Bromsgrove Forge FC

Sandwell Social FC 1–0 Bromsgrove Forge FC

Forge fall narrowly short in first away test of the season
Bromsgrove Forge FC headed on the road for the first time this season, travelling to face Sandwell Social FC in what was always going to be one of the tougher tests of our opening fixtures.

Sandwell came into the campaign having won the Major Cup last season and are expected to be right amongst the sides challenging at the top of the Premier Division.
Forge, meanwhile, arrived looking to build on the point picked up against Kidderminster in our opening league game.

There was also a change in the dugout.

With Si Jones nowhere to be seen after producing what we're assured were several completely legitimate reasons for his absence, Nick Thompson took the reins for the first time.

Thankfully, Nick arrived with experience.
We know this because he told us.

Repeatedly.

The pre-match team talk largely consisted of Nick reminding everyone that he'd previously managed an underachieving side in the Redditch & Warwickshire Combination and somehow guided them to a Major Cup.

Winning a cup requires big decisions.

Nick knows that.

Because he's won a cup.

A Major Cup, actually.
The slight concern was that Sam Graham and Dan Brooks (me) were both dropped from Nick's previous cup-winning side.

Both were starting today.
Not exactly the omen we were looking for.
Sanders Slots Straight Back In
Forge lined up similarly to the opening game, although last week's Man of the Match, Alor Kuol, was unavailable.

That opened the door for Dave Sanders to return to the defence, and he looked like one of the missing pieces Forge have needed at the back.

Sanders was excellent throughout, bringing some much-needed composure to a back line featuring Joe Graham at left-back, Sam Graham centrally and the Caveman at right-back, with Anthony Swain behind them in goal.

In midfield, Tom Field and Tom Johnson-Hosker looked to get Forge playing, while Matty Hill sat slightly deeper and provided some much-needed stability in front of the defence.

The forward line consisted of Dan Brookes (me) from the left, Adam Kendall and Damien Perry.
And somebody needs to investigate what Damien has been doing since last Sunday.

Last week, Perry appeared to be running with an invisible parachute attached to his back.
This week, somebody had clearly cut the bastard off.

Whether he's spent the week marathon training, completing Tough Mudders or being chased through the streets of Bromsgrove, Damien was everywhere.

He ran his socks off and even ended up putting a shift in at right-back at one stage, providing additional protection for the Caveman.
A brilliant effort from start to finish.
Unfortunately, Adam Kendall was experiencing slightly different difficulties.

Last week's history-maker seemingly forgot how the offside rule worked.

We've seen Keir Starmer keep more people onside than Adam Kendall managed today.

Every promising Forge attack seemed to end with a flag, with Kendall struggling to time his runs against the Sandwell back line.
This presented another problem.
Dan Brookes (me) was repeatedly trying to deliver balls into the area from the left, but Kendall had become so conscious of being caught offside that he'd practically retreated into his own half.

Cross after cross therefore arrived into a penalty area containing absolutely nobody.

Communication Breakdown
The game remained competitive, but there was certainly no shortage of noise.

Anthony Swain and Sam Graham were doing enough shouting between them to provide commentary for the entire match.
Eventually, Joe Graham went down injured.

Again.

Two games.

Two injuries.

This particular incident looked less like a football injury and more like Joe had been attacked by Sheeva from Mortal Kombat and subjected to a fatality.

Given what happened to his brother last week, the Graham family may want to consider taking out a group subscription with the local ambulance service.

Hopefully, if required, they could get to Joe slightly quicker than they did to Sam.

Despite the chaos, Forge were competing.

Johnson-Hosker and Field produced some really nice one-touch and two-touch football through midfield, although Johnson-Hosker faced an impossible tactical dilemma.

Every time he received the ball, somebody shouted:
"SHOOT!"
When he shot:
"WHY HAVE YOU SHOT?!"
When he passed:
"YOU'VE HELD ONTO IT TOO LONG!"
A wonderfully clear set of instructions.

Then Sandwell Strike

The decisive moment arrived shortly after the drinks break.

Sandwell delivered a corner into the Forge penalty area and, for one of the few times in the half, communication disappeared completely.

Their number eight was left free at the back post.
He didn't waste the opportunity.
A clever, controlled finish was tucked into the bottom corner, leaving Swain completely flabbergasted as Sandwell took the lead.

*Sandwell Social 1–0 Forge*

It was frustrating because once again Forge hadn't necessarily been carved open.
It was an avoidable mistake.
Nevertheless, against a side of Sandwell's quality, those moments get punished.

