Dudley Town v Droitwich Spa

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round

7.45 Kickoff. Friday 7th August 2026

At: Guardian Warehousing Arena, Noose Lane, Willenhall, WV13 3BB

The Saltmen travel north this evening to face Dudley Town FC in the FA Cup. This is Spa’s second appearance in the Cup but it is certainly not the Robins second. In 1976, the club reached the first round (proper) where they entertained York City at The Sports Ground in front of 5000 supporters. They held the Minstermen to a draw before losing in the replay. Nevertheless, with a track record like that, it’s surprising the club hasn’t landed a six figure job as a pundit on Match of the Day.

The Robins have quite a history; formed when Queen Victoria was a lass, they progressed through local and regional leagues. In the 1930s they developed a stadium capable of hosting 16,000 supporters. A services of unfortunate events has seen the club move to a number of other grounds over the last few years before settling at their current home under landlords Sporting Khalsa in Willenhall. In the meantime they reached the Southern League and now play in the Midland Prem, finishing 6th last season.

Spa and the Robins are already well acquainted having met in league and cup competitions while both clubs played in the Midland League Division 1.

Unlike our old friends at Lydney who draw tourists into the town by pretending to have a castle, Dudley really does have one.

And the castle has a zoo! I’m assuming the Zoo was an original feature of the castle included in the design as a sort of farm in case it ever fell under siege.

The area also boasts Merryhell one of the country’s most prestigious shopping centres, if you like that sort of thing.

I know that we are not going to Dudley! But these pages won’t fill themselves and I’m not sure about castle availability in Willenhall.

See you at Noose lane. Don’t hang about.!

Cheers

FTS