Walsall Senior Cup 3

Walsall Senior Cup Final Details

Rushall Olympic vs Sporting Khalsa

Rushall Olympic vs Sporting Khalsa
Thursday 12th April • 7:45PM KO
Walsall FC, Banks's Stadium, Bescot Crescent, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 4SA

Sporting Khalsa supporters should use Turnstile 17
Rushall Olympic supporters should use Turnstiles 19-20

Car parking is free of charge

TICKETS
Adults £10 • Concessions £5 • U16s FREE

Walsall FC have confirmed they will accept CARD ONLY on the turnstiles. No tickets are available to purchase in advance. Available turnstiles are to be confirmed.

Gates & concourse kiosks will open from 6.30, with the kiosks closing at 9.15pm.

PROGRAMME
All of this season’s match programmes will be digital only, meaning there will be no wastage of printed paper at any of our finals. Spectators will be able to view, read and download a copy of each matchday programme from StaffordshireFA.com.

This means that, wherever you are in the world, you will be able to read the latest edition of the matchday programme right from your fingertips.

VIEW THE PROGRAMME

RUSHALL OLYMPIC
Research has discovered that the original Rushall Olympic Football Club was founded at least three years earlier than had previously been thought - with editions of local newspapers found to contain match reports about the Olympic dating back to the 1893-94 season.

As research continues, the early years of Rushall Olympic will slowly be uncovered, but it is known that a thriving club certainly existed just after the First World War, up until the mid-1930's.

In 1951, a few local lads - John Edwards, Des Hyde and Graham Wiggin, decided it was high time that football made a return to the village. They approached George Hunt, the proprietor of a local fish and chip shop, for permission to use his premises as their headquarters - which was agreed to and Rowley Place was decided upon as the Pic's home ground. 

After winning the Walsall & District Amateur League Second Division Championship in 1952-53, and later the First Division Championship in 1955-56, the club eventually gained promotion into the strong Staffordshire County League (South) for the start of the 1956-57 season - and made an immediate impact by winning the Second Division title at the first attempt. Following promotion into the First Division, the club later won three back to back Championships between 1960 and 1963 - but Rushall Olympic's real glory season came in 1964-65 when the club clinched the Staffordshire County League (South) First Division Championship for the fourth time in five years and also won the Lichfield Charity Cup, the Sporting Star Cup and the Walsall Senior Cup.

 
The turning point in the clubs fortunes finally came during season 1998-99 when they finished in a very creditable 7th place, while the following season saw the Pic's take 7th place for the second consecutive season, but with a much improved points tally.

 

Dramatic developments towards the end of May 2009 saw manager Paul Holleran step down from his role due to a combination of work commitments and inevitable financial restructuring within the club as a result of the credit crunch and only days later was replaced by former Pics player Neil Kitching who returned to Dales Lane from a managerial role at Coleshill Town he had occupied since November 2008.

Summer 2016 saw a surprise managerial change as Richard Sneekes stepped down and was ultimately replaced by Pics Chairman John Allen, returning to the role he last occupied in October 2006.

Under the guidance of Allen, The Pics finished in mid-table in 2016-17 before Liam McDonald took over the reins and oversaw an eighth place berth before the club were moved into the newly-formed Southern League Premier Division Central where another eighth-place finish came at the end of the first season.

The club were handily-placed within the leading pack when both the 2019-2020 and 2020-21 campaigns were both ended prematurely due to the pandemic.

SPORTING KHALSA
The club was established in 1991. Over the years the club has always played senior football in the local Walsall & District Sunday leagues. For two seasons between 1995 and 1997 the club played Saturday football at a semi-professional level. It has enjoyed modest success throughout. 

From 1991 to 1997 it used to have a small number of youth sides and gained considerable success within the season 1995/96 by winning the Birmingham boys Under 16 league. Due to lack of resources, both financial and manpower, it reluctantly abandoned the youth policy. 

With a more solid foundation and re-organization of the executive committee in 2004, the club re-joined the West Midlands Regional League Division Two (semi-professional level seven league). In season 2004/05 the first team gained promotion into Division One of West Midlands Regional League (FA League Pyramid Structure level six). It also restarted a youth policy this season.  

2005 became a year to remember, as the club became the first Asian semi-professional football club in the country to own its own ground. The decision to purchase the Abbey Park Stadium (formerly home to Bloxwich Town) was taken by the club as it needed a permanent base from which to build upon its successes and built a centre for footballing excellence. Walsall Football Club played a friendly to mark the official opening of the new ground. A ladies team was introduced in 2006 that played in the South Staffordshire League. In 2007 the club played in the FA Vase for its first time and lost in the First Qualifying Round and also introduced a veterans over 35s side in the Central Warwickshire Over 35s League. 

After five years at Abbey Park ground, Sporting Khalsa announced in May 2010 that they would be purchasing the five acre freehold grounds of Willenhall Town FC from the Receivers. After extensive work on the pitch and social facilities with the total outlay of over half million pounds the stadium was finished on the eve of the 2010/11 season. In its first season at their new Aspray Arena home the club gained promotion to the Premier Division of the West Midlands Regional League. 

2012/13 the club played in the FA Cup for its first time in its history and progressed to the First Qualifying round. Our Sunday team won the Warley Sunday Premier League and also progressed to the 4th round of the FA National Cup. The following season the first team finished 6th in league and were runners up in J W Hunt Charity Cup at the Molineux Stadium. 

At the start of 2014/15 season we appointed our current manager Ian Rowe who promotion to Step 5 Midland Football League by winning the West Midlands Regional Premier League’s in its 125th Anniversary year, with a record points total, on top of this they were crowned winners of the Staffs FA Vase too. 

2015/16 season was our first season for the club at Step 5 saw us finish a credible third in the league. On top of this the club cemented it’s place amongst the non-league 
fraternity with a memorable FA Cup run, missing out to another non league giant FC United of Manchester for a place in the First Round Proper. The final game of the season saw us list the JW Hunt Cup in its 90th year at Molineux. The season also saw the introduction of our Ladies and Girls teams with the Ladies list team playing the National Women’s League. 

2016/17 season saw us reach the Quarter-Finals of the FA Vase losing narrowly to Coleshill Town and also finish third in the League. The next season we finished fifth in the league. 

Season 2018/19 saw the opening of the 3G stadia pitch with a total investment of £1 million which also included a new 300 seater stand and new changing rooms. Again we finished a creditable third in the league and won the J W Hunt Cup for the second time this time the final was against Highgate United and again was played at Molineux. 

Both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 never were completed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 2019/20 season we were second in the league when the season were curtained in March 2020 and also reached the FA Vase quarter final. 2020/21 season we were first in the league when the season was curtained in December 2020. Due to the re-structure of the National League at Steps 3-6 we gained promotion for the first time in our history to Pitching In Northern Premier League Midland Division (Step 4) on PPG over the two seasons, finishing top of the Midland League.