Hungry Lions tasted a fair share of success
The attraction of the Beacon Sunday League has been clear to see for more than 40 years and Sedgley White Lions’ long association was further evidence of that.
In our latest Beacon flashback feature, the spotlight falls on a club who were first formed in 1985 as a church league club. Over the years their membership rose to an impressive 28 teams of all ages and a successful mini-soccer school. And the club is still going strong today, fast approaching their 35th anniversary.
It was in the early 1990s when Sedgley White Lions (SWL) saw great benefits in joining the Beacon League ranks – and what an immediate impression they made, under the astute leadership of the late Dave Ferguson.
After a debut season of acclimatisation SWL, who in their early days were based at the White Lion pub in Sedgley, took the Division One title in 1994/95 by an 11-point advantage and lifted the Beacon Cup as Lee Harris bagged a brace to sink Pear Tree United.
Promotion to the Premier followed and the following season saw them finish mid-table, at the same time slipping to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of champions Bentley Eagles in the Premier Cup final.
The next two campaigns brought virtual total success for Ferguson and his charges as their impressive football saw them narrowly miss back-to-back trebles, the champagne flowing after taking and retaining the Premier championship and Lester Charity Cup, while winning the Premier Cup at the third attempt.
That was in 1998 when SWL retained the title, before going on to beat Netherton Colts 2-1 in the Lester Cup and Brinsford 5-1 in the Premier Cup final.
This SWL squad had achieved all they could on the domestic front, but they did not renew their membership, the 1998/99 campaign being one of only two seasons the club name was missing on the Beacon scene over some 22 years.
It was under a new era, with current club secretary Neil Smith at the helm, that SWL rejoined the Beacon League for the start of the 1999/2000 season, opening with a mid-table finish in Division Two.
Apart from a one-season absence, Smith’s squads competed for Beacon honours for 14 years. During that spell, three other SWL teams (South, West and East) also chased glory in the league for short spells.
Smith said he enjoyed his time in the Beacon League.
“As a club we were quite successful. We won the Premier title in 2011 and we also picked up four Fair Play awards along the way,” he said. “A year after missing out on the title on goal difference to Oakdale, we managed to win the trophy by edging out our arch rivals, SWL Crown (formerly SWL East). They were run by Dave Edgley, who was voted Secretary of the Year that season. However, we claimed the bragging rights that time.”
In fact, that same 2010/11 season also saw SWL’s main team figure strongly in the Premier and prestigious Birmingham County FA Sunday Cup competitions.
However, an injury-hit SWL side crashed 8-1 to Beacon rivals Castle Youth in the former, before bowing out 4-1 to the same opponents (who went on to take the silverware) in the semi-finals of the county cup. Top of the Premier goal charts, with 44, was Danny Crudgington.
After taking third spot in the Premier battle in 2011/12, Smith’s outfit took a 12-month break from the action, before returning to take fourth spot in the top flight and picking up runners-up medals in the Premier Cup final at the hands of champions Dynamo Dudley.
Closure for Smith and his squad, as far as Beacon membership was concerned, came just weeks into the following season. But this week he revealed that the name of SWL may return again in the not too distant future and they are sure to be made very welcome by the Beacon set-up.
As for the other SWL teams that operated in the league, the East squad had five seasons (two spells) winning the Division One title in 2009/10. They had previously finished second in Division One (2004/05) and Division Two (2003/04). In the former term, Andy Jones took the divisional leading scorer prize with 49 goals.
SWL West also picked up silverware with a runaway Division Two title triumph in a debut 2005/06, finishing 14 points clear of their nearest challengers.
They made it a fine double with a 5-0 win over Prince of Wales in the Clinton Cup, Alex Deakin’s 47-goal return being a huge factor in their success. The West team soon reached the Premier section and took a creditable fourth spot in 2007/08, while having to settle for beaten finalists in the Premier Cup.
It was just a two-season stay for SWL South as Beacon members, their best finish being fourth in Division Two in 2004.
They are no longer part of the league, but this well run Sedgley White Lion club were a credit to themselves both on and off the pitch for many years.
