SOCCER playing youngsters at a Nelson junior school were a force to be reckoned with in 1965 – thanks to a female coach.

Teacher Joan Campbell, who lived in Hibson Road, supervised their practise sessions on Boundary playing fields.

And it paid dividends when the St Joseph’s team reached the final of an area-wide seven-a-side knockout competition.

Joan had stepped into the breach when sports master Jack Shea had left six years earlier.

Her father, Wilf, was secretary of Nelson FC and her brother, Ted, turned out for Nelson in the Lancashire Combination.

She regularly attended Nelson and Colne School Sports Association, where her knowledge of the game was said to amaze male members.