Mr Hollinwood closes in on 30 years at his beloved club

SERVICE WITH A SMILE . . . Hollinwood FC stalwart Ken Evans pictured at his home in Shaw.

Football:

KEN Evans ought to be known as “Mr Hollinwood FC”.

After almost 30 years of dedicated service to the Manchester League outfit, Ken is still going strong as club secretary and second-team assistant manager.

Life and health have clearly been kind to Ken, who looks terrific for a man who turns 70 in January - so there’s no chance of him reaching for pipe and slippers just yet.

“I’m still loving my football,” beamed Ken, who lives cosily in Shaw. “It’s in my blood, and these are exciting times at Hollinwood at present.

“There have been peaks and troughs during the last 20-odd years, but we’re proud to be part of grass roots football in the Hollinwood, Limeside and Failsworth areas. Now we’ve got around 60 kids with us turning out for the three Hollinwood Juniors teams and training with the academy.

“The longer-term aim is to try to extend the junior set-up and make that link between the juniors and the first-team.”

Ken was a decent right-half in his teenage years in the Belle Vue area of Manchester. He represented Manchester Boys’ junior and senior teams alongside some familiar names - FA Cup winner Neil Young, Bobby Smith, Fred Eyre and the late Kenny Fletcher from Chadderton, who signed for Manchester City.

Ken, a lifelong City fan, even had the chance to sign for mighty Manchester United, but his dad stopped him going along to train and be checked out: “He insisted I went to work and got a trade.”

Undeterred, Ken turned to the amateur ranks for Abbey Hey (twice) and Hyde United, in-between earning another trial at Stockport County.

His playing days over and now running an off-license in Rushcroft, Ken’s first taste of coaching was taking charge of the Beal Vale Primary School team, which then contained his eldest son Gareth - now 43.

Beal Vale won the Shaw and District League title, so now Ken ‘had the taste for it’. He took charge of the Royton and Crompton school side and, when Hollinwood FC came calling in 1984, Ken took over the club’s young third team. Over the next 12 years there were league titles and cup wins, before the league disappointingly disbanded, forcing Ken to focus a little more on his club secretary duties while Mark Howard began to guide the first-team to some unprecedented successes.