Sutton Coldfield Town

Sutton Coldfield Town FC

Ground: Coles Lane

Capacity: 2,000

Club Founded: 1879

League: Northern Premier League Division One Midlands - Step 4/8th Tier (current level)

Sutton Coldfield Town FC are one of many non-league clubs who have utilised their traditional home and increased their income stream by installing an artificial pitch while galvanising local support.

Club History

The Early Years of Sutton Coldfield Town

The club, eight miles north of the centre of Birmingham, was formed in 1879, and began its life playing at Sutton Park. The team competed in several local leagues before moving into their Coles Lane home in 1920.

The Royals, as the club is nicknamed, competed in the Birmingham Alliance and Birmingham Combination as Sutton Town, which they joined for the 1950-51 campaign. A place in the Birmingham & District League Southern Division was successfully applied for. The competition became the West Midlands (Regional) League from the start of the 1962-63 season.

60s to the 80s

The club changed its name to incorporate ‘Coldfield’ in its title in 1964. A year later, Sutton moved to the Worcestershire Combination, later the Midland Combination, where the team finished runners-up twice before being crowned champions on a couple of occasions at the end of the 1970s.

This resulted in a move to the higher West Midlands (Regional) League, where the Royals won the title in their debut season. A fine FA Cup run in 1980-81 saw Town reach the First Round, where Doncaster Rovers ended the fun with a 2-0 win at Coles Lane.

The Northern Premier League Era Begins

Promotion to the Southern League Midland Division was won a couple of seasons later, with the following season ending in promotion to the Premier Division of the competition. The step up proved too severe, ending in relegation. 

Manager Chris Keough took Sutton Coldfield to the playoffs in 2003-04 as non-league football was restructured. Banbury Town ended any hope of promotion. The club was transferred to the Northern Premier League (NPL) Division One South for the 2010-11 campaign. The long-serving Keough was replaced by Neil Tooth a year later.

Recent Years

Tooth took the Royals to promotion in 2014-15 via the playoffs, with Leek Town defeated in the final. Former West Bromwich Albion star Richard Sneekes had a spell in charge of the team between 2016 and 2018. His spell saw Sutton relegated to  Division One Central of the Southern League, with Tooth returning to the helm.

The side reached the playoffs before returning to the NPL, where they settled in Division One Midlands following the pandemic disruption. The side stabilised despite managers' comings and goings. Jeremiah Richards was appointed team boss in October 2025.

My visit

Romulus 4 Scarborough Athletic 2

Northern Premier League Division One South - Saturday 7th September 2013

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 171 🎟️ £7

An account of my full day out and the match can be found on the Romulus page. Meanwhile, here were my impressions of Coles Lane.

The nice fifteen-minute leisurely walk from the station took me down to Coles Lane, where the gap between the houses took me to the ground entrance. A small shop selling drinks and groceries was by the entrance.

Cars were parked next to the clubhouse, which had a refreshments serving hatch. Several buildings housed other activities such as the local Table Tennis and Sub Aqua Clubs. The left-hand touchline had a cover and then a section of open standing. The far end had a cover over the hard standing directly behind the goal.

The final side was dominated by a superb old Main Stand, with a raised seating deck and flat hard standing in front of the changing rooms below the seats. The centre section had blue tip-up seats for dignitaries, with the wings consisting of well-worn benches. It provided an excellent view once I’d negotiated the rickety old stairs.

A small section of terracing was further down the touchline. It typified a slightly ageing and ramshackle look, but I would rather have that than an identikit newly built ground any day. 

The lifeblood of the ground was the artificial 3G pitch, with an additional block of changing rooms, which allowed the playing area to be hired whenever senior football was not being played. Coles Lane had adapted to embrace new facilities in a traditional arena. If only more clubs could consider doing the same in the future.