Whitworth Year 11s coach Year 7 football team to victory

Whitworth Community High School Year 7 football team with Year 11 coaches, left Charley Leech and right Brad Watts.

Charley Leech, from Whitworth, and Brad Watts, from Syke, both 15, run the training sessions at Whitworth Community High School and manage up to 30 would be players.

In the Year 7s first match against the school’s own Year 8s they won 5-1 and then in a friendly against All Saints Catholic High School, Rawtenstall, the final result was 11-6 in their favour.

Both Charley and Brad play for the school team and centre back Charley also plays for Rochdale and Lancashire.

He said: “It is fun running the training sessions, but it is also hard. We are responsible for picking the team, but sometimes you feel bad for the students who get left out. You do have to pick the ones who are performing the best.”

Brad, who also plays rugby for Littleborough and Rochdale, said: “It is a good experience and it looks good on your CV.”

Charley hopes to land a scholarship with Rochdale by Christmas and become a professional, having just played his first full match for Lancashire U-16s.

One day he would like to play for Manchester United.

His cousin Finley, 11, from Whitworth, is in the Year 7 team and plays for Whitworth Valley Football Club.

He said: “I have been playing for the team since I was six. My cousin is a good coach and he knows what he is doing.”

Captain of the Year 7s Oliver Brooks, 12, from Bacup, has been playing with Burnley FC for seven years and also hopes to make football his career.

He currently trains four times a week at Burnley and once with the school.

He said: “I play centre mid and scored three or four against All Saints and two against the Year 8 team.”

Sam Wellington, 11, from Whitworth, is also captain of the Whitworth Valley team and he has playing for the club since he was five.

He said: “I scored a couple of goals against All Saints and one against the Year 8s. It felt like revenge when we got five past the Year 8s because they had been saying they would beat us. It was very rewarding.”