Match preview

Stourbridge continue their pre-season campaign this Saturday with a trip to old Worcestershire rivals Alvechurch. Kick-off at Lye Meadow is at 3 pm.

The two teams have not met in League action since Stourbridge were promoted from the Midland Alliance in 2006, but there have been a handful of Cup clashes in the intervening period, most recently at Alvechurch in October 2013 when goals from Luke Benbow and Ben Billingham gave the Glassboys a 2-0 Birmingham Senior Cup First Round victory.

The Church have not found life easy in the Midland Alliance/Midland League Premier Division over the last few years, with 7th place in 2009/10 their highest finish since promotion from the old Midland Combination in 2003. Last season, they finished in 15th place.

However, they will be looking forward to the new season with some optimism after appointing former Tividale manager Ian Long and Assistant Richard Colwell to take the reins. Long and Colwell, who took Tividale up to the Evo-Stik League from the Midland Alliance in 2014, have already been busy reshaping the squad with a number of players with experience at a higher level, including former Glassboys Paul Evans and Luke Paskin.