Fred & Angela

Founded in 1986 after a meeting in St. Marys Catholic church on woodhouse lane, Bishop Auckland,with Tommy Kelly and George Nicholson a junior football team was formed to play on sundays after church which has now grown year on year to where it is today with over 380 players aged 5 to 18 years old and a dedicated support team of over 70 volunteers including officials, managers, coaches and secretaries. The club has attained the FA Football Charter Standard which is a best practice guide that sets the standards of coaching, administration and child protection for clubs working with young people. Fred Anderson has been secretary of St. Marys Juniors F.C. for over 10 years and has guided them from 1 team to 16 teams and along with George Nicholson were nominated as a contenders for the Northern Echo,s Local Heroes Awards which recognises outstanding commitment and dedication with the local community. The Club Committee has recently been restructured and is keen to continue to develop St. Marys Juniors and is now working towards the F.A. Community Club status; this is the pinnacle of the club development pathway. All new F.A. Community Clubs are required to meet F.A. criteria, ensuring they provide opportunities for players irrespective of age, gender, religion, and ability.