A Focus on Ashton Athletic
EXCLUSIVE: Interview Plus further news and with player-turned chair- stories from the North West Counties man Jimmy Whyte
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Wigan Evening Post
With over a 30-year affiliation with the club, there isn’t a job at the club that Jimmy Whyte hasn’t fulfilled. From being a part-time groundsman marking pitches on wet and windy Sunday mornings, to overseeing the club’s first trophy as Chairman of Ashton Athletic, there’s nothing Jimmy has said he wouldn’t test his hand at. As I sit down with Jimmy Whyte and talk over his time at the club, to which I know first hand due to being his son, I find out about how he and the club have developed during his time there. As the rain comes down heavily outside, we sit in the team’s clubhouse as he looks back on the moment he was cruelly denied a chance at professional football before joining Ashton. “I did have a trial arranged for Chester City FC,” “They were in the old 4th Division of the Football League but I managed to break my leg the night before the trial and the chance of becoming a professional footballer, for me, was over,” he recalls. As Jimmy found a job away from football after finishing school, it was in the workplace that he first discovered Ashton. “A work colleague introduced me to the club when I was 16 and from the first introduction to the club I knew that this was where I wanted to play my football,” he said. Despite this, an initial stumbling block meant that Jimmy had to rethink his options footballing wise. “The club was denied membership to stay in the North West Counties league due to failing a ground grading,” “Therefore I left the club to play my football elsewhere for a few years but Ashton Athletic was already in my blood and I knew I had to return at some point,” he said. It was during the years he was absent from the club that Whyte discovered his favourite position and best form, but still changed position on returning to Brocstedes Park to benefit the
Jimmy, standing proudly with the North West Counties Challenge Cup
Groundsman team as well as himself. “When I left Ashton, I played all my football as a centre forward and I scored about 160 goals, in 1 season alone I scored 59,” “On returning to the club, I started up front and continued to score goals but I felt I wasn’t involved enough so I moved back into centre midfield as I liked the physicality of the game,” he said.
During his second stint at the club, a rare opportunity arose for Jimmy to take a shot at the manager’s job. “The manager’s role was thrust onto me at short notice at the age of 27,” “The first season was little inconsistent to say the least but the 2nd season was a lot more productive with the team finishing 4th in the league,” he said.
After stepping down as manager and then eventually retiring, Jimmy was presented with the challenge of developing and starting up teams of a younger age in the name of Ashton Athletic, something which the club had been brewing for years. “I was asked by the committee to start up a Youth Section as this had been in the clubs develop-
ment plan for some years. I started this with 2 teams in 2003 and by 2007 we had 10 teams involved in the junior section with over 150 members,” he said. Jimmy sits across from me with a wide smile on his face, a smile that tells me the work that he has spent years trying to kick start and develop was all worth it. “The section is
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The current management team with all trophies won in 2013/14
to Chairman still going strong today and I am immensely pleased of my involvement in setting the ball rolling in the first place,” he said. With the youth development set up and running efficiently, Jimmy took a step back from leading and took a more hands on approach in coaching a couple of the youth teams, and I can vouch from him managing my team
growing up as to how dedicated he is. With years of coaching, and constantly criticising his own son may I add, finally at an end, a rare opportunity of becoming Chairman was presented to Jimmy, and one he could not turn down. “This was a very proud moment for me especially after being involved with the club for 30
years at time of appointment. I have had numerous roles over the years but this has to be the pinnacle, definitely,” he said. Just like when he initially joined as a player, when looking behind the scenes, the club was not up to the standards Jimmy was entirely happy with. “There had been a period of instability at the club with numerous managers
in a short space of time. The facilities were of a good standard but I did have some aspirations to improve the club both on and off the field,” he said. But as season 2013/14 ended, Jimmy would be able to look back on it with sheer admiration and pride, as both the open age and youth section had a successful season, putting Jimmy under
the title of ‘The club’s most successful chairman.”. “Well season 2013/2014 was the most successful in the clubs history,” “Not only did the 1st team win the North West Counties Challenge Cup, which was an unbelievable evening but five of the youth teams won trophies as well, it was a proud moment for me as Chairman,” he said. Again the smile returns as we bring the conversation back to the Cup final, which Jimmy says he will cherish for years to come. “Moments like the cup final don’t come around often so you have to enjoy them when they do” It was an even sweeter moment for Jimmy as it was his decision to recommend the young management team to the committee in the first place. “Yes the club is in a healthy position and the 3 first team managers (Jay, Ben & Dougie), we now have in charge are really involved for the whole club and not just the adult section,” “They are all actively involved in the development of the club off the field as well as on it. We also have a very active committee who want to take the club to the next level,” he said. As I ask Jimmy about the next step for this local amateur club, it’s an answer that doesn’t lack ambition. “The club can only go as far as its finances will allow it to but we are seeking sponsorship to bring in extra revenue on a daily basis to try and improve both the team and the facilities to enable the next step up to the Unibond League,” he said. And what about Jimmy, will the 30 year-affiliation with the club carry on in to another decade? “To be honest I would love to still be in my role when the above step is achieved and I would be very proud if that happens,” “I would like to continue to assist in the development of the facilities off the field also and ensure that the club continues to grow for many years to come,”
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Ashton’s wide appeal for brave Alfie Lund Ashton Athletic, and in particular Alan Greenhalgh, have made a North West appeal to help out brave Alfie Lund in his new idea to help raise awareness. The idea is in aid of the Alfie Lund Fund, who is a 6-year-old boy who suffers from MECP2 Duplication syndrome, a rare chromosome abnormality which occurs almost exclusively in boys. He cannot walk or talk and has profound and complex learning difficulties. The idea involves donations of shirts, kits and flags etc, in a Guiness World Record attempt that should hopefully be completed by the end of the current season. So far, Alfie has over two miles off memorabilia and is appealing across the North West Counties Leagues and hopefully teams
further up the football league ladder. Ashton Athletic secretary, Alan Greenhalgh has spoke about knowing about Alfie personally. “During the week, I drive a minibus that takes special needs children to their various schools. Alfie Lund is one of the children who travels with me each day, and through that I got to know his father Mark,” “He told me about how he had wanted to both raise the profile of the MECP2 Duplication UK charity and raise some funds for them, by making a chain of football scarves, shirts and flags,” Alan also spoke about how Ashton Athletic have led the way, through the help of first team manager Jay Foulds. “Jay has invited him down to one
of our games, and Mark will come down with Alfie at some point in the next month or two, when the weather isn’t so cold,” he said. “In the meantime, we have given him an Ashton Athletic scarf to add to his collection, and we will be happy to accept any scarves, shirts or flags from clubs and supporters around the North West Counties League, and pass them on to Mark to add his collection,” he said. If you would like to make a donation for a Guinness World Record, Brocstedes Park, the home of Ashton Athletic, are accepting deliveries and will pass on to Mark and Alfie. To read more about Alfie’s condition, visit, http://www. thealfielundfund. co.uk.
Picture courtesy of the North West Counties Website
Alfie sat amongst all the memorabilia with dad Mark
League Table as of 12th December 2014