Early days

In the mid 1970’s employees from Bromsgrove General Hospital began playing friendly match against other local hospitals, the town traders and the other teams including the local Police. Unfortunately no records are held of those matches.

On the 26th August 1978, B.G.H.F.C. played their first competitive league game in Division 6 of the Redditch and South Warwickshire Combination at Abbey Stadium. At this time Their home pitch was at the rear of Barnsley Hall Hospital. This first match is now regarded as s the birth date of the Club. For the record the match was against Abbey Alliance and was won 5-3. Robin Coulthard netted the Club’s first goal and Chris Moore scored the Club’s first hat trick with Captain Alan Bingham scoring the other.
In those days the Club was run by Phil Boyes from the headquarters at the General Hospital Social Club and most of the players were employed by the Health Authority. Previous Chairman and now Life Member, Dave Thombs played in that first league fixture and had been involved with the Club ever since as a player, Chairman, President, Redditch league Secretary and First team first aider.
That first season saw a mid-table finish; however the following season 1979-80 was much improved resulting in promotion to Division 5 and an appearance in their first Cup final. The Dick Parsons Cup final was played at Birmingham Rugby Cup against Winyates Reserves. The match will be remembered for the broken leg suffered by Alec Blankley when B.G.H.F.C. were 3 – 1 in front, unfortunately Winyates drew level and took the game into extra time and went on to win 4 – 3. Brian Jackson scored twice with Campbell Devlin scoring the other.
The Hospital side struggled to make on impact in Division 5 in 1980-1 and failed to win a match in 1981-2 drawing only 1, and with Phil Boyes leaving the Club when he emigrated to New Zealand the future of the Club was some what uncertain.
On the 25th April 1982 an emergency meeting was held at the Black Cross public house. Eight players turned up and it was decided that the Club should continue and that Paul Dorrell would take over as Secretary and jointly manage the Club with his step-father Keith Harris.
That summer saw the Hospital enter the now defunct Bromsgrove Hospitals Cup for the first time and reach the semi finals, they also moved onto the new pitch at the front of Barnsley Hall Hospital, and moved their headquarters to the Barnsley Hall Social Club. At the end of the 1982-3 the Club were promoted into Division 4. General settled into life in division 4 and continued to have a full summer fixture list. In 1984 they reached the final of the Bromsgrove Hospital Cup only to be beaten by Lea Hospital.

The 1990’s
General settled into Division 3 with a 5th placed finish in 1989-90 and also improved on their B.G.I.C. Plate victory by winning the B.G.I.C. Cup the following summer beating F.E.L Sporting on penalties after a 0-0 (AET) in the final. Darren Halfpenny again, being the man who settled the issue.
The 1990-1 season was another improvement with a 4th place finish and saw the Club set a new scoring record when they beat Washford Mill 14-0 at Barnsley Hall with Chris Brown scoring 10. At the time Washford were second in the Division and General were third. This result burst their bubble and they folded before the end of the season. Chris Brown also set the scoring record for a season netting 53 from 35 appearances.
The 1991-2 season was a very eventful one, and having moved from Barnsley Hall to Bromsgrove Rovers’ Victoria Ground, it saw General capture their first Redditch league trophy when they beat local rivals Bewell Head Dynamo 3-1 in the final of the Hunt Crane Cup at Garringtons. Chris Brown, John Halliday and Andy Graham the scorers in a 3-1 victory. General also won through to the semi final of the B.S.A. Cup (For all Clubs below Division 2), only to be beaten by the eventual winners Redditch Youth Club. General were again free scoring and Chris Brown & John Halliday both scored 26 goals.
General won through to the final of the 1992 B.G.I.C. Cup only to be beaten 0-1 by the Duke of Marlborough from Studley. This was followed by an excellent season that saw General finish 3rd after a titanic struggle with Hydrovane and Triplex Sporting. This was good enough for promotion to Division 2. For the second season running General lost in the final of the B.G.I.C. Cup, on this occasion Arrow Valley Social won 2-1 with Derek Upton the General scorer.
The league form of 1993-4 wasn’t good, but they made up for it in the Cup competitions reaching two semi finals. The Semi final of the Stephen Troth Cup was played at Bromsgrove Rovers Victoria Ground, which at the time was still Generals’ home pitch. John Preece later to became a General legend, scored for Boars Head in the first and last minute in a match General controlled for long periods. John Halliday scored for General in a 2-1 defeat. The semi final of the Terry Cup (for all Clubs in the Redditch League) saw General travel to Premier leaders Garringtons Sunday. Garringtons were much too strong especially after Bob Guinivan was lost to the game with concussion and General went down 5-0 in the league’s top cup competition.
