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With the teams now confirmed in the Southern Premier League Central, we’re taking a whistle stop tour of all of the clubs who we’ll be playing next season with our bite sized info packs! Next up are newly promoted Halesowen Town!

Name: Halesowen Town FC
Founded: 1873
Nickname: The Yeltz
Stadium: The Grove

Halesowen will start the 2023/24 season back in the level their rich history points that they deserve to be at, following on from promotion from the Northern Premier League Midland Division One last season.

The Yeltz will finally be able to lock horns with their great rivals Stourbridge in a league encounter again and also face an ex-manager in Paul Holleran at the Brakes after their play-off final win against Spalding last season.

They play their home games at the Grove, a familiar visit for Leamington fans over the years and with average crowds of over 1000, they will want to put up a strong challenge in their first season back in the Southern League Premier.

Have we met before?

A Dan Turner goal gave us a 1-0 win in pre-season 2022, but our last league meetings were back in 2010/11.

It was a duo of 3-0 wins for the Brakes against the Yeltz last season. Matt Lewis scored an away hat trick at The Grove before a Luke Corbett goal was added to a James Rowe brace in Warwickshire.

And, of course, Bello scored against them. See his goal against them in 09/10 below!

Distance - 31 miles
Travel Time - 46 minutes

Give them a follow…

You can find them on Twitter @HalesowenTownFC, Facebook /Halesowen Town Football Club and Instagram @halesowentownfc!

With the teams now confirmed in the Southern Premier League Central, we’re taking a whistle stop tour of all of the clubs who we’ll be playing next season with our bite sized info packs! Next up we head to Leicestershire and Coalville Town.

Name: Coalville Town FC
Founded: 1926
Nickname: The Ravens
Stadium: Victoria Ground

Last season’s second placed finishers Coalville will no doubt be up there as one of the favourites for promotion this season in their seventh consecutive campaign at Step 3.

Leicestershire based Coalville play their games at the Owen Street Sports Ground, which has a capacity of 2000.

48 year old Adam Stevens is at the helm for the Ravens, in his second stint at the club. Previously he took charge between 2007 and 2014 and returned in 2017 after a stint at Grantham Town. He also played at Coalville in the season before he retired.

Have we met before?

Yes, but not recently! The last meeting between the two sides was in 2007 in the Midland Alliance Premier Division. Brakes did the double over the Ravens that season, winning 3-0 and 4-0.

In the 3-0 away win, a Ben Mackey goal complimented a Josh Blake brace but it was all change for the 4-0 win at home with Brakes’ goals coming from James Husband, Jamie Towers and a Jon Adams brace.

Click on the photo to read the match report from the 4-0 win!

Distance - 41 miles
Travel Time - 57 minutes

Give them a follow…

You can find them on Twitter @CoalvilleTownFC, Facebook /Coalville Town Football Club and Instagram @coalvilletownfc!

The countdown to the first pre-season 2023 game for the Brakes can start now with a Coventry City XI visiting on Saturday 8 July, 15:00.

Brakes fans will get their first look at Paul Holleran's side for the 2023/24 season with a home friendly at Your Co-op Community Stadium.

Last season's friendly between the Brakes and the Sky Blues saw the record attendance at Your Co-op Community Stadium broken with 2,131 in attendance. The season before, 998 fans saw a Coventry City XI win and there was 1,552 in the crowd for a 2019 friendly. We are looking forward to welcoming back the Sky Blue Army to the home of Warwickshire football.

Ticket prices and details will be confirmed closer to the game.

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Current Pre-Season Schedule:

PA Announcer Graham Hobbins has informed the club that he will not be continuing in his role next season, and we are therefore looking for a new PA Announcer to fill the voluntary role.

We would, of course, like to thank Graham for his many years of great work for the club and are all looking forward to seeing him on the terraces next season.

As a result, we are looking for a new voluntary PA Announcer for the 2023/24 season. Listed below are a number of tasks that is necessary of a PA Announcer at Your Co-op Community Stadium on matchday:

Creating a suitable music playlist to be played at the ground before the game, at half time and full time
Read out match information/sponsorship information (a script is provided)
Communicate safety and crowd announcements and liaise with stewards as required via personal radios
Control the scoreboard during games
Be stationed in the PA Box during the game and make in-game announcements

Previous experience in public speaking and use of audio technology in a public setting is beneficial but not essential. Training will be provided where necessary.

Anyone interested in the role should contact Head of Media Max Passantino on max.passantino@leamingtonfc.co.uk

Get in contact with us now to become part of the highly respected Brakes Media Team.

Leamington will host SkyBet League Two side Walsall on Tuesday 11 July, 19:45 kick off.

This will be the fifth season in a row that Walsall have made the trip to Your Co-op Community Stadium, with games over the last few years attracting healthy attendances for pre-season as well as action-packed games.

It has been confirmed that brand new Head Coach at the Poundland Bescot Stadium Mat Sadler will be bringing his first team to Warwickshire in a stand-out fixture as both sides gear up for the new season in SkyBet League Two and the Pitching In Southern Premier League Central respectively.

Ticket information will be confirmed closer to the fixture.

