Rushall Olympic chief dedicates promotion to late mother

Colleen Allen was a constant presence at Dales Lane for more than two decades before her death in 2020 with her husband, chairman John Allen, having first joined the Pics as manager in 1997 when they played in the fifth tier of non-league.

Next season they will compete in the second tier, the highest level in their history, after Monday’s dramatic Southern League Central Premier play-off final penalty shoot-out out win over Nuneaton.

The bar at Dales Lane is named Col’s Bar in Colleen’s memory and Nick said: “It is a huge day for her memory and a massive day for the club, she was a big part of it and I will dedicate today to her.

“It is a day and a week that I will never forget personally and it is very emotional at the moment.

“Rushall are essentially a village club who have been going at it for more than 25 years doing it our way, we have a spirit and a way of doing things.

“We don’t buy the league, we try to build a reputation of involving ourselves with good people we can trust and it might be a cliché but it is like a family.”

Monday’s promotion was the third the Pics have won since the family became involved at the club, with John Allen having been manager when they went up from the Midland Alliance in 2005 and then in his current role as chairman when they won the Southern League South Division under Neil Kitching six years later.

Nick is hopeful the 500 supporters who backed Rushall at Nuneaton will stick around as they embark on a challenge in the National League he described as being similar to “David against Goliath”.

The Pics, whose average attendance for home matches is around 300, will be pitted against clubs with Football League pedigree in National League North next season, including Scunthorpe United who were playing in League Two just 12 months ago. He said: “It is a real David against Goliath stuff and to think about what will happen next season is unreal – it shows what you can achieve in football.

“When we took over our local derby was Pelsall Villa who sadly no longer exist and to look at the sides we will play next season is amazing, it will take a while to sink in.

“It has been hard work, we have had plenty of knock backs, just from the lie of the land and the geography of the ground we have thought of shutting the gates a number of times – but I don’t think we every seriously would have.”

Rushall only confirmed their place in the play-offs on the season’s final day and had already stunned Coalville, who missed out on top spot to Tamworth on goal difference, before edging past Nuneaton in the most dramatic of circumstances.

Nick added: “I thought we deserved it after going to Coalville and winning, then coming here, missing a penalty and hitting the bar. We more than matched a team who finished above us in the league.”