Having been beaten in the final of the previous two B.G.I.C. Cups, General gained revenge on Arrow Valley Social beating them in the 1994 final, thereby winning the Cup 2-1 with goals from Neil Lippitt and Russ Horswood. By now the competition involved 12 teams and was played at South Bromsgrove High School. That summer saw the arrival of Neil Rawlins from Wildmoor Sideliners and his 19 goals in 11 matches that summer was a sign of things to come.
Having played at Bromsgrove Rovers for the previous 2 seasons, General moved the short distance to the pitch at North East Worcestershire College. The 1994-5 season started and finished with games against Cofton United, the outstanding side outside the Premier Division. Cofton went onto win the league and cup double with General runners up to them in both the 2nd Division and the Stephen Troth Cup. The new signings of Neil & Matt Rawlins, Mike Nicklin, Brent Burford & Ian Guinivan blended well with the established players, notably, Chris Brown, John Halliday, Bruce Dorrell, Derek Upton, Neil Lippitt and Bob & Jim Guinivan.
The final of the Stephen Troth Cup was played at Garringtons and was the last game of the 1994-5 season. Cofton took a 2 goal lead, (one of which was scored by Dave Green who later joined the General after Cofton folded). General pulled a goal back when Jim Guinivan scored with a 30 yard free kick, but Cofton held on to win the Cup. This proved to be Jim’s last game as he signed off with his best ever goal. Neil Rawlins netted 41 goals from 21 starts during that season.
The summer of 1995 saw the arrival John Preece, Brian Imrie, Mark Whitehead and Andy Parker and another appearance in the final of the B.G.I.C Cup, this time Areley Kings F.C. from Stourport were the victors by 2 goals to nil. 1995-6, the Club's first season in the 1st Division ended with a mid table finish and an early season return to Bromsgrove Rovers to take on West Bromwich Albion All Stars in a Charity match to raise funds for the Anthony Nolan Trust.
A crowd of 450, the sale of programmes and an auction of sporting memorabilia led to £2,700.00 being raised. For the record the All Stars with 3 ex Internationals (Bobby Hope (Scotland) Tony Grealish (Ireland) & Derek Statham (England)) won 4-1 with Neil Rawlins the General’s scorer.
General made it through to the 1996 final of the B.G.I.C. Cup, this time it was Boars Head who gained revenge for the previous summer’s semi final defeat by winning 4-3 on penalties.
For the start of the 1996-7 season, General entered a Reserve team in Division 6 of the Redditch & South Wark’s Combination under the leadership of Dave Oliver and Captain Ian Guinivan. This some 10 years after General’s first venture with a Reserve team. The first team were involved in a 3 way fight for the title with Catshill Crown and Sherwood Rangers which went down to the wire. The last two games of the season were against Dave Whitlock’s Catshill Crown who won one and drew the other, thereby winning the title by a point from Sherwood Rangers and 3 points from the General.
That finish was good enough to see General promoted into the Premier Division as Sherwood’s Shirley Park ground was not up to the standard. By this time General had moved from North East Worcestershire College to the West Mercia Police Headquarters at Hindlip Hall, Near Worcester. The Reserves for their part achieved a mid table finish in Division 6 but because of the small size of the Divisions in the lower half of the league, two supplementary leagues were created and a supplementary Cup. The Reserves finished runners up the Supplementary ‘B’ league.
The 1997 playing of the B.G.I.C. Cup & Plate took place at Garringtons and was a 6 a side tournament involving 15 teams. General won through to the Cup final only to be beaten by South Redditch.

The Premier years
Generals’ first match in the Premier Division took place at the Ryland Centre against Bromsgrove Athletico and led to a 1-3 defeat, John Preece scoring General's first Premier goal. Happier times were to follow in the Cups including a 10-1 trashing of Packhorse Wythall in the Terry Cup. Although General achieved 3 draws in the league it took until their 5th Premier match, away against High Duty Alloys before they won their first league match. Neil Rawlins scored both goals in a 2-0 win. By the end of the season General had settled nicely into the Premier league with six wins, six draws and six defeats and winning through to the final of the Keith Turner Cup (Premier Clubs only).
The final took place at Studley B.K.L. with Black Horse the formidable opposition. An excellent match followed with Black Horse taking the lead only for Captain Damian Barratt to equalise before half time. After the break Black Horse swept into a 4-1 lead only for General to pull two goals back through Neil Rawlins to set up a grandstand finish. Black Horse held out against intense General pressure to record a 4-3 victory.
