They`ve Played For Your Club…..Redditch United

Continuing the series on players who have represented the current clubs in the Southern Football League.

Redditch have been members of the Southern League since moving up from the West Midlands (Regional) League in 1972.

They were founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979/80 but had a disastrous one-season stay at the new top non-League competition, finishing bottom with just five wins and 18 points from 38 games.

It took the Reds until 2004 to win a place back in the Conference when it gained promotion after winning Division One West and being founder members of the new north section.

Redditch spent seven seasons in the Conference North before returning to the Southern League in 2011 and came close to a return in 2015/16 when they finished second but lost to Leamington in the play-offs.

During their time in the Southern League, the Reds have had some very good players perform at The Valley Stadium, including record appearance holder Paul Molloy, who had two spells with the club and was also a former club captain.

The defender`s first spell with the Reds lasted from 1990 to 1995 after joining from Bromsgrove Rovers.

He also turned out for Stafford Rangers, Worcester City, Malvern Town and Gloucester City.

After his second spell with Redditch, the second one later as player-coach, he went on to manage Malvern in the West Midlands (Regional) League.

Spare a thought for goalkeeper Dave Latchford, who for many years was simply known as England centre-forward Bob Latchford`s elder brother!

What is often forgotten is that Dave made over 250 appearances as a professional himself, most of which were made for Birmingham City, many in the same team as his sibling.

Born in Kings Heath, Dave Latchford represented South Birmingham Boys before joining the apprentice staff at St Andrew's in June 1964, turning professional in May 1966.

He was called into the England Youth squad but failed to gain a place in the team because of a certain Peter Shilton!

Nevertheless, he persevered at club level, gained an FA Youth Cup runners-up medal in 1967 (along with brother Bob) and became a regular in the Blues side in 1970 taking over the keeper`s jersey from Jim Herriot.

He helped the Blues win promotion to the First Division in 1972 and remained first-choice keeper for many years before being sold to Motherwell in July 1977.

Two years later he joined Bury and then became a non-contract player with Barnsley before dropping into non-League football with Redditch United in 1981.

He spent two years with the Reds and helped them to win the Southern Midland Division title in 1983.

After that he remained in the Southern League with Cheltenham Town until 1985 when he spent time in Somerset and helped out East Worle in the Somerset Senior League.

After retiring from the game, he became a funeral director and became superintendent of cemeteries in Solihull.

Robin Judd was a very good goalscoring midfielder who started his career as an apprentice with Birmingham City.

After being released by the Blues, he joined Kidderminster Harriers and played in the Conference for the Aggborough outfit.

A spell with Mile Oak Rovers in their brief spell as a Southern League club preceded him signing for Redditch in 1988.

He spent four seasons with the Reds and went on to play for Solihull Borough and then returned to another Southern League outfit, Atherstone United, during the 1995/96 season.

He was later assistant manager at Solihull and briefly took charge at Borough.

There are quite a few other former Redditch players with Birmingham City connections. And one who boasts over 190 appearances for the Blues before later playing at The Valley Stadium is tigerish Scottish midfielder Alan Campbell.

Born in Arbroath, Campbell came down to England to join Charlton Athletic in 1964 at the age of 17.

Campbell (pictured) went on to play under four different managers during his time at the club and was part of the Charlton side that reached the FA Youth Cup in 1965 and enjoyed an impressive goalscoring season from midfield in 1967/68 when he found the net 10 times throughout the season.

Whilst at the club, Campbell was capped at under-23 level by Scotland.

He left The Valley in 1971 for Birmingham, having made 214 appearances for Charlton, scoring 29 goals.

He went on to play over 200 times for the Blues, scoring 11 goals, helping them win promotion to the First Division in his first season, playing alongside the likes of Trevor Francis, Bob Hatton and the Latchford brothers.

Alan Campbell: Midfielder who managed in Non-League while working as an audit engineer for Land Rover.

In 1976 he left St Andrews to join Cardiff City back in the Second Division but he took his tally of League appearances well past the 500-mark with a further 167 for the Bluebirds.

His former Charlton boss, Bob Stokoe, took him to Carlisle United for Campbell`s swansong as a professional, adding 31 games to his tally which totalled 571 when he signed for Redditch in the summer of 1982.

He spent four years with the Reds in the Southern Midland Division and then moved into the Midland Combination with West Heath United (who later became Olton Royale).

He became assistant manager at another Midland Combination outfit, Highgate United before having a short spell in charge in 1992 and then spent two years with current Southern Premier Division Central side Stratford Town, then in the Midland Comb, as assistant boss and then briefly manager.

It`s unusual to feature a current player in these features, but goalkeeper Danny Lewis, who is currently with National League North side Brackley Town, deserves a mention for his loyalty to Redditch.

Now a vastly experienced 38-year-old, he began in the youth team at Alvechurch and then joined Midland Alliance side Studley, where he became first choice keeper at the age of 19.

In May 2004, he trialled with then League Two side Kidderminster Harriers and was signed and made just the one League appearance and then 16 more the following season in the Conference after relegation.

