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Saturday night's alright for booming Bridge

27/ 2/2003

BRIDGE Colts Junior Football Club's inaugural dinner held at the Broadfield Hotel, Rochdale, on Saturday was a huge success.

The event, held to raise funds for the club and to celebrate its achievements, was attended by more than 120 people. Guest of honour was the Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Lil Murphy.

Also on the top table were Lancashire FA coaches Rob Johnson and Lee Murphy. Johnson also works at Rochdale FC as the ROFTRA development officer.

The gathering was well entertained by two former Irish international footballers, Derek Dougan and Terry Conroy.

Dougan, who is best remembered for his time with Wolves, was the first chairman of the Professional Footballers Association. Often controversial and still a character, he reflected on a long career as a professional footballer in which he played 1,000 games and scored 350 goals. He also talked about his disciplinary record. Terry Conroy had a long career with Stoke and the Republic of Ireland. He still works for Stoke and he too had a wealth of anecdotes to share with the audience.

Bridge Colts, who draw on players from Middleton, were formed in 1994. They now have 11 teams at nine age groups from under seven to under 16. Next season they hope to expand again.

The club attracts players from Rochdale, Heywood, Middleton, Bury, Radcliffe and Bolton and has its own site at Top o'th Lane, Bamford.

All managers, assistant-managers and club officials are Level One FA-qualified coaches. They are also first aid and child protection trained.

The club is recognised by Sport England and has won awards under the VIP programme in 1999, 2000 and 2001. These are national awards judged by an independent panel which examines the club's structure, finance, training, organisation and ability to work in partnership with other groups.

The club is also in the process of preparing an application for FA Chartermark status to acknowledge their continued commitment to improvement and excellence.