BY HIS own admission, Steve ‘Sol’ Solomon is a control freak. Two hours before kick-off the Chelmsley Town manager is in the changing room at their adopted Pack Meadow home arranging the kit – that way he knows everything will be done correctly.
And it is that dedication that has seen him chalk up 25 years at the helm of the Division One side with his links to the club going back much further.
“I grew up in Chelmsley Wood – the largest council estate in Europe at the time – and we had Chelmsley Town playing on the biggest and best football pitch locally in terms of having a stand and hard-standing around it,” he recalls.
“That was the old ground at Marston Green Maternity Hospital. I lived just four or five minutes walk away so me and my mates went up there from around the age of nine and climbed the fence. I know we shouldn’t have done it but the respect we had for the place meant that we would kick into the back of the goal so that we never had to go onto the pitch. When I was a bit younger and watched the football results come in, I’d often see Chelmsford and somehow related that to Chelmsley Wood!”
The club were forced to relocate to Northfield Town at the start of the 2012/13 season following a fire which destroyed their clubhouse and changing rooms. A return ‘home’ followed but a change in ground regulations prompted a move to Coleshill for the 2016/17 season and Pack Meadow has been their base ever since.
While all this was going on, Solomon was trying to keep things going on the field following his appointment in 2002.
“I’ve always been a leader and a bit of a control freak and had been coaching since the age of 18/19.” he explained. “Then at the age of 22 I was asked to take over as manager and, like a fool, I said yes … and here we are 25 years later.
“We had slipped down the divisions but I remember taking over and thinking ‘I can do this’ but the first thing I did was take the captaincy of a player who was the former manager’s son and immediately created a bit of a divide!
“I have learnt so much and that has come with maturity and growing up. I don’t tend to moan at referees these days or have ding-dongs with opposition dugouts. My reputation wasn’t great as a player – a lot of referees would have told you that – and I think some pre-judged me when I went into management.
“Chelmsley Town also had a stigma which was something that we used at times because opposition teams knew they were coming to a rough area. We would use it as a tool especially when playing teams from the more affluent areas.
“I’m a massive student of the game. For the first ten years I was a little bit up my own backside and thought I knew it all. I thought that if I picked the right team then we’d win the game. But I picked the right players and we were losing.”
The Chembo trophy cabinet might not be rammed but Solomon’s insistence on handing opportunities to players that other clubs wouldn’t touch have seen them prosper with some going on to have successful professional careers.
“Success is something different to different people. To me it is the fact that we have stayed in this division for the last ten years without a budget, constantly losing players because other clubs know we don’t have a budget.
“Troy Deeney played for me for two years. I took him when he was 16 and I feel blessed that his family and his mum say we saved him because he wanted to hang around with the gangs but we got him playing football. Ironically, he took my place in the team for his debut away at Mile Oak. Two years later a local scout, Micky Halsall from Walsall, took a gamble on Troy and that made his career happen. We gave him that opportunity.”
Former Cheltenham Town, Kidderminster and Solihull Moors defender Lee Vaughan is another to have played for the club and both players have kept in contact.
“When players move on they remain an associate and a friend of Chelmsley Town because we have put the hard yards in with the lads. It’s just what we do. Those are the things that keep you going. Chelmsley Town has become my life.”
While Solomon celebrates a half-century at the helm, 2027 will also see the club celebrate its 100th anniversary since being formed as Christchurch FC when they were based in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham. They became Chelmsley Town in 1969 following a visit to Chelmsley Wood by the Queen.