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Current Pre-Season Schedule:

The club has reviewed admission and season ticket prices ahead of the forthcoming 2023-2024 Season that will see us plying our trade in the Southern League Premier Division Central.

There is definitely going to be a fair bit of intrigue with ten games to be played within a 50 mile radius against midlands based teams!

In our decision making we had to factor in that costs have risen considerably in the past twelve months allied to the loss of £32,000 league sponsorship monies following relegation from the National League. To that end we have made the difficult decision to maintain admission prices as per last season.

We have done likewise with Season Ticket prices with the exception of reducing Under 18 prices from £69 to £42 (Early Bird) and £74 to £47 Normal to encourage and build upon the attendance of young fans who helped create a lively atmosphere at Your Co-op Community Stadium last season.

Early Bird Season Tickets are as following:

Adults £227
Concessions £153
Students £121
Under 18 £42
Under 12 FREE

These early bird tickets have a deadline for applications of 30 June 2023. Applications forms are available online by clicking on the link at the bottom of the article, or in person from the club office. They can also be purchased on our ticket site here.

Season Tickets purchased after 30th June are priced as following:

Adults £239
Concessions £161
Students £129
Under 18 £47
Under 12 FREE

Admission Prices for Season 2023-24 are:

Adults £14
Concessions £10
Students £7
U18 £4
U12 FREE

We have made the decision to reward all who purchase a season ticket for their commitment to the club by giving free entry to all four home pre-season friendlies on production of their season tickets, details of which will be announced shortly.

Registered players (Under 16) of Leamington Lions Girls FC, Leamington Brakes FC and Leamington FC Development Teams will, when accompanied by an adult and on production of their membership card, be given FREE entry. This applies to League games only (not cup ties or play-off matches).

Chairman Jim Scott commented, 'We have done everything that we can to keep the price of watching football at our Your Co-op Community Stadium affordable. We are hopeful of your understanding on this matter recognising that supporters are the lifeblood of our club’

To download the application form, click here.

With the teams now confirmed in the Southern Premier League Central, we’re taking a whistle stop tour of all of the clubs who we’ll be playing next season with our bite sized info packs! Next up is newly promoted Berkhamsted…

Name: Berkhamsted FC
Founded: 2009
Nickname: The Comrades
Stadium: Broadwater

The second newly promoted side we will cover in this mini series, champions of the Southern League Division One Central Berkhamsted represent the historic Hertfordshire market town of the same name. Founded in 2009 following the demise of Berkhamsted Town, the Comrades have been on a rise ever since.

Having started in the Spartan South Midlands League Division Two, the 2023/24 season will be Berko’s first in Step 3 - a level that the previous club failed to achieve in 90 years of existence.

33 year old manager Chris Devane, formerly of Biggleswade United and Crawley Green, resigned from the hot seat at Broadwater this weekend and has been replaced by Steve Heath, who previously spent ten seasons at AFC Dunstable. The Comrades also register a former Leamington player in their ranks in Ross Oulton who played 43 times for the Brakes in our 2015/16 Southern Premier League campaign.

Have we met before?

No! This will be the first meeting between the two clubs!

However… looking between the lines - Brakes have played Berkhamsted Town before in the 2007/08 season. Josh Blake scored a brace to ensure a home 2-0 win before goals from Jamie Towers and Oluwaseyi Morgan added onto a Martin Thompson hat trick handed Brakes a comfortable 5-0 win at Broadwater, and you can watch the entire highlights courtesy of BrakesVideos below!

Distance - 66 miles

Travel Time - 1 hour 22 minutes

Give them a follow…

You can find them on Twitter @BerkoFC, join their Facebook Group called Berkhamsted Football Club and Instagram @berkhamsted_fc!

With the teams now confirmed in the Southern Premier League Central, we’re taking a whistle stop tour of all of the clubs who we’ll be playing next season with our bite sized info packs! The third team that starts with B is a short hop over to Bromsgrove!

Name: Bromsgrove Sporting FC
Founded: 2009
Nickname: The Rouslers
Stadium: Victoria Ground

A side who took the reigns of the Worcestershire town’s premier club after the demise of Bromsgrove Rovers FC, Bromsgrove Sporting didn’t actually play a game until the 2010/11 season, after Rovers went into administration.

Having got three successive promotions in seasons 2016/17, 17/18 and 18/19, the Rouslers played their first Step 3 match in 2019/20 and finished fourth after 32 games when the season was eventually made null and void due to Covid-19.

Last season saw them finish 18th, the same position as the season before, just surviving the drop on both occasions. They play at the 3,500 capacity Victoria Ground, which they were offered the lease of in 2010.

The Rouslers are managed by former Hereford and Kettering player Michael McGrath, known by Brakes fans for his antics in an FA Trophy tie in 2021, in which Kettering ended the game with 8 men, that saw him sent off and respectively inherit a healthy ban.

Have we met before?

Not in a competitive game before, however we have played a few friendlies against the Rouslers before.

Brakes won 4-0 at the Victoria Ground in 2017, before a 2-1 win at Your Co-op Community Stadium the season after. The last game between the two sides was a 0-0 friendly meeting in 2020.