Forge continued to battle until the interval, but couldn't find the response needed before the referee brought the opening half to an end.

HT: Sandwell Social FC 1–0
Bromsgrove Forge FC

Second Half
Forge came back out looking to find a way into the game and actually began seeing plenty of the ball.
The problem was what happened next.

We could get the ball.

We could move the ball.

We just couldn't really work out how to get the bastard towards the goal.
Then came a huge managerial decision.

Johnson-Hosker was withdrawn.
Even Anthony Swain couldn't believe it.
From his goal came an immediate:
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"
Followed shortly afterwards by:
"I HATE YOU, JOHNSON-HOSKER."
Then again.
And again.
And possibly once more for good measure.
The reason for the change soon became clear.

Nick Thompson wanted to unleash Paul Robinson for his first appearance of the season.
Turkey teeth and all.

Elsewhere, Hot Fuzz and Ben Eales were afforded cameo appearances as Thompson's management style became increasingly tyrannical.
At one stage, the whole operation was beginning to have shades of Kony 2012 about it.

Nick had won a cup, though.
Did we mention that?

Brookes Chooses Generosity
Then came the chance.
A superb ball was played over the Sandwell defence.
Dan Brooks (me) raced onto it.
Suddenly, I was through.
One-on-one.
This was it.
The equaliser.
There was only one sensible option.
Shoot.

Dan Brooks (me) did not shoot.
Instead, for reasons investigators will be attempting to establish for several years, I decided to square the ball across towards Waleed Obad.

The chance disappeared.

Awful.
Shocking.
Even Dan Brooks (me) was left wondering:
Why didn't I just fu***ng shoot?
In a game eventually decided by a single goal, it was the opportunity Forge would look back on more than any other.

Graham Takes Matters Into His Own Hands
Eventually, Sam Graham had seen enough.
Apparently sick of proceedings at the back, he decided the solution was simple:
Sam Graham was now a striker.
Johnson-Hosker had also returned to the pitch, and suddenly Forge had an unlikely attacking partnership attempting to rescue something from the game.

Then, incredibly, Sam Graham almost found himself breaking through on goal.

Almost.

Unfortunately, someone had left the handbrake on.
The brain knew exactly where it wanted to go.
The legs had other ideas.
For a brief moment the unlikely hero story was on, but Sam couldn't quite make the magic happen and Sandwell survived.

Tom Field then came agonisingly close, producing one of Forge's best efforts of the second half with a brilliant strike that flew narrowly over the crossbar.

Meanwhile, Lew Arki continued exactly where he'd left off last week — being every bit as effective as he had been seven days earlier.
We'll leave that statement open to interpretation.

A Defeat — But a Performance to Build On
As the minutes ticked away, Forge continued to battle.

Every player put the effort in and fought for every ball, but that final piece of quality just wouldn't arrive.
Eventually, the whistle went.

*FT: Sandwell Social FC 1–0 Bromsgrove Forge FC*

Nobody likes losing.
And there will undoubtedly be frustration because Forge had opportunities to take something from the game.
The goal conceded was avoidable. Dan Brookes (me) had the opportunity to equalise. Field wasn't far away. Sam Graham nearly completed the most unlikely striker transformation of the season.

On another day, one of those moments goes our way.
But there was also plenty to take from the performance.

This was our first away game as Bromsgrove Forge FC, against last season's Major Cup winners and a team expected to challenge for the league title.

And Forge competed with them.
Every player battled for the ball. Damien Perry ran himself into the ground. Dave Sanders produced an excellent performance on his return. Matty Hill gave the midfield stability, while Field and Johnson-Hosker showed glimpses of some really good football in possession.

The final product wasn't there.
But the effort absolutely was.
Two games into our existence, we've now taken a point from Kidderminster and gone toe-to-toe away from home with one of the division's strongest sides.

There is work to do.
Adam Kendall needs to rediscover the offside rule.

Dan Brooks (me) needs to discover the shoot button.

Joe Graham needs private medical insurance.

Sam Graham apparently needs converting into a number nine.

Johnson-Hosker needs to work out whether he's supposed to shoot, pass, come off, go back on or simply accept that Anthony Swain hates him.

