Tamworth Hockey Club and Tamworth Cricket Club has announced that their club chairman has sadly passed away, giving tribute to him in a joint statement.
Pat Holloway had been in his role for over 30 years and his contribution to the outfits was described as “outstanding.”
The statement said: “It is with great sadness that the club announces the death of the Club Chairman Pat Holloway.
“Pat had been deeply involved with the club both on and off the field for many decades and his level of service and commitment to the club was outstanding.
“He has been Chairman for over thirty years and throughout his tenure, the club has grown and developed to the place it is today.
“We will remember Pat fondly and our thoughts are with his wife Glenys, son Jeremy, daughter Claire and family at this very sad time.”
One social media user gave tribute to Pat, commenting: “Always balanced the needs of the overall club, kept a tight rein on finances and worked tirelessly behind the scenes.
“Pat will be sorely missed, thoughts are with his family.”
Another said: “A good friend for over 43 years – you will be missed very much – RIP.”
Sport in Staffs sends its thoughts and condolences to Pat’s family and friends.
The manager of Rocester has condemned the “ridiculous” fixture schedule his club has been given by the Midland Football League after postponed games were re-arranged to be played within a short time frame of one another.
Paul Wright told Sport in Staffs that he is aggrieved that his side has been asked to play “five games in nine days” in April despite having two free Saturdays in March.
The Romans’ postponed league clash with Uttoxeter Town was re-arranged to be played on Thursday, April 9 meaning the MFL Division 1 outfit will be five games from April 4 and April 13.
Rocester’s official twitter account wrote:
“Our game away to @UttoxeterTownFC has had to be rescheduled for Thursday 9th April.
“This means at the start of April we will be playing Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday! And we have two free weekends in March! #crazy.”
Wright commented: “We have 11 games left this season to play. We have eight Saturdays left however the league are asking us to play nearly half of them games, five, in nine days at the start of April.
“We will play Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and then Easter Monday. It’s ridiculous in itself, however when you factor in that we have two free Saturdays in March it makes it even more crazy.
Rocester’s home ground was flooded due to Storm Dennis last month, meaning games had to be rescheduled
“There is very little thought process gone into the decision. Ashby (Ivanhoe) have 17 league games to play and they will be playing four games a week – nearly half a season.
“The integrity of the league is put into question as players will be unavailable due to work commitments.”
Ashby Ivanhoe have the most games left to play in MFL Division 1, although the team who has played the least across the whole of the Midland Football League is Coventry Plumbing.
They have played just ten out of their 30 scheduled MFL Division 3 games since August.
The Midland Football League told Sport in Staffs that the season “must be concluded” by April 25.
A spokesperson for the MFL said: “It has been an exceptional winter for all concerned with unprecedented levels of rainfall and flooding.
“The Midland Football League, along with leagues across the country, has suffered a high volume of postponements.
“The League issue fixtures prior to the start of the season. Clubs are required under competition rules to arrange any postponed fixtures themselves within the timescales set, the League will only be involved in rearranging fixtures if the two clubs concerned cannot agree a mutually agreeable date.
“Any decision that the competition does make has to take all clubs needs into account, bearing in mind that the Football Association have currently decreed that the season must be concluded by 25th April.
“Unfortunately, this means that some clubs will have to play three games a week to complete the season.”
There was lots of Staffordshire footballing action on show on Tuesday night with frantic cup ties and close-run league games.
In the Staffordshire FA Senior Cup semi-final, a 16th minute Jack Sherratt goal was enough to see Stafford Rangers into their third consecutive final, beating Newcastle Town 1-0 away from home.
Rangers have won the last two editions of the final and will now look to win the trophy for the 13th time in the clubs history.
They will face either Rushall Olympic or the winner of Kidsgrove Athletic versus Stoke City in the final.
Stafford Rangers have won the Staffordshire FA Senior Cup for the last two years running
Meanwhile, Chasetown took the lead twice in their Northern Premier League South East Division game against Carlton Town but ended up drawing 2-2 to increase their lead from the drop zone to nine points.
Leek Town‘s fixture versus Cleethorpes Town and Abbey Hulton United‘s Staffordshire derby against promotion-pushing Stone Old Alleynians in the North West Counties Football league South Division were both postponed.
Tamworth found out that they will play Rushall Olympic in the Birmingham FA Senior Cup semi-final after the latter triumphed over Romulus in at the quarter-final stage on Tuesday evening.
Looking ahead to tonight, Kidsgrove Athletic take on Hyde United for a place inthe semi-finals of the Integro League Cup.
With the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Premier League transfer window slamming shut on Saturday, we cherry-pick some of the notable signings clubs in the Premier Division have brought in.
Champions Porthill Park nabbed the signature of right-arm fast bowler Ryan Cartwright (pictured above) as their overseas player for the 2020 season after a deal with fellow South African for Marcello Piedt fell through.
Meanwhile Cheadle brought in Oliver Slinn from Moddershall and Oulton before announcing they has submitted a third team for the upcoming NSSCPL season.
Moddershall and Oulton pulled in two seasoned players in Dan Richardson and Matthew Morris.
