By Matt Badcock
WHEN Dale Belford first came into Non-League there was no such thing as mobile phones.
Instead, it was a call to his house that got him into Sutton Coldfield Town after leaving Aston Villa.
Since then the goalkeeper has gone on to play for a host of clubs in the Midlands – including Tamworth, where he is the only player to play for the club in four decades.
Here he talks about winning the FA Vase, signing a former Premier League midfielder and a murder at the Lamb.
First club
I was at Aston Villa for years. I did my apprenticeship there and then a year as a pro. It was a great club to be at. They were good times. They’d won the European Cup and the First Division. In those days you’d come out and go into Non-League. It’s just what you did. You didn’t have an agent or anything so it was like, ‘Right, they’re interested in me, let’s go and play football’.
There were no mobiles or emails. Someone rang my house. ‘We’re a club called Sutton Coldfield, would you like to come and play for us.’ I trained on the Thursday and made my debut on the Saturday. I played a few games, went on trial at Notts County and ended up signing for them.
Best manager
It’s a toss-up. I played under Ron Bradbury for a long period when Atherstone were in the old Southern League. We were in with teams like Boston, Cheltenham, Crawley and Burton Albion.
Ron was way ahead of his time. A master tactician and a really good man manager and motivator. I learnt a lot from him. Even last year when I was manager at Rugby Town my assistant Steve Farmer was away and Ron came into help me. He said to me about tweaking a couple of things, which we did and we went on a long run. I really enjoyed playing for him.
Then the other is Gary Mills. I played with him at Tamworth, played under him, and eventually he gave me my first coaching role. He’s a really good football man.
Best Team-mate
Scott Lindsey. He’s assistant manager at Forest Green now with Mark Cooper. Originally I played with him at Sutton Coldfield when he was a kid and then again at Tamworth. He was a proper old-school hard man back then, which you wouldn’t believe now because he’s a fantastically gifted technical coach. But in his playing days, men were men and Scott would bend the rules to the limit. Don’t take anything away, he was a good footballer and he improved as he got older.
He was fit as anything and never shirked a tackle. When we were at Sutton Coldfield he used to stay at my house at the weekend and this particular time we also had a game on the Monday.
Scott got a bad knock on the Saturday and over the weekend he borrowed a pair of crutches. The manager at the time was Chris Wright – a Non-League legend and Ron Atkinson-type character. Scott turned up on crutches. Chris said: ‘What are you doing Scott – you can’t walk?’ Scott said, ‘I don’t intend to walk’. We won 1-0 and Scott got the winner. Brilliant.
First signing
I took over at Atherstone Town and we were in a little bit of trouble. I went in around February with the task of keeping them up. I needed someone light years better than what we’d got, so I got the black book out and made some phone calls. Gordon Cowans was the youth team manager at Aston Villa and had a local kid from Cannock called Dan Bradley. He was unbelievable. He’s a great lad and since then he’s played for me at Tamworth and also went on to play for England C.
Best signing
Lee Hendrie – the former Aston Villa and England midfielder – at Tamworth. I was told not to touch him but he never missed training, was fantastic around the place and, most importantly, brilliant on the pitch. We stayed up on the last day of the season at Woking and you could see it really meant something to him.
First silverware
We won the West Midlands League in 1988 at Tamworth, but I was a young lad and had gone in towards the end of the season.
The following season we won the FA Vase. It was incredible. The whole town got behind us and because I was living in Tamworth at the time it meant even more.
We drew the final with Sudbury at Wembley after extra-time. That same day our local rivals Atherstone, who we were in a title race with, beat Rushden & Diamonds to win the league.
There was a big banner over the dual carriageway as we came into Atherstone, saying unlucky type of thing. We managed to win the replay at Peterborough on the Tuesday night and it was incredible. Those memories will live with me forever.
We had a lot of local lads so it was a good celebration. I woke up in Corley service station the next morning with a couple of the players. I don’t know how we got there.
Funniest player
Big Steve Hinks. He was my assistant at Atherstone and came to run the Academy with me at Tamworth – he’s a larger-than-life character. He’s built like the proverbial outhouse and he’s always coming out with funny one-liners. We were under pressure in quite a few of the jobs we took and he could really lighten the mood.
Funniest incident
When I was manager at Tamworth I decided to try and change my luck. I bought two goldfish and we went on a decent run. We got to the FA Cup second round and played Bristol City. The fish took centre stage and ITV came to do an interview with me and my assistant Scott Lindsey. We told them how the fish had brought us luck.
We lost narrowly to Bristol City 2-1. Scott being Scott didn’t want to celebrate. He stayed behind in the office at Tamworth before eventually coming out for a few beers. In the morning he said, ‘Right, I’m going to the office to get things prepared for the next game’. Off he went and then I got a phone call. ‘Dale, I need to speak to you’. I went down to the office and he was in there, nearly crying, saying, ‘I’m really sorry mate, I’ll buy you some more’. I said: ‘Scott, I don’t know what you’re on about.’
He said: ‘I’ve killed your goldfish!’ He’d left the heating on before he came out the night before and forgot about it – he’d boiled them! The irony is we got relegated.
Believe it or not the fish were called ‘One’ and ‘Two’, because if one died I still had two. Now I had none. I call him the Fish Murderer these days.
Biggest achievement
Managing my hometown club Tamworth as a full-time club in the Conference was a great achievement and winning the Vase was great. I’ve enjoyed playing at all the clubs I’ve been at. Last year, at 48, I was playing for Nuneaton Griff. But playing for Tamworth in four different decades in the 80s, 90s, 2000s and 2010s is something I’m really proud of.
Lowest moment
Breaking my leg at Crawley. Atherstone were in another relegation battle and we needed a result from the second-to-last game of the season. I went in for a challenge on the edge of the box and I ended up being out for 18 months. It was a difficult time. I was 32 and because of the break a lot of people told me that would be it. But I wanted to give it another go and came back to play another 300-400 games.
Leaving Tamworth after relegation from the Conference hit me hard. I’d like to think taking on the job at Rugby last season when they were in a relegation battle and taking them to the brink of the play-offs proved a few people wrong.
Toughest place to go
I’ve been lucky enough to play for all my local clubs like Tamworth, Nuneaton, Atherstone and Hinckley. Going back to a club you’ve played for in a derby is always difficult. But overall I’d say Barrow. I don’t think I’ve ever won there. It was always 15 degrees colder than anywhere else and when you got off the motorway you had as far to go again.
Toughest Opponent
I used to love a battle so it was always personal between me and any centre-forward who came near me. I didn’t mind that bit. John Gayle when he first came into Non-League football with Burton Albion was a handful and, God bless him, Ian Crawley was a big, strong striker. In those days you went down at someone’s feet and you’d expect them to leave a bit in.
Favourite place to go
The Lamb. I spent a lot of my footballing time at Tamworth and it will always be my home. I went there the other night to see their new 3G pitch. Credit to chairman Bob Andrews, it’s a great facility.
Ambition
Get back into management and coaching. I went into Rugby last year and took a difficult job under difficult circumstances. I enjoyed it, but it was always going to be a stop-gap.
I think I’ve got something to offer and I want to stay involved. It’s the game I love; I’ve always been in Non-League football and hopefully someone will give me an opportunity to keep involved.
And finally… the best thing about non-league
It’s the friendships you build over the years. I’d like to think I’m welcome at all the clubs in the Midlands I’ve played for. I tend to watch a few games and there’s always people I know.
People say about the Non-League family and it really is true. My own boys would come into the dressing room and be around the clubs I played for and that has stood them in good stead in their own football careers.
*This article was originally featured in The NLP on Sunday August 14th
