History of the club
The clubs name – Pex Hill – was taken from a local disused Quarry and now nature reserve in Widnes. It was chosen as the clubs name because it was the central point between Farnworth and Cronton where most of their players lived, in Widnes.
The club was founded in 1996 by Karen Clark and Keith Philcock simply because they wanted a team for their boys to play in 😊
Notable, important figures in the early years, that not only kept the club afloat but started its growth from just a single team to the all encompassing machine it has become today where (In no particular order):
Karen Clark – Founder & Treasurer
Keith Philcock – Founder
Penny Worthington – Secretary
Neil Burdekin – Coach, Development Officer (Standard Chartered status), Chairman, Referee & Sponsor!!
Ian McGarvey – Committee Member
Danny Clark – Academy
Chris McNally – Academy
Billy Campbell – Academy
Linda Turtle – Kit and Equipment
Keith Morris – Kit and Equipment
Ryan Mapstone – Committee Member
Committee meetings where held at Holy Family Social Club and the club started to become central to the town – most noticeably by it club colours of yellow and blue!
In its early years the club enjoyed growth in numbers playing and gave a platform for many of the towns kids to play football and enjoy themselves.
There was also sadness and tragedy as on the original boys – David Mannis was killed after being a victim of knife crime not long after reaching 18.
During our research into the clubs history, we found out there had originally been an award named in his honour, which was presented to a club coach or committee member at the end of each season to recognise their contribution to the club. As we were already considering bringing in such an award for the current crop of coaches we decided to name the revived award joint in honour of David and Simon Boyd. Simon has been with the club for 10 years, on the committee as Secretary for 6 of those and as detailed elsewhere, Simon was the founder of our now thriving Wildcats part of the club. The impact Simon has had on the club and its growth is something that is tough to out in to words. Without him hundreds of boys and girls would not be playing and enjoying football.
As the club has grown in recent years (we have gone from 14 teams in 2017 to 50 teams in 2024), so have the number of committee members. There are now nine people on the committee – all contributing to the progress and running of the club. Without the time and effort of these volunteers the club would not exist.
Wildcats Journey
Pex Hill WIldcats began in October 2018 when Pex Hill was contacted by Liverpool FA to ask if we’d be interested in setting up a Wildcats Centre to coach girls and give them an introduction to football in a fun and safe environment
Wildcats Centres already existed, but not many were attached to clubs, meaning there was no pathway for girls to progress from Wildcats training to playing for a team.
Our first session had 13 girls present – 9 of whom were from the same class in a local school. This really helped to get the first few sessions underway
In Feb 2019 our Wildcats Centre application was approved by the FA, and on 4 April 2019 our first official Wildcats session took place
This was quickly followed in May 2019 when our first ever girls team took to the field, Pex Hill Boca under 12s
In December 2019 Pex Hill JFC was honoured to be awarded Liverpool FA Wildcats Centre of the year – this achievement was mainly down to the hard work and ability of Simon Boyd. Simon started the Wildcats journey for the club and helped grow it from nothing to a vibrant, fun and rewarding place girls of any age and any ability could come and learn about football.
Due to the numbers involved, our Wildcats group is now split into a Reception – Yr 2 group, and a Yr3 – Yr6 group, with around 20 girls per week training with each group. Along with Simon, there have been two other dedicated coaches – Mike and Rob – without their time and coaching ability Wildcats would certainly not have been the success it has so far been.
We are delighted that in the five and a half years we have been running girls football, we’ve had over 300 girls come through our Wildcats Centre. We have produced 14 girls teams, with 2 more forming from existing teams splitting due to more girls joining…and a further 2 new teams , under 12s Lionesses and under 8s Tigers being formed ahead of the 2024/25 seacon
Girls Football is a major part of our club now. We’ve 48 teams at the club, so the 18 girls teams make up a third of our club! We have our own girls section secretary and we look forward to our Wildcats and girls football going from strength to strength over the coming years.