Wellington Amateurs are playing the generation game

The late Dave, father to Paul and grandfather to Harrison, passed away last September but his legacy lives on.

Dave had Ams ‘in his blood’, as Paul states, for nearly six decades. Chairman, secretary, stalwart. But, as he would have wanted, the West Midlands League club is still thriving with the Gregorys at the very heart of its running.

Paul is now chairman, fulfilling the voluntary role left by his dad, while a third generation of the family made history last weekend.

Harrison, 17, made his first appearance for Ams’ first-team – following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps.

The under-18s central midfielder inherited the No.9 shirt, worn by Dave and Paul in Amateurs eras gone by. His cameo in the 3-1 win at Gornal Athletic may only have been the final 10 minutes, but it meant the world to the family, who hope his 16-year-old brother Todd – who plays for the club’s under-17s – will follow suit.

“I never pushed them into it. I always hoped they would take it up. It is nice to see them wanting to do it,” said Paul, who is also Harrison’s manager at under-18s level.

“I did not know what reaction he would give to being asked but it was a very quick ‘yes’ and ‘what time do I leave?’

“It’s a bit of do or die in adult football. Stand up for yourself time, but I completely trust Mitch (first-team boss Lee Mitchell) and his staff.

“They’re superb, they’re doing a fantastic job in turning the team around. I’m fully behind them. Not just on the pitch, they’re doing a fantastic job off it too helping out, they’re very much involved.”

Both Harrison and Todd attend Telford College. The newest Amateurs senior star will study sports science at University from September.

Sadly – and unusually – chairman Paul was not in Gornal to see his eldest son make his senior bow.

“Unfortunately I could not make it, as there was a family party on, but he had to stand on his own two feet,” added Paul.

“In an adult dressing room you have to stand up for yourself and he did.

“But I knew they’d look after him, he’s in safe hands. He came on for the last 10 minutes on right midfield and they were winning 3-1.

“He reported back that he touched the ball quite a bit before passing it to the senior players!”

The region was rocked at the news of Dave’s passing late last year with tributes poured in for the local football stalwart.

Dave was, firstly, a player at the club, a centre-forward, at the same time as his brother John Newnes, a goalkeeper.

The family are a bedrock for Wellington Amateurs. Paul, who was ‘dragged wherever’ by his dad as a youngster in the mid-1970s watching Ams, has took up the reins to lead the Fortis Stadium club onwards.

“I was very much happy to take it on. It was in dad’s blood, it was his passion,” added Paul, who started a family business, Partnership Publishing Ltd, with Dave in their home town of Wellington.

“It was family first, work second and Amateurs were a very close third.

“In his spare time on Wednesday he’d come and do the ground, mow the pitch.

“I felt the need to give it a go and keep the family name there.

“He was like any other dad. Always wanted the best for me, to do my best on the pitch, to play as much as possible.

“He’d always have his Amateurs hat on first, dad second, like myself.”

Proud father Paul, a regular goalscorer across more than a decade for the Amateurs himself, cannot work out where Harrison gets his midfield guile from.

“He’s inherited the No.9 even though he plays central midfield!

“He’s too nice a footballer compared to his dad and grandad. I don’t know where he got it from. My dad and I were very much centre-forwards.”