In total, to date, Hednesford have spent seventeen full seasons and one incomplete campaign (2019/20) as members of the Southern Football League.
They first arrived in 1984 having finished as runners-up in the West Midlands (Regional) League.
And that first season in the Southern Midland Division finish a very creditable third, albeit 10 points adrift of champions Dudley Town.
We`ll start with a man who both played and managed the club, Chris Brindley.
He started his career as a youngster with Chasetown in the West Midlands (Regional) League before moving to Hednesford for the first time in 1985.
The Pitmen had only been a Southern League club for a year when Brindley arrived but it wasn`t long before the young centre-back was attracting attention for his performances.
And he didn’t have to travel far as it was Wolverhampton Wanderers who came in for his services in 1986.
However, in his two years at Molineux, Brindley was only able to make the senior side 7 times before he was sold to Alliance Premier League side Telford United in 1988, where he won an FA Trophy winner`s medal against Macclesfield Town in May 1989 at Wembley.
After spending five years at the Buck`s Head, he was sold to Kidderminster Harriers for a £20,000 fee and was twice voted player of the year at Aggborough and won the Conference with Harriers as well as finishing up on the losing side this time in another Trophy final against Woking where he was named man of the match, despite a broken arm.
In January 1998, he re-joined Hednesford in a player/exchange deal and went on to make over 100 appearances for the Pitmen, then in the Conference, before leaving for Stafford Rangers in June 2000.
He returned to Hednesford for a third spell exactly two years later and was appointed as player/assistant manager, scoring the winner in the 2004 FA Trophy Final – his third appearance in the final, although this one was at Villa Park due to Wembley being rebuilt.
He was appointed manager in June 2004 and led the club to promotion back to the Conference via the Southern League play-offs in May 2005.
However, they struggled in the Conference North and Brindley left Hednesford, this time for the final time, in December 2005.
He went on to have spells with Gresley Rovers, Halesowen Town, where he was also assistant boss, Stourport Swifts where he was player-coach, Rushall Olympic and Stafford Rangers, where he was assistant to former Wolves team-mate Steve Bull before replacing him in the hot-seat at Marston Road in December 2008.
He resigned in September 2010 and took over as manager of Chasetown in October 2011, quitting the post in April 2012.
Vernon Allatt was a forward who started and ended his playing career with the Pitmen.
He signed for Hednesford in the summer of 1976, playing his first game in the West Midlands (Regional) League at the age of 17.
After the Pitmen received a number of enquiries for him from Football League clubs, he was taken on a month’s trial by nearby Walsall in 1978 where he impressed in their reserve team, scoring a number of goals in
Midland Intermediate League but was surprisingly not retained.
So, it was Halifax Town who took the chance to take him on in November 1979 and he became a first team regular at The Shay.
Having scored 14 goals in 98 outings, Allatt moved to Rochdale in August 1983 where he managed 10 goals in 45 games before Crewe Alexandra acquired him for a two-year spell in June 1984.
He made 39 appearances for the Railwaymen, scoring 8 goals, before being transferred to Preston North End in 1985.
He spent one season with Preston and the 1986/87 campaign with Stockport County before returning to Hednesford for the start of 1987/88 in the Southern Midland Division when, unexpectedly, Crewe re-signed him for a second time in December 1987.
One season with Dutch club Heracles preceded a return to the Cross Keys to end his career with the Pitmen in the Southern League when he joined the Prison Service.
Ross Dyer came through the ranks at Hednesford and was promoted to the first team squad during the 2004/05 season after impressive displays in the club`s youth and reserve sides.
He represented Birmingham FA at under-18 level and went on to skipper the Pitmen in three divisions - the Southern, Northern Premier and Conference North before moving to Conference National side Forest Green Rovers in May 2010.
His next move took him to Mansfield Town in the summer of 2011 and he helped the Stags make a return to the Football League during the course of making over 60 appearances and scoring 10 goals.
After a loan spell with Hereford United, he linked up with Conference Premier outfit, FC Halifax Town in 2014 and had further loan spells at Southport and AFC Telford United.
In June 2015 he signed for then-Conference Premier side Tamworth before finishing in May 2017.
Steve Burr has enjoyed a long and successful career as both a player and manager.
He began his playing days with Stafford Rangers and the signs that he was going to become a prolific goalscorer were already to be seen at an early age.
However, he really came to the fore after moving to Macclesfield Town the summer of 1984.
He was the Silkmen’s leading scorer as they finished runners-up to Rangers in the Northern Premier League. He also scored their first ever goal in the Conference.
