The clock is ticking down as Stretford Paddock FC grow ever-closer to making our mark on the competitive stage.
Following a ballot earlier this week, Paddock FC’s application has been deemed successful and the club is now officially a member of the Lancashire & Cheshire AFL – a monumental milestone and hopefully, the first of many.
Also referred to as the Lancashire & Cheshire Amateur League, the clubs involved are based throughout the old boundaries of the county; from Preston to Southport and Rochdale and Oldham to East Lymm.
Along with Paddock FC, the other clubs that have officially joined the league today are:
Hattersley FC
Shaw Athletic FC
Woodhouses FC
COMUNICADO OFICIAL: This morning the secretary of the @LandCAFL has emailed and confirmed we have been successful in our application – and we are now members of the Lancashire and Cheshire AFL.
— Stretford Paddock Academy (@PaddockAcademy) June 12, 2020
The 2019/20 season saw 81 teams take part across six divisions – the Premier Division, Division One, Division Two, Division Three, Division A, Division B and Division C.
Within those clubs is the Whalley Range A team, currently near the bottom of Division C, but also the Whalley Range First team, who are storming the 19/20 Premier Division – unbeaten in 18 games with 50 points so far.
Manchester United fans may be familiar with the name… that’s because Whalley Range are sponsored by academy graduate and FA Cup Final match-winner Jesse Lingard, whilst a former academy star, Larnell Cole is registered as a player.
Although it’s unlikely Paddock FC will be reaching the heights of the Premier Division in the short-term, there are certainly aspirations to reach that target in the future under the guidance of Stephen Howson and a huge backroom staff including over 20 people.
Formed in 1909, one of the league’s success stories and a major inspiration for Paddock FC are Stalybridge Celtic – starting off as a football club in the Lancashire & Cheshire AFL before turning professional just two years later.
Today, Celtic are playing in the seventh tier of English football, the Northern Premier League Premier Division, but have been as high as the sixth tier, just two divisions below the Football League, in the Conference North.
Whilst it’s currently unclear which division Paddock FC will enter in the 2020/21 campaign, the club’s fate is expected to be announced at some point in July.
The league typically gets up and running for the season midway through August each year, providing competitive action all the way until the end of April.
We’ve arrived… and are ready to make an early impact once the new campaign gets underway.
Honestly, can’t really say where this idea REALLY started. Was it when we first had a run out as an XI as Full Time Devils, in the Fan League Cup? Could be. Was it maybe when we started having regular football competitions as Studio 68? Could be that, too. I guess. Was it when we were off our nut in Australia getting photos off the lads of the Stretford Paddock kits they just picked up? Probably that, too, yeh…
Trying to pin down the point where we decided to create a football team that plays XI a side is harder than I thought. Not saying who, but in August last year, I got a text off someone asking be interested in owning a football club.
Would you want to own a non league football club? Random I know but always thought eventually would like to give something back and be involved
text message – august 2019
Nice one. Now I’m awake at night wondering what that’d be like. As if I haven’t got enough going on. That was August. We had already been playing 5 a side tournaments, trying to find regular competition at Powerleague and now we, as in the fan channel have a kit! It’s a good one too. That badge was made to be on a shirt, it’s amazing. A combination of all those things swilling round my head and the deep depression that was setting in around early December that United were well shit I think sparked something. We had a few Patreon meet ups. We floated the idea around. Commenters were asking for it – so we did it. We committed to making a team.
Where are we gonna play? No idea. What league are we going to be in? Dunno.
But let’s see if there’s enough people interested in, and good enough for, having a Saturday team. It’s got to be a Saturday team, too. It can’t be a Sunday League side. I’ll explain why… We’d made ‘real football’ content. Vlogged our 5-a-side tournaments, and the meet ups. Enjoyed it, doing those certainly added to the lure of making our own permanent side, as did visiting Spencer and Hashtag United in 2018.
