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Solihull Moors’ preparations for the upcoming 2026/27 Enterprise National League season continue to take shape, with Chris Millington’s team travelling to Lye Meadow to face Alvechurch, who currently play their football in the very competitive Pitching In Southern Football League Central, where they finished in 14th place with a total of 50 points. In their first game of pre-season, they took on Bedworth United away from home. They were able to emerge as comfortable 4 – 1 winners thanks to the goals of Nick Clayton-Phillips, Miracle Okafor and Ben Stephens, as well as a trialist. Alvechurch started out as Alvechurch Juniors all the way back in 1913, playing their football on Crown Meadow whilst also using the Red Lion Inn as headquarters for the club. Once the 1920s had arrived, they were known as the Alvechurch Swifts, though they would soon have to dissolve by 1926 due to the general strike and the depression at that time, even after lifting the Redditch Cup and Redditch Shield a couple of years previously in 1924. However, it did not take long for football to return to Alvechurch, with the Alvechurch Juniors team making their return in 1929 under the same name, though they too would have to be disbanded, this time as a result of the outbreak of World War Two in 1939. It wasn’t until several years after the war had ended that the club reformed, with a new strong committee forming in 1948, led by Chairman Major Border, with Frank Bullock serving as secretary and groundsman, whilst George Louch was the treasurer and Harold Norton was club president. Alvechurch Football Club was able to acquire its current home, Lye Meadow, in 1957, with fundraising enabling a £1,000 purchase of the land from Philip Palmer, who had now sold the field adjoining his house on Redditch Road. Back in 1955, Alvechurch had been named in the ‘top ten in the Midlands’ by the Birmingham Sports Argus. The years that followed the club’s move to Lye Meadow brought with it great success for the club. In 1960/61, they had finished as runners-up in the West Midlands Alliance League under the stewardship of then-manager Rhys Davies, and the following year saw them claim their first league title by winning the Worcestershire Football Combination League (Now Midland). They would go on to win the title four times and be runners-up on a further five occasions, whilst also being able to lift the League Challenge Cup five times and reach the final a further two times during what was a tremendous period of success for the football club. In the 1964/65 season, they made it all the way to the Quarter Finals of the FA Amateur Cup, being the first side from Worcestershire to do so, only losing 3 – 1 at home to Enfield to end their dream cup run that year. Fast forward to the 1971/72 season, Alvechurch Football Club were able to reach the First Round Proper of the FA Cup, an outstanding achievement for a non-league club. It did follow a record breaking 6 match marathon against Oxford City which made its way into the famous Guinness Book of World Records. In the first round of the FA Cup, they would lose 4 – 2 to Aldershot. 1972/73 saw the club become the first amateur side to win the Birmingham Senior Cup in its history, before retaining it the following year. The 1973/74 campaign stands out as the most successful in the club’s history to date. After they had successfully joined the West Midlands Regional League, they won the Premier Division Championship, the League Challenge Cup, the Birmingham Senior Amateur Cup, as well as the Worcestershire Senior Cup. It was an incredible season for the club, and during this campaign they were also able to make it all the way to the Third Round Proper of the FA Cup, only losing 4 – 2 to Bradford City. They did defeat Exeter City at the Grecians’ St James’ Park home in the first round proper. The 1974/75 season saw them complete the West Midlands League and Cup double, before then going on to win the hat trick of league championships whilst also lifting the Border Counties Floodlit League title in 1975/76. Upon entry into the Southern League in 1978/79, they finished as high as third place. The start of the 1980s saw them win the Midland Division and the Championship of the Southern League after getting the better of Dartford over two legs. Alan Smith also represented the non-league England team before joining Leicester City. Then, in the 1982/83 season, Alvechurch gained promotion to the Southern Premier League whilst also beating Waterlooville 7 – 2 on aggregate to win the Southern League Cup. They then got their highest finish in the Southern Premier League to date, ending up in 4th place by the time the 1985/86 season concluded. There was then a rapid decline in the years that followed. Following the demise of Phillip Palmer and Alan Wiseman, the president at the time, the club were relegated to the Midland Division of the Southern League, though one event that did help the club at the time was Andy Comyn’s sale to Aston Villa for what was a club-record fee of £30,000. Unfortunately, at the end of the 1991/92 season, they were relegated again, this time to the WMRL Premier Division, and by November 1993, the club was forced to close its doors. It did not take long for the club to make its return, doing so under the name of Alvechurch Villa a year later in 1994. By 1996, the club had reverted to being known as Alvechurch FC. Fast forward to the 2002/03 campaign, which was to be their best for at least two decades. They won both the Midland Combination Premier League and the Challenge Cup, with them last doing this all the way back in the 1971/72 season. Promotion was gained to the Midland Football Alliance. The 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons saw the club win and retain the Worcestershire Senior Urn, and then in the 2006/07 campaign, they won the Worcester Infirmary Cup for the first time, retaining it the following season in 2007/08. 2009/10 saw them finish 7th in the Midland Football Alliance, their best finish since their return just over a decade earlier. The years that followed saw the Midland Football Alliance and Midland Combinations League combine to form the Midland Football League, spending the years that followed in those divisions, before spending the most recent seasons in the Pitching In Southern Football League Central. In the opposition dugout – Kyle Storer Kyle Storer is the current Manager of Alvechurch FC, having been appointed by the Midlands club back in December 2025, having been in an interim role before that. He picked Mark Yates, the former Blackburn Rovers Goalkeeper, as his assistant manager. He managed to lead them to a 14th-place finish last term after being able to accumulate a total of 50 points from their 42 games in 2025/26. Before his current career in management, Storer had a 22 year playing career. He represented the likes of Bedworth United (2003 - 2004), Tamworth (2004 - 2007), Hinckley United (2005 loan; 2007 - 2008), Atherstone Town (2008), Nuneaton Town/Borough (2008 – 2011; 2023 - 2024), Kidderminster Harriers (2011 - 2015), Wrexham (2015), Cheltenham Town (2015 - 2018), Solihull Moors (2018 - 2023), AFC Telford United (2024 - 2025), Kettering Town (2025), and finally Alvechurch themselves (2025). Key Player – Callum Sullivan To the delight of all associated with Alvechurch Football Club, it was announced back in April 2026 that Callum Sullivan had committed to the club for a third season in succession. Last term, he was one of the standout players, which saw him win two accolades – he was named not only as the Supporters’ Player of the Season but also as the Players’ Player of the Season. The former Birmingham City player had been with the Blues’ youth academy before leaving to join Alvechurch on a free transfer back in June 2024 at the age of 19. Since then, the midfielder has become one of the club’s key players, and he will be hoping to lead his side to success over the course of the upcoming 2026/27 season.  Opposition preview written by Adam Holt