Solihull Moors F.C.

On 10 July 2007, the club was formally announced as being merged and details of the new club logo and kits for the forthcoming season were released.[2] In one of their first games Solihull Moors beat Birmingham City reserves. This fixture happened annually as part of an agreement which allowed Birmingham to play their reserve games at Solihull's ground. With the overhaul of reserve football in England, Birmingham City's development squads now play their fixtures at their club's training facilities rather than at Solihull Moors. The Birmingham City Women's team of the FA Women's Championship have played at the ground since 2014.

In November 2007, the club announced a partnership with National Division One rugby union club Pertemps Bees.[3] The deal was intended to see the two clubs share the Damson Park facilities as well as the formation of community and coaching projects for Solihull. This was finally made official in 2010.[4] The groundsharing arrangement came to an end in 2012, as Bees dropped into the fourth tier of English Rugby Union.[5] As a relic of that short-lived groundsharing deal, one of the seated stands at Solihull Moors' Damson Park is part of the Bees' main stand from their former Sharmans Cross Road home.

Throughout the 2007–08 Conference North campaign, then-manager Bob Faulkner kept much of the same squad that had represented Moor Green the previous season, with some summer additions from elsewhere. No Solihull Borough players were retained. Solihull Moors' first ever league goal was an equaliser scored from range by Darren Middleton, in a game that also saw Moors score their first ever league point, a 1–1 home draw with Barrow in their first ever competitive game.[6] Moors had to wait two further weeks for a first ever competitive win, beating Gainsborough Trinity 3–1 at home. The club finished their first ever season in seventeenth position in the Conference North, securing survival with a win away at Blyth Spartans in April 2008. In their first FA Cup campaign, Solihull Moors reached the Fourth Qualifying Round before being dispatched 5–0 by Rushden & Diamonds, then of the Football Conference.[7]

A number of changes were made to the Solihull Moors squad ahead of the 2008–09 season, with 8 summer signings made. Progress for the first team was slight, however, with the Moors managing sixteenth place in the league. The youth side, in contrast, made enormous strides, finishing as Midland Floodlit Youth League champions, and reaching the second round of the FA Youth Cup, before losing a close tie 2–0 to the academy side of professional club Tranmere Rovers. The cup run saw Solihull beat Wellington 18–0 during qualification. Five of that season's impressive youth crop signed for the senior squad during the close season.[6]

A topsy-turvy 2009–10 season saw Moors go from relegation candidates in mid-September to mid-table by the new year, before slipping to a more customary seventeenth position by the end of the season. A seemingly revolving-door transfer policy reflected the difficulty of the season for Solihull Moors on the pitch.[6]

On 7 February 2011, Moors manager Bob Faulkner died of cancer aged 60, after almost 25 years of managing Moor Green and Solihull Moors combined.[8] Micky Moore, his assistant and also former Solihull Borough manager, was the initial replacement, however he resigned on 21 June 2011 to take up the full-time position of assistant manager at Mansfield Town.[9] Moors finished seventh in the Conference North that season, then their best finish since the formation of the club.[7] Under Faulkner and Moore's leadership, a squad that boasted the attacking prowess of Adam Cunnington and Matt Smith only narrowly missed out on the playoffs, following a late season collapse as momentum faded. At this point, extra seating was installed at Damson Park in anticipation of promotion challenges to come.[6] The club also reached the final of the Birmingham Senior Cup for the first time during this season, losing 2–0 to West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.[10]

Marcus Bignot was announced as the new manager of Solihull Moors on 27 June 2011.[11] The ex-Crewe, Bristol Rovers, QPR and Millwall defender arrived at the club a week after the departure of Moore. With some players integral to the strong performance in the previous season having moved on, he inherited a youthful squad that lacked experience, which won none of its pre-season friendlies.[12] The first seven games of the season ended in defeat. Using his connections in the game, Bignot brought in several new players and immediately results started to improve, so much so that by January the possibility of the playoffs seemed achievable. However, it proved impossible to maintain the momentum and by the end of the season the club finished just above the drop zone, in nineteenth place.

