For the love of the game

THAT’S ME: Bill Elwell points to a picture of himself leading Chadderton FC pre-season training on Clayton playing fields in 1979.

IT is often said these days that age should not be a barrier to anything.

Well, 61-year-old Bill Elwell is proof of that.

Elwell’s five decades in football reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of the local league game, and he has enough memories to fill a book.

And it is the sheer ordinariness of his career on the parks and playing fields of Oldham that makes his footballing longevity so endearing.

Starting out in the early 1960s with St Patrick’s in the Oldham Youth League, Elwell went on to amass more than 800 matches for Chadderton FC in 28 years as the Broadway outfit rose to prominence in the Manchester League.

Oh, and there was a solitary appearance for Hollinwood in 1982 to add to that total. And not forgetting 12 years in Sunday football with Heywood Casuals in the Middleton Sunday League.

Elwell is still going strong with Lancashire Amateur League side Chaddertonians, for whom he has played since leaving Chadderton in 1992.

So exactly what is it that has enabled Elwell to continue playing for so long?

He says: “I have always been naturally fit and lean. I have also remained fairly injury free.

“I am only a stone heavier now than when I was in my 20s and I have always looked after myself.

“I just love football and everything about it.

“The changing room banter and the trips out are the sort of things that make you look forward to training sessions and the matches at weekends.

“The set-up at Chaddertonians is brilliant and I can’t speak highly enough of the likes of Keith Hanley and John Arrowsmith, whose efforts behind the scenes ensure that everything runs smoothly.”

Mainly involved with the third and fourth teams at Chaddertonians, Elwell cites his first full season at the club as one of the most memorable in all his time in the game.

He said: “We won the league that year with players like Fred Pennington, Jack Hurst, Neil (Snowy) Hilton and Billy Ash.

“It was worth it just to be in the changing room before and after matches.

“I have played alongside some cracking players — John Regan stands out, as do Kevin Gorman, Eric Raybould and Harry Mayall.”

At 65, Regan is still playing for Chaddertonians after a glittering time at Chadderton, while Kevin Gorman rose to the semi-professional ranks at Mossley after departing Broadway.

Elwell has also played alongside the likes of former England captain David Platt, John Pemberton, who made a name for himself at Leeds United, and Steve Wood, who became a favourite at Moss Rose as Macclesfield Town fought to establish their Football League status.

Perhaps the highest of Elwell’s highs came in the 1969-70 campaign when Chadderton overcame New Mills over two legs to win the Gilgryst Cup.

Peter Longden got the Chadderton goal in a 1-0 first leg victory in Derbyshire, with Regan netting from the penalty spot in a 1-1 second leg encounter at Broadway.

Fast forward six or seven years to the Gilgryst Cup final and Elwell gave me my first taste of how cruel football can be at times.

As an 18-year-old, I had recently established myself in the Chadderton first team at the centre of defence at the expense of — you’ve guessed it, Bill Elwell.

I featured in the semi-final side that beat Anson Villa at Broadway and I couldn’t wait to play in my first final.

Unfortunately, I was dropped, with Elwell taking my place. It took me a long time to recover from the bitterest of disappointments.

Elwell recalled some great Chadderton teams from the past, including John Price, Dave Byron, Ronnie Scott, Brian Kelly, Mike Fielden, Colin Brooks and Peter Longden.

Elwell picks out Jack Bishop from the late-1960s and early-1970s as the best manager he played under at Broadway.

Of the modern game, compared to his own heyday, Elwell said: “The slant of football is different now and much quicker, with the emphasis on fitness and diet.

“But those things are adaptable, whereas ability isn’t.”

I’ve lost count of the number of former footballers who have said the amateur game is not as good as it used to be.

On that score, Elwell summed it up in his own inimitable way.

He said: “Ah well, that’s about wearing the T-shirt that says on the front ‘The older I get, the better I was’.”