Middleton Colts on track for title

Middleton Colts

Middleton Colts first team are on course to pick up silverware this season as they sit at the top of the league at the half way stage.

The first team is currently eight points clear of their nearest competitors in the Newbold Tyres Premier Division of the Rochdale & District Sunday Football League.

The Under 18 team is also in contention for silverware as they sit top of the Under 18 Premier Division of the North Bury Junior Football League.

Paul Hyndley, who is  owner and chairman of the club and manager of both teams, believes this success is deserved, he said: “We without a doubt deserve to be top of the league. We should have won it last year but missed out by one point. Two teams folded and we lost 12 points so it was unfortunate really, but we won the treble the year before that.”

“A lot of our open age players play higher standard of football on Saturday, some play semi-professionally. We’ve got some highly talented players on the amateur scene. I’ve been pretty successful in my time as manager and I have won a lot.”

For Paul, it’s about more than success on the pitch. The club has seen a sad decline in numbers over the years and if it wasn’t for his intervention, there may not have been a club at all.

He said: “The club’s been going for 27 years but a few years ago I discovered some financial irregularities. A lot of bills hadn’t been paid by the club. There was once 18 Middleton Colts teams and now there are only two. Many of them finished because of the missing money.

“Grassroots football is dying. Thankfully I’ve got people like Steve Moores helping me. They understand how it’s run and I need them to help me because it’s took it’s toll on my health training three nights a week and going to matches on Saturdays and Sundays.”

The growth of the club is now high on Paul’s agenda: “I do want to get more youth teams again but I need volunteers and help.

“In the under 18s we have a mix of kids abilities but all the kids are treated the same. We’ve got some players from affluent families, some players not from affluent families. I’ve had kids come to the club who have come from Africa without any boots.

“Some of them haven’t got the best attitude but we treat them with respect and give them a purpose, you’ve just got to understand them. I can get kids to show self respect. We even have links with the local police where I’ve had recommendations from the police.

“It’s very rare to go two weeks without someone having a tantrum. We’ve had every type of problem you can imagine at grassroots football but we’ve come through it together. Believe it or not, a lot of people in Middleton don’t know about us and how successful we are.”

If you wish to help Paul with coaching a new junior team, or you wish to get involved with the playing side of things at Middleton Colts, you can contact him on his mobile number at 07990 580 879.