Lew Arki needs to continue being… Lew Arki.
And Nick Thompson?
Well...
Nick Thompson has won a cup.
Just in case anybody hadn't heard.
Sandwell Social FC 1–0 Bromsgrove Forge FC.
A first defeat.
But plenty of fight.
Onto the next one. ⚒️

*Bromsgrove Forge FC 2–2 Kidderminster FC*

Forge begin life in the Premier Division with a point
Bromsgrove Forge FC officially began life as a football club on Sunday, picking up our first ever league point with a 2–2 draw against Kidderminster FC.
After being thrown straight into the Premier Division as a brand-new side, we knew there would be no gentle introduction. Eighteen Forge players arrived ready for the occasion, although nobody had accounted for playing football approximately three miles from the surface of the sun.

It was an absolute scorcher.

Our beautiful new home pitch at Bromsgrove South didn't exactly help matters either. Forget a state-of-the-art 4G surface — somebody appeared to have replaced the rubber crumb with roughly 15,000 burning hot coals. At various stages, heatstroke through the feet felt like a genuine possibility.
Still, history had to be made.
And within the opening ten minutes, it was.

*Kendall makes Forge history*

Forge actually started the game brilliantly, moving the ball quickly through midfield before Dan Brooks received possession down the left.
Brooks played inside towards Danny Roberts, whose clever flick over the top released Adam Kendall in behind the Kidderminster defence.
Kendall latched onto it and produced a superb finish, delicately flicking the ball beyond the goalkeeper to score Bromsgrove Forge FC's first ever competitive league goal.
1–0 Forge.
Nobody seemed more surprised by the quality of the finish than Kendall himself.

Nevertheless, the statistics don't lie. One league game into the season and Adam Kendall is officially Bromsgrove Forge's all-time leading Premier Division goalscorer. A reputation he is apparently determined to protect.

Normally, Paul Robinson would be somewhere nearby trying to supply Kendall with another opportunity, but Adam probably wouldn't have known where to look anyway after Robinson arrived sporting a brand-new set of turkey teeth capable of temporarily blinding anyone within a 20-yard radius.

Elsewhere, Danny White had made the unusual tactical decision to play a Premier Division football match wearing what appeared to be ballet slippers.
The lack of grip quickly became apparent.
By the end of the afternoon, Danny had somehow completed approximately 13 slide tackles on himself, regularly setting off in one direction before his feet disappeared from underneath him and he tackled absolutely nobody.

After such a positive start, though, Forge began to fade.
Kidderminster gradually found their way into the game and the heat started taking its toll. Both sides obviously had to deal with the conditions, but Forge increasingly looked like a team desperately waiting for somebody to wheel an ice bath onto the pitch.
We reached the first drinks break 1–0 ahead and knew there was another gear available.

Unfortunately, when play restarted, that gear appeared to be reverse.
The Graham brothers combine
A mix-up between Sam Graham and Joe Graham inside the penalty area eventually resulted in Joe deciding the best course of action was to rugby tackle the ball like Boris Johnson attempting to win possession at a charity football match.

It was, unfortunately, one of the more obvious penalties you'll ever see.

No complaints.
The Kidderminster taker stepped forward and calmly dispatched it, sending Anthony Swain completely the wrong way and leaving the Forge goalkeeper looking rather silly.
1–1.
There were still opportunities for Forge before the interval, although we never really found the rhythm of our opening ten minutes.
Dan Brooks, for reasons known only to Dan Brooks, repeatedly attempted to control footballs with his back heel. It didn't particularly work, but you've got to admire the commitment to the idea.
At half-time, the score remained 1–1.
Forge start dropping like flies
Changes followed after the break, including Damien Perry moving into the forward line.
Unfortunately, Perry appeared to have entered the second half wearing an invisible parachute. On several occasions the ball was played into space ahead of him and, rather than accelerating towards goal, Damien somehow seemed to get progressively slower with every stride.

*Then the bodies started dropping*

Joe Graham went down.
Sam Graham went down.
Danny White probably went down, although in fairness that was less injury-related and more a direct consequence of his choice of footwear.
At one stage, the noises coming from Sam were so concerning that several people were probably wondering whether an air ambulance needed to land on the pitch.
Remarkably, moments later he was back on his feet and screaming relentlessly at Forge captain Johnson-Hosker to give him the ball.
The slight issue was that Johnson-Hosker was approximately 18 yards from the Kidderminster goal.
Sam Graham was approximately 18 yards from his own.
Still, you've got to show for it.
Despite the exhaustion, Forge regained the lead.

