About Us

Author Mike Bradbury is a Walsall man,a retired local government officer who has developed his interest in the history of football during the last thirty years.

His 2012 book "Lost Teams of the Midlands" was acclaimed by historians, authors, and booksellers alike, and is routinely stocked by research libraries, universities, and local authority libraries.

A full page article in the Black Country Bugle provoked a good response and the paper followed up with reader's letters the following week. At 450 pages with 75 photos of defunct teams and their grounds, with 50 of the 62 teams never previously having been written about, as the Express&Star put it 'we keep it on the office shelf as a reference'.

A project of this detail cannot be undertaken as a solo project; thus, Mike sought the help and advice of two of the region's top football historians. Kevin Powell had ammassed a vast archive of Victorian footbal ephemera and rare books, and without his help as a technical editor and the free access to his archives, the new book "Birth of the Saddlers" would not have been the accurate tool that it is.So too, with another expert,Steve Carr ,author of several reference books including 'The History of the Birmingham Cup (parts 1&2) and the 'History of Wednesbury Old Athletics'. Mike consulted Steve about key matches from the Birmingham Cup which were not only played by Walsall Swifts and Tow, but the other smaller clubs in the town too, such as Bloxwich, Walsall Athletic, Walsall White Star and Walsall Albion.

Mike can be reached via his e-mail address   mbradbury42@yahoo.co.uk or via the Walsall Football Club.