But a Sunday League side goes, well it goes nowhere. It’s a one-and-done season. There’s no progression. You could win 150 games out of 150 – you’d win a league, and a cup or two – but that’d be it. Literally it. There’s a top league you cannot go past. There’s a level you cannot improve upon and ultimately ‘Sunday League’ as fine as a hobby, and right of passage as it is, has a certain feel to it that I just didn’t want to be, or to create with.
Saturday League, at least from a certain level (in the Manchester area) is a route from level 11 – Manchester League Premier Division – all the way to the English Premier League, THE Premier League. In truth, the pyramid has many many more levels to it than that and direct routes CAN be drawn right from level TWENTY through to the Premier League. Few places, if any, in the world have the depth of football that England can boast.
Saturday league also has the added bonus of being part of one of the greatest competitions the world has ever seen! Namely, the FA Cup. As mad as this sounds, with a lot of luck, and a few promotions, it is entirely possible to end up IN THE FA CUP. Seriously. The FA Cup runs from Level 1-10. As you know there’s different clubs introduced at different levels. If you’re a level 10 club, that means you start all the way back in <checks notes> July! There’s six rounds of qualifying prior to the ‘first round’. Few teams at this level make it to the first round proper, in fact last season, or rather this season, there were no level 10, no level 9 and only two level 8 sides made it to the first round proper, Maldon & Tiptree, who beat Leyton Orient, and Chichester City, who got a bye! So both teams made it to, and lost in the 2nd round.
So, because we’re going to make content about the birth of this football club, that story needs to be able to exist beyond a single season. It needs jeopardy. It needs a real target. Imagine we manage to take Paddock FC to the actual FA Cup – is that not INSANE?
Our targets are slightly more realistic than that. I’d like to get accepted into, and complete a full league season. Sorry, I know that’s way lamer. But it’s a grounding. There’s so much we’re going to learn, so much we’re going to fuck up, I’ll consider the successful completion of a league campaign with this team a huge milestone in the life of this football club, and we are going to build a football club. Exactly how we get to the end of the season and what we want things to look like on the other side will all be revealed in due course. But I can’t overstate the importance of us getting into he rhythm of playing games, submitting the right forms, at the right time, paying our bills, our registration fees and fielding a squad every week. It’s vital. We haven’t yet done that, so we have to prove that we are up to that challenge.
After that we can get giddy and start putting wild targets together. We’ll also hopefully know how good we are, because that’s something else we don’t know. What if we’re shit? What if we’re in a league that we just can’t handle! Brand new teams don’t generally enter the professional ranks – they’re placed by years of promotions as the squad is chiselled into competitiveness by people who know the level they are and the level they need to be. We have none of that intelligence. We have some players that have played at different levels, plenty way higher than where I expect us to go, but does that mean the team will be good? Hell no.
I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. This will be a journey of education and self discovery as I work out how I can balance this new challenge with a young family, and with my commitments to the content I already make on YouTube. It will not be easy. It’s a lot of pressure. But I love this game (sorry Uncle Pat), and I think this journey will give me a deeper understanding of the game.
We’re building a backroom that’s honestly, a pisstake. We’ve got (or are approaching) 28 backroom staff members. TWENTY EIGHT. It’s gonna look like an NFL bench. There’s a performance advantage to what we’re building, undoubtedly, but we’re also wanting to be a showcase for what happens in football. What happens in an analysis session? We’ll show you. What happens with the data collected in the first half, at half time? We’ll show you. How do video clips guide training – yep – we’ll show you. We’ll show you exactly how we implement my playing style into this team. We’ll show you team talks. We’ll let you right in on the action.
This isn’t a fly on the wall documentary with big reactions and fights and arguments. This isn’t what I suspect a lot of the ‘YouTube’ teams will be doing. We’re going to be creating a channel that showcases the work that goes in, by dedicated individuals that are starting out on the bottom rung, as coaches, scouts, analysts, physios, sports scientists. We’ll find out exactly what they do and how they impact performance. This is going to be mega. I’m absolutely obsessed with making sure I am not the weak link in this – and even then – I very well might be. I’ve read more in the last 3 months of lockdown than I have in 3 years. I know EXACTLY how we’re going to play. My influences are as diverse as they are surprising. I’ve got some ideas that might not work at this level, but I’m going to try. This might fail, spectacularly. But, so what? I’m going to have a good time failing with some awesome people, if we do.