After a difficult first season under Bignot, the Moors continued their progress on the pitch towards challenging for promotion from the Conference North. The club finished ninth in 2013, followed by an eighth-place finish in 2014. 2014 also saw the introduction of a more robust club infrastructure at Solihull Moors, with the number of teams within the club's youth and junior structure rising from 3 to 27. Efforts to promote the club within the local community and increase attendances also slowly began to pay off at this point, with attendances up 80% on previous years.[6] Moors had a more difficult 2014–15 season, managing only twelfth in the Conference North. However, 2014–15 also brought new opportunities for the club, with Birmingham City Ladies joining the Moors at Damson Park.[13]

The Moors reached new heights under Bignot in 2015–16, winning the National League North title and securing promotion for the first time to the National League. The team finished the season with 85 points, winning the league comfortably with three games to spare. Promotion was secured on a night that Solihull were not even playing, as a defeat for North Ferriby United at Stalybridge Celtic mathematically confirmed their championship.[14] Solihull also lifted the Birmingham Senior Cup for the first time–at the second time of asking–defeating Birmingham City 2–1 at St Andrew's.[15]

Solihull Moors began their first National League campaign away at Sutton United on 6 August 2016, winning their first match at national level 3–1.[16] Moors have since had their first ever televised game, winning 4–0 at home to Southport in front of the cameras on 4 October 2016.[17] Solihull also booked their place in the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, after beating Kettering Town at home in the Fourth Qualifying Round.[18] In the first round the team defeated Yeovil Town of League Two. In November, Bignot left to take the manager's job at Grimsby Town.[19]

Moors appointed former Hednesford Town and Redditch United manager Liam McDonald, who guided the team to 16th in their maiden campaign in the fifth tier. The Moors were knocked out of the FA Cup in the second round by League Two side Luton Town, losing 6–2 having led 2–0 at half time.[20] The Moors had a poor start to the 2017–18 season, resulting in McDonald leaving the club by mutual consent in October 2017. McDonald was replaced by Richard Money, who himself left the club later that month and was replaced by Mark Yates and his assistant Tim Flowers in November.[21][22] Yates and Flowers pulled off a "great escape" with a run of 12 wins in 29 matches, resulting in the club rising from bottom of the league at Christmas, to 18th place by the end of the season, securing safety by six points. This achievement led to newly promoted League Two Macclesfield Town appointing Yates as their new manager, with Flowers taking the top job at Moors.

In the 2018–19 National League season Solihull achieved their best ever league finish, coming second with a total of 86 points. Under Flowers, the Moors spent the entire season at or around the top of the league. They ultimately had to settle for second place and a place in the play-offs as they missed out on the title by three points. The Moors were knocked out of the play-offs by AFC Fylde in their semi-final at Damson Park, a second-minute goal from Danny Philliskirk proving the difference. The club also reached the second round of the FA Cup where they held Blackpool to a 0–0 draw in the televised home leg in front of a record crowd but lost the replay at Bloomfield Road 3–2, conceding an extra time penalty.[23] In the following FA Cup campaign, the Moors were eliminated by League One side Rotherham United in the second round despite leading 3–0 in the 76th minute before conceding four late goals.[24] Following disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season was halted in March 2020 with Solihull finishing in 9th place.[25][7] In 2021–22, Solihull finished third and went on to win their play-off semi-final, but lost the final after extra-time to Grimsby Town.[7][26]

As of 28 September 2023[31][32]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Tommy Simkin (on loan from Stoke City) 2 DF  IRL James Clarke 3 DF  ENG Joe Newton 4 MF  ENG Jamey Osborne 5 DF  MSR Nico Gordon (on loan from Birmingham City) 6 DF  ENG Kyle Morrison 7 MF  ENG Joe Sbarra 8 MF  ENG Callum Maycock 9 FW  ENG Mark Beck 10 FW  NIR Josh Kelly 11 MF  ENG Matty Warburton

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 MF  ENG Gus Mafuta 14 FW  ENG Jack Stevens 15 FW  ENG Connor Hall 16 MF  ENG Max Brogan 17 MF  ENG Joss Labadie 19 DF  ENG Richard Stearman 20 DF  ENG Jay Benn (on loan from Lincoln City) 22 MF  ENG Morgan Owen 25 MF  ENG Kian Ryley 27 DF  ENG Kade Craig

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 DF  ENG Finn Howell (on loan at Redditch United) 24 FW  ENG Leo Wood (on loan at Stourbridge) 26 DF  ENG Joel Shambrook (on loan at Stourbridge)