In 2006 he moved to Conference North side Moor Green before joining his home-town club Redditch in 2007.

He returned to Kidderminster in May 2010 now rated as one of the best keepers outside the Football League.

Despite previous opportunities to move, he showed great loyalty to Redditch in staying for three years did fantastically well for them.

He played 169 times in his second spell with Harriers before spending two seasons at Solihull Moors, making 49 appearances in all before leaving for Brackley in 2017.

Jermaine Hylton is another who is still currently playing.

The centre-forward started his playing days as a youth with Kidderminster Harriers but it was after being in the final of Sky1 TV`s talent show `Wayne Rooney's Street Striker` that he was signed by Birmingham City.

Released in 2009 without managing to earn a professional contract, Hylton played for his local Midland Combination side Continental Star for a couple of years before being given the chance to step up into the Southern Premier Division with Redditch in 2012.

Hylton (pictured) enjoyed a prolific spell with the Reds, scoring 45 goals in just 54 games, and caught the eye of Swindon Town scouts.

However, his move was a controversial one with then-Redditch chairman Chris Swan accusing Swindon of breaking the seven-day notice of approach rule to secure his signature and made an official complaint to the Football Association.

Despite this, in January 2015, Hylton signed a two-and-a-half-year contract, despite the interest of other clubs including Birmingham City.

Hylton’s initial job was to complement Town’s current strike force of Andy Williams, Michael Smith and Jonathan Obika as the club pushed for an automatic promotion place. Hylton made a series of cameo appearances before scoring his first professional goal, the winner, in the 1-0 victory over Peterborough United.

He went on to make 39 appearances for Swindon but scored only one goal.

He was also sent out on loan to Guiseley but returned early having suffered another injury.

He remained a bit-part player throughout his final season with Swindon under Luke Williams, getting a run in the first team in December but failing to make an impression and he was released in the summer of 2017 with Town relegated to League Two.

He moved to Solihull Moors where he found some form, netting 15 times in 69 games in the National League and that earned him a return to the professional game with Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership in May 2019.

He played a vital part in their third-placed finish to season 2019/20 and also taking them in to European competition, scoring 2 goals in 33 games.

However, he joined another Scottish Premiership side, Ross County, in October 2020.

Redditch`s record sale is still that of midfielder David Farrell to Premier League Aston Villa in 1992 for £45,000.

Some Villa sources say the sale was actually £63,000 when Ron Atkinson snapped up the wide player who had joined the Reds as a youth and went on to become a regular at The Valley Stadium.

But it was nine months before Farrell made his Villa first-team debut and he only made 8 in total.

He spent from January to March 1993 on loan to Scunthorpe United before new manager Brian Little sold him to League Two side Wycombe Wanderers for £100,000 in 1995.

He played 70 times for the Chairboys, scoring 6 times, before switching to Peterborough United in June 1997, where he went on to become a club `legend`.

Farrell (pictured) made over 350 appearances for Posh, scoring 42 goals, eventually being released at the end of the 2005/06 season.

He joined then-League Two side Boston United in the summer of 2006 where he made 40 appearances, but left the Pilgrims following their relegation from the Football League at the end of the season and had a campaign playing for Burton Albion before re-joining Boston in the summer of 2008.

He finished off his playing career with Northern Premier League Division One South side Stamford, who he spent the 2009/10 season with.

He was later under-18 manager at Peterborough and later at Swindon Town.

Now veteran defender Asa Charlton re-joined Redditch in September 2020 from Southern Premier Division Central rivals Rushall Olympic for a fourth spell.

He had been with the Pics since December 2018 having joined from Halesowen Town.

His career started with Kidderminster Harriers where he came through the ranks but was unable to break into the first team at Aggborough.

Instead, he moved to Willenhall Town where his reliable displays attracted plenty of higher-level attention, with AFC Telford United winning the race for his signature.

After spending a year in America, he returned to these shores and turned out for the likes of Stourport Swifts, Worcester City and Rushall for a short spell.

He first moved to Halesowen at the turn of 2003 and went on to become captain of the team before moving on to Redditch as the club established themselves at Step 2.

At the age of 29 he was given his first opportunity in professional football with a switch to League Two outfit Mansfield Town where he made a handful of appearances before returning to Telford.

He returned to Redditch in 2008, left in 2010 and had spells with Corby Town, Worcester City and Leamington, before re-joining the Reds in 2012.

He was off again a year later to Chasetown and Hinckley United before returning to Halesowen at the start of the 2013/14 campaign and remained there until returning to the Pics.

There have been relatively few former international players who represented Redditch.

However, there have been a few who have been capped by rather more `obscure` countries.

Kevin Francis was a giant 6`7” centre-forward who played for the Reds for two years between 2003 and 2005.

He`d started out in the Southern League with struggling Mile Oak Rovers before being snapped up by Derby County in 1989.

He went on to play 10 times for the Rams and then 152 times for Stockport County before Barry Fry paid £800,000 for his services when managing Birmingham City in January 1995.

He played 71 times for the Blues, scoring 13 times before moving to Oxford United in 1998.

