As part of our enhanced coverage of the Aberdeen and District Juvenile Football Association, The Press and Journal is going to be featuring some of our local teams.
This week we chat to West End Reds head coach Neil Moir about getting his team back up and running following the pandemic and his club’s season so far.
Name: Neil Moir
Position: Head Coach
Team: West End Reds 2004
League: ADJFA under 18s B league
Home pitch: St Machar Academy
Kit colours: Red and white
How has the 2021-22 season gone for West End Reds?
Quite well as we have been challenging for second place in the league. We have beaten and drawn with teams we traditionally can’t get close to so we are pretty happy going into the end of the season.
Has it been good to get back playing this season?
Yes, last year was really tough and we only had six games, but this year has been much better with more games and less worries about Covid and player numbers.
What is the best part of being involved in Aberdeen and District Juvenile Football?
Just keeping kids playing football for as long as possible and hopefully encouraging them to play amateur football after that is what I like.
What has been your favourite game so far this season?
We played Ellon Meadows away in February. We had been there before and lost 5-3 but this time we played some excellent football and dominated the game from beginning to end scoring five goals before a soft penalty gave the home side a goal against the run of play.
Tell us a bit about the players in your squad?
We have a core of excellent players who really should go on to play at a higher level, but the rest of our squad is pretty good too.
Through our individual player development plans we have tried to give everyone detailed information on what they need to work on for West End Reds and beyond.
All aimed at keeping them playing. Most have risen to the challenge but for one or two it unfortunately has had the opposite effect and they don’t play as much.
Where do you train?
We train at Aberdeen FC’s Cormack Park over the winter and Hazlehead Park when there is sufficient light.
How can we improve juvenile football to produce better young players?
We need to keep more teams playing for longer to give more players the opportunity to play. Every year sees more and more teams drop out, so the opportunities become less and less, which is a huge shame.
Over the years we haven’t been great, and it always seemed to be the teams that we could compete with that would fold so the next season it was harder and harder but this season we were able to get some more quality players in from other teams that folded, and it has made a massive difference.
More, better and lower priced 3G pitches would also help with training over the winter which is still an issue.
Where next for your team and your players?
This is our last season playing together so hopefully we can help the players find new clubs so they can keep playing on a Saturday. Any clubs looking for new players for the 2022-23 season can contact me on my mobile 07780 677228.