His spell at Macclesfield went on to include two FA Trophy Final appearances and in 1990 Sir Alex Ferguson took a Manchester United team to Moss Rose to celebrate Burr’s testimonial year.
He eventually left the Silkmen in 1991 and had his first spell with Hednesford.
He helped the Pitmen to promotion from the Southern League Midland Division before a brief return to Stafford followed and then another short stint at Halifax Town before he re-joined Hednesford in 1994.
And along with Joe O`Connor and Henry Wright, Burr was part of a prolific forward line that scored 100 league and cup goals between them as the Pitmen stormed to the Southern Premier Division title in 94/95.
A crowd of 2,776 packed into the Cross Keys for the final home league game of the season against Leek Town and didn`t leave disappointed as strikes from Burr, centre-back Steve Essex and midfielder Gary Fitzpatrick gave Hednesford the title.
The script couldn`t have been written better as this also coincided with it being the last game at the Pitmen`s home for 91 years, Cross Keys.
Burr wound down his playing days with short spells back at Macclesfield, Winsford United and then Nuneaton Borough, where his managerial career began, firstly as assistant to Brendan Phillips before taking charge at the end of the 2002/03 season.
He moved on to Hucknall Town gaining instant success as they cruised to the Northern Premier League title.
The lure of management at a higher level took Burr to Northwich Victoria where he was dealt a cruel blow as the club were handed a 10-point deduction.
Against the odds he managed to keep the Vics in the Conference only for a non-football related decision saw them relegated. However, he swiftly led the Vics back to the Conference by winning the Conference North championship. He also took them to the FA Cup Third Round and a dream date against Premier League side Sunderland AFC.
He was rewarded for his efforts at Northwich by being appointed assistant manager of the England C side under Paul Fairclough.
He moved on to Conference North side Stalybridge Celtic in 2007 where he continued to work his magic as they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Conference in the play-off final.
A move to Conference National side Kidderminster Harriers in January 2010 brought more success with an eight-match unbeaten run at the start to the season.
He took Harriers to the semi-finals of the FA Trophy and a creditable 13th place in the Conference.
During his spell at Kidderminster, he turned down offers of moves to Conference sides Grimsby Town and Forest Green Rovers.
In 2013, Kidderminster missed out on promotion by just two points and Burr was named the Conference manager of the season.
He left Aggborough in January 2014 and almost immediately was appointed manager of Chester City for the remainder of that season with the option to extend into the following season. He remained at the club until April 2016.
A short managerial spell at Southport followed before he took up the reins at one of his former clubs, Stalybridge, in 2017.
A short and unhappy return as manager of Stafford Rangers was followed by a spell as assistant manager at Long Eaton United, scout at Fleetwood Town and, currently, assistant boss at National League North side Hereford FC.
Paul Hayward was a highly rated goalkeeper in his playing days and has become a renowned keeper coach.
He began his career at Walsall before moving to Paget Rangers and then Worcester City, where he became the first team keeper at the age of 19.
He had a very successful playing career, winning a number of league titles and player of the season awards with Worcester, Kidderminster Harriers, Redditch United, Blakenhall and Hednesford.
In October 1995 he moved to Nuneaton Borough and helped them to win the Southern Midland Division title in 95/96.
In the summer of 1998, at the age of 35, he moved to Stafford Rangers under Ian Painter.
He began his goalkeeper coaching career back at Hednesford before joining Rushall Olympic and had to come out of retirement to make his last playing appearance at the age of 49 in the Northern Premier League against Worksop Town!
He moved to Stafford Rangers as their keeper coach in the summer of 2016 and is still at Marston Road.
Tyrone Street was a skilful wide midfielder who played for Blakenall, Cradley Town, Willenhall Town and Bilston Town before signing for Hednesford.
He enjoyed a number of successful seasons with the Pitmen, helping them to two promotions, but missed a large part of the club`s first season in the Conference in 1995/96 through injury.
He returned to the side the following season fit and back to his best, but in July 1997, Southern Premier Division side Nuneaton Borough paid £4,500 to take him to Manor Park.
However, things didn`t quite work out for him at Boro under Brendan Phillips and in January 1998 he was loaned out to former club Blakenall in the Southern Midland Division.
And two months later, Street was sold to another Southern Midland Division side, Stourbridge, in a £3,000 deal.
He finished up back in the West Midlands (Regional) League with the likes of Cradley Town.
Like Ross Dyer, Reece Styche came through Hednesford`s youth and reserve teams before being rewarded with a first team debut in the final match of the 2006/07 season at Kendal Town in the Northern Premier League.