It was shortly after joining the U`s that he received a surprise call up for St Kitts & Nevis to play in the Shell Caribbean Cup and he won 2 caps at the age of 30.

He finished his professional career with Exeter City and Hull City before returning to non-League football with Hednesford Town and then Redditch, finishing off with a short spell with Studley in the Midland Alliance before he moved to Canada, where he worked as a police officer in Calgary, Alberta.

Ahmed Ali played around 30 times in two spells for the Reds, scoring 4 times.

He signed in 2016 and first left the club in January 2017 to re-join Bromsgrove Sporting, but was jailed for 12 months after being found guilty of fraud with five other men.

Born in Somalia, Ali moved to Holland at an early age and played for Alphense Boys, Jong ADO Den Haag, CVV de Jodan Boys and Rijnsburgse Boys before moving to England in 2015 where his first club was Northern Premier League outfit Sheffield FC.

He moved to the Midlands with his first spells with Bromsgrove and then Redditch.

He turned out for Halesowen Town in 2018 before having his second spell with the Reds.

After leaving the Valley Stadium for a second time in 2019, he had a short stint in Qatar with Pearl FC and re-joined Halesowen in December 2019.

Ali has been capped six times by Somalia – the last being as recent as September 2019 when he captained the side in a 1–0 win against Zimbabwe, marking Somalia's first ever FIFA World Cup qualification victory.

Goalkeeper Jose Veiga has enjoyed a long and well-travelled career both at home and abroad.

His spell with Redditch was fairly brief, joining in September 2015 and ending the following summer.

Capped at under-18 level by Portugal, he went on to win 14 caps for Cape Verde between 2004 and 2007 at full international level.

His career began in his homeland of Portugal with Benfica and Alverca before he crossed over to Spain where he made over 150 appearances for Levante.

A return to Portugal with Estrela Amadora and Olhanese preceded him moving to England where his first club was Tamworth.

Veiga (pictured) went on to turn out for Atherstone United and then got a shot at League football with Hereford United in 2008.

He switched to Macclesfield Town a few months later and went on to make 86 League appearances for the Silkmen.

Harrogate Town, back to Tamworth, Worcester City and Nantwich Town followed before his time with the Reds and since then has been at Rushall Olympic and Hednesford Town.

In May 2020, Veiga re-signed for the Pitmen for the current 2020/21 season as part of the backroom staff, only donning the gloves in emergency situations.

Others to have won international caps having played for the Reds, include winger Omar Sterling-James, who scored 13 times for Redditch in 2013/14 after joining from Alvechurch.

Currently with National League North side Kidderminster Harriers, he has 17 caps for St Kitts & Nevis.

Also capped by the same Caribbean island is defender Tesfa Robinson, who turned out for Redditch in 2011/12.

He has 3 caps to his name and was more recently with Midland League side Sporting Khalsa.

has 4 caps for St Kitts & Nevis having played for the Reds from 2011 to 2013.

He went on to have spells with Stratford Town, Rugby Town, Romulus and Coleshill Town, having started out at Birmingham City.

And forward Romario Martin also gained international recognition for St Kitts, albeit only once against the USA in 2017.

He is still on Redditch`s books, although the former Walsall, Solihull Moors and Nuneaton Borough man has also been dual registered with Midland Leaguers Romulus.

Melanius Mullarkey also represented a Caribbean island in Saint Lucia.

He is still currently with Redditch, having signed in October 2020 from league rivals Bromsgrove Sporting, where he had only been since September 2020.

An experienced player, he started out at Birmingham City in 2007, having moved to England with his family five years earlier.

After his release from St Andrews, Mullarkey travelled to Cyprus to play for AEL Limmasol, where he spent two years. He returned to the United Kingdom and made appearances for Banbury United, Bedworth United, Long Buckby, Rugby Town, Kettering Town, Corby Town, Boston United, Gresley Rovers, Daventry Town, Leicester Nirvana and Hayes & Yeading United.

In 2018, he was on his travels again, this time to Bulgarian outfit Strumska Slava and then joined Midland League Division One side Hinckley AFC last season.

He made his debut for St Lucia in May 2015 and has 7 caps to date.

Paul Douglas is another who is still currently playing.

A Bermudan international at both under-20 and 4 times at full inter4natiopnal level, the midfielder left the Reds after two years with the club to sign for rivals and neighbours Alvechurch in October 2019 and then switched to another league rival, Stratford Town, in January 2020.

A former Bermuda Hogges player, the highly rated central midfielder has previous experience with Ilkeston Town.

Wayne Dyer won 6 caps for another Caribbean country, Montserrat between 2000 and 2011.

The well-travelled former Birmingham City midfielder had a spell with the Reds late in his career after being with the likes of Hinckley United, Bromsgrove Rovers, Hednesford Town and Bedford Town.

And finally, current radio and TV summarizer Clinton Morrison had a brief stint with Redditch towards the end of his playing days in 2016 before finishing off at Northern Premier Leaguers Mickleover Sports.

The ex-Crystal Palace, Birmingham City, Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday striker earned 36 caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring 9 times.

Redditch United Web Site