The Reserves moved up into Division 4 and although they suffered their heaviest defeat to date at the hands of Dingle Social in their second match of the season (1-10), they recovered well enough to win promotion to Division 3 and reached the semi final of the Ken Parfitt Cup where they were beaten by B.K.L. Sports following a replay. At the end of the season they went unbeaten for 10 games including an 8-0 thrashing of Dynamo Sports setting a new league scoring record for the reserves. The B.G.I.C. Cup & Plate was played at Hindlip and involved just 4 sides playing 11 a side, South Redditch won the Cup and General the Plate.
General’s second season in the Premier saw another mid-table finish and set them out as free scoring team as the netted 8 against Alcester Rovers, 7 against Hymatic, 6 against Westbury Celtic and 5 against Woodpecker, Burlish Olympic, Alcester Rovers and Warndon Juniors and the best result up to that point an emphatic 4 – 0 home victory over Garringtons Sunday. Neil Rawlins led the way with 26 goals from 27 starts (played ever match that season) including all 5 against Burlish and Warndon. Gary Otun and John Preece provided additional firepower with 13 and 11 respectively.
The low point of the season was probably the worst injury any player from the Club has suffered to date when Andy Kings broke both bones in his lower leg. The injury occurred in the last minute of what was always going to be Andy’s last match of the season as he was due to go on holiday later that week. For the record the match was against Westbury Celtic and ended all square at 2 – 2.
The fact that Andy has since made a fully recovery and returned to playing in the first team with pins and plates still in his leg is a tribute to his commitment to the Club, and he is still added to his already sizeable record appearance total of over 600.
Having been promoted each season since they re-entered the league 3 years earlier, the Reserves found Division 3 somewhat tougher and also found that the Redditch league seemed to have something against Reserve teams so at the end of the season it was decided to resign them from the Redditch League and enter them into the Bromsgrove League.
For the record the Reserves won 8 drew 4 and lost 15 finishing 8th from 10. Chris Brown netted 8 from 16 starts playing mostly from midfield in what was his last season for the Club. Chris was a fantastic servant and goal scorer who finished with a grand total of 187 goals from 339 appearances, a great return considering he not only played as a forward but also in midfield and in defence.
The 1999-2000 saw Father and Son, John & Dave McManus join the Club along with Neil Annis and later Paul Dutton and early results looked promising including a record 17-0 away Cup victory against Bromsgrove League 1st Division leaders Longbridge Sports in the Worcester Nursing Junior Cup. For the record, Dave McManus led the way with 5 goals from left back, Neil Rawlins netted 4, Neil Annis and Mike Nicklin 3 each and 1 each for Damian Barratt and John Preece.
In the second half of the season form fell away and by the last game General needed to beat already relegated Studley Sporting to avoid facing re-election. Having gone a goal down, General played some of their best football of the season to record a 4-1 victory to ensure they retained their Premier status.
The Reserves first match in Division 3 of the Bromsgrove League was a resounding 7-2 home win against Woodbourne Sports. Neil Annis netted the first goal and went onto score a hat trick. Bromsgrove Red Lion were to become the next team to be on the wrong end of a Reserves record score when they recorded a 10-0 away win. Mark Whitehead led the way with a hat trick. Woodbourne Sports were to exact revenge on the Reserves by beating them in the semi-final of the Rose Bowl and finishing one place ahead of them in forth place thereby securing promotion and leaving the Reserves to face a second season in the 3rd Division. Their league record being won 10, drew 3, lost 5.
After the close shave with re-election, General were in need of an improvement during the 2000-1 season and their league form was marginally better with a ninth placed finish. The Cups were however somewhat better and two semi finals were reached. In the Worcester Nursing Junior Cup General lost 5-3 to Garringtons Sunday and in the following match they crashed out of the Worcester Royal Infirmary Cup losing 6-3 to Kempsey United. Both teams went on to lift their respective Cups.
This season will long be remembered for the number of matches called off and for the variety of reasons. In December the first team didn’t play a match due to the rain which caused severe flooding along the Severn valley and only played once in March when the rains returned and games were also called off due to frost, the petrol dispute and the foot and mouth outbreak.
As a result the season was extended until the end of May and General found them-selves playing 16 matches in 44 days, a situation that stretched the Clubs resources to the maximum and which would have been impossible without the use of the players from the Reserves. The last match of the season was another of those tense affairs where General needed to win to be sure of avoiding re-election.