The Birmingham FA under-18 representative showed his potential by bagging a brace against the Mintcakes on debut.
He was loaned out to Bromsgrove Rovers in 2008 to gain more experience and also regain some match fitness after he had suffered a series of injury setbacks the previous season.
After returning to Hednesford and making a couple of appearances off the bench, he was allowed to leave and signed for Grantham Town in 2008.
Spells with Coalville Town, Shepshed Dynamo and then Chasetown followed.
He notched 10 goals in 13 games for the Scholars which earned him a move to the Conference Premier with Forest Green Rovers in January 2010 and went on to enjoy a successful spell, making over 100 appearances and, despite suffering a cruciate injury, scored 35 goals and was capped by England C against Portugal`s under-23s.
Further spells at Wycombe Wanderers and Kidderminster Harriers followed as well as Macclesfield Town and Gateshead.
Whilst with Kidderminster, Styche received a call-up for the Gibraltar national team and has gone on to win 14 international caps.
He was loaned to Nuneaton Borough during the 2016/17 season before moving to Tamworth in the summer of 2017 ahead of the 2017/18 campaign, where he scored 10 goals.
A switch to Darlington came in November of the same season, and he went on to finish the 2017/18 campaign with 21 league goals.
He joined Alfreton Town from National League North rivals Darlington for an undisclosed fee in October 2018 and then moved to league rivals Hereford FC in May 2019.
He switched Southern Premier Division Central outfit Bromsgrove Sporting in February 2020 and then onto Northern Premier side Buxton in June 2020.
There`s little doubting Joe O`Connor`s right to be in this list as he`s definitely a Hednesford `legend`.
O'Connor scored 220 goals for the Pitmen and even has part of the Keys Park ground named in his honour – and not many non-League footballers can boast that!
He finished top scorer in all bar two of the seasons he spent with the club both in the Southern League and in the Conference.
He started out at West Midlands (Regional) League side Lye Town in 1986.
He moved to Stafford Rangers in 1989 but a year later signed for the Pitmen.
He enjoyed playing in some outstanding matches for the club and will always be remembered by Hednesford fans for the brace he netted against Premier League side Middlesbrough in the FA Cup Fourth Round in 1997.
He enjoyed a testimonial during 1996/97 and made it even more memorable when he won his first England semi-professional international cap against the Republic of Ireland in February 1997.
In November 1998 he moved to Southern Premier Division side Nuneaton Borough and helped them to win the championship at the end of that season.
And in December 1999 he was on the move south to sign for Kingstonian, who were then in the Conference.
Elliott Durrell is another to have made a good career for himself after being given his first senior opportunity by Hednesford.
He burst on to the non-League scene after a prolific spell with over two seasons when he scored 58 goals in 95 games for the Pitmen to establish himself as one of the hottest properties in non-League football.
He also caught the eye of the TV cameras and had the chance to showcase his talents after being selected for Leicester City and England striker Jamie Vardy’s V9 Academy, aimed at providing more opportunities for non-league footballers.
He went on to have spells with Wrexham, Tamworth, Chester, Macclesfield Town, York City and Altrincham before going back to Wrexham in August 2020.
Kevin Foster is still Hednesford`s record appearance holder with 470 games to his tally.
Another of the Pitmen`s fans favourites, he had two spells with the club, having originally arrived from Willenhall Town.
He had a period away with Stourbridge before returning to play a major role in the defence as Hednesford enjoyed a halcyon period in the mid-1990s.
Foster was awarded a benefit match, interestingly against Guernsey in 1994.
Amongst the players who perhaps weren`t with the Pitmen for long but are well-known names in the game include Stan Crowther who Aston Villa paid Bilston Town £750 for in 1955 and they sold him to Manchester United after the Munich air crash for £18,000.
An England under-23 international, he also had spells with Chelsea and Brighton and then returned to the West Midlands to play for Rugby Town and he helped them rise to the Southern League Premier Division.
He actually ended his career with Hednesford.
Brian Horton started his senior playing days with the Pitmen after being released by Walsall in 1966.
He played for the club in the West Midlands (Regional) League before being signed by Port Vale in 1970.
He went on to make over 250 appearances for Vale and then more than 220 for Brighton before finishing his playing days with a successful spell with Luton Town under David Pleat.
In 1984 he took over as player-manager of Hull City.
That launched him into a managerial career that went on to include spells with Oxford United, Manchester City, Huddersfield Town, former clubs Brighton and Port Vale and then Macclesfield Town.
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