Long-serving Keith is league’s Mr Fix-it

STILL GOING STRONG: Oldham Sunday League fixture secretary Keith Dennis raises the John Tebbitt Memorial Trophy.

AMATEUR FOTBALL: KEITH DENNIS has one of the least glamorous jobs in local league football — fixtures secretary for the D&J Builders (North West) Ltd Oldham Sunday League.

But there must be something about the job that 55-year-old Dennis likes, as he has held the position for the past 31 years, a tenure that makes him the longest-serving official in the league.

What Dennis doesn’t like, however, is bad weather, because that puts paid to his carefully laid plans when arranging fixtures for the league’s 32 teams.

So how has the snow and ice of the past five weeks impacted on the league’s programme?

Dennis said: “There will be no problems for the remainder of the season providing that the bad weather doesn’t come back.

“We got well in front at the start of the season — we started a week or two earlier than usual — and, apart from the Challenge Cup, which is at the first round stage, other knock-out matches are on schedule.

“The second round of the Challenge Cup is usually played on the same weekend as the third round of the FA Cup in early January, but I am confident that, despite the awful weather we have had, fixtures will be completed on time.

“Believe it or not, we have had worse winters than this as far as the Oldham Sunday League are concerned.

“About five years ago, we had heavy rain over a long period of time that caused mass postponements and we had to make the decision to get the divisional Shield competitions completed by way of penalty shoot-outs alone, all the way to the final.

“I seem to remember in my first season as fixtures secretary that we had similar weather conditions to that we’ve just experienced and we had to rearrange seven weekends of fixtures.”

Dennis’s association with the league stretches right back to the 1971-72 season when he played for Colliers FC.

His six-year reign as secretary of Ladbrokes FC in the late-1970s was followed by a 20-year spell as chairman of the highly successful Freehold club.

In between times, Dennis had already taken up his role as fixtures secretary follwing a conversation with the then league secretary, Jack Abbott.

But Dennis’s proudest moment while serving the league came in two stints as manager of the representative team from 1982-88 and 1990-92.

Dennis said: “We reached the finals of the main Lancashire Inter-League Trophy and also the subsidiary competition, but were unfortunate to lose on both occasions.

“There were some great players around in the league at that time, such as John Pemberton, Brian Marriott, Tim Slack and brothers Colin and Kevin Booth. See story below

“I especially thought that Colin Booth would go on to become a professional, but the player I enjoyed watching most was Tony Greaves because of his enthusiasm, ability and stamina.”

Another proud moment for Dennis came at the end of last season when he was awarded the coveted John Tebbitt Memorial Trophy in recognition of his three decades of service to the league.

His wish for the league is to see an improvement in the standard of facilities.

Dennis concluded: “At the moment, the facilities are absolutely shocking, but I am afraid that while there are lots of people out there who are willing to do the work required, the simple fact is that there is no money to do it.”