And it started with today's Man of the Match, Alor Kuol.
Kuol was outstanding at centre-half throughout the game — dominant in the air, composed defensively and a huge presence at the back.
This time, however, he turned provider.

Kuol collected possession on the back line and launched an excellent ball over the Kidderminster defence. Substitute Waleed Obad, who had only recently entered the game, chased it down and managed to get the decisive touch as the ball bounced off him and found its way into the net.

Was it deliberate?
Absolutely.

At least that's what the official Bromsgrove Forge historical records will say.

2–1 Forge.
Three points within touching distance
With Forge back ahead, suddenly the first three points in club history were within touching distance.
Then came another drinks break.
For whatever reason, the drinks breaks seemed to possess supernatural powers capable of completely resetting our football team.

Danny Roberts was also beginning to enter full Danny Roberts mode, narrowly avoiding a booking after sharing some rather colourful opinions with the referee.
But that's Danny.
Sometimes you've got to fire the engine up.

Matty Hill was introduced and immediately brought some composure to the midfield, looking calm and assured in possession. This, after all, is the man whose influence has helped transform Bromsgrove Forge into the Premier Division challengers we apparently now are.

For a while, it looked as though we might see the game out.
Then came the moment we'd been desperately trying to avoid.
A ball was delivered into the Forge penalty area and confusion followed between right-back Hot Fuzz and Swain in goal.
Hot Fuzz couldn't decide whether to head it back.
Swain couldn't decide whether to come.
The ball wasn't dealt with, the attempted clearance was miskicked, and suddenly a Kidderminster striker had been presented with the sort of opportunity you don't turn down.
He didn't.
2–2.
It was a frustrating goal to concede, particularly after battling through the heat and twice putting ourselves ahead.
Forge tried to find another winner, but there was to be no fairytale finish.
Meanwhile, Si Jones was providing his own running commentary from the touchline and eventually announced that he was due at work later and was so unhappy with the result that everybody there would be feeling his wrath.
For legal reasons, Bromsgrove Forge FC sincerely hopes Si Jones does not work in a care home.
A point gained — and plenty to build on
The final whistle brought a mixture of disappointment and pride.

Having led twice, there's naturally frustration that we didn't walk away with all three points. Both goals conceded were avoidable and there were periods where we looked sluggish and allowed Kidderminster to dictate the game.
But context matters.
This was the first competitive league game in Bromsgrove Forge FC history.
We're a brand-new side that has been placed directly into the Premier Division, playing our first fixture together in ridiculous temperatures on a pitch apparently surfaced using volcanic rock.
And we came away with a point.
There were plenty of positives. We showed that we can play some very good football, particularly with the move that created Kendall's opener. We responded after conceding. We created chances. Alor Kuol was outstanding defensively. The substitutes contributed. And even when everyone was exhausted, we kept competing until the final whistle.
There's plenty to improve upon.
There's also plenty to be excited about.
The first league game is done.
The first goals have been scored.
The first point is on the board.
And despite the hot coals, Paul Robinson's turkey teeth, Damien Perry's invisible parachute, Danny White performing Swan Lake down the right-hand side, the Graham brothers requiring medical attention every 15 minutes and Si Jones potentially terrorising his workplace later tonight…

Bromsgrove Forge FC are officially up and running.

⚒️ Man of the Match: Alor Kuol
A dominant performance at centre-half. Excellent in the air throughout, strong defensively and capped it off by creating Forge's second goal with a brilliant ball over the top.

⚽ Goals
Adam Kendall — Bromsgrove Forge FC's first ever competitive league goalscorer.
Waleed Obad — Immediate impact from the bench to put Forge 2–1 ahead.

Full Time: Bromsgrove Forge FC 2–2 Kidderminster FC

We’ve been a little quiet on social media recently… but for good reason.

Behind the scenes we’ve been working hard to get everything ready for the new season.

🤎 New kit

A huge thank you to Caesar Sports for producing our brand-new kits. We think they look the part and can’t wait to wear them this season.

We’re proud to officially begin our first season as Bromsgrove Forge FC, competing in the MFFL West Premier Division.

📅 Sunday 9th August
🆚 Kidderminster
🕑 2:15pm Kick-Off
📍 South Bromsgrove High School

A new chapter starts now. We can’t wait to get back out there and represent the badge.

If you’re free, come down and get behind the lads as we kick off our first league campaign as Bromsgrove Forge FC.

Forged, Not Given. ⚒️

This Sunday the A Team take on Bromsgrove Forge FC in a friendly!