ALAN Greenwood has handed out more trophies than he would care to mention and has seen thousands of players come and go during his 22 years as Accrington and District Junior Boys League.

Alan, who was appointed secretary back in 1996, is relinquishing his duties after more than two decades at the helm.

But true to the man who has held the Saturday morning league flourish, he is not walking away entirely and will shadow the new secretary for 12 months.

“I am not the type of person to walk away as I believe it is only right that the new person who takes up the post gets some guidance.

“So for 12 months I will shadow the new secretary in the role of assistant secretary.”

Alan first got involved in the league when his son Daniel started playing football for Huncoat United Under Eights.

He went on to manage Huncoat’s Under 15s on a Saturday and the club’s Under 16s team on a Sunday. After taking up the role as secretary he has help the league grow and it now has teams from under nines to under 16s as well as a development league for those at under sevens and under eights.

“I have really enjoyed my role as secretary,” added Alan who ranks seeing his son Daniel winning the Huncoat United Under Nines player of the year as one of his highlights. “I like to organise things and it is nice to see youngsters enjoying football with a smile on their face.

“The league has been running since 1958 and there have been a lot of people who have made it such a success and I am just happy to have been able to play a small part.”