Local Football Scene

I was out with a good friend of mine recently who, like myself, also played local league football for many years. We spent a good time recalling games and players. My friend is now also a referee, so he gets to see plenty of games and players. He often states how the standards nowadays are not as good. A bit of a “when I was a lad” session followed. We were lucky in that we were part of a really good local football scene for many years.

No disrespect to today’s local league players but we didn’t have the added distractions today’s youngsters have. For instance, do you ever see a youngster nowadays without their phone being glued to their hand? As a consequence, the general standard of youth football and adult local league football is not as high as “in our day”.

Local Football Scene

I must admit, I don’t know much of today’s local league football scene. So, I can’t really comment on the league set up or the set up of each individual club. What I do know though is that when we were youngsters we had a great grounding and great clubs to play for. When I was about 15 or 16 and started playing for our local Saltney Youth team, the structure was spot on. There were some great rival teams we played against as well. Indeed the local football scene was thriving.

Of course for the structure to be in place you needed dedicated and enthusiastic cornerstone individuals to take the time and the trouble to make sure we just had to turn up and play.

Local Football Scene – A Blast From The Past

Luckily, when I started at Saltney Youth we had a brilliant backroom team of Joe Lloyd, Billy Williams and Gerald Williams. A great off the pitch relationship. Any ladies reading this though will say that behind any successful relationship stands a woman. Therefore a special mention to Joe’s wife Joy. Joy enthusiastically supported Joe and also washed the kit week in and week out with no complaints or fuss. Here’s a great photo of Joe and Joy on their 50th wedding anniversary in April 2010.

Joe and Joy-50th Wedding Anniversary-April 2010

The team and the club generally however was Joe’s baby. To say he was enthusiastic is a massive understatement. I lost count of the number of times he knocked on my door about either signing, or to let me know of certain games.

The likes of the Joe Lloyds of this world cannot be understated.

A bit more on local legend Joe Lloyd.

Joe Lloyd

I don’t use the phrase “local legend” loosely. Anyone who played for any of Joe’s teams will testify that Joe is a local legend. A humble, modest man who loves his football and his golf and horse racing. I was talking with another player who played under Joe recently and we both agreed that we are not aware of anyone ever saying a bad word about Joe. That was not just a flippant, throwaway statement by the way. We did really give it some thought before we came up with such a profound statement.

Joe managed some really good players over the years and some great teams. Having said that, I think it’s fair to say that the players weren’t necessarily playing for the name of the team, or for their mates. They were playing for Joe. They wanted to play for a Joe Lloyd football team.

Compare that last statement with today’s modern players at the highest levels. In an era of supposed £600k a week footballers who move on or choose not to play at the drop of a hat, players in our team would play because Joe asked us to. As simple as that. That was the only motivation we needed. And we also paid weekly subscriptions for the privilege!!

Not Only Saltney Lads

Joe cast his net beyond Saltney though. He managed to attract players from all over the region. Quite a few players from Buckley for instance chose to play for a Saltney based, “Joe Lloyd” team rather than their more local alternatives.

I’ve been in touch with one of these Buckley players recently. Ian Beavan recalls his time playing for a Joe Lloyd team and the local football scene in general as follows:

One of Joe’s Buckley Players – Ian Beavan

“I first met Joe when I was 15. I had grown up and lived in Buckley playing football for the school and other local teams at weekends. A friend of mine at Buckley Elfed School was from Saltney and said that Joe was starting a Sunday league youth team at Saltney and was looking for players. Me and about 6 or 7 other footballing mates from Buckley volunteered and Joe came and picked us up in his two tone blue Austin Cambridge one Saturday and we spent the following few weeks training and playing together before the Sunday youth league kicked off properly.

Joe used to come and pick us all up from Buckley and take us home after every match. The number of us squeezed into his car was undoubtedly illegal but Joe was happy to take the risk and accommodate us all.

His dear wife Joy was loved by us all and spent endless hours washing and ironing our kit. We were so young and naïve we just took it for granted at the time but realise now what a feat this was!

The amount of his personal time put into running the youth team was phenomenal. He also took the time and effort to organise presentation nights for his team at his local – The Ferry Hotel! We were all under age but he made sure we had a room to ourselves and we were able to have more than a few pints to celebrate!

Saltney Ferry Presentation

I was lucky enough to play on a Saturday for a successful under 18 Flintshire Youth Team and we regularly won trophies but I have to say I enjoyed being in Joe Lloyd’s team (I was captain) ten times more! It was due to Joe – end of!

Father Figure

I had that much respect for the man, he was like a father to us Buckley boys – indeed to the whole team. Winning was one thing, but being part of what Joe set up from scratch meant much more to all of us. Although we did win some trophies along the way. As I said, Joe’s team did have success and he fought to get the team into the Flintshire Youth Saturday league which he did. Whilst I was so pleased for Joe and the team it meant I would be playing against them – which I hated (and we always beat them)!

In those days there were a number of 5 a side competitions on the go too and with Joe’s lead, we won a few of them too!

Saltney 5 A Side

When I reached 18 I had to leave youth football and was lucky enough to play for Connah’s Quay Nomads. A lot of Joe’s youth team played to a high standard after reaching 18. None played higher than John Lyons, who played for Wrexham, Millwall & Colchester. Johnny was a good mate of mine and I know he asked Joe for advice and guidance before he would sign professional terms for Wrexham. Again, that shows what high esteem Joe was held in.

Me and a number of the old youth team have continued to keep in touch with Joe. I’ll never forget 11.00am Xmas Day 1971. There was a knock on my front door. Joe had called with Billy Williams to treat us to a pint. Incredibly  we have got together with a number of the other lads from the old team every Xmas Day since. Incredibly for the last 47 years!!

To sum up, Joe Lloyd is a legend. A nicer more humble respected man you will never meet. The influence he has had on my life since I was 15 is immense. He also has the nicest family you could imagine and the amount of love and support they give him speaks volumes. It is my privilege to be able to contribute to this blog”

Great Tribute

Thanks Ian. A great tribute indeed. Joe’s contribution to the local football scene cannot be understated.

Bear in mind as well that when Joe was running his teams there were no mobile phones, or internet. So invariably, Joe would need to visit you at your home to keep you informed. Add to this the fact that Joe only did this in his spare time. He worked for 50+ years with British Rail. No easy feat to keep a successful team going at the best of times.

Now retired, Joe has managed to spend more time playing another one of his passions – golf.

Joe Playing Golf – keep your eyes on the ball Joe!!

Local Football Scene Needs More Joe Lloyds

It may be that there are more Joe Lloyds in today’s local football scene. If so, let’s hear from you. Players today and in days gone by just seem to turn up and play. And moan if they don’t!! The local football scene wouldn’t even get off the ground if it wasn’t for the Joe Lloyds of this world.

Thanks for all your efforts Joe. And thanks for asking me to play….and more importantly picking me to play. It was a pleasure to play in your teams.