Richardson is a former Staffordshire County Cricket Club all-rounder with 20-year-old Morris joining from the Bolton league having scored over 1,000 runs in all competitions in 514 career games.
Checkley will hope new overseas player Umar Amin can help guide them to glory as he joins in time for the new season.
Umar Amin is set to light up the league in 2020
The 30-year-old, who replaces Rizwab Haider, was part of Pakistan’s senior team’s 2013 Champions Trophy squad.
Jacob Ward also comes in to bolster a strong squad.
Longton have captured a collection of fantastic signings, including 21-year-old Tom Pope and Shaun Rashid.
The latter took 24 wickets for previous club Audley last campaign with right-arm seamer Hope notching 38 wickets under his belt in 2019.
Finally, new boys Burslem have had a busy window.
Ashley Shaw, formerly of Kent, hit over 1,300 runs and took 117 wickets in three years at Audley while Kyle Brassington returns to the set-up.
Saad Qureshi has been appointed as the new club captain with fans buzzing about the signing of 23-year-old wicketkeeper Sumit Kumar, who played at the highest level in native India, even hitting a century.
The new season commences on Saturday, April 18 with all eight divisions packed with cricketing quality.
Follow Sport in Staffs to keep up to date with all the coverage of the 2020 campaign.
While most games were called off due to waterlogged and snow-covered pitches, there was still lost of excitement in the local non-league football scene this afternoon.
Stafford Rangers suffered their 18th defeat of the season Northern Premier League Premier Division, going down 5-1 to Buxton as they sit rock bottom of the division.
Kidsgrove Athletic missed the chance to move closer to the South East Division play-offs after suffering a 1-0 defeat against Sutton Coldfield Town who leapfrog them into 7th.
Chasetown managed to grab a vital 1-0 win away at fourth-placed Belper Town to open up a five point gap from the drop zone.
Meanwhile, Newcastle Town concede late to lose 2-1 at home to Ilkeston Town.
All other fixtures involving Staffordshire sides today were postponed due to the weather with Rocester playing out a 2-1 victory over Eccleshall in a friendly game.
Leek Town Football Club could swap their current grass pitch for an artificial 3G surface, according to new plans.
The Northern Premier League South East Division leaders have submitted a planning application to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) for permission to construct an artificial grass pitch (AGP) including a new drainage system, terracing re-alignment and eight-metre high ballstop netting.
The current natural grass surface at Harrison Park is “unusable for one to two months a year” due to the impact adverse weather has on it.
This, the club says, causes a number of issues including inconsistent fixture dates which thus has an impact on player fitness.
This AGP pitch is designed to “look, play and feel like a natural grass surface” and will monitored by the current CCTV system in place.
In a design and access statement, it said: “It is important to understand that the community usage of the facility is vital to ensure the sustainability of the facility over its life span.
An example of what the pitch would look like
“This extended use is possible because the proposed Artificial Grass Pitch (AGP) is more resilient during winter weather conditions and with the existing floodlighting system, will enable the facility to be used to its full potential.
“The development will enable the site to become a key focal point for the local community and support Leek Town’s desire to provide a state of the art playing and training facilities for the local grassroots teams
“The proposal would give rise to a considerable benefit to the wider community through the provision of an enhanced playing facility and the opportunity for usage throughout the year.”
Lichfield City FC manager Jamie Hawkins has left the club, the Midland Football League outfit have announced.
He leaves “with immediate effect” to join the coaching staff at Chasetown, where he will work under Mark Swann who was appointed as Stags manager yesterday.
After joining in January 2018, Hawkins guided the club to 4th in Midlands Football League Division 1 last year – the outfit’s best ever finish.
Lichfield City chairman Darren Leaver released a statement, saying:
“It is with regret that Lichfield City FC announces that First Team Manger Jamie Hawkins has stepped down with immediate effect.
Lichfield are currently 4th in MFL Division 1
“Jamie has decided to leave the club in order to join the coaching staff at Chasetown Football Club, under new manager Mark Swann.
“Everyone at Lichfield City would like to thank Jamie for the great work he has done over the last two years.
“His achievements have included securing the club’s best-ever finish of fourth place at Step 6 and this season’s record-breaking runs in the FA Cup and FA Vase.
“On behalf of myself, Liam and everyone associated with Lichfield City, we wish Jamie all the best for the future.”
Lichfield are currently 4th in MFL Division 1, having beaten Rocester 2-1 on Saturday.
Northern Premier League South East outfit Newcastle Town have welcomed their former captain back to the Lyme Valley Stadium.
Matt Lowe, also known as ‘chipper’, left the club in August due to work commitments but has returned to Robin Van der Laan’s set-up with the club rock bottom of the table.
The Newcastle manager said: “It was a great loss when we lost Chipper last August due to his heavy work schedule.
“He is a great character to have at the club and he will bring experience, leadership and quality to our young squad.
“Welcome back Chipper.”
Town fans could see the return of their much-loved player on Saturday when they host Loughborough Dynamo in the South East Division.
WE HAVE MOVED! 