And if we’re successful? It’ll be a hell of a ride. Don’t miss it!
As the U.K. Government slowly lifts the social restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, some sports and recreational hobbies are once again permitted, but with strict guidelines. All the added stipulations and regulations point to one question for football and sports in general, when will things be back to normal?
Yesterday, the Football Association and Its 46 County FA’s announced new protocols for the return of grassroots football. In line with government advice, the FA have announced the following outdoor activity is permitted;
Playing football individually
Playing football with family/friends from your household
Training or fitness activities in groups of no more than 6 people (where social distancing can be implemented)
Under the current guidelines, matches, small-sided or full sized, are not permitted however the guidelines do state that coaches can organise multiple groups of 6, meaning 12 players can practice in 2 groups of 6, providing social distancing can be implemented of course.
There is an air of rushing back into normality about the U.K. Government’s recent responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now being told that if we can go to work, we should and not only that, but we can also go wherever we want, in England at least.
But what do these relaxations mean for football? Well, for many paid coaches, it may mean they can return to work in some form or other. Many coaching businesses will be able to re-open with limited numbers and grassroots players will be allowed a restricted level of practice/exercise, but all of this is certainly a long way from “normal”.
What will football look like when it returns? Will it be safe? The only example we have is in the return of the German Bundesliga. If you haven’t seen the new Bundesliga action, then allow me to explain. Players, coaches and backroom staff alike all still share the same dressing room, safe? Well I’m no Professor Whitty but I highly doubt it’s a good idea. Coaches, players and staff must all wear face coverings off the pitch but is this being adhered to? Well yes and no, it seems it depends on whether you think your face mask is important or not. We’ve seen coaches remove their masks to talk to players and others just blatantly not wearing theirs whilst speaking to someone who is.
But surely it can’t get more ridiculous? Well it can. According to the Bundesliga, players must now follow certain guidelines whilst in the stadium, these include, no handshakes or high fiving , no celebrating with other players (physically touching) no helping other players from off the ground and all substitutes must be 2 metres apart. However, players are still allowed to do the following, man mark, slide tackle, shield the ball and form a wall. So what’s the point I hear you ask? Honestly, I have no idea.
One thing is for sure, football is coming back sooner than many perhaps first thought. Which delights us all at Paddock F.C. as we want to showcase our new club to the world as soon as possible, however, we will do everything we can to keep our players and staff safe when the time is right.
Grassroots football and Stretford Paddock FC may return sooner than expected!
The exact date of when Stretford Paddock FC and grassroots football will return is unknown at this moment in time. However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock expressed that the government wants grassroots football back “as soon as we safely can”. The chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty also suggested the possibility of game and rule changes for it to be played before a vaccine is found.
After the government’s daily briefing on Thursday, it appears that grassroots football may return sooner than expected, which is good news for all of us at Stretford Paddock FC.
Hancock said: “I very much hope we don’t have to wait for a vaccine. Some of the projects we’re putting in place like this testing and tracing are there to try and hold the number of new cases down whilst allowing more social distancing measures to be lifted.”
He also stated: “We want grassroots football back as soon as we safely can.”
For grassroots football to return, Stretford Paddock FC along with all the other teams across the leagues may have to adhere to rule changes set out by health officials.
“So, I definitely hope that football will be available – possibly with some degree of change of how it’s played, there may have to be some ways we think it through – in advance of a vaccine,” Professor Whitty said.
Whitty also added: “My very strong hope, and I’m sure this is a strong hope of everybody’s, is football is well before we get right out to that right-hand end of that path.”
My names Jack Apted, I’m 17 years old and I can play Right and Left Back and further forward when needed.
Whilst we’ve been in lockdown a lot of people have taken it as a negative, but instead I’ve tried to switch it up and turn it into a positive thing. Every morning I go on a run for around 30-45 minutes which is going to massively improve my stamina for when we can eventually get back onto the pitch!