Bromsgrove Athletico were the visitors to Hindlip on the 27th May, the latest date that the Club have played a league match and after 40 minutes General found them-selves 4-0 down. Rich Whitlock reduced the arrears before half time and after the break, goals from Rich Congrave with 2, Gary Otun and Jon Bird put General 5-4 in the lead. Things didn’t end there as Athletico drew level at 5-5, before Rich Congrave snatched his hat trick and a late winner in the last minute of the match and thereby completing Generals best ever come back.
The Reserves second campaign in the 3rd Division of the Bromsgrove League didn’t get off to the best of starts as they took only 1 point from their first 3 matches. Their fourth match resulted in a 7-0 away win at Southside United and started an un-presidented run of 14 straight league wins to finish Champions of Division 3 by 6 clear points and with a game to go. The title was actually won with a 6-1 victory over the team that started the run, Southside United at Hindlip.
Up to that point this was the only Championship won by the Club and is a tribute to all the hard work put in by player/manager, Ian Guinivan before and since. The players who collected winners medals were, Steve Adams, Wayne Hunt (Captain), Bob Guinivan, Ian Guinivan, John Halliday, Nick Henry, Alex Jones, Vince White, John Bird (top goal scorer with 23), Nick Cox, Andy Faulkner, Andy Colson, John Preece, Graham Cramp, Dan Taylor, Paul Tyers, Lee Barton, Andy Wright, Mark Cartwright, Bradley Holmes, Paul Pritchard and Carl Hickman (Stretch).
Having been close to having to seek re-election on a couple of occasions, General found them-selves seeking the support of the other Premier Clubs as they finished second from bottom at the end of the 2001-2 season. General retained their place at the expense of Wychbold R.B.L. who applied for election having finished 3rd in the 1st Division. For the record General won 5 and drew 5 of their 22 league matches. The loss of Rich Congrave at the end of October (to play Saturday football) was a major factor. On a positive note Grant Taylor joined the Club and has become a highly influential player and longstanding Captain. The high point of the season was surely the form of 16 year old Joe Brookes who led the scoring with 13 goals.
The Reserves also found the going tough after been promoted to division 2 and could do no better that the first team finishing second to bottom in a division of only 9 teams. John Halliday retired having been another fantastic servant racking up over 400 appearances and scoring 101 goals. On more positive note youngsters, Dan Shewell and Spencer Kenward joined the club.
League form wasn’t much better during the 2002-3 season but re-election was avoided, and General recorded their best Premier league result to date when they beat Fairfield Sunday 8 -2 at Hindlip with Rich Whitlock netting 5 of the goals. This being some what sweet for the ex-Fairfield player. The Cups did provide some small crumbs of comfort but led to eventual despair as General crashed out of The Keith Turner Cup and the Worcester Nursing Junior Cup at the Semi Final stages. The Keith Turner Cup semi final was played at Redditch United against an in form Mayfly and after goal keeper, Chris Taylor was injured very early on, the ‘fly ran riot winning 6-1.
The Worcester Nursing Junior Cup was even more heart breaking as it was against local rivals Bromsgrove Athletico who took the lead in the first half only for General to equalise and then take the lead through goals from Joe Brookes and Spencer Kenward. With the last kick of the game, Matt Dalloway equalised for Athletico taking the game to penalties with the score at 2-2. Only Joe Brookes and Spencer Kenward scored from the spot allowing Athletico to reach the final 3-2 on penalties.
The Reserves were very difficult to beat during the 2002-3 season, but drew 8 of their 20 league games leading to a decent mid table finish. They also had the misfortune of missing out in a semi final, this time the Worcester Infirmary Minor Cup. The victors were Redditch Division 2 outfit Alvechurch Sports who won 2-1. Jon Bird was the Reserves scorer. Alvechurch went on to lift the Cup.
After a couple of seasons where the General were to close to the foot of the table for comfort, a mid-table finish of 7th in 2003-4 was something of a relief. A new record was set by using no less that 50 players in the 29 first team fixtures that season. Rich Whitlock topped the scoring chart with 13 including all 4 in a 4-1 home win against Stoke Sports (formerly Garringtons Sunday) in what was to be their last season before folding.
The Reserves slipped back a place to 7th in the 2nd Division of the Bromsgrove League in 2003-4 due mainly to a mid season slump which was a shame as the early and late season form was as good as any team in the division.
