NEARLY 2,000 budding Wayne Rooneys and Zach Cloughs have taken part in a new initiative by the Bolton, Bury and District Football League.

The Macron Stoke Summer League has attracted clubs from all over Bolton and surrounding areas and organisers believe the project has been a huge success so far.

The latest event took place at the Eddie Davies Academy and matches ran throughout the day.

General secretary Gary Russell said: “Kevin Davies has been heavily involved in this concept of bringing out the kids in the best weather.

“He has been so committed to it from the start and even though he was a bit busy at the weekend with Preston he was still there on the first week putting up nets at 7.30am.

“It is about keeping players active rather than sitting inside on computers and X-boxes and it is running for 10 weeks at three different places – Moss Bank Playing Fields, Harper Green and New House Farm.

“It is for under-7s to u12s and they all play each other in a round-robin festival.

“Another great thing about it is that it is non-competitive and we will not be publishing the results anywhere so it is just about enjoying playing football.

“We are using 24 pitches and we think there may be 1,800 playing.

“It has been a tremendous success and the feedback we have received has been extremely positive.

“There may have been a few teething problems but as time goes on we hope to iron them out.

“We are delighted to have a sponsor too.”

Russell admits there was a bit of a Bank Holiday spirit at the Eddie Davies Academy on Saturday for the latest round of matches.

He said: “There were lots of teams in action. It started at 9am and ran through to 5pm which was great.

“The weather was great and some parents enjoyed the football and brought a picnic.

“The players really enjoyed being on professional pitches.

“Our objective is to get people to improve week-by-week and I think it is going to be one of the biggest summer football leagues in the UK in the next few years.

“It is about going from strength to strength.

“We started with a plan for only 50 teams competing but we have exceeded that with 190.

“The key is to attract the kids year in, year out and try to give them back some football time they lose during the winter.

“Most matches are called off between December and January and if we give them a break then they can have the summer league between April and July next year.”

Russell was keen to thank all the support they have received to make it a success.

He said: “It would not be possible without our hard-working committee who turn up to help.

“Also, lots of coaches put up goals and do different things to get set up.

“This is just one of the initiatives we are running and we have been behind the plans for an Under-21s League.”

n To find out more information visit bbdfl.org