Golcar United has a strong junior section with 350 young players from the age of four through to 17-years-old.
The club has 20 teams and the emphasis is on fun and enjoyment. There are two girls’ teams too.
Club secretary Ben Senior said: “We have junior teams for every age group, and we play across multiple sites.
“Our junior set up is one of the biggest in Huddersfield and they pay £10 a month which is just £120 a year.
“That makes it one of the cheapest subscriptions around, the average is around £170 with the highest being £350 a year. So comparatively we offer a great deal as for our price you get kits, training and matches.”
The club stopped running an under-23s team and Ben said the reason for that was simple.
“The Huddersfield District League has a 28-day rule,” he said. “If a player plays for us, they can’t then play for a district league team for 28 days.
“We have really good connections with clubs in the district league and so we wouldn’t want to mess them about. They can also provide us with players, such as Slater Barnes. We watched him for four years before signing him.
“We don’t want our lads to just play against other lads, we want them to play in men’s football in the district league.”
Golcar want youngsters to enjoy their football, first and foremost, and while they’d love for young players to one day play for the first team, that’s not be all and end all.
Ben said: “Clubs choose to operate in different ways. Our junior section is completely separate to the first team set up. While we would like our juniors to one day play for the Golcar first team it’s not our main priority.”
The club has recently been provided with some free equipment such as balls, bibs, ladders and mini hurdles.
Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney has worked with McDonald’s junior football scheme to help Golcar and a number of other clubs receive this free equipment which was delivered to the Weavers this week.
On the MP’s support, Ben said: “Jason is a regular down at the Skye Direct Stadium cheering on the team and he knows the community spirit that is shown within the club.
“We would like to thank Jason for his hard work in helping us secure this equipment. He is a great believer in grassroots football and has championed it for a few seasons now.”