In 2004-5 the first team finished 8th due mainly to an administration error which cost the Club 4 points and a place in the league, however the winning of the Worcester Infirmary Junior Cup at Pershore United in May put this disappointment to the back of everyone’s mind. General were due to play
Worcester outfit Nelson in the first round but they gave General a walk over. The second round paired the General with another Worcester League team in the shape of Comer Rangers, General made hard work of it winning 2-1 at Hindlip with goals from Spencer Kenward and Mark Telford.
The Semi final was against Dudley Sporting away and General won through 1-0 thanks to a blistering Richard Congrave free kick. The final at Pershore Town was against Worcester 1st Division outfit, Nunnery Wood Sports who had already been successful in two other cup finals that season. General proved too well organised and strong and won 2-0 with a goal in each half from Spencer Kenward and Richard Congrave.
The Reserves achieved their highest placing since being promoted to Division 2 of the Bromsgrove League finishing 6th. This was somewhat disappointing as up until the last couple of months of the season they were in with a very good shout to finish in the top 2 or 3, but a lack of goals during this period saw them fall away. They also had the disappointment of another semi final defeat, this time at the hands of old enemies Wychbold Wanderers who won 5-0 at their ‘graveyard’ at Wychbold.
The 2005-6 season was very eventful both on and off the pitch. On the pitch the first team won through to the final of the Terry Cup for the first time in the Club's history with victories over Arrow Valley Social, Royal Oak Rovers, Abbeydale, Fairfield Sunday and West Heath Snooker. The final took place at Studley Football Club in front of over 200 supporters against firm favourites Black Horse F.C. (Redditch). General frustrated the 'Horse for over an hour but eventually they broke through and finally ran out 4-0 victors. A good experience for a young side that will learn from the it.
On the league front, fixture congestion took its toll and a programme which saw that the team played half its league fixtures in six weeks playing 4 times a week was too much to ask and re-election was needed to be sought. This was overwhelming achieved as the other Premier clubs recognised the Club's predicament.
The Reserves still under the leadership of Ian Guinivan would probably have been looked upon as 'also rans' by the other teams in the 2nd Division of the Bromsgrove league at the beginning of the season, but an unbeaten run stretching well into the new year showed they were a team to be reckoned with. The Division was very close with Church Hill Reserves, Turks Head, Navigation and Black Cross all putting together good runs and it was clear that if the Reserves were going to win the league then they would have to hold their nerve.
This they did by winning their final game of the season 2-1 against Church Hill Reserves, thereby winning it by just 1 point from Church Hill Reserves. This was due in no small part to the experience of Ian Guinivan, Brian Imrie, Tony Nicol, Kevin Taylor and particularly John Preece who scored 31 goals.
Off the pitch, Dave Thombs resigned as Chairman to concentrate on his Worcestershire F.A. and Redditch league duties and John Cassidy stood down after 10 years as Treasurer, both were made life members in recognition of their efforts.
Having played the B.G.I.C Cup and Plate as an internal 5 a side tournament for several years, General took the Plate to Cornwall on their annual tour in 2006 and played it off in a three team ‘round robin’. Newquay All Stars ran out winners with Foxhole F.C. making up the trio.
The 2006-7 season saw both teams achieve a comfortable mid table finish, with both saving their best form for the second half of the season. The Reserves in particular did very well moving from bottom of the table at Christmas to 5th by the end of the season.
The 2007 B.G.I.C Plate was again played as a three team round robin involving the Reserves, Meadow Park and Hanbury. All three teams won a game each with Meadow winning through on goal difference.
The 2007-8 season saw both teams make poor starts, and by October both teams were propping up their respective divisions. The first team then went on a run in the league which saw them move from the foot of the table to 4th place, the Clubs highest finish. During that run General recorded their highest Premier league result with a 13-0 thrashing of Fairfield Sunday.
The Reserves were unable to move off the foot of the table but did win the best performance award for May with their 4-3 away victory of Champions D&P La Coruna in the last league game of the season.
In April, John Preece returned to the Reserves to give some much needed direction from thr touch line. This coinsided with the start of the Presidents Cup group stages and saw the Reserves record 4 wins and a draw to secure the Reserves their first ever Cup final appearance.
The Final was played on Westbury Celtic's immaculate pitch at Droitwich Rugby Club on a wet and windy evening against Navigation who already had two Cups in the bag. General were well beaten 6-0 on an evening when nothing went right.
Following the conclusion of the season General began their celebrations of the 30 years since the Club's inception as a league Club with a dinner dance at Bromsgrove Golf Centre. This is to be followed by a reunion and other events.