Beeston is “on the up” with the suburb’s football club striving to keep the area’s youngsters on the “straight and narrow.”
Terry Rowe, 56, has been involved at Beeston St Anthony’s FC since 1975 and spent 20 years working in the area’s police force.
And the football club’s vice-chairman believes the Leeds suburb has improved enormously over the last 40 years with Beeston’s leading sports side playing a key role.
Beeston St Anthony’s now boasts three Saturday sides and one Sunday team with a blossoming Academy outfit the latest string to the King Field-based outfit’s bow.
The vice-chairman is adamant that Beeston is now a better place to be.
“Beeston is on the up, there’s no doubt about that,” said Rowe. “The council have worked hard to improve the area and you can see that.
“That is rubbing off on the residents of the community and we can see a difference with the kids coming through - their attitudes are different and they are a little bit more responsible.
“We are striving to keep Beeston’s young lads interested and keep them on the straight and narrow.”
As well as having a positive influence on the area, Beeston St Anthony’s are also proving highly successful with the club’s first team the reigning West Yorkshire League champions.
They are champions close to their Beeston roots.
“I’d say 85 per cent of our players are from Beeston which is great,” said Rowe.
“As an area, Beeston has gained a bad reputation over the years but that’s a little bit unfair really as things have definitely improved.”
Just as the Beeston St Anthony’s success story looks destined to further improve based on the recent introduction of a new Academy team.
“We are working on that now because these lads are short of games,” said Rowe. “We were just a bit too late to join a league. We have got a hell of a lot of young kids that are 16, 17 and 18 who are champing at the bit.”
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