I’ve also bought some exercise bands for around £10 which have been really helpful, there’s videos all over Facebook, YouTube and twitter that have lots of different routines and tutorials that have helped me out alot. I’m currently using a 4 week plan to help me get into shape, the first week was focusing on building up my abdominals and and my upper body, and I’m currently on week 2 where I’m focused more on building up the muscle in my legs and arms. And week 3 & 4 are going to be focusing on the same areas but with lots more intensity.
As hard as it is trying to exercise from home it’s essential we all do it. It doesn’t only help your fitness, it helps your mental health, your immune system and obviously your wellbeing. The longer we all stay away from each other the quicker we’ll be able to watch Paddock smash it even more!
THE CANCELLATION OF THE NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL SEASON
Yesterday’s announcement that the non-league football season has been cancelled outright, leaves many clubs feeling frustrated. In the North West Counties (NWC), teams had between 6 and 11 games to finish. Vauxhall Motors, a team in the NWC South division, had already secured promotion but will have to start next season in the South division again. Furthermore, with four promotion spots in each North and South division and the season being as advanced as it was, many teams were preparing for the possibility of being promoted. This would have also been the case for many clubs across the footballing pyramid of steps 3 to 6 and some in step 7, who applied to become step 6 clubs next season. For clubs in the relegation places there might be a sense of relief. However, to not complete the non- league season in its entirety is sad.
There is a points per game system which could have decided who was being promoted or relegated for this season. Now the system means some clubs in currently in first place in their respected leagues will currently not get promoted. This could have affected the FA’s decision to not use this and cancel it outright. It’s the season being as advanced as it was and the decision to not use such a system, which leaves many clubs in promotion spots feeling their hard work is for nothing. It’s difficult to not compare this to the professional game, whose season has been extended indefinitely. The lack of consistency in the FA’s decision making, one rule for professional football and another for non-league should be highlighted.
In the months of June and July, we could be watching professional football. The pre-season for next season could instead be the conclusion of this current season for professional clubs. Yet, non-league and amateur football will have to start all over again. I understand that there is an extra layer of procedure with non-league football, i.e. deciding which promoted/relegated clubs go into what leagues. Still, could all non-league seasons be completed in say four or five weeks after the coronavirus crisis has improved? It’s difficult to currently state for sure in these ever-changing times but I do think the decision to cancel the season outright, is a decision that has been taken too soon. I feel for all leagues, clubs, players, staff and volunteers, whose hard work has ultimately been for nothing this season. As a football coach and avid lover of non-league football I look forward to it’s return next season.
I also wanted to thank all NHS staff for all they are doing to keep us safe. Please stay safe by staying home.
I’ve enjoyed the journey of Stretford Paddock, so far. But there’s still loads for us to do. We want to join a proper league, one where clubs will test us and if successful our ambitions can be matched by promotions to play at a meaningful level.
The lack of current direction doesn’t stop the things we still have to do; I still need to find a home ground I still have to organise training locations Still need to complete all the necessary steps to apply and successfully be accepted into a league.
Next season WILL come at some point. So if you are a player that’s looking to get involved; please keep an eye on my social media, mainly Twitter @MrStephenHowson for when training returns. We currently train at Powerleague, but that might change depending on how and when we come back. If you come down to training for the first time, just let a coach know.
We also need admin, and committee staff. Here are some roles we are looking to fulfil; Club Secretary Club Welfare Officer Webmaster Strength & Conditioning Coach Analyst Physio Kitman
If you’d like to volunteer for any of the above roles, please drop me an email at staff@stretfordpaddockfc.com with the job role in the title and a bit of a reason why you’re a good fit for the role.
We are also looking to find some sponsorship for the upcoming season, to help out with cost of training and stadium hire, which are significant. If you know of anyone interested please direct them to sponsorship@stretfordpaddockfc.com
Or if you just want to support what the club is doing – then we’ve got loads of merch in the club shop, from match shirt, to training kit, t-shirts, hoodies, mugs and hats! www.stretfordpaddockfc.bigcartel.com
