NORTH LEIGH | POWERED BY PASSION

Every club needs someone like John McDonough

During Volunteers Week 2024, we are able to reflect on the many fantastic volunteers that we have involved across all four of our divisions.

Each and every one of you is a hero in your own right and there are some fantastic stories to tell and showcase.

Over at Pitching In Southern League Division One Central outfit, North Leigh, John McDonough – or Macca as he is more commonly known – is a man who lives and breathes the club.

“My roles at the club are basically anything that we need doing,” he told us. “Officially, I’m now Chairman, as well as club physio. I also run and play for our over-50s side and help out when and where needed, usually helping my wife either behind the bar or in the kitchen and this summer, helping ‘Murph’ with the pitch.

“I’ve been involved at the club for over 18 years. I moved to the area and wanted to carry on playing, so I joined one of the local League sides the club had, and it just spiralled from there.

“I got my medical qualifications through The FA and stepped into the role as physio at the club when I decided it was time to stop playing, although I did have to make a few sub appearances for the first-team at the end of the 2017/18 season!

“My passion for the club is now stronger than ever as a result of what we as a club got ourselves through during the second half of last season.

“I’m lucky to have such a strong committee behind me, which makes my job that much easier. Everyone is determined to pull the club through as see us prosper.

“Last season was honestly a success, when you actually look back on what we had to deal with.

“Yes, we had just come down from the Premier South and the then Chairwoman and Director of Football had assembled a strong squad to get us back up at the first attempt.

“Things were going well and we were in the top two when both the Chairwoman and Director of Football both left suddenly within the space of a week, quickly followed by the manager as the severity of the club’s position off the pitch came clear.

“With any prospect of promotion ruled out due to ground grading, I was asked to become Chairman as someone who has been at the club a long time and some tough decisions had to be made as it became clear that the current playing budget could not be sustained and the club was at real risk of folding.

“As a result, it made the decision to slash the budget and concentrate on off the field matters an easy one.

“I’m not naive, and I knew players would leave, so I asked Dan [Nolan] to come back and help out, using his connections with our youth teams.

“He was able to assemble a young squad to get us through to the end of the season at minimal cost to the club. Those youngsters, and a couple of older headers, managed to get us through and I am so grateful to each and every one of them.

“They took a few batterings along the way, but never gave up, turned up week in, week out with their heads held high.

“As a group they grew together, and got better as we went along. Results certainly didn’t match performances at the end of the season.

“Thankfully we had the points on the board already to secure Step 4 status, so, as I say, on the whole and all things considered, the season was a success.

“Division One Central this year looks like being a strong one; there are some big clubs that have either dropped down, come up or moved across into it, so it’ll be really competitive again.

“Personally, from my view, being from West London originally, it’ll be good as I can pop back into the area to see old friends, and hopefully get them to support North Leigh!

“Our aim for the season ahead on the pitch is firstly survival; to win as many games as we can, and see what happens. Off the pitch, we need to stabilise the club, and make sure we build it back again to the sustainable club we used to be.

“Hopefully we’ll get a few more people down to support us at home. The future certainly looks a lot better than it did six months ago; we’ve got a new Ladies team and an Allied Counties team have joined, plus we have a proper financial plan in place, which will all help massively.

“Too many bigger clubs than us have either folded or dropped out of their respective leagues, so for us to achieve what we have is testament to everyone that stepped up to the plate at our time of need.

“There’s still a lot to do, and any help is always welcome. We are looking forward to what next season brings on the pitch, and the committee will continue their hard work off it, which is all you can ask.”

IMAGE: North Leigh FC

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