STEVE CLARK’S eagerness to learn more from coaches like Stuart Pearce is obviously paying dividends as the Westend Under 11 head coach has assembled no fewer than three teams to play in the RCD League this season.

Westend JFC are one of the most popular and best organised clubs in the RCD League and Clark, together with his current crop of Westenders, are continuing the club’s 18-year-old tradition of ‘football is always fun’.

Based at Huddersfield New College, the FA Charter Standard Development club takes on boys and girls from Under 5 to Under 16, irrespective of ability.

There are no trials, and teams in the under 10 age groups practise and play matches each week at the Westend Soccer Centre without any pressure from managers or parents.

Everyone joins in and there is no travelling involved. Most important of all there is no pressure put on the players to ‘win at all costs’.

Each season Westend teams join the Under 11 age group in the RCD Junior League and currently have 12 teams playing every Sunday.

The club’s philosophy is proving to be a winner and has resulted in them fielding three teams (Lions, Pumas, and Tigers) in the Under 11 section for the first time since their formation in 1991.

Birmingham City striker Cameron Jerome played six years at Westend before becoming a professional and recently spent a Saturday morning signing autographs and chatting to the current crop of youngsters all hoping to follow in his footsteps.

It’s not just at junior level where Westend’s ‘football is always fun’ message has been well received.

This season 45 new players (many of whom have come through the Club’s junior ranks) have signed on in the Open Age section and as a result the Club now have three teams playing in the District League every Saturday afternoon. Plans are already in place for a fourth team to be added next season.

With five new players joining this week, Westend’s membership has topped 500 for the first time – a far cry from their first training session in June 1991 when just four players attended.

Anybody wishing to enquire about joining Westend can either visit www.westendjuniors.com or contact Ricky Thwaites on 07703 040845.

The RCD League meeting to be held tonight has been postponed and will now be held next Tuesday (January 12) at Bradley and Colnebridge WMC at 7.45pm.