“This was because of the reputation the club had built from 2006 until 2020 when the club joined with Coleraine Academy.” Johnny’s decision to revive Bertie Peacock Youths came after a shock decision by Portstewart Football Club. After several seasons as first-team manager, he established the club’s Academy project in 2018. “I received notification from Portstewart that I was no longer welcome at the Academy, which to be honest, was a shock to the system. “I had been running their ‘2014’ team for nearly six years, and a ‘conflict of interest’ was the reason why I had to go, even though I was not involved in any other avenue in football.” It was then that Johnny decided to put all his efforts into reforming Bertie Peacock Youths. As one of the founder members, along with David Edgar, Johnny knew that with hard work, the project could be resurrected. Since reforming, the interest and buzz from past players, coaches and parents has been heartwarming. “We had a small meeting where we invited training sessions for ‘2014’ and ‘2012’s’ and put word out that we were running a Soccer School for ‘2019’, ‘2020’ and ‘2021’. We got 24 names for it straight away. “Thanks to our social media site, within two weeks our ‘2012’ went from six players to 23 players. “Our ‘2014’ now has 14 players and they will both play in the Harry Gregg Foundation. We are currently trying to establish a ‘2015’ age group, but we need a few more players and coaches to get this age group started. “I believe that the parents at our club, who pay a minimum fee for training and playing, deserve the best coaching possible for their child, and I’m sure this is exactly what we will provide for the children who play for us. “The experience we have in our development team is second to none in the area, and we will see the benefit of this in years to come. “We once again find ourselves at the beginning of a journey like we were in 2006, and I know with the approximately 15 people to see if they would lend a hand in getting it up and running, and to my surprise and delight, every single person volunteered to help. “So we arranged a few
good people we have around us, we will only get bigger and better as the years go on.” You only have to look back at some of the players who came through the club first time round to see how successful Bertie Peacock Youths was and can be again. Players like Luke Forgrave, the first Peacock player to play in the SuperCup, Scott Whiteside, Lyndon Kane, Cameron Stewart, Leon Boyd, Bobby Jack McAleese, Chloe McCarron, Lauren Wade, who have all held their own in the Irish League, and the two girls are current Northern Ireland internationals. “Along with them, there were so many great people around the club before, and that’s what we aim to do again this time,” continued the Coleraine man. “Senior football has changed so much over the years in this country, but we will work hard to get back to where we were and welcome any support that comes our way. “We will take small steps for now and will never get ahead of ourselves, but we will ensure we have happy, well-coached kids, who are all happy to play at our club, and that’s all that matters for now.”
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