Monday 8th May 2023 ko 15:00

Midland League Division Two

CADBURY ATHLETIC 1 (Craine 66)

KENILWORTH SPORTING 1 (Franklin 12)

Att 140

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

It was Coronation Monday and there were no end of games I could have headed to that would have added to a new tick for me, although most were in the lower divisions of the Midland League. But there are grounds that frankly any football fan ought to visit, one is Cadbury Athletic, and my wife Robyn hadn’t been there. It really was an easy decision, wasn’t it?

I have written about Cadbury Athletic before so if you’d like the history do read that article. Since then the football club have moved back here after being ejected from the Triplex Sports & Social Club, in favour of Birmingham City Women moving in, except so far they haven’t actually moved in. 

The move cost Cadbury their place in Pyramid Football, they’ll never get floodlights and stand at home in Bournville, and another sadness is that the top tier of the pavilion is now let to a gym. These days also the pervasive smell of chocolate has gone, the factory next door now produces almost none of the stuff, with the tourist attraction, ” Cadbury World” and an outlet shop being the non-sporting attraction to visit. You can though now buy a hot chocolate in the clubhouse which is a departure from my last visit.

But home is where the heart is, and who couldn’t love the Terpischore statue? The statue of the Greek muse to poetry and dancing was presented to Cadbury’s by the firm’s employees in 1931 as a sign of gratitude. And if there was time to revisit how appropriate that on a bank holiday to celebrate the coronation of Charles III we visited a pavilion erected to celebrate the coronation of his great-great grandfather Edward VII in 1902?

We saw an entertaining game, Cadbury finished the season in fourth place with this respectable draw against 6th placed Kenilworth Sporting. The throng of hoppers loved it, and I’m sure many more will follow next season. For let’s face it, if you are a serious fan of football you have to give Cadbury a visit.