Football dads to the rescue

Date published: 29 July 2014


DEDICATED volunteers have been nominated for a Pride in Oldham award after guiding their daughters’ football team to a cup final and winning managers of the year.

Pete McNamara, John Duff and Andy Jenkner took over Failsworth Villa JFC after their daughters took a keen interest in playing football but had nowhere to play.

When they joined the club, membership was low and the team struggled to get players.

But after three seasons of hard work, the under-10s team was runner-up in this season’s league cup and the under-11s finished second in the league.

Active

Mr McNamara said: “I’m really chuffed to be nominated. I started off doing it to help out but then I did my badges and starting taking a more active role. It is not just great for me, it’s great for the club. When you see the smiles on the children’s faces, you know you are doing something right.”

The men did not know each other before, but have become good friends over their time managing the youngsters.

Mr Duff said: “I’m taken aback to be nominated. I’ve never been put forward for anything like that before. It’s a nice thing to do and it’s good to know someone appreciates what we are doing.

“We are going into our third season now but we got involved off our own backs because our daughters wanted somewhere to play.

“We’ve grown two teams out of nothing — we’ve gone from minimal numbers to having almost 20 players every week.”

Mr Jenkner said: “My daughter asked me to get more involved in management and then, while joining in one of their games, I broke my leg.

“The club raised £800 for me so I wanted to give something back to them and my daughter so I’m overwhelmed to be nominated.”

The trio were nominated for their hard work and determination by club chairman Darren Heatley.

He said: “I want to thank all of them for their hard work and level of achievement. It’s not just good for the club but for the girls as well.

“We’ve gone from strength to strength because of their determination and I hope we can continue to grow as a club.”

To nominate someone or a group for an award, complete the form below or email the required information to editor@oldham-chronicle.co.uk, using the word Pride in the subject line.